Chapters "Princess, I'm sorry to disturb you during your first night. I--"
"Tis not--" the alicorn sighed as she stepped from her throne, "It is alright, Captain. We simply wanted a look around, again. It has only been one day, after all. We understand the nature of things. Miss Lulamoon shall become our equal and will handle matters for us while we our given time to learn so that we may....adjust..." she looked around and the young alicorn's ears flattened just a tad, "...to all of this."
Moondancer shifted uncomfortably as the room lapsed into silence, uncertain what to say. For a moment she struggled with herself trying to figure out how to comfort her Princess, but it was not meant to be; just as she opened her mouth to speak her ears perked at the sound of hoofsteps, and she was thankful for the distraction. Luna herself, turned her attention taken away from the tapestry and the works of the castle to look at the approaching guards.
"Pray tell, who is this?"
"Princess", Moondancer saluted, "we found this mailmare on castle premise," she glanced back to the mare in delivery uniform with a raised brow. "She was circling the castle and when the guards confronted her for trespassing past normal court hours she stated she had a message to deliver to you" and then Moondancer grimaced, "but she would not tell us from who."
"Is that so?" the royal looked down at her guest. "Tell us, what is your name and who has sent you so late into my night?"
As if she hadn't heard the important part, the Pegasus smiled nervously. "This letter will only open for your eyes and your eyes only, no pony else" then after a nervous pause, the mare added, "Your er, Majesty."
Luna, now significantly smaller, at chin levels to the average pony, pondered these words as she stood elevated at her seat of power. With careful steps she trotted forward, eyes lidded, her cool and neutral expression somehow almost adorable in a pubescent teenage filly's body as she came to a stop on the steps leading to her throne.
"And why is it We should not have you ar--"
"Lockdown the castle!" a voice shouted from somewhere, interrupting Luna to her utter distaste and fury. Echoing up, from the throne room's hall: "CHRYSALIS CHANGELING HAS INVADED THE CASTLE, BLUEBLOOD'S GUARDS ARE SEARCHING FOR IT!"
And almost instantly all eyes in the room fell on to the unnamed messenger.
"...hehe" the lavender pegasus giggled nervously as she swept a lock of electric blue from her yellow eyes, "w-what are you looking at me for?"
Without a word, the four pegasus guards that had escorted her moved to block her path at the throne room doors, just as Moondancer scowled, her horn igniting while Luna oddly remained blank and expressionless.
"Wait!" the pegasus shouted, as the guards moved to surround her. "Think about it! Why would a changeling on Chrysalis's side come here?! I mean the whole split with Thorax during the civil unrest was everywhere on the papers! Coming back to Canterlot would be insane after the princesses basically threw them all out of the capital when they found out Chrysalis had been working with Lord Overcast! I can't be a changeling!"
The advance did not seem to stop. Then Luna with perfect deadpan said:
"Or you could be."
And as the pegasus mare's jaw worked to form some sentence of retort, Moondancer threw a spell out, one she barely managed to duck under as it hit the wall and fizzled out of existence.
"W-w-wait!" the lavender mare scrambled to the side of a pillar that supported the decorated ceiling, the Lunar Guard moving after her as Moondancer advanced. "I'm not a changeling!"
"If you aren't a changeling what are you so scared of?" the lunar princess asked, having never left her position from beside her throne.
"The Princess is right, if I use this spell on you, if you aren't a changeling, it shouldn't harm you." Moondancer explained.
A dramatic pause settled when the pegasus sighed. "Aureus curse us" the messenger cursed at a pitch only Luna's ears managed to hear. "Alright fine."
Stepping slowly out of her hiding spot the pegasus removed her messenger's bag, held it in her teeth as she came out, just as Moondancer relaxed her tense posture, casting a small reassuring smile as the mare began to reveal herself, then-- the pegasus leaped over the spell and chucked the bag at the nearest guard, the bag of mail taking him out of the air. Moondancer scowled, her eyes following the pegasus' path as she lined up her shot and--
With a gust of wind the pegasus was knocked out of the air, the guards flying out of the way to avoid the sudden gale to avoid getting swept away with the current. She slammed into the throne room doors, the wind leaving her sails as she gasped and with a thud she slid to the ground, groaning.
Moondancer turned to look over her shoulder, "Thank you for the assist Princess."
"Think not of it." Luna landed with a gentle flap to ease her descent as she strode forward. Landing with a clip and moving without pause across the tiled white floor, Luna stepped onto the royal red carpet stretching from entrance to throne as her four guards and her unicorn flanked her from behind, keeping pace but giving a respectable distance.
"You will tell us who you are intruder" the light almost squeaky voice of a filly doing little to make her truly sound threatening, "or you will be banished to the dungeon." Luna growled.
"Uhhhh", began one of the guards at the mention of 'dungeons,. "Princess-- urf!"
"She doesn't need to know that they've been out of use," the pegasus mare whispered into her colleague's ear. "Keep your mouth shut Glider!" and with that she removed her front knee from his ribs.
Wheezing and trying to draw breath, Glider said nothing as what might have been mistaken for a nod was actually an attempt to swallow one's lunch as it came back up.
"Ooooooh" groaned the messenger in the meantime, and with a burst of green flames the disguise vanished.
"What dost thou mean?" Luna whipped her head around, coming to a stop. The guards flinched at her sudden harsh tone. "The dungeons not in use? Preposterous, why?! All these conflicts and you have not kept prisoners of war in here, once?!" she yelled incredulous, volume reaching dangerous levels. "WHY?!"
"Well--" Moondancer started but her eyes widened when she saw movement, and before she could say "Princess!" And cast a spell-
A loud shattering filled the air as if somepony had dropped glass. The moment they turned, they were blinded with a light as the changeling vanished into the aethar.
Luna stood there, halfway at the doors, staring in jaw-dropped surprise at the vacant, empty, spot where a changeling, Chrysalis' changeling had once stood.
Then the temperature became just a bit chilly, and the majestic drapes along the corners of the walls began to shift with a cold breeze.
"P-Princess?" Moondancer stuttered.
The reply was a growl as the filly stepped forward. Luna barred her teeth, her cropped short mane gaining buoyancy by the same breeze that played with the drapes and toyed with her guards tails. Her wings peaking out in aggression, fur puffing out in a way to look almost bigger.
"No", something caught her eye, and when she looked, dark Luna looked back. "Be smart Luna." dark Luna chided in a voice that only Luna could hear, with a look of annoyance and frustration that only Luna could see. "Do not let what pushed you into craving more power than my own be your undoing before your reign has even begun."
Eyes returning back to her guards the alicorn lost some of her ire at what she saw, they flinched back but were accepting of her anger. Heads bowed, all save for Moondancer who chewed her lip nervously as she stood to the side waiting for the rule of law to be hoofed. The distraction had cost them a intruder and the princess had a right to be furious, especially if it had come to her life. She was, after all, Equestria's salvation. Discord would handle the Sun, while she the Moon. If she died, there would be nopony to help them. Discord would go back to being bedridden while he safely manipulated the stellar cycle and ensured the gears of this realm were properly managed. There would be no ticket out, no antenna to help stabilize his magical energy output, no antenna to reduce the stress of magical nature; Equestria would revert back to its state of peril and its allies would return to their states of unease, prompting new enemies as the world held its breath, hoping Discord could deal with the stress of making magic work in a way that didn't agree with him.
And it was because no pony but her and her departed sister and one chaos lord could hope to reach the heavens. For all their magical strength Sunset, Trixie, Starlight, Cadence, and Twilight were incapable of safely handling the most delicate gears magic could grant you access to. And it was because of this, Equestria, the world, would suffer.
Which was why when she'd first been told by the Unicorns who touted they wielded the heavens like drumsticks, conducting the heavens to do their whim both her and Celestia had raised their brow in silence, yet quiet disdain.
It wasn't like those four hadn't tried. All of them had tried so many, many times since the Solar Princess had died in the Battle of Fancy, at the relic, that tower Prime had built as he ruled over the ancestors of the Prench with his fellow brethren as his vassals, the Alicorn masters of Regalia. Celestia's death had brought complete panic when Overcast had returned with her body in his magical embrace and once it had become clear Discord would help things had seemed fine.
Till they hadn't.
The moment they knew the truth, they had all tried to share Discord's burden, no matter how well he had tried to keep it hidden.
It was why the project for the antenna had been the prayer the world had had answered, till the one who made it had to be removed, and with his removal, it was destroyed.
In this moment, Luna's anger fled in the face of realization.
Her death would be the end. Discord and her had talked, though brief, awkward, and tense (perhaps not for the draconequus) it had been an eye opener. He really had changed.
To have given himself for six years lifting the sun and moon, not just it but the very nature of the world for six years when his magic was better at upsetting the balance, it must have been horrible. Frustrating even. At first she had wished it upon him and so much more.
Now, she couldn't. Now that she had talked to him, now that they had briefly discussed things and she had seen with her own eyes how far he had changed , she couldn't. The mistrust, the skepticism, the displeasure and pessimism. It all fled her. Melted away.
The Discord she had known a bygone ago was no more, at least not the being of terrors he had been to her before. He was...different in ways only she and Celestia could have theorized, which is all they would have been. Theories, nothing more.
The Discord of today compared to the Discord she had known so long ago were different in their own ways of that she could not deny.
For one thing, had Celestia truly died and Discord been free, he would have capitalized on it. He would have crowned himself Prince of Ponyland and strutted around, show boating it to the world how he had in one second, conquered the powerhouse of the world.
Now, well now he couldn't do much without upsetting the balance. When it was the Diarchy it had been easy because they shared the burden the Elements had bestowed them, but when she had been exiled...
A sickening knot formed and it made her feel strange.
Now it was Discord, except with her here she had lessened his suffering. Yet, still, it came with a cost, forever ill, unable to let loose with his magic the way he wanted in a way that agreed with him , for fear of throwing the gears out of whack.
How frustrating.
And she knew frustration. She'd spent a millennia living it for every stellar cycle, of every second up on that wasteland of dust that held no air. Powerless, weak, not in control. Trapped in a realm where her power was strengthened yet where she was completely powerless.
"It wouldn't have mattered anyway Luna." The voice broke her thoughts. The dark Luna stood beside her, just at the edges of her vision. "As long as we are together, you can never die. Not in the way these mortals can. Not ever again. Not even Discord could easily undo us with our bond, now stop being petty" dark Luna said to only the night princess's ears, seen only by her eyes, "and go look at that bag of junk. I sense something."
When she blinked next, the dark doppelganger was gone.
"Princess" she turned to look up at Moondancer. "Is everything alright?" the unicorn asked carefully, anxiously.
Reigning in her anger, Luna sighed. "Yes. Everything is fine. We apologize for our behavior, we are still stressed and this--"
The doors were surrounded in a glow and the group watched as a few unicorns bearing Night Guard armor, rushed in looking around. "Princess! Princess are you alright?!" the colonel asked as her companions flooded into the room.
The temperature in the room, Glider noticed, had become oddly colder again.
"A moment ago, quite" the princess whispered her terse reply. "We are fine," Luna said in a audible, feigned steady voice, "the intruder is gone."
"There were two intruders?" the colonel asked.
"Two?" Moondancer questioned with narrowed eyes.
"A changeling infiltrated Prince Blueblood and Consort Brittle's chambers" another guard informed.
"What?!"
"Don't worry Princess" the earlier mare reassured with a raised shod hoof. "They are fine, we are still conducting searches for the changeling with Captain Tempest, Princess Trixie and Princess Starlight. Madame Brittle's changelings are also on the task Your Highness."
Relief flooding her, Luna sighed, "Thank you Colonel Brickbar, We are fine. There is something we must inspect however," the Princess eyed the bag in the corner of her vision. "Moondancer, Cool Glider, Red Sign, Cookie Cutter, Brisk. Escort your princess to her chambers, we must look at the magic this bag contains. Colonel" the Princess turned her attention to red mare, "you and your guards should be wary of these two. They carried with them spelljars, the one with us escaped through one. Be careful."
The colonel saluted.
The guards saluted, and Luna's guards marched out with her as her magic snatched the bag and together the five guards followed the little tank, the Princess of the Night Wing, out of the throne room.
To: A Queen and Her Subjects
Eyes narrowed, carefully watching, the changeling queen eyed the little dusty metal box that sat in front of her royal throne. With a flicker of her long, narrow tongue in the air, she sensed strange yet familiar magic.
Magic that made her oddly think of one individual before she pushed that thought out of her mind.
With a suspicious eye she looked at Hunter 1-9-8-8-2-5 who had dragged the box out of a pit from some forgotten region of the old abandoned diamond dog tunnels under the nest. She looked around at her gathered subjects and with a mental inquiry prodded for answers at the suspicious object before her.
All the minds of her various changelings came up with nothing. Not a clue what the box was or why it was there. The only one that knew of it was Hunter 1-9-8-8-2-5 and when the queen locked eyes with her servant and pitched another inquiry that would trickle signs of knowledge or subterfuge through the shared mental link, she found that Hunter 1-9-8-8-2-5, known as Silk, had nothing to give.
And so Chrysalis eyed the stange dusty metal box with a curious eye, finding herself oddly intrigued at opening, a feeling that was only multiplied by the impulse of her changelings begging her to open it.
"What is this you have brought to me?" the two-toned voice demanded. "What is this Silk?"
"It's...a letter, Your Highness." Silk hesitantly replied. "I'm not sure how I know this, but he made this...as a thanks."
Eyes narrowing, lips curling back in a snarl, the queen hissed and her hiss was echoed by several changelings around her, their fangs barred. Mandibles surfacing from their mouths and twitching in aggression.
"Who made this?" the queen asked with no trace of patience.
"I--" Silk bowed her head. "I don't know. I awoke to it calling me, and it said you would listen."
That urge to open the box was getting dangerously stronger. Chrysalis scowled, her horn ignited and purple sparkles flew from her horn. "I won't."
As if on cue, the moment those words left her lips the box exploded from the impact of her spell.
Only for the smoke to fade with it unmarred. Not a second later, the latch fell off. The lid lifted open. The scroll floated out, light emitting from it as it flew into the air, glowing with such lumination it was almost blinding--
Chrysalis lashed out with a blast of green fire, the room alive with the fearful hissing of thousands as she answered their cries of fear and concern.
The hive was filled with warmth and the walls were bathed in a ominous emerald green glow as the scroll was eaten by emerald fire, licking and lapping at the cursed object with vengeance--
A message to a lovely queen. From your dubious ally, the unicorn you would have killed.
Light emitting from it at every word.
And then Chrysalis' ire fled her, as did the hissing die one by one, the room filled with cold silence as they realized the voice of who spoke.
The letter did not burn, even as the cursed fire tried to devour it.
I am not surprised you would resort to such methods, then again you should know from our dealings I am not normal , these flames of yours will do nothing till my message is done.
"How?" one changeling echoed the question that filled the minds of their brothers and sisters and ruler. "How are you--"
Alive? I should probably clarify-- I am but a piece of the original's soul. Whatever fate became of the real me, I have no way of knowing. I am nothing but a record, a message given life through his will; bonded with parchment, written in a mixture of ink and his own blood, infused with his magic. I am not the one you allowed into your hive, my lovely. I share but a piece of his memories, and also hold only his intentions.
Jaw set, face neutral, Chrysalis looked upon the floating scroll and asked: "what exactly would those be" she said with impatience. "Here to destory us for fleeing when you failed?"
The talking scroll ignored this and instead said:
To a Lovely Queen and her Subjects,
To the outlaws, the stragglers, the survivors. To the hive. I promised you when I asked for your aide against the storm king, that you would be rewarded and that Equestria's heroes would not intervene in those rewards. When the time came and you acted as my ears and eyes, mindful of Miss Brittle and her changelings, you gave me the support I needed to aim for Tempest Shadow and the growing dissonance among some of Amadeus soldiers and the high command.
For that, I thanked you. I gave you my love. You doubted I would be able to support a hive of hundreds of thousands, and you accepted so you could use a diplomatic chip against me. Blackmail me into your clutches so you could influence the crown through me.
And I proved you wrong, didn't I, my sweet Chrysi?
The changeling queen rose her head higher, maintaing a her regal posture as her remaining subjects huddled around her. Maintaining a look of defiance, just as they had throughout history.
Chrysalis did not speak, she would not dignify this floating horcrux with the truth. And so, after a pause the letter went on.
I gave you my love, I pushed the limits of my magic and fed your children, your soldiers, your subjects. And you doubted my sincerity, which for all honesty I do not blame you.
When the time of civil war threatened to derail everything, I asked for your support once more. You demanded something greater.
