The Purifier

Chapters

Prologue: The Pain Under the Pleasure
Chapter 1: A Pact for Purity
Chapter 2: Aid from Aftermath
Chapter 3: Virtue in Voltage
Chapter 4: Electricity vs. Elements
Interlude 1: What has Happened to Harmony?
Chapter 5: Dolor in Depravity
Chapter 6: Arcane Awakening
Chapter 7: Storming the Stronghold
Chapter 8: The Transcendent Tempest

Prologue: The Pain Under the Pleasure

The world I live in would generally be regarded as ‘progressive’ or ‘passionate’ by many of its inhabitants. They say this because of how often they work together to make each other feel happy and loved. They like using these descriptors because they show the world as a nice place to be, where anypony can live in bliss. They do not wish to change any part of this because of how it would ruin their very way of life, rendering many lost and without purpose.

I, however, see the world as violent and chaotic. I know how everypony supposedly makes each other happy, but in reality, anypony who denies this ‘happiness’ has it forced upon them. I describe it with the terms I do because I know the painful truth, having been on the receiving end of it many times. I wish to change it, to end the pain and suffering beneath the surface for myself and for all others who have lived lives like mine.

The reason for this dissonance between myself and those around me is of how they cause their pleasure, and my pain. They believe the world is good, because it is to them. They see themselves as happy, because they see only themselves. They don’t want to change anything, as they reap the benefits of the world as it currently is.

The pain they wrought upon me and others like me is more than mere schadenfreude to them; no, they experience true, legitimate pleasure. You may be wondering though, as to how they do that.

The answer is sex.

Lots of sex. So much sex, in fact, that the only term that can feasibly describe its volume is ‘ungodly’.

They have so much sex because it is what the world, and the magic that powers everypony’s way of life, is based off of. In fact, there exists a set of accessories that, when worn, make one an embodiment of one of the sexual elements. The first of these elements is Lust, the bearer of which is a quiet primrose pegasus known as Fluttershy, whom is generally regarded as cute or sexy with her timid, yet seductive demeanor and the pure size of the sexual parts of her body. Next there is Endowment, toted by a Rarity, a pearl unicorn seen by many as beautiful and carries her large endowments (true to her element), using they prolifically. Perseverance is another, wielded by Rainbow Dash, a cyan pegasus known for her athleticism and speed in the (metaphorical, unfortunately) bedroom. An orange earth pony named Applejack bears the Element of Power, and is very muscular in all parts of her physique. The Element of Kinks is held by the manic pink earth pony known as Pinkie Pie, who has size in more than just her sexual endowments.

Finally there is Twilight Sparkle; the bearer of the Element of Magic, born to the rich and wealthy, cared for by a princess, tutored by the princess, was forced into having multiple friends and took to them quickly, saviour of the world on numerous occasions, and now a princess herself, all for negligible merit of her own.

She ruined my life, by the way.

It wasn’t just her efforts--or lack thereof, rather--that threw me into unending pain; no, it seemed the entire world was conspiring against me. In my youth, I was raped an uncountable amount of times, and in innumerable and unimaginable ways, and no, those values weren’t unfathomable just because I was so young then. I did manage to get a job at some point, and made enough to buy a travelling wagon to fulfill my dream of becoming a showmare; one who demonstrates true magical talent, rather than using my physical traits that I got via no effort on my part to rut senseless anypony I wish.

Perhaps that is because I don’t have much of an endowment. My ‘male’ parts are less than 35 centimeters in length and 5 in diameter when erect, with the balls also being around 5 cm in diameter, and my breasts were classified as E cups (Those measurements are pretty vague, as I have not measured myself in quite some time). My magic power was relatively muted too, the intrinsic causing the minimal sexuality and the extrinsic weakening my aura strength. For some perspective on that, I think the average size is about twice what I have on all counts, with fully realized immortals (ponies or otherwise) having thrice that, the aura power being linearly related as best I can tell.

I did made up for that lack of power in control, though, having tempered both my magic and my body with years of practice in spellwork of all sorts (mostly illusion and combat), escape artistry, sleight-of-hand, cold reading, and much more. Despite that, pure power is the only thing valued in this world, for those gifted with it become blessed with godhood and have happiness beyond compare, while those like myself are tossed into a fate worse than death.

I suppose I can consider that all a blessing, though, as I can see the darkness the world is truly drowning in rather than being bathed in the light of luxury.

Regardless though, I believe that I should explain more about my disdain for Sparkle.

In my youth, I was admitted into Celestia’s School of Gifted Unicorns because the princess watched one of my performances, specifically the one where I got my cutie mark, and saw the talent I had to be far more than anypony else of that age she had seen in that generation. I’m thankful that at least somepony had eyes for skill rather than power, but it seems her viewpoint has since faded into the Corruption that has taken over the rest of the world.

My talent worked in my favour during the entrance exam to the school, as although I was unable to lift many heavy objects, pierce shields, or hold things together; I was able to juggle, trick, and bend things to my whim. The judges and the princess were shocked at the skill I had, the former being a little peeved of how I circumvented their guidelines though, and so I was slated to become the princess’s personal student.

But then, Twilight Sparkle happened.

She possessed an insane amount of power, and the princess took her under her wing to help control her, completely forgetting about me. I attempted to confront her many times about it, even with the pretense of vehemently denying replacing the purple unicorn, only joining her, I was not even allowed access to her every time. I suppose it was it this point that Celestia truly took on the Corruption, only going diving further into it as her pupil grew in power and popularity and taking the world with her.