To ensure that I would not break my side of the deal I allowed you to bind me to a vow. The kiss of obedience, a vow impossible to break once cast.
And what a vow it was, wasn't it?
Chrysalis said nothing.
Several changelings however touched their muzzles, the memory of the kiss echoing in their minds.
I did not break that vow. For all your doubts, I did not have the power to nor could I if I did. This is why I, this letter, exist before you now.
I have brought you something, something to feed your kind in case my defeat has brought irreparable damage I had hoped to avoid. Look inside the box my love bug. Look inside and see...
The letter went silent yet the crackle and pop of fire continued as it still existed.
"My queen--" Chrysalis rose, not waiting for an answer. Wings popping out of her elytra she flapped on four silent wings, lifting from her throne and landing in front of the box feet below.
All eyes watched her.
And on some level, her superior senses felt that somehow, the letter, his eyes, also watched her as well.
It is a trap the words echoed across the line in her mind. Her servants and their concern, the ones who remained loyal to her, the reason she did not quit all this struggling and disappear with a new plan in mind. She looked around at the hundreds of thousands, somehow the room feeling not as full as it should be even with still so many, and then she marched forward. Horn glowing, eyes on the box.
Stopping her tongue flicked out and she searched the air for thauma particles of dark magic. Unstable energy that showed signs of hexes, jinxes, curses. When she found none, she leaned her head down, looked into the box--
And was hit with a wave of love .
Immediately Chrysalis snapped her head out of the box and then peered back in.
She felt another burst, hitting at her like a wave on a beach. And when she pulled it out, that sphere that pulsed with light like the beating of a heart and as she raised it high above her head for all to see, her eyes widened.
And every changeling in the hive watched the object with wide, hungry eyes, gaping jaws.
To a Lovely Queen and her Subjects,
I promised you I would reward you. Now, I hope that promise has been fulfilled. Use it wisely, oh sly and lovely queen--
The parchment began to burn, the light began to dim--
as this should feed you and your kind for more than a day-- several moons in fact. Use it wisely my sweet Chrysi. It will be my last letter, my last gift, and perhaps, the last time we meet. And so I say--
Eyes widening, gaze snapping to the scroll as it burned away- Chrysalis moved forwards, her eyes wide, a strange tension in her throat, doubt and suspicion yet some odd sense of appreciation tugging at her all at once.
"Why?" she whispered.
The scroll said nothing. The hive ignored it for now, many minds still shocked by the orb of light and emotion that pulsed in their queen's magical hold.
"Why would you do this?!" Chrysalis shouted with a snarl, suddenly overwhelmed by this strange feeling radiating through her, her field creating a shaky hold.
...I don't know, can't truly say as I am but a piece of the original--
"Overcast!" the queen snarled but was cut off as a pop filled and crackle showed the scroll was almost gone.
--but, I learned one thing from the princess of love. And that is love is a powerful emotion, it can cause you to do great and foolish things...so I see why you consume it. Why you crave it. Why you are forced to desire it.
I thought I'd take a page from kindness, and share it. In hopes that I could buy you time to figure something better out.
The queen sat down with a thump. Searching for the loophole where the beating orb in her magic would unleash some kind of curse to further their desperation, looking for some kind of twist where everything would blow up in their face.
But even as her tongue flicked out and she desperately searched the air, not a hint of dark magic lingered.
Save for the one she used to destroy the scroll.
goodbye oh sly love bug.
Your enigmatic companion,
Overcast.
And with a final pop, the scroll was gone.
The only light now filling the room, an orange and pink glow that pulsed every now and then. Filling the cold room with warm.
Chasing away the aching hunger that filled them all.
To: The Princes of the Night
Upon entering her private chambers, Luna positioned the guards outside her quarters while her and Moondancer went inside.
"Do you sense it, captain?"
Moondancer reached for the deposited bag in the open space it had been left, her magic touching the brown messenger bag. She felt around, spreading her corona all over it, from the sling to the contents that made the bag bulge and when she had fully encompassed it in her magic she squinted, tongue sticking out just barely as she closed her eyes, adjusted her square black goggles and focused.
"Hmmm" she hummed. "I feel...something , but...it's faint. Just barely noticeable. Almost like a Field Perspective Alteration Spell. The kind laced onto objects to mess with your senses. We've actually had some smuggling issues in the past because of it." Humming silently as she worked the captain of the Cosmic Storm frowned suddenly, eyes narrowing. "Strange."
"What?" Luna impatiently asked.
"It seems the signature is reacting to my probes. That-- oh!" she gasped.
"What is it?!" Luna jumped, moving quickly to her captain's side.
Moondancer's corona dulled, the aura wavering as a shiver passed through her body, like a sudden cold wind had swept by and surprised her the mare squeezed her eyes tight. "It--" pausing, her cheeks puffing out, the unicorn sucked in some wind then let it all out as her face relaxed. "It just surprised me is all."
"I see." Luna said with a wary eye at the bag, unconsciously unaware she had come to press herself against Moondancer's side in a instictive act of protection.
"It seems the signature here doesn't want to reveal itself. Gave me a bit of feedback again when I attempted to undo the spell hiding it. Which..." she frowned, trailing off in thought "...is...honestly a bit odd. Perspective alteration spell types only work around the individual's sense of awareness. Hiding an object, making it blend in with the surroundings so the eyes pass over it without the mind registering it, all different applications. Magic relating to manipulating the senses, much like illusions, was the closest form of mental magic Equestria touched on before Sombra's invasion and the reforms to mental magic practices." She lectured without realizing. "Even if somepony was hiding their signature or mimicking the sense of someone else's magic signature, it shouldn't be capable of-- ow!" Moondancer winced and her corona wavered as the brilliance of her aura around the bag dimmed. "It shouldn't be capable of, well, that" she frowned, flummoxed.
"Unless," Luna scowled and when she blinked she and Moondancer were not alone, "a piece of the soul has merged with one's magic into an item, creating a horcrux, a cursed item."
As if the bag had suddenly become worms covered in all manners of filth, Moondancer's corona popped out of existence, and she gasped, eyes wide with horror.
A pause filled the room as captain and princess weighed their options.
"I'll call the others," Moondancer rose immediately. "Princess Starlight can contain it so we can analyze it. If this was an attempt by Chrysalis--"
"We do not believe Chrysalis works to undo us, not in this circumstance at least captain."
Moondancer paused, glancing at the bag. "I don't understand Princess..."
"Animancy was never something she would dabble with, the dangers of such magic are far too many and far too great. One mistake leaves horrible consequences the likes of which are impossible to repair. Besides, it never suited her style of approach" the alicorn stated, circling the bag with a careful eye while her invisible doppleganger phased through a unsuspecting Moondancer and circled the bag counter-clockwise.
"Then who could have sent this? Why would they send this?"
The only way to know is to look.
"We shall just have to see." Luna answered and with a flick of her horn she turned to face the bag.
Horn glowing, aware of two pairs of eyes watching her, Princess Luna reached out with her magic and set the bag on fire. Purifying pale indigo flames burned the bag and all its letters, each one being enveloped in indigo flames, eaten away till nothing was left. She would not take a chance or let a risk like this remain. If the horcrux reacted to the spell she had cast, even if it was weak in her current state, they would know whether it was malevolent or not.
Suspened by the strap in the air, Luna and the others watched as purple light filled the room and tore a hole through the bag as the flames ate everything up, eventually leading to a single envelope gliding gracefully to the floor as the remains of the bag were eaten away and disappeared with a hiss.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. The envelope floated harmlessly to the ground. It landed on the princess of the night's stony floor and then sat there. Waiting to be opened.
"...I want to try something Princess." Moondancer whispered, eyes never leaving the cursed letter. "I'm going to try attacking it..."
Never saying a word, Luna merely nodded.
Horn glowing, magical energy amassed around the tip of Moondancer's horn. A pale pinkish-white glow as she cast a simple abjuration spell that worked to harm and weaken malignant entities or beings that utilized the negative forces of dark magic. Like a ward she casted it on the envelope, horn-eye coordination striking true as the pink light went sailing through the air and moved to hit its target.
All eyes watched the spell sail towards the cursed letter, Luna's horn glowing as she prepared for a strike. The phantom that stood beside her watching events unfold with disinterest, till-
A field of green static emerged around the envelope, arcs of energy attaching to the item. With a screech and the scent of ozone, the field lashed out at the pink light with a bolt of white, slamming into the spell and blinding everyone in the room for a brief second, like a flash of lightning or the flash of a camera.
I don't think it appreciates the idea of being destroyed Bliss stated as she watched the others rub their eyes.
"Princess?!"
"We're fine!" Moondancer called back. "Maintain your positions!" lifting her goggles, Moondancer rubbed at her eyes and blinked spots away.
"Enough of this nonsense." Luna growled. "Reveal yourself!" with a flare and a flick, she sent her attack flying.
The envelope countered it, the field casting a shield that took the brunt of the attack, cracks forming along its sides.
"Captain, together!"
Horns glowing the two lashed out. Spells were cast. One attempting to break down the shield by sending a loop that would upset the field matrix the envelope was casting. Another, sent striking at the shield, trying to break it open like an egg even as it somehow healed the cracks and holes that formed.
Whoever sent this is persistent
Scowling at her doppelganger's useless remark, Luna's corona flared with a brilliance and she slammed a powerful telekentic blast into the shield, hundreds of cracks forming before the shield finally flickered once, went out, flicked on twice, then died.
With a laugh of triumph Luna launched another attack.
Only for the envelope to raise a circular shield at the last second that deflected the blast at an angle.
To the Princess of the Night
Just as she was about to cast a defensive ward and call for back up, Moondancer froze, and Luna couldn't help but pause at the addressing.
If you are listening to this message, then this means that the caveats I set for Hunter 2-4-4-5-0-7, Skim, has been achieved. Princess Luna, welcome home.
In the corner of Luna's eye Moondancer mouth had formed a perfect 'o'.
"Such insolence these days" Luna said in a clear light voice, deciding her captain's sudden shift in attitude could be addressed later. Aristocratic indignance stoked at being addressed by some disembodied cur Luna rose to her full height, a inch or so shorter than Moondancer herself, flaring her wings out and addressed her guest with a scowl at the inconvience. "Has Equestria truly forsaken the manners in proper etiquette upon seeking audience with royalty?" Luna questioned coldly. "Thou seek audience with a fraction of the Crown, yet Our eyes see not a gift."
Oh but I have given you one already, princess.
The envelope pulsed brighter, its words said in what could only be a flat deadpan.
I wouldn't try destroying this letter. I cannot be destroyed. Not till my message has been delivered.
"And just who is it that we speak to?" Luna eyed the glowing item with displeasure. However her ears twitched when she heard a word. A name.
"...what did you say?" the dopppeganger and original said as one, their eyes swiveling in perfect unison, heads turning to stare at Moondancer.
"O- Overcast?" Moondancer repeated louder, eyes wide. "How?" She blinked, her words breathless. "We all saw the light. When the Elements were used, every Unicorn in Equestria felt the magic being used. We...I thought--"
Ah my little moon, I didn't see you there.
The pulsing light interrupted but the envelope neither moved to turn in the unicorn's direction or seemed to land it's badly timed joke as no one laughed or even cracked a smile, as all he was met with was silence. That silence hung in the air like a mist and refused to leave for some time.
Anyway, the original created these letters before the war. I know not of his fate, as I am certain, we, his memoirs, his gifts, will have no choice but to repeat time and time again. I am an echo of Overcast. Adding pieces of his memories and even giving us the means to survive should we be misinterpreted as something...spiteful should the original be defeated.
It seems it was smart of him to cast those defenses on all the letters. You were not the first to try and destroy me. I doubt you will be the last.
The explanation was met with not a word but a reaction of surprise, confusion, and uncertainty.
"'We'", Luna said with some meager understanding of the irony, "what do you mean by 'we'? There are more like you?"
Of course there are.
And said nothing more.
Snorting, Luna's doppleganger eyed the envelope warily. As the only being that could hear her being Luna, let alone could see her, it mattered not if she got a little closer. Well aren't you just utterly helpful her voice dripping with sarcasm.
To which everypony's surprise, including the guards that had decided to burst into the room upon hearing unfamiliar cackling echo in the princess' chambers, the glowing eldritch envelope chuckled.
"What exactly is so funny?" One of the Pegasus guards, Red Sign, asked nervously. Clearly unprepared for the first night of the Princess of the Night to be filled with such bizarreness.
Oh, nothing
The light strobed between brilliant and dull between fits of chuckles.
I simply found something the Princess' aide had said to be somewhat amusing is all.
Confusion circling between the guards and Moondancer misinterpreting that statement for her bringing a frown to her lips, all failed to notice the stunned surprise that flitted over Luna's face before it was erased with a calm, wary aristocratic eye.
Well, I believe it is time for us to move forward, yes. I have a message--
"And We have a question." Luna interrupted, aware that Bliss, her other, now stood at a distance from the soul tainted parchment, watching it with both interest and caution. "What is it you mean to say that you have already bestowed a gift to us?" She asked, eyes narrowed. "Captain?"
Moondancer shaken from her stupor, stiffened. "Majesty?"
"We desire insight. Was there ever a gift left behind for Us to Our name that We have not yet been given? Between Our coronation, the sessions with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Princess Twilight Sparkle, all of the lessons you and those professors came to give one such as I" and there was a hint of irritation here in her voice, "lessons on" Luna forced herself not to spit at the word and did a well enough job erasing most of the venom laced within "in the changes of statecraft and diplomacy since the eon during our Absence -- was there ever a gift the former Overlord left for Us that you or the others were not aware of?"
"No." Captain Moondancer said almost immediately. "We searched the room he had been staying in after the real Sunburst was purged of Overcast's presence in the battle at Canterlot Castle. Everything he ever had was taken into study by S.M.I.L.E except for the war-shoes he gifted Rainbow Dash."
Luna nodded silently once the captain had finished her detailed summary. She had no need to ask just why those war-shoes hadn't been forcibly taken from the Pegasus, as she would have probably suggested in the past or ordered had she not dealt with Rainbow Dash herself personally in those memories of being the haunting Nightmare as well as during the security organization of her coronation. For even if it had been a month since her cleansing she was clearly aware of how that Pegasus could be. Taking something she cared about was like trying to take a single gem from a dragon's hoard.
Things would and could get ugly, if one did not tread carefully,
"There you have it then." The Princess waved a wing towards her captain and the guards that arranged themselves around the envelope, though at a distance as though it might grow lips, teeth, and start chasing them around the room. "There is no such thing as a gift you have left behind."
En vérité, il ya Princess. The gift I have granted you is your crown. Ah, you don't believe me. I can see it, as hard as that may be for you all to believe when I have no eyes and am virtually processed tree bark.
I may not know of what Equestria thinks of the original, but I know that his thoughts were filled with understanding. Understanding that you would not understand. That your subjects to be precise would not understand many of his actions, as strange as they may be. Sunburst and the original often bickered back-and-forth terribly when it came to these types of matters and it was always with great reluctance that he allowed the original to do the things he did. I wonder how the citizens of today see him if I am awake and am present to be delivering this message. For it most certainly may not be good, and to that...well, Moondancer, Princess, Guards, if you see him. If he hasn't run away to some place in the Eastern Territories of this world or hunted down one of Star Swirl's spells in search of a gate to another reality, tell him I am sorry for the stress I have caused him, but I will never apologize for taking matters into my own...appendages.
"And why exactly wouldn't we understand?!" Moondancer snapped. Dropping all military decorum and allowing herself her anger. "What could you have possibility been trying to accomplish betraying us the way you did?! Overcast, I was with you when you waged against the Storm King's allies, it was noble of you. I respected and loved you even more for that." She said with a crack in her voice as it died away into silence. "...but you went too far when you started working to discredit the others just because they wouldn't agree with." She stomped, nostrils flaring, lenses slightly fogging behind that glare. "I mean what were you thinking? Making deals with the corrupted members of the Upper Crust was a terribly decision, you should have listened when we told you to stop instead of ig-"
If I had listened, things would only have turned out for the worse. You seem to think, from the tone I am sensing, that the outrage in Manehattan's mob lords or the tribal attacks done by the buffalos from the south that rejected Chief Thunderhooves ideas on unity, was a result of my actions alone, but it wasn't. Civil wars don't start by one alone. No war does my little moon. No war ever does no matter how history tries to shape it. There are always supporters because without support, even if there is one specific face of the opposing side, that one face cannot make it to even be recognized. One single being can do nothing without support much like a single drop of water on the arid southern sands of a hot dessert.
Unless of course, you are Discord, but that is not the point.
Princess Celestia's greatest weapon and greatest weakness, the double edged sword she wielded, was her social standing. She was the beacon of Equestrian society and knew how to use it; the one you all see to be your example of true equinity and thus what you feel you should strive to make proud. My short time in the castle let me learn this quickly and that is why I saw it necessary to dissuade the future enemies that had grown healthy and strong while she, and then all of you, drowned in your duties to the public and were overwhelmed with the various responsibilities forced upon you without the extended training or necessary time to adjust. She, much like you Lunar Princess, has limits however. Just like I, just as Discord, just as Sombra, just as Tirek, and just as Star Swirl. Even if beings like us aren't normal by standard comparison.
Compare the standard to those that don't fit with it and you get a recipe that strays from the final dish that is Harmony when an eye is not kept on it. I know for a fact, because I am but a piece of him, Overcast would never apologize for those betrayals. I saw the possibilities. Foresaw the harm and made steps to minimize the damage.
You think it would have been easy to beat the Storm King and capitalize on the embers of distaste among his ranks when he had seized Canterlot and by extension, locked away access to the Elements if I hadn't begged the changelings for their support? They were necessary and they still are, so hate me all you want but I will never apologize.
Then without stopping to breathe, the cursed piece of parchment continued:
Which is why I say to you estranged mistress of the night gloom, I have given you your gift already. It is that crown. I do not purport to claim that I am the reason you have that crown. My actions were nothing more than a piece of the equation that ensured the correct end for I saw your coming and knew if certain measures were not set, things would turn out messy. But, as a piece of the bigger scheme, I think it is fair to say I claim the right to say 'your welcome'. As such, I welcome you back Princess of the Night. It is disappointing we never will get to meet.
Your sister, when she was alive and when we did exchange letter through the aether, she spoke fondly of you. As I am sure you will soon become familiar, if you have not already, the world outside of Equestria knows Nightmare Moon as merely a specter that no doubt now, has been dealt with forever. She entertained my curiosity in the history of the relationship that specter and that warmistress of the night, and I find it disappointing that I shall never get that opportunity to converse with you in the face to face- let alone try at a poor attempt at becoming friends. As such all I say now is:
Welcome home Luna. I am sorry, but I had to kill her. You may hate, you may rue me, but the alternative would have been worse.. Don't hate Sunburst either, for there are things that I thought not even his mind could have possibly known.
And before anyone could say anything else, ask a question, shout a retort-- the light just vanished and the room was plunged into darkness. Only granted light from the open balcony that let moonlight flow in with a crisp, spring breeze.
As the Princess of literal social diplomacy and maintenance of political allies, otherwise dubbed the title: Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle found it was her duty to keep an open mind of all things. Threats and allies, possible threats and potential allies alike. Time ruling Equestria for the past six to almost seven years side-by-side her contemporaries had opened her eyes to many things in the workings of statecraft. The pressures both Princess Luna and Celestia faced both together and separately were admirable for she was certain that she would not have been able to handle these pressures without her friends and the support of her contemporaries. With Princess Luna back officially although not fully, things were only bound to shift and change even more in the incoming years. And while Twilight wouldn't have said "no" to the experience that she had gained in the passing time there were times she just sat down and looked back. Where the thoughts of the past would overwhelm her mind while working on paperwork hard into the night, on her third mug of keep-me-up with her trusty assistant by her side. There were times where it would wander to the previous occurring damage from ongoing conflict, and moments where she wished, hoped- wanted even, for some things to have gone different. Wished that there were different ways to have handled a situation, or better outcomes that could have prevented more harm.
There were times she also regretted meeting certain someone's. And these times, were now.
If I told you that day I brought Princess Celestia's body back, that there was a way to bring restore her after what I did...wouldn't you have tried?
The room was stunned with silence. The parchment could not see but it could sense. Emotional auras were just as good as facial expressions and this scroll knew long before the tails swung left and right, lashing, that it had just set off a timer to a ticking bomb.
Sunset was the first to respond.
"Are you saying...." she said with measured calm, "that you knew a way to bring the Princess back all along and you didn't tell us ? That you've known since day one how to bring her back and you never said it?! "
Somehow voicing that just seemed to make the air more stale.
The scroll sensed a fluctuation of emotions from everyone, the air was thick with bewilderment, anger, and sadness from all except Discord whom the scroll could not seem to read. Discord who sat in a armchair that was at a height more fitted for a throne than anything else, right next to Fluttershy. The draconequus looked around, brows knitting down and shaping his features into a look of concern at the way things were turning.
They had all been expecting this. A letter. A imminent reminder of his presence. Something that would appear at some point in time when somepony least expected it and it had everything to do with the changelings as both Chrysalis and Thorax's changelings had paid visits to the recipients. Ever since Princess Luna got hers, it had become something to keep an eye out for because shortly after her letter was discovered, it was reported within the same hour that Blueblood had in fact also received a letter from the departed Knight-Lord that night a intruder had broken into both his and Lady Brittle's chambers.
The letters had not stopped with just those two however. Everyone in this room had received a letter. Each offering a few words, a few sayings. Even an apology before it abruptly burnt itself into nothing. Each, all more or less repeating the same thing over and over again when asked the question why or when any question at all was asked to get some answers. A vague reply of empty platitudes that answered nothing but sounded wise or deep. Like a one dimensional villain from one of Spike's Danger Grit comic books, a feline anthropologist named Zack Grit who seemed to always find themselves falling into the schemes and acts of criminals that thought they were doing good, when in truth it was just a simple lie that the good they were doing was more for themselves.
The silence had now become sour, bitter even and Discord could smell it. If Cadence were here, perhaps she might feel it but for Discord this taste had an odor and this odor that befouled that atmosphere smelled of plot device tension. Discord knew what was coming, the scroll knew what was coming.
And when it came, neither the soul tainted scroll or the chaos lord, were surprised when Pinkie asked quietly through a curtain of straight hair:
"Why? Why didn't you tell us?"
To which the scroll replied in that usual circumventing way:
I never said I knew a way how to bring Princess Celestia back from the dead. I'm asking you a question, and you aren't answering it. If you knew how to bring the Princess back safely, would you--
"Hogwash!" Rainbow Dash snarled.
"You think we're stupid, don't you?" Applejack growled. "How many times are you gonna dodge a simple question?! If you don't have an answer, stop wasting our time!"
Then Sunset Shimmer added her own scolding which just fueled Rainbow Dash and Applejack to continue and before Twilight knew it all her friends, minus Discord, were all trying to be heard over the scroll that kept trying to shut them down with every armed remark.
In the midst of all this madness, the dam that Twilight had been carefully checking up on, ensuring it was well maintained in her list to bottle up all those pressures began to break. Twilight couldn't take it anymore. A rush of thoughts that led up to this moment just came bursting in. The mail was picked up this morning by Spike and almost instantly upon checking it she had known it was him . For the first time a letter was not hiding its signature. Twilight had waited to open it because there was a note scribbled in his signature style to gather the others or else this letter would never work if it was opened before the required guests were present. It would shut down, lock itself away for all eternity and Twilight only now realized as she sat in this shouting match, one of many she had had to endure in the last few years of a political career yet somehow so different as to ramp up her stress, that Overcast, even in possible death, had played her yet again. The voice from the scroll was just so robotic, so bereft of the the warmth she once knew it held- it was like she wasn't even talking to a living being or pony, it was like meeting Nightmare Moon all over again just a couple months back in Canterlot Castle-- it was like he wasn't even a pony at all to begin with.
Then again, they had all seen for themselves when the Elements had ripped Overcast out of the real Sunburst's body and split the two in twain, that he may as well have been a demon all along. Whatever that had been.
In her head she knew that this thing was just a copy, a clone stapled with the aspects of a personality that simply lived on because it held a piece of his soul. But in real time Twilight couldn't sit there and listen to this. For the second time since knowing him, she felt betrayed and a bile of anger exploded out as she rose.
"ENOUGH!" and the whole room echoed with her voice, silencing all. Only when all was quiet did she turn her ire to the one that truly deserved it. "I can't believe you...did we ever know you at all? OF COURSE WE WOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO BRING THE PRINCESS BACK!" Twilight shouted, chest heaving, sparks flying, eyes misting over. "WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK THAT?!"
"Twilight--", Fluttershy began.
"NO!" She shouted, ears all around her wilting at the volume of her voice.
Wings spreading Twilight ascended into the air, horn glowing, eyes narrowed. Matching a look of cool aggression Tempest Shadow may have been proud of but would not have liked to be on the other side of. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't destroy this-this-- monster right here and now. One reason why we should waste our time and listen to anything else you have to say after what you did and are doing right now."
Because I have something to say that you need to hear.
"Twilight", eyes filled with anger Twilight turned her baleful glare on Discord who offered her a small smile of reassurance. "Please" Discord said quietly, pleading in his voice. "Let's listen to what it has to say."
It he said. Not him , even if it was a piece of him.
Every ounce of her wanted to burn the package before her with a spell. To just unleash the building rage, the anger, the confusion, the hurt at all the lies still unknown, still being learned-- no way of dishing it out on the one that deserved it. She wanted to find every letter like this he'd ever made and obliterate every one of them so at the very least she knew he was gone forever and the pain and destruction he'd caused in every life he'd ever mixed with was forever obliterated. She wanted to purge his memory and the sugar coated lies he'd ever fed them about caring. She wanted him erased , but even then, the plea in Discord's request was enough to bring back the rationality.
Floating up there, eyes aglow with magical power, Twilight realized just how much she hated Overcast. How much she didn't understand him, much like how Discord had confused and still did confuse her. Much like Pinkie was a mystery and the nature of how she could do what she did.
Twilight she heard the mimic of his voice say, please .
And for some reason, that one 'please', seemed to have more actual life in it than anything else she'd heard him say since they began this whole meeting.
Slowly Twilight descended, her mane catching adrift on ethereal breezes as she touched ground and landed. The magic coursing through her ceased and her mane and tail returned to normal, as it did, her friends gathered. Bodies pressing against each other.
"What do you want?" Rainbow Dash was the one to ask with a scowl.
Do you recall what Eudes' goal was? The whole reason we got into that fight with Prance?
"What the heck does that have to do with the question you just asked us earlier?" Applejack snapped.
"More importantly" Starlight cut in, "how could you bring the Princess back anyway? I'm sure we all get that you weren't exactly who we thought you were, but I'm really starting to get tired of the whole "I can do things you can't bit", how could you possibly do something that not only even Discord was incapable of doing but none of Equestria's most skilled magi could do with Theory?"
"We all know necromancy is a thing, anyone with the understanding could have tried to bring the Princess back" Sunset added. "Between Twilight, Trixie, Sunburst, Starlight, Brittle, and I, the most skilled unicorns of our generation, we all could have used some of the older rituals in the Forbidden section to figure out how to bring the Princess back. The reason we didn't was because necromancy as we all know from Grogar's legends is a terribly difficult form of magic to handle ; horribly corrosive to the mind and soul of harmonic beings, and dabbles in forces that while we have all fought- but, don't entirely understand. Especially when dealing with departed souls and reintegrating them into sustainable bodies."
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the tainted item. "Why even ask the question to begin with? You know the answer, of course we would! Princess Celestia has done so much for all of Equestria, how could we say no?"
"Yeah!" was echoed all around, save for Discord who remained silent.
I asked you that question to confirm something. And yes, Starlight, I suppose to you it would be annoying if it sounds like I'm bragging. I'm aware that Luna has received her letter, as I'm sure you all have received yours also.
I told her what I told you, I don't regret my actions, the consequences had they been done differently would have been worse than what you all could handle.
Applejack snorted, a mocking sound. "We handled you pretty well didn't we?"
The comment was ignored or maybe it somehow struck a nerve because whatever the tainted scroll was going to follow with, never was voiced. Silence lapsed and the only thing that happened for a long, agonizing couple of seconds was the sourness in the air lingering from that barbed remark and seeming to weigh on everypony's ears as they calmed.
"Guess I won't apologize either." Applejack's voice pierced the silence and solemn air, "You deserve what you sowed and we can't forgive you for what you did, not now and maybe not ever- not especially when you keep refusing to tell us why ." Glancing in Rainbow's direction, the pegasus and earth pony caught sight of each other and Rainbow looked away shortly after.
I am but a piece of the original. It is not my place to beg for forgiveness in his steed, only to share his words and his hopes for understanding--
"Oh come off it!" Rarity. "Really now! You- he- whatever you are! You don't want us to understand you! If you did, you wouldn't be doing all of this!"
"Yeah!"
"I'm inclined" Discord slipped in on ice skates, "to agree. I'm afraid this game of charades you've been playing isn't working. So it might be better for all of us if you simply...came clean?"
The scroll light dimmed, there was a sudden drop in energy that Twilight picked up on and wondered for just a moment if they had done something to warrant the scroll's anger. For one brief second, she thought she saw Discord raise his lion paw in a prepared motion to snap, only to see he was merely stretching the limb.
"...very well."
Ears twitched and the ponies could not help but follow instincts and glance at one another. "What?" Sunset voiced the single thought.
"Very well." The scroll answered in a voice that no longer seemed as starkly robotic. "I'll tell you why I did what I did." Then out of nowhere he added, "I suppose this will answer your question also, Discord."
Without warning or hesitation- the scroll exploded into a ball of light. "I had hoped to ease you into this. But perhaps it would be better to show, than tell."
And with a flash and a brilliant pulse, the ball let out a wave of blinding white light. And before Twilight or anypony else could do anything, they were completely swallowed up into its radiance.
As one, they all opened their eyes to a bright flash of colors that dazed the already scrambled senses.
Twilight, Pinkie, Starlight, Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike and Discord opened their eyes all at the same time, all occupying one mind or space or body and when they opened their eyes they instantly became aware of the other's presence around them but not next to them. There but not there, it was a confusing feeling to experience, even more so if you didn't walk dreams or understand how to shift memories. For most but one it was odd and uncomfortable, for Discord, it was like a walk down literal memory lane.
Then that walk suddenly ceased when the world seemed to slow with the shadows and colors considerably stopping as the pony's body they were in suddenly seemed to act as if this were a game of freeze.
I see you chose the full experience, and when they blinked- or when the host of this body blinked, they saw him. Overcast, ponified, not the mass of swarming colors that had been ripped out of the real Sunburst's screaming body, but the form he had taken while still possessing it. He wore nothing but standard Royal Guard armor in this, all of which was dented and had scorch marks from magical attacks and stood with a small smile.
"I am going to show you two things" the voice of the Knight-Lord whispered in frozen time to eight occupants that only he could see where they could not see each other. "You know as well as I that a memory can be fabricated or altered, so I don't fault you for doubting what you might see and hear. But I ask you to trust me as hard and as audacious as that may sound. I ask you to trust in what you are about to see here. Because what I am showing you is more than just a memory, I am showing you what could have been . Discord will confirm all that you see, I trust he won't lie because I am also answering his own personal question or at least some of it. When this is over, you will know what would have happened had I not killed both Eudes and Princess Celestia and why I took measures to prepare as quickly as I could. This" Overcast sighed and his tall form slouched, "will be my last message to you all. And as I have said so many times before, I am sorry. I wish things could have gone differently."
His horn glowed, the freeze that had taken over the world, this fabricated reality made by neural impulses, slowly kicking back into motion.
Overcast the phantom wearing armor that was clearly a bit tight for his size, nodded solemnly, then when the host blinked next, he was gone.
Being the occupant to a memory was like catching a ride from one destination to the other.
Everything you saw and experienced was through the lens of the host, the host's body acting as the medium for you to experience what that memory held; their feelings, what they said, how they felt, their state of health in that time frame, the interactions and experiences; memory reading in many ways was the deepest form of understanding another because for a brief period of time, you were that other person. Every action they performed was an action you felt, just like everything they experienced you got to experience also.
And in this case there was no stopping the sensory overload that came as time sped back up.
With no control over the motions and actions, Twilight and all the others were carried on the ride as Overcast's body moved suddenly and jerked into a roll, jostling everyone's senses as he violently rolled to the side. Seconds after he rolled, a wave of warmth and the brief glimpse of fire flew over them as they could felt the skin under his pelt tingle with discomfort from the sheer heat.
Rising again, no one was given a second to recover. The group felt Overcast's body move with adrenaline as he gave chase to a figure up ahead who was running up the same wide array of dark brown steps. There was a keen awareness of just where they were and in that moment a answer popped up.
The Tower of Prime.
Instantly, knowledge some of the group knew and didn't know bubbled into their mind. Overcast's thoughts becoming open to their ears.