So from all that, I was left alone, unable to trust anyone as that denial tempered my ideology into a Purity opposite the masses, not because doing so bolstered my ego, but because I care about more than just what gives me pleasure. That mindset, along with my special talent of illusion magic, made me become a stage magician, and while it was slow at first, it soon gained popularity and merit.

There were hecklers though; quite a lot of them actually, with all of them taking the ‘power’ dogma and attempting to shove it in my face, making my aversion to their sexual tendencies ever stronger. I dealt with them though, some in ways I regret, but I know damn well that I am better than they ever will be, and when I started to refine my techniques in dealing with them, it eventually felt like I could get through to them, convince them to gather themselves and turn away from what granted them temporary happiness and focus more on the bigger picture.

However, that all ended at Ponyville.

Generally considered to be the most sexual town in Equestria, Ponyville is a place I have visited on two separate occasions, both of which have heavily ruined my reputation, and thus, my very life.

The first time I went to that wretched town, my plan was to merely put on a show there, like I have done many times before. However, the hecklers I found there were far worse than any others I have faced, declaring my asexual performances blasphemous and flying in the face of the Equine way of life. It was even worse that they were friends with Sparkle, making me act perhaps somewhat dishonorably against them; but still, what happened next was absolutely abominable.

Two defiant foals lured an Ursa Minor--a gigantic spectral bear that lived in the deadly Everfree Forest--into town. The monster destroyed my wagon, and noone there cared. It attempted to destroy others, but only by my efforts to distract it was the rest of the town kept safe, and while I only lasted long enough for Sparkle to get there and toss away the beast, she got all of the recognition and had a huge orgy afterward with the town to celebrate, once again leaving me with absolutely nothing.

I contemplated talking with the townsfolk after their ‘party’ to see if anypony would help me repair my wagon or get a new one so that I could return to my career, but that proved to be a mistake, as they soon took my exhausted body and... used me...

Of course, it was only after managing to escape that Tartarus pit that I found just how much that stint in Ponyville cost me elsewhere, thrusting me from the possible precipice of social upheaval into utter infamy. Everywhere I went, everywhere I looked, others stared at me with disgust and hatred, leaving me unable to find any way to live, at least until I stumbled upon a rock farm, of all things.

It wasn’t the best first impression, what with the backbreaking work and crystal vapours that wafted across the desolate quarry, but I persevered, knowing it was my only real shot at getting back into a decent life. I did eventually connect with one of the other workers who lived there, her passive strength protecting me from her less caring and receptive family and her borderline emotionless mien grounding my thoughts.

I was angry at the ponies that ruined my life, but Maud helped me understand that any level of revenge was petty and foolish, even if those who wronged me are objectively bad people. On the other hand, she did acknowledge that it may be best to... eliminate, for lack of a better term, those ponies, but one must have a truly objectively good reason to do so. And of course, the reason we both knew was to never let anyone suffer because of them any more.

Even with that in hand, it seemed impossible to actually defeat them, no matter how I planned it. I thought of perhaps a fake outing them as pure (A.K.A. having a disdain for the unfathomable amount of sex the world consists of, myself being a prime example), but the true truth would likely be found and backed by the princesses. I thought of cold-blooded murder, but I realized that that would likely make them martyrs, and further curb my goals. Finally I thought of becoming ‘friends’ with them, but only very briefly as I knew they would never accept me, and being with them means I completely sacrifice everything I have ever stood for. I may not be an egomaniac, but that is certainly something I will never throw away.

However, that all became null when, on an outing away from the farm, I found an crimson and ebony artifact, known as the Alicorn Amulet, that granted me immense power, and given its ancient age, it was untainted by sexual Corruption. There was still dark magic laden within it, but I managed to stave off the worst effects of that with sheer willpower after I put it on.

With that Amulet, I headed back into Ponyville to show everypony, not just there but to the entirety of Equestria, that magic without sex not only exists, but is incredibly useful. Even with the dark magic tainting me, I still put my all into showing what can truly be done with magic in all forms of charity, which should’ve shown that there is merit to growing past one’s baser instincts, but all of my efforts went ignored. I was once again declared a heretic against the crown and the very basis of the world, and they attempted to rape me once again, but I managed to escape with some quick thinking and use of that ‘useless asexual’ magic.

I spent a night outside of the town, and in my dreams I was visited by the recently restabilized Princess Luna, whom thankfully took my side. She told me that magic (and the sexual connections thereof) were rather underdeveloped in the time she was from, and when she saw what became of the world in her absence, she was utterly horrified and completely disgusted; the only saving grace there to be how her body what still what she had previously and never changed from that. She wanted so hard to change magic back into something pure, yet found no solutions she had the resolve to attempt.

That was, until she found me.

Luna saw how much I did to help those in need, even in the face of overwhelming odds and dark magic that still flooded my soul, and she felt that if anyone could Purify this world of its Corruption, it would be me. Though after she saw my failure with peaceful tactics, she knew she needed to tell me what she knew, and convince me that I truly needed to show everypony Pure magic, else our world would likely be lost in a sea of sex with nothing of true importance ever valued.

I took that as my ideology, and swore to purify the world at all costs, even the lives of myself and those I love.

That philosophy is what led my back into Ponyville the following day, and when I was met with violence, I quickly reciprocated. I fought all whom followed the sexual dogma, easily defeating all but the Elements of Sex, once again finding myself on the cusp of revolution... yet only to get thrown down once more.