The Tower of Prime was a tower that had been built by the nation's legendary war hero, an anonymous pony by the name of Gallant Primus who's equinal tribe shifted constantly in various historic poems, sonnets and writings. It was a fact that The Tower of Prime had not aged a day since its completion and reveal to the public. Never collecting a spec of dust or aging one day throughout all the centuries of weather; it was both a historic architecture of mystery to the citizens of Prance and also a call back to the era where the nation had first found its roots in the worship and praise of alicorns. History said that Primus had been a distant descendant of alicorns from the days where Discord's reign had drawn the ire of more than a few. Both he and his company of seven councilheads that had joined him in his travel to the warring lands that would be Prance and there, both he and his councilheads established the noble system of Prance. History said Primus had united the tribes within the region and decades later, commissioned the building of this tower. A landmark of unity.
The first landmark of unity.
But, history often said many things, and all the occupants were drawn to the scene they were in as Overcast galloped through the hallway, chasing after somepony.
Metal clanked, hooves pounded, the tower was an echo of noises and this was magnified by the strange illumination being emitted from all its walls and ceiling.
Entering a open walkway that granted view of the atrium, light shined through the skylight and a shadow floated by from above.
Overcast's ears rang with the sound of conflict in the air as he ran towards the fray.
Attack after attack was being knocked aside by a tall slender, unicorn stallion in the distance as he did battle with the magical pegasus launching projectile attacks at him from the sky.
Every few steps Overcast made seemed to spring some sort of trap into action to slow him down. Only reflexes and agility seemed to let him escape with only a scratch. He had to keep dodging rubble that seemed to just materialize and fall towards him, while on top of countering deflected attacks the Unicorn kept redirecting his direction. Every furrow of attacks that were being rained down upon him from above by the Princess herself, bounced back to the unicorn's pursuers. It was all so fast paced, so quick, so reliant on instinct and reflex that Sunset Shimmer had to admit-
"I'm amazed he's able to keep up with them at all."
"What?" Rainbow Dash yelped when there was a sudden jump. "The guy who could keep up with me and Applejack-" and the disbelief was strong in this next one "in a ground race and his speed is what surprises you?"
"Not him. Him. " and there was an immediate understanding of what Sunset meant as they watched the pale green stallion raise a second shield right after a spell from the Princess instantly shattered the first. Not even a moment's hesitation from the feedback pr the push back, and the shield was perfectly crafted without hesitation. Levels even Shining Armor would have to admit were truly impressive.
Look out! Everyone flinched at the sudden bellow of another voice as if it were shouting in Overcast's ear. Then all of a sudden something very strange and very uncomfortable happened that filled everyone, including Discord, with a sense of nausea.
They had been running forward- eyes focused on the unicorn- then all of a sudden it felt like Overcast had just been violently slapped and his whole body had endured multiple sudden ariel flips or had just been violently shook to the point you were really dizzy. A tingle came immediately next. A excruciatingly painful tingle in the legs, before there was a strong awareness of all four legs going completely numb, as if there were no longer anyway to feel them or even be aware that they were moving.
But move they did. The legs made a leap as if they had a mind of their own and as soon as Overcast leaped a significant foot or so into the air, a spear of transparent energy materialized from the wall, stabbing in the direction his tail hairs were just now leaving. In that same instant that disturbing, invasive feeling vanished, and Overcast managed to regain control of his legs in midair long enough to brace himself for the landing and fall into a series of sloppy rolls. The last one, ending with his chin violently hitting the ground and gnashing his teeth together in a painful electric tingle that luckily missed his tongue.
Groaning Starlight, Rainbow Dash, and Discord were the quickest to recover but it was Starlight who asked: "W-what in the world was that?!"
Overcast seemed to give them an answer.
"I told you to warn me when you are going to do that Sunburst! You know I am still adjusting to having a body, let alone a equine based one!"
Out of nowhere the voice from earlier replied: Well, excuse me for saving our lives! It's lucky enough for both of us I have a 360 awareness spell on myself at all times.
"Whoa, that is Sunburst's voice!" Pinkie chirped and then proceeded to gag when nausea hit. "W-blrh-wait, so he-he w-wasn't being possessed like w-we thought?"
"It d-doesn't seem so..." Twilight muttered back as she nursed the small headache she could feel from Overcast."But...how?"
Turning to face his attacker Overcast ducked under the hurled javelin and with a nod to his right and a flick of his head forward, he sent out a blast of kinetic energy that slammed into the image of a unicorn guard in armor on the wall that looked very much like the one getting ready to charge him. The image was struck, the ancient painting chipped, cracked, then spider webbed and with a silent pop, the poltergeist was gone.
What in the world is happening to this tower? This is just like those scary stories Starlight used to like when we were young.
"Yes I recall that. She really did go for the power hungry villains. You seem to forget I had to go through your memories to figure out how to communicate with you. Or, did I not mention this before?"
The odd sensation of being glared at suddenly manifested.
"Oh stop being upset", he said, to which Pinkie had the unique feeling he was trying to suppress a grin.
"I had no choice" Overcast continued. "I wasn't certain what language your kind spoke in this dimension and you can't blame me when you kept suppressing and blocking all my attempts at communication in the Night Realm!" He ducked under a swinging blade, with a toss of kinetic energy the Diamond Dog creature was slain like the pony. A hole in the wall art and it was gone.
When you end up fighting in a showdown to give your friends the chance to save everyone, only to end up losing the fight halfway when a legendary centaur turned demon, starts summoning all sorts of monsters to break your mental constructs so he can gain enough power in your own mental dimension to turn you into his puppet then you can tell me how you would react to something trying to invade your mind, in your sleep!
"...Wait, what?" was the only thing anyone but Fluttershy and Discord could say at this remark.
"I told you", Overcast said to the now mental projection of Sunburst that had appeared before him. "I never invaded your mind." Raising a shield to block a line of phantom arrows from painted archers Overcast frowned, and then began dispatching the Pegasus archers before they could fully emerge from their walls. "My essence was bound to your mind against both our wills when Tirek created that rift in reality with Discord's magic during my attempt at esca--"
Escape from what, exactly? Where do you come--
"Besides" the taller stallion cut in, smiling slightly at Sunburst with those odd teeth, "you do yourself unjustly." He stated, returning his attention to the fight ahead. "You were doing quite well till he tried to summon something more powerful to do his bidding. And Tirek's greatest mistake was underestimating the very nature of Chaos Magic itself. It does not like being told what to do or made to follow the orders of others, it simply does what is needed without much, if any, thought. And mastering that is a lot more difficult than you could ever hope to imagine. Why do you think Discord is the only one who can utilize it? Magic, has will. Chaos is simply the least likely to obey if given a instruction."
"And, to answer your earlier question," Overcast rose another shield to block the array of arrows coming from the living art on the ceiling and the fireball that had just been deflected towards him, "I believe the alicorn controlling Eudes is using this tower as a summoning center for the souls of all his past servants."
How- How do you know that?!
Gritting his teeth at the barrage of attacks from above Overcast expanded his dome shielded and then focusing on creating a force, popped it while sending out a telekinetic wave so that all the arrows embedded in his shield would be knocked away from his host's body, and sent minor cracks that destabilized the ghostly soldier's forms. Or would do so long enough for him to get some distance.
"Reality," Overcast stated calmly, "is like a book you read as it is written. When you have the freedom of reading enough stories with enough time, you eventually see a pattern where things occur differently in some stories but are ultimately still the same."
"Eudes!" Their eyes swiveled to look at the Princess. "Eudes, please stop!"
The unicorn with the a shield and sword slicing through it for a cutie Mark, surprisingly, stopped.
"...Eudes" Princess Celestia said in a motherly voice, barely a whisper but still it echoed. All around them the tower had grown silent, ghosts and spirits of the undead had all stopped their motions, the ethereal glow had died as Eudes's next spell diminished also.
"Eudes", Princess Celestia said gently yet again. "Please, stop. I don't know what he told you--"
"He told me nothing, Princess. Nothing at least I have not thought by myself. How long has le grand joyau been allies to le pays de la lumière?"
After a pause, with motherly patience and equal calm Celestia replied: "Eudes, I don't know what Gladiolus has told you, but you must understand he has always seen it necessary to manipulate--"
"IT!" Eudes declared loudly with a stomp and every painting in the tower glowed brightly, casting long shadows and filling the large foyer with a cold blue light. "It" Eudes said gently in a softer volume, "takes one, to know one. Doesn't it Princess? How long have you been our hero? The Guardian of the Lowers? When I was forced to meet with the noble heads of the Council, were you not there to see the division? Prance still holds riots in its streets. You have seen the reports. You saw how little I managed to do and even more, how little the earls and barons were willing to listen.
"These ponies are the exact same ponies that revolted against you and the Lost Princess Luna all those eons back. They are the current ones the Prench wish to remove. And how did you and your sister answer that problem?"
The Princess remained silent. Floating in the air, hundreds of feet without a flap now she just hung there, watching. Eyes watching the unicorn stallion before her with a look of both sadness and disappointment.
Eudes snickered, and in doing so a single bang from his tied back, dirty oily olive and lilac mane fell across his slender muzzle. Too distracted by the Princess, Overcast took the chance and began using the tower's lull To begin moving closer to his target.
"To destroy the noble system with force, is the only way they will listen. Historians may say in Early Equestria the princesses were a tad more prone to violence but I see now that violence is the only answer sometimes when there is no other option. And you" he snorted derisively, "are stopping me from helping my own when you couldn't. How hypocritical."
At those last two words, the temperature in the room began to rise.
"You don't understand--"
"I understand" Eudes countered in equal volume, "that--"
"Silence!" The whole tower vibrated, the air itself pulsed with her scold and if it had not been for the Sticky spell Overcast had affixed to his hooves, the slide back they had just endured would have been a tumble.
"NO!" Eudes snapped back, and when he yelled the paintings began to ooze a ghostly blue mist that faded into the air. "I will NOT play these games with nobles ever again! I do not care what your past with him is, I am bringing my ancestor back no matter what! Because if they will not listen to you with your refusal to forcefully remove them from their status as our former guardian, then they Will Listen To HIM. The First Emperor!" Horn glowing, Eudes turned, eyes white with residual magic to face Overcast who now stopped.
"Your presence oddity" two voices poured from the tall pony's mouth, "is a surprise. I had figured she would have dealt with you sooner, but I see that the Light still enjoys playing with those her rays touch no matter where they crawl out of. Ever arrogant and prideful as always to believe you can handle any situation after all this time, aren't you Celestia?"
"Release him Prime!" Overcast shouted. "Do not drag your descendant through these unforgiving fires just for the sake of your return!"
"A Ender, lecturing me ?" The tall unicorn laughed and his horn rekindled with light, "such strange times I have returned to. BEGONE from my tower filth!" A beam of concentrated energy flew from the unicorn's horn, and with milliseconds till impact, both Twilight and all the others flinched just as Overcast did when his eyes began burning from the intensity of the light.
Instinct, thought, reflex, whatever it was, he casted without thinking and a dome formed instantly around him. Cracks immediately began to form and just like the others, they immediately felt a sharp pain and wetness dribble from their nostrils.
Celestia took this moment to strike, but the second she tried, hundreds of arrows were sent flying right at her by archers painted at the top of the walls.
Initially intending to just tank it, some supernatural sense in the Solar Princess' mind warned against it, so she crafted a shield and when the first array of arrows struck, they pierced through instantly.
Stunned, wincing at the feedback, Princess Celestia vanished in a flash of light before the first array could hit her.
Shutting one eye now that the Princess was gone Overcast could feel the shield fracturing from the pseudo alicorn's might as he neared. All he heard was the scream of heat and cracks forming in his shield.
"You poor pathetic fool." Primus stated with calm and a measured edge to his two voices. "To think all those millennia ago we once feared your kind, but look at you? Trapped in the body of a mortal and not even a powerful one at that or one whose body can handle true power for you to really cut loose, then again you don't really have that problem do you." The beam pulsed and the strength of the blast grew stronger causing a ache to travel up Overcast's horn, "You could force the limited into overheating and kill your host in the process but then I guess you wouldn't have a vessel anymore, would you?" Eudes smiled.
"You must -nrgh- be- mmmrh- Gladiolus Primus? Correct?" Overcast strained with a pain filled smile.
"You would be correct. Unlike you, I am spared from the nonsense of sharing my distant grandson's consciousness with his body. A slave to a mortal when your filth are seen as enders and destroyers of realms and you can't even eradicate the very thing that keeps you on a leash" Primus laughed. "Then again I sense the Elements magic has lingers over whoever you have turned into your vessel. I suppose you have them to thank for our meeting at all."
Any other unicorn shouldn't have been able to respond with this level of pain, of that Starlight, Twilight, Rarity and Sunset who were sweating from the exertion and stress bleeding off Overcast's body was sure. Sunburst's voice sprang to life in the struggle as one knee gave out and Overcast crashed to the ground. Focus! he kept shouting. We'll die if you lose even a bit of concentration, the need to focus on maintaining the cracking shield as it was hammered with attacks now by paintings also. Somehow despite this, Overcast choked out a chuckle that came between a grunt and a scoff.
"I su- suppose so."
And somehow the shield didn't instantly shatter.
The unicorn smiled. "Funny." The cracks in the dome grew larger. "I'll be sure to make a note of that on your tombstone."
Overcast chuckled, the shield continued to hold and crack but did not shatter as seconds ticked on and it became more like a shield of very broken glass. Primus, surprised by this turn of events frowned with a look of intense displeasure and in that same instant, phantom wings of energy sprouted from his back, increasing the corona on his horn from one to two.
"I don't know why she hasn't slain you already, considering you filth are the reason we can never return home, but- do not worry Ender." Primus assured gently, "I will find the name of whomever this poor individual is that you have seized under your control and I will be sure to bring praise to their name once I have taken back my kingdom, and once you are dead."
The moment he finished speaking, the shield began to finally fall apart. Pieces chipped and fell away but the front half remained as Overcast focused on it and it alone.
"Goodbye Ender. You have no idea how many alicorns daydream of this chance even if we once thought your kind to be nothing but legend. So I will say: Thank you, for at least making this dream a reality."
Boom!
An explosion of heat and wind came rushing forwards, followed by a shout of anger and through the blinding light of the beam, the searing heat that was causing him to sweat up a storm, and the dizziness he was feeling- Overcast caught a brief glimpse of Princess Celestia materialize with an explosion of wind emerging out from all around her.
The gust grew stronger and stronger and stronger with every passing second, air pressure cracked walls and paintings, wind speed blew everything away from the arrows being launched at her to the ghost Pegasus soldiers flying towards her, to eventually...Eudes and Overcast himself.
The Princess flew like an arrow straight towards the dark orange unicorn while Eudes phantom wings grew solid and he flapped madly to stabilize himself in the insane winds that had been created.
For one brief second, Overcast blacked out- and so Twilight and the others knew no more.
...Open your eyes...
They were flying.
Sore, a headache that seemed to radiate its own heat, there was the odd sense a fraction of his goatee had been burnt from the smell of charring hair and that his armor was battered in a few places.
In a quiet apologetic voice, "I'm sorry, Sunburst. You never should have had to been put through this."
And just like that, they were now Sunburst. Only the phantom feeling of pain remained but none of the real injuries Overcast had stayed.
Groaning the unicorn brought his legs in closer for more of a sense of comfort if anything else. "I wanted to be here, Princess. None of this is your fault."
"Oh but it is" Celestia said sadly. "Equestria has taken more and more of my attention since Luna's absence and I have not been able to pay much attention to the other regions that once sought my guidance. I'd known Prance would undergo a shift of some sort for a long time, I just never expected things to play out like the way they have now. To the point where it would require Equestrian intervention like this?" The Princess sighed exasperated, and Sunburst squirmed uncomfortably. Unused to hearing the Princess ever talk in such a dejected way.
"But Princess, this wasn't your fault. You didn't know- you- you couldn't!!"
"Sunburst- thank you, but--"
Another blink, another sense of numbness, another change.
"You know he's right." Overcast's voice finished for her in a weak state. "You know you couldn't have foreseen this till it was too late. For all that talk and worship of these ponies seeing you and your sister as gods, for all the ways you are this nation's maternal figure, you've -cough- come to internalize that goddess concept they have been calling you since Discord's defeat...haven't you? And because you've accepted it," he went on, "or because its shaped so much of who you are now, that's why you try to micromanage everything. Isn't it? You care, but you can't leave things you've involved yourself in alone. You have to manage it all in the shadows and let things play the way they shall with the best cards you have at your disposal. That's why Twilight and the others are watching those statues, isn't it? Because you were afraid if you couldn't stop Eudes- and somehow, your instincts ended up right- that the Seven Aides of Prime would be free from the prison the last Lunar Knight placed them in. Am I wrong?"