The EoS’s combined and amplified their magic power with ‘friendship’ and sex, and blasting with all their might, and it was too much for me to escape, quickly defeating me and destroying the Alicorn Amulet. They raped me a multitude of times, and I gave no resistance, as I knew that I have failed my mission; the world now forever doomed to be lost in sexual damnation.

It was days before my physical torment was ended, only when I was lost in my mind from the pain in the depths of night was my body was pulled from there. It was only later that when I came back to reality that I found the lunar princess to be by my side, sobbing from the pain of her failure and the horrors that had wrought upon me.

We bonded from our shared pain, often coming together in the shadows of midnight to bear each others pains, easing them together. The worst pain however, was that no-one else was on our side, no-one believed in purity, in love, in truth. It crushed us, making us accept the fate the world thrust us and made our lives have any semblance of meaning in the void of light.

That lasted months before it came to a head, with Celestia finding us and our true thoughts, and despised us for them. With Luna in her destroyed mental state, she was unable to fight when her sister took over her mind and body, distorting them to what she believed was fitting, leaving me in watch in bondage she deemed as infallible. It did fall however, to my practice as an escape artist, proving to her that not all magic is borne from sex. It seems, however, that even actual proof of their faults is not enough to make them believe otherwise, as the solar princess and her sister- the only friend I used to have- attempted to kill me.

They failed, though, to the might of the lack of might, or rather, what has been wrought of it.

They always kept looking for me after my escape, and failing by themselves, ascended that damned Twilight Sparkle to their level to help them.

That, also, is the final reason I hate her. Not really the magic power she gets from being that race, and definitely not the sexual power, but moreso the reputation. She has hardly done any work with the godly--or perhaps better described as ungodly--gifts she has been given, while I have worked my flank off just to exist.

Perhaps it is reputation that keeps me going even a couple years after that gift of godhood, or perhaps it is merely spite, but regardless what I do and have done is still the same; live a horrid life via horrid means in a horrid world.

But, that’s all going to change soon enough.

Chapter 1: A Pact for Purity

Act I: Silver in the Sea of White and Black
Chapter 1: A Pact for Purity

I found myself laying on the ground in the middle of an alley in Manehattan in the dead of night, a few ponies a few paces behind me, their stallionhoods covered in their semen, not unlike my major orifices, as they had just raped me. It took me some time to come to my senses, after which my mind merely lost itself in its conscious thoughts rather than its emotions, leaving me unmoving on the obscenely dirty ground, as it always happened.

It always happens this way, I am sick of it. I have been sick of it ever since I can remember, but right now, I’m really thinking on why it is this way. I don’t know why everyone’s they way they are, I don’t know what they see in ruining others that makes them do it so often, but I do know that right now, I’m not doing anything to stop them.

I swore to Luna that I would do my damndest to cleanse this world of its Corruption, yet here I am, letting everything fall father into the depths of Tartarus with no resistance.

That needs to change.

I don’t know why it took me this long to realize it, but right now, I’m not going to let anyone have their way with me or anyone else, ever again.

I slowly started to move, taking an hand and putting its palm on the ground before me, the filth I pressed into hardly registering in my mind from its familiarity. I next did the same with my other hand, then begun to push myself up.

‘Not this time.’

I managed to push my body far enough up to pull my knees under it, and moved into a kneeling position. I kept my hands on the ground to my side, and continued pushing up to get to my feet, the words by my rapists flowing through my mind and only making me try harder.

“Oh, going for another round?”

“This one’s got a lot in her!”

“Let’s have some more fun, shall we?”

‘Not this time.’

I finally stood up, having to crouch heavily before moving rightward to a wall and keep a hand on it to keep myself up, then merely stood there to stabilize myself. I hardly even felt the cum pouring out of my abused body, as the abuse made me null to what it left on me, but it still let me feel the pain caused by the burning hatred coursing through me.

‘Not this time.’

I now stood stable on the ground, my purple leotard mixed with a skirt was torn in many places while my star-laden golden boots were rather scuffed, both now practically invisible under the dirt and cum matted across by body from the ground below me and the Corrupt behind me. My signature tapered hat and sapphire-clasped cape were a bit better off, but were stretched and sullied far too much to deal with these fools peacefully, the ponies’ sexual jeers getting louder as they approached me while I took a stance as confident as I could in such a state.

“This bitch in going to be nothing more than a fleshlight.”

“Stupid mini-mares ain’t got a purpose otherwise.”

“Her determination is only going to make this better.”

“Not this time,” I finally said, lighting my horn and creating a katana made from pure magic in my left hand as it whipped out down-left, glowing with its furious orchid power to better help me see the disgusting black alleyway I was in. I turned around to face the three Corrupt ponies; one a pink unicorn with a straight crimson mane, another an off-white pegasus with a harlequin mane that curtained across her face, the last a navy earth pony with a golden mohawk, their expressions full of defiance.

It wasn’t long before the pegasus snorted and flapped her wings to dash forward at me just above the ground, leading me to jump rightward with a clockwise spin right before she hit me so that I was in the perfect position to stab my sword straight into the left wing of the pony. She let out a cry of pain as her wing spurted out some blood, her momentum carrying her past me and throwing her deeper into the alley while I yanked the blade back, all the while my cape followed and stylized my moves at it was always meant to.

I focused on the unicorn and earth pony as they growled in anger as dashed at me, the former lighting her horn and blasting a quick bolt of red magic at me, which I quickly swing the edge of my sword to destroy it in its path. The dark blue earth pony came closer and threw a right hook at my face, which I dodged by jumping backward, and the same with the left hook.

The pink unicorn was now a short ways away on my left and fired another bolt towards me, coinciding with a forward kick by the earth pony, and I retaliated by rolling down to the left, taking the blade and throwing it with a football-like roll towards the abdomen of the unicorn. It quickly impaled the unicorn, making her shout out in pain and stumble to the wall behind her.

However, my attention was soon back on the earth pony as I smoothly rolled to a stop, them jumping forward as I magically yanked the katana back to me and jumped up, spinning counter-clockwise while hopping away from the pony and delivering a quick slash to her neck. She grunted in pain as she felt the blade cut deep into her, hands going up to cover the wound as she stumbled to her knees, quickly falling to the ground from blood loss.

I felt for my hat on my head and righted it while turning to see the unicorn also unconscious sitting against a wall of the alleyway, but a flash of white pulled my attention towards the pegasus running away from me, holding her impaled wing close to her side. I quickly ran after her, the sound of my boots thumping against the mucky ground echoing out into the cool breeze of the night as my determined self gained on the other pony as I chased her into the Moon-lit main streets of Manehattan.

I took a few moments in my running to work through my abused haze to get used to the sensation before I raised the blade still in my left hand and threw it with accuracy end-over-end right into the middle of the other pony’s back while I kept moving forward. A sharp cry of pain immediately burst forth form the pony’s mouth as her movements faltered, stumbling and falling face-down to the ground with a grunt as she moved a hand to the orchid blade still stuck in her stomach.

She was given no reprieve, however, as I recalled the sword with my magic back to my hand while running over to her, stopped with a slight skid of my boots right before her. Blood was pouring out from the hole in her midsection and onto the relatively clean concrete below, easily enough to have her die within the day without proper medical treatment, but I decided to give her mercy. I put the tip of the katana on the back of the pony’s head and gripped the handle with both hands, quickly shoving it all straight down through her head, killing her in an instant.

...It was a queer feeling, killing, I reflected as I tentatively put a boot on the corpse’s head, pushing it down while yanking the sword out. I knew that the person that lay before me was previously capable of doing good, but only focused on themselves and their closest friends, leaving everyone else by the wayside and forcing me to extinguish their life to prevent them from doing any more harm. That solution was only a logical one and perhaps rather short-term, as I do doubt anyone could be truly lost to the light of their self-indulgence, but everything I’ve seen today and in the rest of my life is making me ask whether its ever worth it to care about such people when there are others who have much clearer good will to everyone else.

I examined the blood of the Corrupt on the blade I held in my hand, clearly showing the deed I have done to the world around me. I knew the importance of the question on my mind, but my showmare mindset couldn’t help but think of the bad PR this would bring me.

‘It doesn’t matter anymore,’ I reminded myself, ‘You’re already so deep in the gutter; what’s the harm in shoving yourself in deeper?’

“It’s everyone else...” I responded, looking at the actual sword rather than what was marring it. The blade was what is known as magic construct, the technique and its usefulness having been taught to me by my mother, who knew the dangers of this world even before Celestia’s Corruption turned it all even worse.

I let my magic flicker out, the katana disappearing with a sparking effect and the blood that was on it falling down onto the ground next to the pegasus’s corpse. Pondering this question doesn’t matter; I’ve already taken the leap of faith when I killed those three ponies, now I just needed to find out where I landed.

I shook my head to clear my mind of the painful reminiscing, further disheveling my already painfully so mane and hat and scattering some mild filth out of it, and looked down to the similar filth covering my body. I grabbed it with my magic and flung it off onto the ground, cleaning my body of most of the grime but exposing the torn clothes I wore and the dirty coat below.

“Perhaps if Miss Pommel hadn’t been Corrupted,” I said with a sigh while looking around at the dense cityscape I was in, and reminiscing on my lost cape and hat, “Then I might get some modesty from her clothing.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself of the never-ending dread that the world seemed to be made from, and looked up at the milky white moon hanging in the sea of stars that was the fair Princess of the Night’s creation.

“I shall uphold my pact, Luna,” I said to the cool, dreary midnight wind. “I shall do whatever is necessary to purify the world, and damn me to Tartarus if I forget that again.”

I made a decisive nod to the night, out of respect for the fallen goddess, and my friend, before returning my gaze to the recently vacated alley, and headed off out of it.

I was certainly not one to be scared, but the eerie silence amidst the stale stench that the world worships and the darkness in which true pain has been felt, it most certainly unsettled me. I seemed to myself more than a little paranoid as I trotted down the irritatingly uniformly filthy streets of Manehatten, knowing the power I possessed to be inconsequential relative to that of any normal pony. While my skill may be truly exceptional, thus making anypony that would be likely to oppose me to be of no threat, I knew there to be some that would pose some problems to me, and if even a small group of ponies were to come together against me in their cult of coitus, I would likely be doomed.

However, even in the face of doom, in the face of literally awesome and ultimate power, my resolve must not waver. It is my obligation to the world, and perhaps beyond.

It was my will then, that kept me going, walking with purpose out of the ratty, overpopulated city with only curt glances offered to the occasional pony I felt gazing upon me with their mix of emotions, yet all held by an unshakable confidence in the magic of ‘harmony’.

A while after I left the city, I felt the air begin to grow colder around me, the tattered rags that used to be my ‘Great and Powerful’ showmare outfit not helping to insulate me in the slightest. Clouds began to build in the sky, likely the work of pegasi that have heard of my opposition to the power of power, and soon thunder sparked between them.