There was no response to that but just the gentle beat of wings. Finally, she looked at him.
It was not the look of anger one might expect from being called out. Not the loving, motherly, kind mentor Twilight knew or the symbolic god of culture that Rarity secretly worshipped; not the wargoddess that aided Commander Hurricane in stories Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had heard in old pegasus tales at Flight Camp; not the wise, diligent hardworker most sensible Earth Ponies respected with their mouths wisely shut.
No what they saw looking back at them was not the symbolic perfection the world knew her as, but something that was both familiar and hard to understand. It was defeat and acceptance, mixed into one with just a hint of surprise.
They floated like this, gliding on the upper currents of heat she had created in her earlier windstorm attack, and then after she had had a long look at the stallion she was holding in her magic- Celestia pursed her lips and turned her head away.
"Reading me just like he used to be able to." She said, eyes now looking up, watching for signs of the unicorn with wings of magic. "Just like him."
To which Overcast could only blink at a mismatched pace in confusion. "Who?" He rasped.
"When we first met" Celestia continued, ignoring the question, "I made a decision about you. Something I'm sure you picked up overtime." She said as they began to descend. "I..." she hesitated, there was this sense of delicious internal struggle that was bubbling to the surface in a cocktail of ambivalent emotions, and through Overcast, they sensed it. The emotional uncertainty behind an action . "I was wrong to judge you so quickly."
Interest piqued judging by how he hummed, Overcast asked, "and just what were you wrong about, Princess?"
She smiled, then it turned into a frown. "I told myself we wouldn't get along. Just like Discord and I don't really get along. Never truly have, maybe never will."
"I thought--"
"No. I have, I try, but I cannot forget even if I tell myself and know in my heart he has good in him. I will always feel wary of him after seeing him at his full power...just like, I cannot help but be wary of you." Saying this, she looked back to him and they met eyes for only a moment before she looked away.
"I told myself at the slightest sign you tried to hurt Sunburst or do anything untoward to my subjects, my little ponies, I would make sure you were sent to the deepest depths of Tartarus I could find- and leave you there just like we had to do for Tirek."
"...Well--"
"And" she cut in, because what was statecraft without interruptions, "I must say, I'm glad I was wrong...I- I've found that despite our differences Overcast, I've come to grow quite fond of you. And Sunburst, well, I saw to his lessons myself back when I was more free to teach in The Gifted . He would warn me someway if you overstepped the boundaries he had set for you. And if not him, Starlight would--"
"Attempt to rip out my very essence and turn it into paste once she discovered there was a soul trapped in her best friend's mind and practically taking over his life. Don't ask me how she would know even if I could replicate his quirks perfectly, she would figure it out eventually. I think that's one reason she's never liked being around me."
"Exactly."
"Such terrifying students you make Celly."
She beamed. "They have to be for what I sense might be waiting for them ahead."
Chuckling that turned into a cough, then spit, Overcast sighed. "I'm fine now Princess." In the distance a pony figure took wing and zipped off towards the skylight. "And we should hurry. We'll never stop him in time if you look over my body like an overprotective marefriend."
The snort in amusement he got was good enough to make him crack a small smile.
"Hold on tight." The Princess whispered in his ear as she brought him closer to her side. "This is going to be bumpy for you Sunburst, if you can hear me. Overcast--"
"I'll be sure to make sure you both are safe."
Flapping her massive wings, Princess Celestia turned, righted herself and then shot upwards after the twinkling blue-green star.
Upon reaching the final floor, the battle had continued anew.
Celestia and Primus who had full control of Eudes body, clashed magic instantly once in firing range of each other. Spells were traded, shockwaves created and Overcast found that he had to be literally thrown to the bridge in the enter of the last floor. The final floor, was a bridge floor. At the center of the bridge you could stare outside the skylight and see the entire landscape of Prance' s southwestern border that stretched off into the Celestial Waters.
The new addition however was the glowing rune symbols at the center of the floor, where one massive hoof print waited. Pulsing a blue-green light that pulsed in tune with the tower.
Overcast leapt in moments later, acting as an assist but still Primus despite being pushed back, maintained his standing.
"You are making a mistake Celestia."
"My mistake was allowing this tower to remain!"
"Your mistake was sending a student and her friends to do your dirty work when she found she couldn't just kill a god " Primus roared that last word more than said it.
Magical blades formed in the air, then clashed. Flying past each other blades connected and magical sparks soared. Spawning a second sword, Primus deflected the grey dagger launched at him and turned his glowing eyes to Overcast who stood in front of the mechanism that he sought access to.
With a horselike snort, Primus folded his magical avian wings, and descended, crashing into the bridge and cracking the surface of its fine floor work. Raising one blade he slashed down, instantly Overcast popped his own into existence and deflected.
Pain shot through his horn, into his skull, but he ignored this.
Primus was relentless though now. He caught sight of Celestia's support and then with one sword facing her, and one sword facing Overcast they clashed and he deftly began dueling them both. "Defeated by a Unicorn!" He said over the back and forth of their combat.
"And not even one of our own blood Celestia!" He struck for a lunge, she deflected, aimed for a stab, he deflected it. "I AM A PRINCE! To use the Elements against me, the very few remaining alicorns of your kind, and you thought. I. Wouldn't. Hold A. GRUDGE!" He yelled, each attack slamming both his blades into Overcast's and Celestia's causing painful tingles to travel up their horns. But Primus didn't stop there. Casting a spell his shadow expanded to the size of a building, and shot out tendrils of darkness towards his attackers.
Swiftly, Overcast threw a shield over him and Celestia both, and with a crack, the thorns knocked them both backwards, rolling in balls of grey energy till his headache magnified and he lost focus.
Eudes horn glowed a sickly green and in the same instant his unicorn shadow gained wings of black skeleton bones. The shadow grew eyes of purple light and with a stomp of his hoof it charged on a mass of black cloud towards the Princess and her support.
Grabbing Overcast in her magic, Celestia took to the air as the shadow construct given life lashed out, screaming a ghoulish violence.
Quickly, Primus flew to the center of the room, he landed, planted his hoof on the hoof mark imprint, and then his glowing white eyes, became a growing blue-green. "Ego sum Deus--"
"NO!" Celestia cried, slashing at the construct with a beam of pure sunlight she dashed through its open wound to the other side and sent a beam of magic towards the pseudo unicorn's body.
The beam of light that forced Primus to raise a shield a stop his ritual, the bolt deflected and went sailing off somewhere else.
Overcast, meanwhile began finishing off the reforming construct. Turning his own shadow into something of a giant with a mouth that began battling to devour the other.
"Eudes!" Celestia grimaced, "fight him, please!"
"Why don't you just kill us?!" Primus sneered.
Two beams of energy slammed into each other as alicorn and psuedo alicorn now locked each other in fatal combat. Every push requiring extreme focus and concentration. It would have been simple with a regular unicorn, but for a unicorn whose spirit was virtually bonded with an alicorn's and thus just, if not a bit more powerful due to the added magical boost?
Celestia began to sweat, Primus began to grin through his own exertion.
With a dying cry, both of their eyes turned to the edges of their perception and they watched as the shadow of a stallion limped through shadow mist towards them, teeth gritted as he tried to increase his steps. Eyes squinted, trying to see through the blinding light their beams of magic were giving off through the collision Overcast shouted, "Just hold on! I'll stun him while he's occupied and then we can put an end to this!"
To which Primus laughed even as his hooves began to skid the first inch back.
That last sentence echoed, and Overcast's eyes barely was able to catch the way Princess Celestia's body stiffened at those words.
"Twilight..."
His ears picked up. And in that moment, his eyes widened in realization.
"The statues..."
"Seven real alicorns trapped in stone" Fluttershy whispered in a voice full of horror.
"But WHY would she tell us they were golems if that was a bull-faced lie?!"
"I don't think she knew Applejack." Sunset carefully advised.
"That's not the dang point! How could she not know anyhow? She's the Princess fer Tartarus sake!"
"I think" Starlight cautiously cut in, "we're about to find out just how much the Princess really knew. "
"All seven of them...." Celestia whispered, astonishment clear in every word. "But- but I thought--"
"You thought wrong . Unlike you" the collision point shifted, Celestia was pushed back, "I made plans for my kingdom's survival should there be a threat in a way I could not foresee. I swore never again let pride blind me after I lost my birthright to those monsters. So when you sent Capella Star as a diplomat to discuss my actions" Primus spat the words in derision, "I had already laid out a plan, and began laying out the steps should anything happen to me."
"I trusted her to do the right thing when the decision was tough--"
"And what did she do?" The two voices that spilled in cold admonish from Eudes's body inquired. "She charged in and when she saw that she was not having her way, she attacked. She killed me and then she inspired what you have here. This new system that seems to be doing so well. Destroyed my body and cast my soul to Tartarus for the only crime of trying to unite both our kingdoms--"
Rage empowering her magic the collision point shifted forwarf, Primus grimaced as his hooves were skid back just a centimeter. "You gave me no choice when you refused to listen to reason even knowing my heartache after losing Luna so soon."
"I gave you every chance", Primus challenged. "Every opportunity to let me help you the moment I learned the truth."
"And I warned you to stay out of Equestrian affairs, but you didn't listen." Came the seething reply. "I told you to leave me to handle my own mistakes, to let me make things right instead of enforcing death on those that didn't agree with me, but did. You. LISTEN ?"
"And I told you" Primus returned, "I was merely offering my services since we were allies. Former allies till you severed our communications. Doing that what other sign did I need to begin gaining some ground in Equestria. To start weeding out those beneath us because you were to blind by grief to see it?"
"And I warned you to stop! " the Royal voice boomed.
"And I told you to join me, so that we may bring about a new age in Luna's absence! " Primus equally yelled back.
Seven Alicorns! Sunburst distressed. Oblivious to all but Overcast himself. Starlight, Twilight and the others, oh, oh no! But--!
"We can't leave." Came the mutter, lips barely moving.
I KNOW THAT! I w-would never dream of it! B-But the girls- the Elements! If the Aides overpower them and get the Elements--
"We will all be royally screwed and down the most powerful items that could give us a chance."
Think. What could he do to stop the spell Primus was casting that would release the Seven Aides? Could this spell even be stopped? Overcast's eyes looked around and saw nothing but pulsing light. The tower did not fix itself from within, so maybe if they could just destroy the bridge--
"It's over Celestia!" Primus and Eudes said as one as his beam visibly pushing Celestia's back. "You've lost!"
Seeing the Princess struggle against the pushback, Overcast scowled and with a glow of his horn, from Sunburst's memory, he pulled out a spell. Immediately piecing highly complex algorithms together for casting.
In that moment Primus had truly won, the collision point between his and Celestia's beam gave way, his bursting through Celestia's own ray of magic like a bullet. There was a pop like a joint being loosened and a hiss of sparks from a horn as the Princess was forced to absorb the feedback from being overpowered.
Horn flaring brighter to cast the spell faster, a dome of translucent white light expanded from Overcast's horn through his body- rushing to cover the whole bridge as Celestia's fate neared misfortune and Primus' victory was soon assured.
Star Swirl's theory of Time Fields, you actually pulled it off!
"Yes," came the tired reply. "But given my condition it won't last that long. I can feel the harmonic magic of the Elements slowly creeping through me- its only a matter of time before they restrain me again." At this statement, he winced.
Popping into existence by his side, Sunburst followed his weary taller copy's gaze.
Everything moved at a snails pace. All that had been swallowed by the dome of light covering the bridge moved several times slower their usual speed. Some, worse than others. From the ray steadily moving to hit Celestia, to the sway of her descent as she tried to regain footing, all moved slow- but it was only a matter of time before the spell completely wore off- or worse, Overcast lost consciousness.
Now what? the nervousness creeping into Sunburst's question. We have to help Princess Celestia somehow.
"We can't interact with her or Primus while they are in this state." Overcast replied as he rose back to his full height slowly. "Or anything else really except this bridge."
Of course not, Sunburst sighed a sound of defeat we'd die if we tried to come into contact with them when our chrono-measures aren't locked into the same timeframes. Worse, we'd cause a trauma-chrono feedback That could blow up ourselves and them.
"A mess either way." Winced the taller double when he moved his right front leg. "I may have one solution that will help us...but its a gamble. And it won't be pleasant."
Fearfully, with an audible gulp, Sunburst could only ask the obvious as he eyed the beam of death slowly moving towards Celestia.
What do you have planned?
"Cheating death."
Horn glowing brighter, a burst of energy flooded into his system. The energy that flooded into his bio-thauma system wiped away the feelings of soreness and discomfort, took away the sensations of pain and his headache and in rapid succession, with three flashes of his horn that enhanced his body with three spells, Overcast focused- and then the very tip of his horn glowed a dark-indigo.
What are you doing?! Sunburst the projection yelled in alarm.
"Like I said before, cheating death."
Stabbing into the air, cutting into nothing, reality gained a hole that wrapped around his horn a second later. Like knife through paper, his horn sliced through the fabric of space itself.
Eyes glowing various colors, like a weird underground DJ party, a stab of pain ran through Overcast's whole body and every muscle in him tensed as sparks of energy erupted from his fur, dancing across his body madly. Muscles seized, movement became agonizing, and when he lifted a good and leaned forward into the cut, he trembled all the way. An agonizingly slow, agonizingly painful process as he forced his magic to slice through the sheet of reality. Deeper into the rip of reality his horn went and just a couple hoofwidths away, the same puncture gradually appeared above both Primus and Celestia's standstill.
Hackles rising and fur standing on end, Overcast grunted with exertion. With glacier pace he dragged his head in a painful crawl downwards as the ray that would end the Princess neared ever closer to its target. Like a hundred thunder hornets were stabbing at his skin with their stingers repeatedly, Overcast forced his head to slide down as if it were being dragged against the very wall itself in a stalling slide that took effort and caused the muscles in his neck to burn as it did in his body.
Gritting his teeth, horn feeling terribly warm along with his forehead, Overcast drew his head down to the ground before finally pulling his horn out of the tiny dimensional incision.
Instantly, where his eyes were focused on, the same rift appeared between the beam that was slowly gaining speed as the time field spell came undone.
Stomping a hoof against the ground, the rifts widened simultaneously, and instantly two portals were created. One in front of Overcast while the other sliced through the air, crafting a barrier that stood between Celestia and the beam. The instant the two rifts were fully formed and stable, time sped back. Air pressure exploded outward from the floating dimensional gates and two alicorns were pushed away.
Much to both Primus and Celestia's surprise, as they fought to stand ground while being pushed back by heated wind the death beam meant for Celestia did not in fact find its target. It went right through the two-way rift that had come out of nowhere, and instead hit Overcast square in the shoulder as he moved to try and dodge.
Pushed back by the sheer force of the blow, Overcast stumbled backwards, stunned, then collapsed to the ground, trying to process what had just happened.
For a moment the battle paused as Primus stared at Overcast from the other end of the rift on his side, while Celestia looked in from the other. Both stunned, both just as surprised as Sunburst whom neither could really see but sensed was probably just as shocked as they.
Then the rifts closed with a bubblegum sounding pop. Gone as if they were never there.
Primus, blinking, decided right then and there he had made a mistake. Turning his head in Overcast's direction, horn ignited, he said: "I see it was a mistake to think being trapped in a mortal body would slow you down. I shall not make that mistake again."
"NO!"
A bolt of energy went forward and Celestia lunged with blinding speed to deflect it with a push of her wing.
Woozy, shoulder throbbing, Overcast chortled a wistful sound that came from his throat then actual vocalizations. He groaned in his laughter, a sound of pain and morbid amusement- sparks flickering from his horn, as he tried to focus on ignoring the ache.
"Laughing, now, of all times!?" Rainbow snapped in what clearly was frustration. "Seriously!"
"Rainbow!" Sunset barked, "Remember it's not real. This is a memory!"
"But it happened!" The Pegasus responded infuriated and desperate.
"No, it didn't."
"What do you mean, "no", Discord?" The irate Pegasus growled. "I'm watching the stall- him- bleed in front of me and you think I wouldn't--"
"This never happened, but it could have." Came Discord's cryptic reply. "Just be quiet" his voice scolding, "and watch."