I flinched at the first bolt, likely moreso out how it reminded me of the pain of my past than truly being scared by it. Another flew seconds after, and the rhythm soon began to grow in tempo, making me stop in my tracks. I stood with resolve in the midst of the storm, lightly shivering from anger more than cold or fear; how cowardly they are to fight me with such tactics.

And yet, for all of that skulk, they are those with the positive reputations, while those with skill and will are corrupted or chased into unending pain; it just makes my blood boil, regardless of how long I have lived in this world. I suppose it all makes sense though, given that power is gifted to the epitome of the majority’s beliefs, with the Celestia I knew during my youth being corrupted herself by her obscene obligations to the masses.

KRAAKOOOOOOOOMM!!!

The thunder seemed to have shook the very earth itself as it struck it, making me have to crouch slightly for the several seconds it lasted. With ringing ears, I looked to the side where a very large tree was earlier, one that was completely obliterated with only a massive scorch mark on the ground as its memorial.

“Fine then,” I said, my rage giving way to a hopelessness. “I guess this is how it’s always gonna be, huh?” I looked to the heavens, tears welling in my eyes as I felt the weight of the world coming down on me. “No matter how much we try, no matter how hard we push, it doesn’t change anything. Every step we take towards Purity, Corruption shoves us ten back.” The rain that began to fall from the storm just now began to reach the ground, quickly wettening my face further than the tears streaming down it already did. “We’re just the opponent to the protagonist of this ridiculous and disgusting story, forever doomed to failure by the hands of those who’ve never suffered a day in their life.

“Luna, Mother, Tempest, Octavia, Moondancer,” I croaked out the names of my friends and loved ones, knowing that they would be left to suffer in this terrible world, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more... I’m sorry I couldn’t help you... I...” I let out a sob as I fell to my knees, all of the pain of my life slamming into me all at once. “I-I’m sorry...”

KRAAAAAAKKKKKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Chapter 2: Aid from Aftermath

The Void.

The all-encompassing nothingness of infinite volume where no sense of grounding could ever be found.

All too often I felt myself trapped within it, as I am at this very moment, my thoughts only able to retread where they’ve been before as my mind is too sluggish to think of anything new.

I did slowly begin to recall what led me here, though this time it was a bit different; sharper, louder, far less painful, even if it was a way I was not used to. This time, my mind was lost not from of sex, but from lightning.

I felt a small grin coming on my face as I recalled that, but that feeling allowed my to realize that I could feel. My thoughts, and the expressions thereby, turned to confusion at that; I was struck by lightning, was I not? And not just struck by a lightning bolt, by a rather massive one, and while near a city that created it in the first place, so the residents would likely take advantage of my comatose state rather than heal me...

I pushed my mind to my body to feel for any pain, yet I found none. I swiftly felt for any painkiller spells, but the results were also negative. I took several moments to think upon how this came to be, yet with finding no solution, I merely resolved to revel in the impossible tranquility with a small smile on my face that I do not recall having since more than a decade past.

The serenity of it all flowed through me and cleansed my soul, clearing my mind and voiding the blinding wrath I wished to have wrought upon my enemies. The calmness around me was the scent of many differing flowers, the feel warm and snug, and the sound filled with a faint, rhythmic wind, albeit one that was slightly ragged.

‘Wait...’

As I pondered on that last fact and its consequences, I was soon accompanied by a feeling that I was being watched.

I cracked my eyes open, being slightly blinded by the bright light of the magic lantern on the ceiling above me, and also hearing a gasp from not far to my left. I turned my head to face it, and saw standing a few paces away a pale red unicorn with a large violet swoop of a mane, leaving only half of her face visible to stare at me with concern and timidity. She seemed to be a nurse, with her white lab coat and a lilac heart wrapped in a bandage on it that was likely her cutie mark.

My gaze was drawn back to myself, finding a light grey blanket resting atop me with a midnight blue bed below. I tentatively lifted it off my body and slid out of it to sit on the edge of the bed, allowing me to see violet long-sleeved shirt covering my upper body, indigo jeans my lower besides my tail, and my feet bereft of any boots. I spotted a glimpse of a black mark on my right wrist as I looked at myself, and I tossed a glance to the other pony before I took the end of the right sleeve of my shirt and started to pull it down, and saw a jagged black scar running along my wrist.

I stared at it for a long while, thoughts running through my head as to all of its facets, and I eventually begun to move my left hand towards it. When I touched the scar, I felt no pain, but I could feel that something was pressing against it. When I rubbed and pressed it, still no pain came, even though I could still feel it perfectly well.

I quickly drew the rest of my sleeve down, showing the scar to exist upon the rest of my arm, though more jagged and frayed lower down. My left sleeve was pulled down next, showing a similar scar upon it, and a larger web-like one on my chest when I pulled the hem of the shirt up over it.

The similar nature of the scars gave me a thought, and thus I pulled the shirt up my arms, letting me see all of the obsidian black marks to be connected, as though it were a web centralized upon my chest.

“What... is this?” I asked as I turned my head to the nurse, seeing unnecessary to check if the same lines existed upon my legs.

“Um, that is a fractal scar...” She replied quietly, a light blush adorning her face, likely from the brevity of the modesty of my chest. I quickly took pulled the shirt back to cover myself, letting her continue, “It’s caused by lightning... but it’s not supposed to be that big.”