Panting heavily, vision swirling, feeling a horrible ache through his entire body; more so in his shoulder, Overcast heard the sounds of combat return with Celestia's shout of fury. In and out of concentration he went, but every time he felt Sunburst try to reassert control- his alertness returned fully to force the scholar back.
In the latest attempt, as the numbness faded his body and a new numbness took over his wounded forever, Overcast felt a pressure between his eyes- like a hoof tip or bit had been pressed right above his nasal bridge, just below his horn. Faintly, he felt Sunburst stir somewhere within him and said: I thought--
"No" was the slow response followed by the mismatched eye blink. "No, I learned during my attempts to make contact with you that Elements awarded me with a small-hRM!"
Stop trying to move!
"Can't." Came the weak voiced answer. "Have to -gasp- destroy the bridge. Tell the Princess." He swallowed, grimaced, then wincing at the flare of pain in his shoulder, exhaled a shuddering breath. "...I think it was because I helped you..."
...With Tirek... Sunburst whispered back, back when he was trying to break out of my mental dimension and corrupt me to get back to his own body.
"Yes. When I saw that fight, I had to step in."
With genuine curiosity and desperation in his voice Sunburst pleaded the question why?
"Why does--" he hissed. Trying to conjure magic with a headache was terrible. How did unicorns usually deal with this? "Why does it matter? I did it because I wanted to, shouldn't that be enough for you?"
That's not how it works though! Sunburst snapped, materializing once again but still only visible to Overcast's eyes. Nopony just does something just because! This isn't some bad story written by some random colt or filly, there's always a motive or a base reason to do anything...most of the time! So tell me! The bespectacled Unicorn scowled as he pressed his nose into his double.
"..." the rust orange unicorn blinked a mismatched blink. One eye blinking then the other a second after. Sunburst could see, and the others could as well that Overcast's were bleary with pain. "You are very loud and annoying at times, you know? Can't you see I'm in agony here?"
Sparks flying from his horn, a numbness overwhelmed Overcast and the trickle of light that signified transformation began creeping up his hooves.
"You wouldn't--"
I would! If you're not going to be of any use now, there's no point in letting you stay here at all!
"You will die -- mph- if you try to join this fight with your weak body. The pain I am in will haunt you the moment we swap places, even if you--ah!"
You can't even get up!
Gritting his teeth Overcast hissed, "This is not a fight you can hope to play in by relying on magical enhancers, Sunburst. You will be slowed down for a time while my injuries haunt you- even if you don't truly gain them. I promised her I would keep you alive!"
And we'll both die if you just lay there! You haven't answered my question yet either!
"Are you really that persistent to know a simple reason as to my actions even if it was for your own benefit? Why should it matter why I did what I did?" The Overcast glared, those strange canines flashing as his lips pulled back. "What would knowing do?"
For one thing it'd give me a reason to not have to always be so concerned about every single new trick you pull, even when you're trying to help! MAYBE I could even get the Princess to help me figure out a way to help separate us so I can get back to my life, and you can get back to wherever or whatever is you were doing!
The doppelganger glare vanished.
"....Y-You would do that?"
Surprised by the sudden turn, Sunburst unsure if he even could, quickly beat the feeling away. I can try.
There was a pause. Hesitancy. Their minds were linked, just as much as they were bound- Overcast could sense the doubt- but also knew of the seriousness in which Sunburst would be willing to force him back into his mind and usurp control to see this battle through.
Already in the background, at the edge of his splitting headache, he could sense the two alicorns fighting. Clashing attacks and slamming at each other with vigor. The bridge vibrated sometimes and other times, Overcast could feel it in the air.
Licking his dry, cracked lips, the larger stallion looked over at the specter of Sunburst that hovered over him with a determined frown and narrowed eyes.
"...up until Tirek began crafting rifts in your mental dimension, you were doing decently enough. Things changed when he-- "
He chose to involve psychogenic monsters that would be stronger than me.
"Yes," Overcast answered and slowly began his attempts at getting up. "The Mindscape is what connects all minds to the Dream Realm, and is the link to one's psychological nature. When he began losing Tirek used Discord's magic to open the rifts that would allow creatures who gained strength from mental energy to enter your duel. You" Overcast breathed in deeply and then let out a shuddering breath as he grunted to a stand, wobbling on three legs, "should have lost. Your mind turned to mush or broken several times over. There should have been at least a few afflictions that corrupted your very personality, sense of self, who you are-- but you held together well very nicely if I might praise you. At least, till he started using chaos magic to try and pull out more dangerous creatures--"
And that's where you eventually came in... you sensed the mana-disarray and moved in closer. But...that still doesn't explain why you helped. If you were answering Tirek's call with the chaos magic he stole, why did you side with me? Even more importantly, what drew you out? Was it simply the chaos magic or were you really-- .
A shout drew their conversation to a stop.
"You will pay for what you have done Gladiolus!" Princess Celestia, now a alicorn of fire yelled. Encased in a giant hamster ball of crackling fire she launched like an arrow to defend against the giant sphere that Primus was encased in.
"And how exactly would you do that?" Gladiolus calmly asked when they collided. Runes and symbols along the tower glowing blue-green, tracing upwards like a sign of something being loaded.
"Face it, I've won Celestia. Accept that you have lost and I will spare you. Perhaps then you will finally see sense in my proposal."
"I will never be with someone like you."
"Pity." Gladiolus said nonchalantly, the sparks of mana flying off their pushing spheres of magic into the open floor below.
"I had thought you were smarter than that."
A resounding crack sounded as their two spheres disconnected and Overcast and Sunburst could only watch from the bridge below.
Something's happening to the Tower.
"You feel it to? This is not good then...we're running out of time."
What do we do?
"Destroy the bridge."
How?
Placing his leg gingerly on the floor, Overcast collapsed in pain, his shoulder flaring in agony.
You can't fight like this! I'm taking over!
"NO!" He groaned, "just...urg, wait... I have an idea. But you need to trust me."
Fine! Sunburst pranced in place, his nerves taking over as he watched the Princess and Gladiolus duel. Every beam she sent at the tower's structural supports stopped dead by a shield, every crash attempt countered by Gladiolus slamming into her. As their duel continued Sunburst now noticed the other things floating around and aiding Primus. The specters of the paintings had joined the fray. Launching themselves like slugfire from a pistol when the Princess moved out of striking range.
Alright! Just hurry UP! We're running out of time! he cried, chewing his lip as he watched dark blue-green energy ascend up the towers walls and towards the roof where the skylight rested.
Horn glowing faintly, corona wobbling dangerously Overcast concentrated and in a few moments, Sunburst froze.
What are you doing?
"Using you your magic to help me cast this detonation spell." a golden aura encased his horn, mixed with grey and black swirls at the edges. Closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, Overcast grimaced when he felt a moment of resistance, then- in a second it was gone.
We need to cast this spell together
When he opened his eyes, he saw Sunburst kneeling down beside him. Horn also aglow. What do I have to do to help?
"Our horns" Overcast grunted. "They must touch for us to align our algorithms to cast this. I don't have the strength to extend my distance right now."
Kneeling down beside his double, Sunburst looked up and with his magic, adjusted his glasses. The princess and Primus continued to clash while she also dispersed the specters by his side aiding him.
We should warn her...
"We don't have time," Overcast sighed. "You feel it don't you? The Tower's magic--"
--is becoming stronger. Like at any moment its going to explode.
"If we don't do this now, it will be hard to stop Primus once his Aides are free. Impossible even. Seven fully rested, able-bodied alicorns, all almost as strong as him are still alicorns that can wipe the floor with most unicorns of today. And Celestia is only one- even with the other Princesses, Twilight is not ready-"
I understand Sunburst bowed his head. Craning his neck down, his side brushing up against Overcast's, the two touched horns and the corona of Overcast's stabilized in a second.
Sparks flew, Primus laughed. He could feel it. The Tower's completion of the spell was near. He just needed a few more minutes. A little longer and everything would be over.
But then Celestia stopped her next attack, eyes turning to the bridge they had left behind.
Primus followed her gaze, his senses picking up on magic both strange and strong.
Overcast and the phantom of another pony, placed their individual hoof on the glowing horseshoe mark Primus had activated upon reaching the bridge.
"HA!" His voices echoed. "You think touching the glowing horseshoe will stop this? That mark is aligned to my bloodline and only my bloodline's magic! You can't stop this! Not in the stage it is now!"
"What are you doing?" Celestia yelled.
"Ending this."
The corona grew brighter, and as it did, a ball of crackling energy formed at the tip of the two horns. Overcast grimaced, the phantom beside him tensed, their horns gained a second glow and the ball of crackling magic no bigger than a tennis ball turned red.
Instantly, Primus' eyes widened- and with a scream that vibrated the very tower's walls he shouted: "STOP THEM! "
Pegasus warriors clad in ghostly armor rushed out of the abyss of darkness that swallowed the floors below. All converging towards the bridge.
The Princess dashed after the defenseless unicorn- and in that same instant, so did Primus to slow her down.
"I can handle the rest." Overcast whispered, his ears perking and the sound of wings all around them. "All I have to do is keep the charge and increase it steadily. Thank you for helping."
I'm not leaving. We're stuck together, remember?
A small smile touched Overcast's lips. Horn gaining a third glow, the ball grew to the size of a basketball.
A glow touched the phantom and with a pop, Sunburst the projection became physical.
"Pegasus."
"Pegasus?" Sunburst frowned, tapping his hoof against the stone to see if it was real. It felt real, but he still felt like he wasn't entirely there there . "What are you-- OH!"
Throwing up a shield a pegasus slammed into the wall of magic. Shoving the specter off who popped like gas, Sunburst set a dome around him and Overcast both as the Pegasus specters began their ariel assault.
"Maybe a little warning next time?"
Remaining completely still aside from his head raised up as he worked the spell, Overcast did not reply. The sound of the shield being pelted however did make his right ear twitch though.
"Right" Sunburst frowned, "I'll buy us some time."
Dropping the shield at the same instant as a gemstone appeared on his cape clip, Sunburst's corona brightened and then grew in size just a tad as the yellow gem affixed to his cape clip glowed also. With a telekinetic pulse from his horn, a wave of soaring javelins were blown into pieces and pushed aside by the wind.
In the distance, as Overcast concentrated on maintaining the ball of magic above his head, he could feel it. Not just the battle going on around him but that feeling that the Tower's spell was nearing completion.
Astral eyes opened while his physical eyes stayed closed and he once again felt that poke from the hostile harmonic magic that haunted him. The poke began a violent prod as he scanned the tower and watched combat unfold in all directions at once. Ignoring this, Overcast focused. The poking insistent but never becoming anything more than a nuisance at the edge of his senses.
As long as he didn't do what he had done with the rifts, it would surely let him at least do this much for a non-selfish cause.
Seeing in all directions, Overcast observed his surroundings.
There was Sunburst swatting Pegasus out of the air and defending both himself, and the physical form the Harden Spell had granted.
He could see Princess Celestia once again locked in combat with Primus. Could feel the vast difference in magical might between the two and Sunburst and could see that with every passing second, Primus was growing stronger as Eudes too changed and became something closer to what a alicorn could be.
Tuning his senses towards the magic of the tower, Overcast saw the flow for what it was. The creepy feeling that had been assaulting Sunburst and had kept the Princess on edge since entering the tower now revealed itself. Hundreds of signatures, pieces of hundreds of lives were a part of this tower. The strongest being Gladiolus Primus himself and the most noticeable of all was the piece of his own signature that lived in this tower also. It flowed from every wall and he could sense from the pulse in the bridge just under his frog that this tower had been given some form of life. It worked towards a goal and that goal was to please its creator. Its emperor, the true lord of the Prench.
Overcast felt the magic flow towards a focal point: the skylight. He could see sigil, markings cut into the glass itself where normal eyes could never see. Closing his astral eyes, all senses returned to normal, physical eyes were opened.
The sphere of volcanic red light was now the size of a wagon wheel. It crackled, sparkled, and hissed with electric energy.
All he had to do was unleash it.
"Princess!"
At the edge of his senses, past the dull aches that had been diminished with Sunburst's help, he knew she was watching.
That they were all watching.
He didn't say a word. The simple look in his eyes was enough.
Before anything could be done, like squeezing a trigger. Like pitching or throwing a ball, Overcast let go of the magic that wanted to be released.
The ball of energy above his head, hovering over his horn collapsed into the size of a bit. A pressure built up behind his eyes, in his head, causing him to grit his teeth as the very bones in them vibrated- and just before it popped a blood vessel- Overcast focused it.
Like electricity the ball let out a screech of static, expanding rapidly in all directions, attacking all its surroundings in precise points unlike true electricity. The supports. The walls, the ghosts, the bridge. Everything was attacked and while the tower itself held protection, the specters did not. The thirty that circled like a swarm were popped on contact, turned to spiritual gas in seconds, none of them reforming or reviving.
Shields that protected the support structures cracked as lightning ravaged it. Red bolts striking repeatedly yet failing to fully break through. A bolt of red lightning soared towards the alicorns and Celestia moved as it rushed to meet her.
She didn't even have to. It went around her, straight for Primus.
The tower shook suddenly and without warning, the shields shattered and the cracked supports groaned as they were assaulted; specters shrieked in rage and Primus whinnied in agony as the red lighting thoroughly violated the tower's interiors and held nothing back upon its contact with the pseudo alicorn. Walls were charred and scorched with lines that followed the lightning's destructive path, and dust billowed out. As if sharing in Primus' anger more ghostly warriors flew up, then dove down like arrows straight for Overcast and Sunburst. Several were popped by the magical bolt on its destructive path through another support pillar, the remainder were popped by several bolts from Celestia's horn.
"THIS ISN'T OVER!" Came Primus' call from everywhere all at once. "YOU ARE TOO LATE!"
Unable to reply, for concern of the magic turning against them, Overcast focused the writhing mass of magic on the bridge he stood on. In a instant Sunburst's material form vanished and a second later the bridge shook and groaned as it too suffered harm.
Behind him the circular massive glass window that gave a view of Prance's coastline flashed blue-green and a second later so did the whole tower.
Surprised at the near completion of the ritual in spite of the harm, Overcast heard cackling from above even as the red lightning continued to inflict pain on Primus, the pseudo alicorn merely cackling in all manners of a maniac.
Reserves rapidly depleting, Overcast did the only thing he could thing of- he overcharged the spell- and let it go wild.
Like a hundred serpents there was a loud hiss, and a painful sense of exhaustion that immediately took hold. Blinded by the glaring red light, the aches, pains and sores returned to his body with a new force and his vision tilted dangerously as the room swirled.
"STOP!" He barely heard Celestia cry over the noise.
The tower shook violently, blue-green light pulsed and flickered from everywhere even as rubble fell from all around its chipped and damaged regions. There was a long, vibrating groan that travelled up the entire Tower, as Overcast directed the chaotic red lightning to lash out upon everything. Hoping Celestia did the smart thing and simply raised a shield, he cut loose.
Rubble peppered from all around and the skylight was struck again and again till it finally cracked, damaging whatever sigils had been engraved into it.
Yet without hesitation- they all felt a intense spike of energy. Like a dam being burst open. The blue-green became white light, and the whole tower flashed with it.
Dazed, reeling as the Tower lashed back- Overcast heard happy laughter as his exhaustion caught up to him. The spell becoming weak, but no less energetic lashed out.
It was in that moment Overcast knew. The Tower would persevere no matter how hard he or any of them hit it.
Drained, the bridge teetering, the spell sensing the weakness of its caster, turned around and now attacked Overcast. Screaming in agony as he was shocked into submission, Overcast flailed. He writhed madly in agony, howling in pain and then once his horn gave out from his exhaustion- releasing a sickening Smokey scent, he collapsed completely. Body too worn to move. A feature of the physical body he doubted he would ever get used to.
The bridge no longer in a good state, lost half of its structural flooring. Like a puzzle pieces fell down into the dim light where lower floors existed. And as one piece collapsed near Overcast's body, he could do nothing but weakly blink and watch as the flooring at his lower half gave way.
Muscles twitched and Overcast merely watched. Sunburst flashed into existence right then and there, reaching out to grab his doppelganger- but his teeth gnashed the air as he missed and Overcast capsized.
Down, through the tower Overcast fell, the wind lapping all around him. He flipped like a coin flipped in the air. Colors and things swirled all around him but he was barely conscious to register any of it. He sensed magic ignite somewhere else, faint but powerful.
And then he closed his weary eyes. Knowing no more.
Muttering.
Mumbling.
Bumbling.
Overcast...
Muttering. Bumbling. Mumbling.
Someone was speaking to him.
Overcast!
He stirred. Life returned to limbs and the muscles twitched.
Limbs? He had a body? Wait... Body....Sunburst...
Yes! Wake up! No, no, no, no! Don't lose consciousness again!
Sunburst.... "What happened?" Said a voice he did not recognize.
I don't know... It's been six hours since you were passed out I can't swap with you because I don't want Starlight or the others to know--
"I've caused you trouble" he croaked in the same barely audible voice.
I-Its fine, please. You have to stay up, I'm worried about what's happened.
Groaning he heard a new voice come rushing to his side. "You're awake!"
Overcast hissed through grit teeth as he involuntarily flinched. Cracking open his eyes, light burned him forcing him to quickly shut out the blobs and blur.
"Oh dear!" Said the stallion's light voice. "I am so sorry. Please try to take it easy I didn't mean to startle you."
Ears twitching, Overcast only now registered the sound of the heart monitor beeping at his side.
"A...hospital?" He hoarsely asked. Eyes slowly adjusting he began piecing together his surroundings. As his vision adjusted, he found that he really was in a hospital bed. The medical bay to be exact, a private one it seemed.
"Nurse-"
"Sweet Plum" said the lilac unicorn mare with a soothing, sympathetic smile. Overcast see from the state of her mane to the bags under her eyes, Sweet Plum hadn't slept in hours.
A nauseating feeling told him there was a larger reason for that.
"Here." A plastic water bottle with a straw was levitated towards his muzzle. Opening his mouth slowly so as not to further irritate the cracked skin around his muzzle and the blisters he felt around his body Overcast drank mouthful, swallowing large intakes till the bottle was completely empty. Left only with the sucking sound of his straw.
"I'll get you some more. You just rest here. Another nurse is waiting right by the door if you need anything." Nurse Sweet Plum sweetly whispered. "You just take it easy. We're heading back to Equestria and we'll be able to get you some better aide."
It took a second for all the words to register in Overcast's head. But when they did ring a bell, he called to Sweet Plum who paused just at the door on her way out.
"You said...we were leaving, Prance?"
Hesitantly, smile fading just a little, Sweet Plum nodded.
Eyes narrowing, Overcast demanded: "why? What happened?"
"Please, I don't think you--"
"Nurse Sweet Plum." The former said patiently. "...please..."
The Nurse looked at the door, considered her options, looked at Overcast, then her ears pinned to her head.
Oh, no
"After um, Princess Celestia brought you back- she went to go help Princess Twilight and the Ladies. There was some sort of big fight that started and..."
"And what?" Unaware his voice had even cracked at the question.
"And...Princess Twilight, Lady Pinkie, Lady Rarity, and Lady Applejack were killed by alicorns from the site. They...they were vaporized."
The heart monitor began to beat just a little faster.
"Please please stay--"
With a flash of grey and black- Overcast was gone.
Stumbling. It was better to say he stumbled.
Overcast stumbled forward while Sunburst's shadow followed him. The latter seeped tears, a sound that echoed in his mind and only furthered the anger and sense of sadness that was crushing his spirit. It was like a weight had been set on a feather and was trying to undo it completely.
Overcast, unsure entirely of how to deal with these complicated feelings stumbled towards the deck of the airship. Hoping to see for himself the truth.
"Sir, you should be in bed!"
"I'm quite fine" rasped the limping rust orange unicorn. "Please move."
"Sir-"
Impatient, a glow of his horn, the stallion's eyes flashed and then they became heavy before he collapsed asleep.
Stepping over the three guards Overcast moved quickly, glad for the numbing spells that kept the pain at bay.
Stiff yet determined, Overcast climbed the watch tower. A spiral staircase was a challenge for one injured but however long he had slept had done wonders for his magic reserves. Blinking three times, Overcast scaled the Princess Pike, and reaching the top, looked over the horizon.
Prance was miles away, but to his eyes, it was like they were just leaving.
Smoke billowed outwards from the Tower towards the evening sky, and Overcast saw nothing but destruction.
Hundreds of specters marched forward. All wearing the armor of Prime, wearing his ensemble, a golden flower that radiated its own light. In the sky Pegasus flew over the streets bearing his crest, chasing after soldiers and military; down on the streets below ponies cheered as a a battle took place above the sky.
But something greater caught his eyes.
Three alicorns and Primus traded blows with Princess Celestia. The three alicorns flew in a loose formation yet covered each other's attacks against the Princess. Strike after strike after strike, each one followed after the other. In single-hoof combat they wouldn't have stood a chance, but together.
He watched as the Princess was beaten, chucked through the roof of one building while a now taller Eudes flew after her with the other three alicorns at his side.
A streak of light caught his eye that hit Gladiolus head on.
Rainbow Dash Sunburst gasped, feeling his heart thump with hope and pride Overcast ignited his horn--
"And where do you think you're going?"
And the magic poofed, drained from around him before he could make the jump.
"Starlight, now isn't the time."
"Now is exactly the time." She said coldly, though he didn't need to turn to look at her. He already knew what her expression was.
In the back of his mind, Sunburst's weeping intensified.
"You're not going back there."
"And you intend to stop me?"
The silence was answer enough. The feeling of magic behind him, powerful magic, was a greater warning.
"If I have to, yes. The Princess said to take the remaining Elements and run."
"Remaining?" His eyes widened.
Turning back to the fight ahead, Overcast focused back on the battle.
To his horror, he watched as the blur of rainbow was chased by two spells from two different alicorns, one a autumn red, the other a sunny yellow. Their spell bolts followed the pegasus till explosion when they finally couldn't catch her and just when she thought she was clear- Overcast watched her get zapped to the ground by a third member of the seven.
Down Rainbow Dash went. Her coat charred, her skin bubbling. She disappeared over the horizon of a building. A pink contrail zooming off after her battered body.
A moment later, the seventh member following after.
"Overcast", Starlight's voice said now by his side. All hostility, all anger, all the pressure of her magic gone. "STOP watching" she advised gently. His ears perked when he heard her swallow the growing lump. Then in a quieter voice that got ever closer she said:
"It'll be easier if you stop and focus on what we can do. What we can control to fix this problem. The princess said those alicorns--"
"Are Gladiolus' most trusted allies, Starlight." He replied, eyes never leaving the Princess' valiant efforts. "Watching them fight is like watching two experienced dance partners sync their movements without even the slightest sign or signal. They know each other well . And if she dies" both him and Sunburst thought as he said, "if he wins this- it will be impossible to stop him. Even worse, Discord-"
"Is gone."
His ears wilted.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Four days... The girls were killed the day you and the Princess came to the sight when the statues were reacting.
"You were a mess" she whispered.
"And the girls?" He said uncaring of his own condition.
"Twilight and I put up a fight, but..." He heard her swallow that lump again.
He looked.
An eye covered by a patch, half her face shaved where ointment covered the charred and sensitive skin, mane partially shaved in half, and bandages covering her chest and various parts of her body- Starlight smiled weakly. The skin stretching tight, and the bruise on her only visible eye making her look sicker than they had ever seen her.
"I see..." He whispered. She looked away.
He looked back. Watched as the body of Eudes advanced on the Princess while three alicorns circled above them like birds of prey.
"Overcast..."
He ignored her. He needed to see this. She could obliterate the whole of Prance with a thought but she was holding back.
You know why! blubbered Sunburst.
And he did. It was her greatest weapon, and her greatest weakness.
He watched. Primus neared. Celestia, staggering to her hooves steadied herself, then fired off a beam.
Primus countered. It lasted like this for seconds. And every second as they grew further away, his horn sprayed sparks at the internal conflict within him.
Starlight's magic returned, no doubt ready to stop him.
There was no way off the ship. No way to intervene as injuries as he was.
The collision point slowly pushed back towards Celestia and he could see her struggle.
"What happened to Discord?"
"Overcast..."
"Starlight. What. Happened. To Discord? "
"...When he found out Fluttershy, and Twilight had died the day after the Seven Aides awoke, Discord...just left. We thought he would help us but... He just...laughed, then he was gone. Haven't heard from him since. And we don't have time to look for him."
Overcast merely nodded. And then watched as threw beams joined one, and Celestia was overwhelmed in a explosion of heat, wind, smoke, and light.
Eyes staring for a long time, he didn't move. Nothing moved.
He looked away, staring at the sky...
Then Overcast blinked.
He was back in the Tower.
With a thud, he landed on the bridge.
What are you doing? Snap out of it! Sunburst shouted.
Realizing what was to happen, Overcast conjured a blade and instead lashed out instantly the moment those words echoed in his ears.
Primus parried a second almost too slow, Eudes reflexes heightened to extraordinary degrees. At the edge of his senses Overcast could sense it. The magic of the tower working with the magic of Primus.
Swinging and thrusting, he was parried almost every way, managing only a few strikes here and there but nothing fatal, all superficial. The only good thing was that he was pushing the stallion back.
To his horror, that was false. As a beam came from Celestia's horn in support, Overcast watched as Primus rose a shield, grounded and unable to move. The Tower, sensing his distress, reacted.
The blue-green horseshoe became slip forward like a lead over moving water. It rushed towards Primus' location. Catching Overcast off guard.
Horn sparking he zapped at the bridge's ground. Trying to puncture a hole or use null magic to possibly drain the shoe of its effect.
It dodged him all the way and in the end reached Primus' hoof. The second it touched Eudes' frog, the unicorn turned to alicornhood flickered a golden light and his gold shield with the flower being severed by the cutlass also glowed as he did.
Primus laughed, a sound of excitement and Overcast knew the process was beginning.
Eyes widening in realization- Overcast's eyes dilated, pupils widening. He blinked and then--
The Princess lay at his hooves dying. Sunburst, now physical, pressed his nose into Celestia's neck, nuzzling her with tears in his eyes and his glasses getting in the way. Celestia smiled weakly, the dark magical wound in her stomach spreading further, destroying her body.
The Princess' were thought incapable of death, but he knew if she died- if her body was destroyed, she would be reborn. Just not soon enough when they needed her now .
He looked away, looked ahead, then blinked.
Soaring overhead, staring at the crater where the stallion stood, seven alicorns circled him and Primus, confidently said:
"You can't win this Ender. Just accept your fate."
Overcast looked behind him, saw the paralyzed, slumbering bodies of his allies, and his heart ached for them.
"So be it."
The world became light as eight alicorn horns ignited and fired.
Eyes watching death approach, Overcast's pupils dilated as the light became unbearable--
He blinked.
Hundreds of specters poured out towards them, answering the Tower's groans and grumbles as it crumbled. Overcast watched as he, Sunburst, and Celestia were swarmed.
Primus' laughter echoed far above up on the bridge. At the edge of his senses, he felt the tower's magic peak.
He blinked.
The tower's skylight exploded with force and out shot two dots as they zoomed westwards.
Overcast held firmly to Princess Celestia as she dodged and weaved through potshots in the air from the fleeing alicorn.
In the distance a tower with black glass, flashed white and Overcast sensed the magic from it peak.
Aiming, he fired, and managed to clip one magical wing on the fleeing fake alicorn.
Down Primus went, still heading in the direction of the gold building. With a flash of light a bubble grew around him and when he slammed through branches and trees, he broke threw. Landing, now with only one magical wing, Primus took off on ground straight for the tower at terrible speeds.
In mere moments they could see the ship that had departed with Twilight and the others, the same glow emanating from the tower, also emanating from the entrance.
Bulldozing straight through the walls with his hamster-ball like shield it popped and when the two pursuers landed they saw him bolt for the statues as a confused Twilight and others watched with mild-concern and all the alertness.
"STOP HIM!"
It was too late, the moment his hoof touched one of the steps to the stage where the seven statues glowed, Primus was engulfed in the same white light as they were.
Just before all were blinded by white light, Overcast blinked.
Sunburst watched in horror as Princess Celestia pricked her hoof, the frog bleeding, the four claws of two headed monstrosity waiting.
"Once the shake is done You shall have your fun. Primus shall now lose his seat. Your soul, now ours to treat. With strength you have, Enemies shall fall at your path."
"With your plight Reborn now as vengeful light. We give you grace, power, speed, So that you may finish this deed."
"Reborn anew, Surely due, Daybreaker shall be your name. Let it be your new fame."
Horn glowing, Overcast flexed his will and the restraints holding him were broken. "STOP!"
Princess Celestia looked back, her mane no longer flowing, her tail semi-physical. There were bags under her bloodshot eyes, she looked exhausted, weary, a mess-- and she regarded both the only two ponies that had followed her down here with a small apologetic smile.
"I have to do what is right. With the Elements gone and Primus and his Aides muscling my allies against me, I need more power that could rival his own now that I have heard he has found two new Bearers for Magic and Kindness."
"But- Princess" Sunburst frightfully stammered. "P-Please, rethink this!! You can't!"
"I've thought long enough about this day Sunburst. It's time I help my little ponies before he truly wins."
"...Is that your final answer?"
Princess Celestia paused. "Yes."
Dejected, Overcast shook his head. "Another failure."
On to see the next possibility. The next chance. The other alternative.
And so He blinked...
You'll never beat me. My Mark inspires victory and that is something you can never change for destiny is on my side, so I have won, and always will win. I always win in the end, Ender. Not even you or Celestia could change that. Not even the Lunar Knight could stop me from escaping true death and eternal rest. Whether indirect or personal, I always win the fights I have thrown at me, or the fights I start.
Vision blurred, Overcast squinted through the haze of forms as darkness edged closer over his eyes.
"We'll -cough- see about that..."
One horn glowed. A telekinetic grip wrapped over him applying painful pressure.
The darkness edged closer.
He blinked...
Heart pounding, thumps echoing in his ears, Overcast felt reality come rushing with adrenaline to meet him as he felt Celestia drop him to the bridge below.
Every move is important now.
What happened? Sunburst called. What's going on why are you so nervous? What's happening?!
He ignored Sunburst's question. And with a thud, Overcast landed on the bridge, galloping forwards towards Primus he conjured two blades of pure magic. They clashed, a metallic hiss and magical sparks flew through the air around them. Pulling his blade back and conjuring another, Overcast struck with two at different sides.
Again, he was parried.
Every thrust, every slash easily blocked. At this point he was merely following the motions. It was useless to try and stab at him, Primus had overcome the infinite duels they had before this in different alternate realities, in different whens, where's, and in the real world, in the present he would most likely overcome this too. Muscle memory had grown from every timeline he had experienced that started out this duel but through every timeline he had come no closer to besting Primus in close quarters. It was a delay, a chance to think up alternative options, pushing his mind to move at speeds that Sunburst would not entirely be able to process resulting in his own mind just filtering out Overcast's thoughts like they usually did unless either one of them willed the other to listen.
With a thrust, Overcast stabbed and fell forwards on the dodge, followed by Primus with a back swing that forced Overcast to swivel offensively on all four hooves to parry. The move was a mistake.
Unable to move quickly enough to move back a few steps Overcast stumbled, and Primus took the opportunity, aiming for the throat on his swing forward--
Metal clashed with a metallic clang and Celestia glared silently as her polearm blocked the blade's path to Overcast's throat.
The moment stunned him. Time almost slowed as the Princess of the Sun's burning ethereal mane and tail, illuminated wings and cold infuriated eyes seemed to cast a shadow of light that pushed away the chilling cold blue-green light that was responding all around them.
Then time picked back up. The double sided spear snapped in half just like it was supposed to and Celestia aimed a swing down that forced Primus to retreat his advantage.
Overcast collapsed on his rump, breathing heavy.
"Are you alright?" Celestia asked, landing in front of the unicorn, her eyes kept on Primus who checked the small cut on his cheek.
"Y-yes," Overcast heaved just as Sunburst sighed with a projection of himself to match his relief. "Thank you Princess."
Tia did not reply. She merely clicked her spear back together, and advanced towards Primus. "...He's aiming for you... I need you to be ready--"
Primus launched towards them, gliding, barely touching the ground, a blade ready to crash down in his next assault.
A burst of wind played with his mane and both Overcast and Sunburst could do nothing but watch as Celestia moved to counter. There was a metal clang, and the two began dueling. Primus swinging two long swords, Celestia using a double sided spear, connected by chain.
We have to do something! If he's aiming for you then let me go help!
The words leaped to his tongue but stopped at the roof of his mouth. Time and time again Sunburst would ask and he had denied him, allowed him in the moment, or the mental projection of his host once made physical would leap in at an inopportune time when excitement overcame him. But this, a slip-up in combat that hadn't turned detrimental almost instantly after?
This was new.
He hadn't seen any of those that turned good. But what if- what if trying to control the madness, was going about this all wrong?