“Well, I do believe I was struck by a very large lightning bolt,” I replied, “But I don’t feel any pain from this; is that normal?”

The violet-maned pony shook her head and said, “Definitely not. I think it might of done something to your magic though... Um, I’m not sure if you can tell...”

I looked up at my horn and saw the usual deep orchid spiral around it to be somewhat frayed, a pattern that reminded my of something of my past. When I let my horn up, I saw the aura around it to be brighter, but also more jagged, more frayed... more akin to lightning.

“Huh,” I let out while looked back at the nurse, “I... think the lightning channeled through my horn, mixing itself into my magic.” She responded with a small ‘oh’ as she returned my gaze. “I’ve actually seen these patterns before,” I gestured to the frays on my horn, “On dispersion rings, specifically those that somepony has tried to escape from via pure power.” The memories of those few times I saw those rings flashed though my mind, the labyrinthine channels wrapping around them meant to take magic input and make it dissociate with itself, thus terminating it.

“I-I heard the lightning actually...” The coral-skinned mare said after a few moments. “I saw you leaving the city, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t get r-raped again...” She added timidly, hiding further behind her mane.

I smiled as I heard her say that; nopony these days ever offers me kindness. But I suppose it makes sense she did, what with her being Pure and likely having been raped multiple times in the past, based on how she reacted to the word itself. “Thank you,” I replied, making her look back at me and gain a small grin as she saw mine. She continued to look at me for a few moments before she got an embarrassed blush and looked away.

I let out a small laugh at her cute response, then turning my gaze to look around the room I was in, finding it to be a rather small bedroom with deep lavender wallpaper adorned with many silver and golden stars, very similar to my own attire. I hypothesized her to be a fan, and the large stack of posters a saw covering another wall confirmed that. “Sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable,” I said as I glanced back at her, “I don’t mean to embarrass a fan.” Her blush became more noticeable as it turned from bittersweet to scarlet, but I eventually cut it off with, “Do you mind telling you me your name?”

“Hm?” She let out as she looked back at me, “O-oh! I’m Violet Gauze... I, um...”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie,” I replied as I extended my open hand towards her. “But I assume you know that already,” I added, a wayward glance cast around the room to show what I meant.

Violet blushed even harder while she moved closer to me and lightly shook my hand. “U-um... I-I like your shows...” She said, making me smile a bit brighter as she pulled her hand back quickly. “A-and your... um...” She continued, but trailed off while she started to shake and blush yet brighter. I looked at her with concern for a few seconds before she stuttered out faintly, “L-l-looks...”

I blushed lightly at her compliment before she quickly added, “B-but not l-like... the, um...”

“The corrupt way, of course,” I finished, getting a nod out of the other unicorn. “Too often I have had others judge me for my ‘mediocre’ visage, always making snide remarks about my lack of sexuality and power despite how well-tempered it all is...” I sighed in reminiscence.

“Y-yeah...” Violet replied with an sympathetic tone as she looked downward in sorrow, confirming that she had been victim to the same unprivileged prejudice that had been wrought upon me many times.

I returned my gaze to the room around me to curb the awkwardness of the silence, and soon found myself a little worried. “Where...” I begun, but trailed off to restart, “You did find my cape and hat on me, did you not?”

The timid unicorn looked up at me and gasped lightly before saying, “Yes, I did.” She quickly turned around and picked something up off of a chair behind her while adding, “They, um, are kind of badly damaged though...” Shen then slowly turned back around to present my showmare attire to me.

I gasped as I saw them; my usually pristine deep purple cape and hat were now separated into many pieces, each with scorched fringes and blackened with soot and dirt. I sighed somberly as I took them from the other mare and muttered, “They weren’t exactly in great shape before I was smote...” After a couple moments of sorrowful reminiscing, I set the pile of scraps on the bed and responded, “Thank you, though. I still prefer having them, even if they are in such a state.”

Violet flashed a small smile for a few seconds before giving a small yawn. She blushed slightly while she said, “S-sorry, I’m not really used to being up this late...”

I nodded and glanced out of the window behind me and saw that it was very dark out, perhaps around midnight. ‘Wait...’ I thought, then added out loud, “I was struck late at night...” I turned to the nurse, “How long have I been out?”

Her expression turned conflicted for a moment before replying, “A-about a day...”

I closed my eyes and nodded slowly in assent, then started to think, ‘That’s not good; that stint with those other ponies likely earned me a spike in notice, so they may be here soon...’ I kept myself in contemplation until a faint sound rose me from it, seeming to be odd whirring sound that was rather muted. I opened my eyes and glanced around the room quickly to locate its source, and, not finding it, turned back to Violet, who was somewhat pale as she stared out the window. Following her gaze, I found a large group of royal guardsponies outside, all staring at us in stern disdain.

“Damn it...” I muttered, my voice replete with irritation. “Well,” I started, making me and my newest friend look at each other, “Got no other choice, I suppose.”

Fear and irritation was seeping into me as I stepped outside the small, two-story house that was located on the fringes of Manehattan, Violet grabbed on to my wrist as she followed close behind, shaking and panting heavily with terror. The guardsponies surrounded us in a hemisphere, their rage so strong that it managed to boil through their stoic facades.

“So...” I began, winning no favours from my adversaries with my interruption. “What doth thou wish to inflict upon Us now that thou hath captured Us?” I asked, going into the older Equestrian speak as it helped calm my nerves to think of the closest friend I ever had, and also to irritate everypony that didn’t like it.

“You are going to come with us to Canterlot,” One of the guards bellowed, “So that the princesses may punish you for your misdeeds.”

I rolled my eyes at how obvious that statement was, then replied calmly, “And if We refuse?”

“Then we fight and defeat you, then bring you back to the castle.”

A scoff came from me as I heard that. ‘The confidence of these ponies,’ I thought with a smirk, ‘It’s just pathetic.’ “We’ll see about that.”

The nearly half of the ponies surrounding me and Violet that were unicorns all lit their horns, and I pulled my right arm around my friend’s shoulders and looked at the rainbow of lights surrounding us. ‘...three, two, one...’ I counted in my mind, ‘...aaaaannd, now!’ I quickly deployed a swath of illusionary mist and ducked, pulling the other mare with me to dodge the barrage of magic blasts fired where we were just standing.

We deftly ran from the center of the mist as I rendered us invisible, casting our visage across from us so that when our attackers fled the mist as well, their bolts were not aimed at us. We kept running, and I soon felt a magic ping race across me, but I still felt confident as the illusion I created earlier could also be detected with my magic signature, and was amplified so much that my actual body was negligible in comparison.

We managed to get a few blocks away from the guardsponies before a blast blew through the air no more than a couple meters above me. Another blazed by to the side quickly after, and I killed my invisibility to better focus on a shield I then cast behind me, slanted so that it wouldn’t take as much damage whenever hit. The next one hit the shield and got deflected, but a several more trailed it for the few seconds before I noticed the wind gusts behind me, signifying pegasi were coming up on us.

Knowing my illusionary projections wouldn’t fool them for any longer, I killed them and shifted the shield to cover me and my friend’s bodies. I felt many more bolts hit them as I tried to build up a teleport with an illusion to cover it, but it was interrupted by a particularly strong hit directly into the face of the spheroid surrounding us, making me wince enough for the shield to drop for a fraction of a second, but that was enough for a pegasus to strike me clean across the face at speed, throwing me back a ways.

My vision and hearing were blurred as I slammed into the ground and rolled several rotations back, landing with my face in the loose tiles of stone. I tried to clear my head while I started to push myself off the ground, not getting very far before something hit my horn, and I felt the power on it dull.

‘Dispersion ring,’ I thought with incredible disdain, ‘Cowards. Have they no honour?’ I quickly got to my feet, but got just as quickly thrust back down by somepony tackling me, and continuing to hold me down onto my back after I slammed back into the ground.

My senses soon cleared enough to feel the guard on me straddling my abdomen and pressing both of my shoulders into the ground, but I swiftly drew my attention across the way to Violet, who was aggressively attempting to pull away from two guards holding her from her arms. Another pony then approached her, however this one wasn’t a guard, but was a mage.

I saw the mage start to cast a spell on the nurse, and quickly threw her into a trance, but I knew what that would soon turn into. I turned my focus to my magic as I flared it up, feeling it flow and get cancelled out by the ring on it, and I quickly began to map the ring.

What may be surprising to many is that dispersion rings can be escaped from. The way the rings work is by taking in a magical aura from from the bottom and putting it through a mathematically-designed labyrinth that makes the aura destructively interfere with itself, rendering magic put into it null... in most cases.

See, the flow of a magical aura can actually be manipulated outside of just spell creation. While more common and macroscopic versions of this have magic bolts or beams curving around to hit targets from different sides, a more minor and typically less useful way to manipulate an aura is to shape it, and that shape is what is inputted into a dispersion ring.

Most ponies imagine those rings as completely cancelling out any input, but if one cycles through aura shapes by trial and error, they can make the rings spark with their magic in some spots. This happens because different aura shapes get cancelled out differently, but there is always at least one shape that it won’t cancel out. In fact, those shapes trap the magic in the ring and make it feed into itself, making it figuratively explode in power, and eventually making the ring literally explode.

I have done this many times in the past, and have exceedingly proficient at it; however, this time took a bit longer given the new, much more jagged shape of my aura, but I succeeded regardless.

The ring exploded in an orchid flash, several shards blasting away at speed with one in particular hitting an eye of the guard holding me down, allowing me to shoot to my feet while the other ponies took a shocked, fearful glance at me. I turned at ran towards Violet, blasting the guards and mage holding my friend and swiftly tackling her away from them. We rolled for a few moments, at the end of which she was laying face-up on the ground and I was right above her, holding my breath while scared that I may have been too late as I looked down at her.

The purple-maned unicorn below me shook her head to clear it, then looked up at me with a mix of shock and admiration. I was about to say something when her visage turned sultry, and she said, “Oh, excited, are we?”

“No,” I muttered quietly in disbelief. “No, no, no, no, no...” I quickly shot up off of her and backpedaled a few paces away. “Bastards... every damned time...”

The previously pure mare stood up and continued to stare at me lustfully, but now had a hint of sadness as she asked, “‘No’? I thought you were my friend...”

“I was Violet’s friend,” I replied while slowly resuming my backward movement. “You are not Violet.” I didn’t wait for a response before bolting off in the other direction, fully sprinting away from the guards and my former friend.

As what happened with my previous flight, a bolt of magic flew by me and was quickly followed by numerous others as I put a slanted shield up, and a pegasus flew up on each of my sides and couple meters above the ground. I blasted the one to my left with the bolt being its new lightning-esque shape, and similarly to lightning, it electrified her, instantly flaring her wings and spiking her into the ground. I got surprised from that, but quickly reigned it in to blast the other pegasus, the shot being dodged at first, but I bent its path back towards them, and making them befall the same fate as their partner.