With a bit of concentration and some effort, the image of Sunburst only he could see became physical. Illusion made reality. Sunburst flashed into existence in a nanosecond and the moment he did, he turned to watch the fight.
"What do you plan to do?"
"I have no idea, but I'll come up with something on the fly."
These words gave Sunburst obvious pause as he turned to look at Overcast with incredulity. But, he felt the seriousness in those words, could sense the devotion in Overcast that this was going to end one way or another. The grit that he would see their deaths than see this end in failure.
It gave Sunburst pause. "Overcast...what happened when we were flying up here? You went silent after talking to the Princess, what's wrong? Why do you feel so...scared?"
He snorted. Fear? Impossible.
"It's not impossible," Sunburst sighed, turning his attention to the fight ahead as he pulled back his cape and dug a hoof in to pull out a necklace with three identical gems. "I'm...I guess, surprised. I didn't think you could feel real emotions." Was the sincere remark.
It silenced the sense of annoyance at the suggestion of being afraid and was replaced with surprise at the genuine cutting remark. Albeit, that surprise was quickly stomped down. Sunburst glanced at his doppleganger who slowly rose and said nothing, keeping his grey eyes focused on the fight ahead.
"What do you plan to do?"
Sunburst glanced up, or at least as up as his head would allow him. "Buy the Princess and you some more time."
"Meaning?" The other inquired with a hint of annoyance that Sunburst was sure he wasn't just imagining.
"Meaning I'm going to be a sharp shooter." At this the gems resting on his chest glowed. "I can keep my distance and make sure I can provide you back up where needed. Besides, if I get hit, you'll feel the feedback. Better we're not together."
He didn't say anything. It was a fair point anyway. Whatever the Elements had done to subdue his magic and bind him to this Scholar it would be better they stayed at a distance when doing this. Thinking this by the time he was about to consent, Sunburst was already galloping down the bridge and shooting at Primus, giving the Princess timed moments at random which she used to follow up with a press in advantage.
Till a shadow caught Overcast's peripheral.
Pegasus!
Sunburst whipped his head to the location in surprise just as the specter came flying towards him.
Horn glowing, the specter popped as grey-black magic sandwiched the poltergeist with a slam. I'll take care of the pegasi, focus on Primus!
Nodding Overcast turned his attention back to the fight-- only to be shaken when the whole bridge shook with a sudden force. Turning on a dime, he watched as the two alicorns collided on the bridge. The collision broke with both backing away and Primus sending out a spell that was deflected.
Shadows blocked the skylight as Overcast eliminated specters with his conjured bladed while Sunburst took out specters from afar to cover him. A blur of seconds or a few minutes might have went by but the turning point came when he saw the Princess take to the air and stab at two specter guards, while Primus took the advantage and sent a blast of magic pointed in Celestia's direction, zooming towards her to deal a knockout blow- that she countered with a beam of her own.
No Overcast snarled. The sign that things were bound to get worse was that coronal beam-lock. Every single instance had led to something terrible. He had to break it somehow.
"Sunburst! Can you get a lock on him from where you are?!"
The response he got was the flash of light.
It seemed the Tower however was going to make certain he couldn't intervene.
Specter guards flowed from the depths in groups of twenty and dove to attack. Blocking Sunburst like a wall. Overcast, now enraged by the circumstances, charged forward only to have the circling crowd of winged specters charge at him.
Blades conjured he pushed on. Stab, slash, blast, he ducked under swoops, leaped over spears and bounced of specter bodies with his hooves where they crumbled into gas. The onwards charge forward slowed with every new group he was confronted till he was eventually surrounded with the Princess in the distance pushing in a hard effort against as Primus was.
Horn flaring to life from sheer frustration, Overcast raised his head and channeled a wave of energy out his horn. It spread out like fire and consumed the specters above and around him and without haste, feeling just a bit closer to being exhausted he pushed forward and was met with another blockade. Again he performed the same spell. Again he was blocked and this time archers were sent to attack, so again he cast the spell that burnt all spiritual obstacles in its path.
That nagging tug of harmonic energy knocked on in his head and already he knew the migraine would be coming soon to impede him further.
Just as he was about to cast a spell and hurl it at Primus, a specter slammed into him from the side, then another sandwiched him on the flank, then a third and a fourth and a fifth and sixth collapsed around him. All applying pressure to keep him off balance, pushing and shoving him to keep him from gaining stability.
Ears perking at Primus' laugh, Overcast looked to the Princess and watched as the beam slowly pushed towards her. It wasn't much, but it was a sign. This couldn't go on forever. This had to end. He had to end this somehow. Someway. He had to .
"PRINCESS!" he cried out, horn throwing sparks as he pushed against the ones restraining him. "DO YOU TRUST ME?!"
She couldn't look at him, if she looked at him it was over. Overcast, mouth barely agape watched in silent petrification as the seconds ticked and the push and shove continued, eyes focused solely on the beam as it inched at a glacier pace in Celestia's direction.
"...yes" he barely heard her whisper. "I do."
She smiled just a little.
He hesitated. He didn't know why he was hesitating. It was easy, simple. Cast tbe spell and everything would be over. The more time he wasted, the more the stakes rose. There was a horrible pressure somewhere in his body, the place where a heart might be and a lump in his throat that felt uncomfortable and hard to swallow.
Overcast charged his horn and in the distance he heard Sunburst shout "WAIT! What are you planning?!"
The doppleganger blinked, his grey eyes narrowed, and reaching for his magic, Overcast's corona doubled, tripled, crackling with purple, black, and grey energies with a mixture of various colors.
"STOP HIM!" Primus yelled, desperation clear. The Tower vibrated and to his command a hundred shadows rose from the depths and rushed towards the entangled unicorn.
Overcast snarled in pain as his light headache suddenly increased to a migraine, pushing through it he dug deep and found something- a source of power that fed into his magic. Drawing on it he pieced together a flame of purple, then released a blast of magic towards the wave and every specter turned to butterflies.
To his surprise, the harmonic magic didn't lash out instantly within him. The headache did not magnify but stayed consisted, his body did not burst into static discharge to restrain his movement, whatever he had just found as a source to boost his magic it seemed Harmony would allow him to use it. If only for now.
Before Primus could shout another command, Overcast kicked, dislodged himself from his captors and with a nod forward as he fell backwards, he landed with a grunt and with insane speed as he dug into this knew well of strength that fueled this odd sensation of pain in his chest he crafted a ball of magic. Lobbing that ball of pure chaos right towards the center of the beam, it streamed forwards.
Primus screamed, Celestia watched in concern and uncertainty, and Sunburst stared in horror as all the specters rushed to block the ball. If their attempts did anything, it just added butterflies to the swarm.
The ball of magic touched the center of the beam, popped, and for a moment nothing happened.
For one brief second, sparks flew from his horn as everything in the tower froze and he collapsed to the ground. In the instant that silence fell, Overcast wished he could rewind time, stop himself from using the spell he had just cast.
But it was too late.
A ball of light blossomed from nothing, like a visible black disk that radiated light the ball sent feedback of black static to both alicorns. Primus was struck at the same time as Celestia and instantly his concentration was destroyed. He collapsed, sputtering, eyes bloodshot, dazed and Celestia followed shortly, collapsing, hacking as black static crackled across them both. The disk didn't cease, it pulled at them, tugging on them, yanking repeatedly on the static discharge that trailed their bodies till the static became two separate strings that crackled and connected the disk to the alicorns.
"What did you do?" Sunburst asked mesmerized.
No answer. Just silence. For the first time in existence" Overcast found that he could not watch this unfold.
His eyes shifted, jaw tensed, gaze turned downwards, but his ears remained alert.
Primus laughed a bitter wheezing sound, and then said "What did I tell you!" He crowed loudly for all to hear. "Once a Ender, always a Ender!"
The dark vacuum between the alicorns glowed white on its outer ring and before Sunburst could voice his concern at Primus' statement the two Alicorns suddenly dropped, unconscious, silent and the disk that had pulled the static into itself expanded with a screech and howl before it too erupted into flames that burned itself out of existence.
The tower rumbled immediately, the butterflies froze, specters turned simultaneously to look at the two unicorns then everything from the butterflies to the specters turned into blue-green dust that faded with the tower's pulsing light before everything went deathly still and cold.
Sunburst- stunned and blinking to regain his vision, rubbed his eyes before adjusting his glasses. He walked first to inspect what had just happened. He moved past his double whom he could sense was feeling a cocktail of confusion, a mixture of emotions he wasn't sure he wanted to understand right now because understanding meant that Overcast had just done something unthinkable.
Carefully, he checked the Princess's still form.
"...Sun and Moon" the scholar gasped in horror, then looked at the motionless Eudes who no longer looked like an alicorn but a unicorn. "Y-You killed them!?!?"
They all blinked. Twilight, Starlight, Sunset, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Applejack, Discord, Spike- they blinked as the light faded their vision and the tinted grey left their sight to return color back into the world.
"Girls" Fluttershy gasped, "look!"
There he sat, staring at them in his broken, battered form. The dented armor, the bruises, the cuts, the burnt hairs that came from contact with raw energy. The bags under his eyes.
For a moment everyone froze, stunned. Then Discord moved his talon digits together--
"Whatever you are about to do, it won't work" said the battered unicorn. Overcast's image flickered, like a projection going unstable his image flickered then shifted briefly from a his battered state to a cleaner form before swapping back.
"What's going on here...." Sunset questioned carefully.
"My message has been delivered. The final message was to show you all this."
"Why?" Starlight asked with a lot less hostility than her usual meetings with Overcast had went.
"Because that was always the aim. You have questions. Sunburst can't answer them all. I can, because I had the means at the time" again his image flickered, this time he became a deer- again he swapped back.
"Why are you doing that?" Pinkie asked.
"Doing what?" He flickered, image changing to a dragon then swapping back to the battered unicorn.
"...that" Rainbow Dash whispered, earning stares, stares she ignored as she looked at him. "Cast..." Her melancholy turning sour she glared, "how do we know you aren't tricking us?!"
To that he looked at Discord. Again his image flickered, this time he was a Diamond Dog before he changed back.
The draconequus chose to ignore the obvious staring he could feel in his direction. A red dot appeared on his lion paw as he filed it and then began to leave the scent of burning hair.
"Ow!" He hissed and then dunked his paw into the lemonade pitcher on the table. "Phew! Close one right?"
"Discord!" All except Overcast shouted.
"UGH! Fine!" He turned to shoot a glare at specific unicorn. "He isn't lying. There was never once any attempt at meddling with any of your minds through the whole process, I would have ended the spell if there was, there ! Happy?"
Twilight turned, looking at the zebra that now stood before them with a knotted mane that covered his eyes. "I... I don't know what to say" her expression a mixture of emotions, and looking to the girls there was no immediate help.
At least till Applejack said "Except, if you really could have cast that spell before- why didn't you do it from the beginning? Why did you wait till then to use whatever that was?"
"It's not that simple."
"Really?" Green eyes narrowed.
The projection sighed. Becoming a Minotaur. "Really." The now-Pegasus frowned as green eyes looked into his grey.
There was silence for a long pause here as farmer and dimensional hologram from beyond showed off in a staring contest, Applejack pulling a signature solid ten level glare that was backed by Pinkie's silent questioning raised brow and augmented in drama as Discord continued to file his talons nonchalantly while both of his ears worked a miniature speaker and recorder in the air to get all of this more clearly.
"Hmph" Applejack snorted then looked away, Pinkie joining her after a second as their attention to the group was returned.
"So...?" Rainbow Dash let the question hang.
Pinkie and Applejack glanced at each other and then AJ sighed. "It doesn't seem like he's lying. I can't feel anything from him, as far as I can tell he's been 100% honest with us."
"And my Pinkie Senses aren't acting up at all either." Pinkie gently added. "I think he's finally come clean here girls."
"Discord?" And just as Spike turned his attention to Discord, he paused to watch one of his ears cram a microphone back into Discord's head before settling back on the right position.
"Uhhh, right. Um, what do you think?"
"Me?" Discord enquired. "Why?"
Spike shrugged. "I...I don't know. It looks like you two seem to know somethings about each other we don't. So, if anything I thought you might have something to add or say about this. He did trick you also, y'know."
"Trick me ?" Discord laughed. "Oh Spikey-Wikey", the young dragon smacking his talon away as it neared his cheek, "no one tricks the trickster." He proclaimed with a proud medal appearing with the title.
" Except us when we beat you the first time--"
"What was that Twilight?"
"Nothing."
"Oh. Well, good" Discord blinked then grinned. "Of course, if you really want my input- he's not lying."
"But how do we know he didn't do something to you also?" Fluttershy gently prodded.
"HahahaHAaaa!" Discord giggled. "Impossible my dear Fluttershy."
"And why ever would that be dear? Tirek--"
"Took my magic, which, I might add- would have eventually returned to me....just not in any time soon enough to stop him. So, yes, while for a moment I briefly understood how absolutely terrible it is to be...well no offense to any of you but, mortal--"
Many eyes rolled, only Twilight huffed in annoyance.
"--I can assure you, he doesn't have the power. No one in the world could corrupt the Spirit of Chaos. No item is powerful enough to. Not even the Elements. The only one that can do that here, is me, to myself.
Which gave pause. Before Discord continued, "At least I think" he considered. "Why change what's already better than perfect right?"
"Your opinion, Discord?" Starlight pressed with a straining smile.
"Right right, got off track. Oh! Well I guess it doesn't matter anymore."
Through grit teeth and increasing sparks from the horn. "And why is that?" Starlight asked gently.
He pointed.
They looked.
Overcast was barely visible now.
Eyes widening the group moved like rushing water around the table towards the stallion at the hall. "What's happening?" Dash was the first to ask.
"My message was sent. All the letters are being erased. Which means this is truly my last letter." The projection flickered, then became the battered unicorn they had seen before.
"But we still have questions!" Pinkie yelled. "You can't just vanish, again! Without answering all of the important ones!"
"I already have" came the distant voice.
"It's not good enough!" Twilight snapped.
"Do you all really hate me this much, to not be satisfied with what I have shown you?"
"No!" They all cried, then after shared confusion there were different responses from each mare and a dragon. "Yes, no, maybe, I don't know, I'm not sure--"
His chuckle silenced them.
"I'm sorry" he said in a voice that sounded so far away. "I'm just... I'm sorry, he, I felt terrible about what I had done." Something wet stained the floor, a drop of water that Spike's eyes caught first and then one by one so did the others.
"Are you, crying?" Rarity asked breathless.
"Am I?" The distant voice sounded farther away. "I wouldn't know. Its one thing to watch others go through the predictable cycle of emotions...a whole other experience to go through it...yourself..."
Seconds went by. Every ear was perked. A tick of someone touching down caught everypony and like watchtower lights their ears swivelled towards the source.
Discord wasn't smiling as much as before. His amusement was sober as odd as it was. "He's gone."
The others shared a look.
Rainbow Dash however. She couldn't look away from those few drops that marked the floor. A gaze that once
"...Have any of you seen Overcast cry before?" Was the question no one expected Starlight to ask.
They all thought about it.
Then Fluttershy voiced the answer: "No."
"He's been angry, happy, thoughtful, even has a sense of humor. But he's never been sad. Never in a way I felt was genuine...at least till today" Pinkie added.
"Are we even sure that this wasn't another trick?" Sunset asked.
They all looked at each other. Then looked at Discord, who floating there did nothing but shrug his shoulders off and watch them hop back on.
"I've told you my opinion Sunny." Discord answered. "The memory was real. No alterations or shifts. Everything seen, happened the way it did."
"Then all those alternate realities? Those were actual possibilities? Not just really good illusions inside of a memory?" Twilight pressed.
Discord's smile dropped just a little but came right back up. "At least we got lucky."
Silence. They looked at Discord. Looked at the few droplets that showed signs there had been someone else there aside from them and this wasn't a intense hay fever dream.
"What...is an Ender?" Spike asked drawing attention.
"I...don't know actually?" Starlight said. Then looked to Sunset who shook her head and Twilight, who frowned in thought.
"Discord?" Fluttershy turned to her companion. "Do you know what a Ender is?"
"Well from context alone based off what that Primus lout was saying, I think--"
Firmly, "Discord?"
Discord chuckled. "No Fluttershy. I have no idea what they were talking about."
A single stare lasted a few seconds longer, and when Discord's composure didn't shift or change. Fluttershy sighed and turned to the others. "I guess we'll have to ask Princess Luna?"
"...yeah, good idea." Twilight said. And for the last time they all couldn't help but glance back at the tears.
Author's Note
Wow took awhile. Things have been hectic. Stay safe out there!