I continued running as I turned by thoughts back onto that electric component of my magic, saying in my mind, ‘My magic doesn’t normally do that... but that bolt that hit me must’ve truly fused with my magic, altering its very nature...’ I had to cut that line of thought off when several more pegasi came up around me, but it soon came back into play as it gave me an idea. ‘I wonder...’

I flared up my horn again, and after relinquishing the shield behind me, I quickly prepared a small magic disruption blast (a full-surround blast of magic that disrupt other magic if it’s powerful enough), then set it off. True to my idea, all of the pegasi’s wings flared somewhat, swiftly changing their directions and diverting them from their attacking course. ‘Heh heh, nice.’

Some of the guards managed to gain their control after a moment and fly back to me, but they struggled to keep up with me, strain and bewilderment visible on their faces as they kept getting pushed farther behind me. When they eventually faded from view, my attention way drawn to the environment around me, and I saw it was all a blur, even though I could understand it all as though I was merely jogging.

‘Woah,’ I thought, taking that all in. I looked down at my body and found it to be in a similar state, though with orchid lightning pulsing around it and trailing behind me, allowing me to deduce, ‘The lightning must have fused me in entirety, not just my magic, making my limbs move faster and my brain process quicker...’ I quickly shook my head as I did not want to be thinking in this moment; the wind blowing past my face and the quick foot-taps below made feel truly relaxed in a way that I have not been in a very long time.

Chapter 3: Virtue in Voltage

A very far ways away from Manehattan, I tried to skid myself to a stop by digging the heels of my boots into the ground perpendicular to my running direction, but there was too much friction, making me immediately tumble forwards at still-incredible speeds, rolling for many seconds with the hard dirt grinding into my body from all sides. Eventually I did come to a stop, finishing on my back and looking up towards the night sky with my exhausted, worn eyes.

“Ow...” I groaned as I glanced towards the Moon, still as faithful as ever with its guiding light. I pushed myself up to a sitting position with a pained groan, turning my head towards where I just came from, faint tracks of my abrasive tumble visible in the moonlight. “Violet...” I mumbled, remembering the look of horror the kind nurse had on her face for the barest of moments before those Corrupt monsters took all emotions away from her.

“Every single time...” I muttered, but quickly shook my head. “I can’t dwell on the past; it’ll only drag me down. However, this,” I started as I lifted my left arm before my face, it feeling as though electricity was coursing through it, leading me to push it out through my hand as though it were magic for a spell, creating a web of orchid-tinted lightning that arced across my hand, between my palm and the tips of my fingers, “This may help me finally wrench this world free of the Corruption that suffocates it so.

“Unfortunately,” I said as I stopped the electricity flowing and let my arm fall back to my side, “I’d rather protect my name from a stigma of death and destruction, so...” I sucked in a breath and looked up in thought, pondering for a moment. I raised a hand to my relatively clean mane and ran over it back to front, lingering on the frost-coloured forelock hanging before my face.

I grinned and lit my horn, engaging my well-trained illusion magics to remove any saturation from my mane, tail, coat, horn, and eyes, the strange sensation wrapping across my body like an phantasmal second skin and fading from my cognizance just as quickly. There were still remnants of my real self on my visage, such as my mane and tail style along with my magic colour, but there were enough ponies in this world that few would quickly associate it with the real me, and even in the case of my cutie mark, it would still be hidden underneath my jean pants.

My grin faded as I thought on what I was going to do, but I wouldn’t waver now; there are too many innocent people suffering at the hands of those Corrupt monsters, and I will not let them do so any longer. I spun around in a circle slowly, observing the Moon-lit world around me and looking for any sign of civilization near, but found nothing. No matter, I’ve dealt with living on the road with nothing around me for many kilometers for years, so with these new abilities, it could never prove a hassle.

Turning away from where I remembered Manehattan being, I reared back onto one leg, prepared to throw myself forward, and then did so, nigh-instantly going at speeds enough to make most pegasi envious, leaving a trail of orchid lightning as I blazed out into the world.

I ran for what felt like several minutes before a city came into view, only a couple seconds passing before I arrived at its edge, digging the sides of my boots into the ground this time and with less force, making me almost trip over myself again as I ground to a stop. I rose from my awkward pose, standing up to look at the large metal sign that was just to the side of the path that told me where I was.

“Fillydelphia...” I spoke quietly, recalling the times I have been to the city before, back in my glory days where I performed my act with minimal Corrupt interference. “I am so sorry for what has happened to you...” I said to the city as I looked out towards its heart, “But I shall do everything I can to free you from this Plague.”

Large concrete skyscrapers slowly came and fled from my view as I slowly trotted through the city, the dark late night sky seeming to hide my entrance from the few ponies that were strolling about while the cool, dry air had only a faint stench of sex to it, though orders of magnitude less than I was use to in the daytime.

I wandered about the city with no real location in mind for hours, pondering the possibilities of my new powers and the philosophy of what I was soon to engage in until dawn broke, and many ponies woke up and headed outside. I got many glances from them, some confused, some lustful, and some downright withering... well, withering to most; in comparison to what I have endured, a wrathful glare is pathetic. I was soon advanced upon, many crude and snide remarks tossed my way in a truly pitiful attempt to get into my pants. All of them I ignored, at least until one brazen fool decided they weren’t going to let me go.

“Hey, don’t ignore me, you bitch!” She said as I passed her, setting her apart from everypony else enough for me to take notice of her. “Your silver ass is going to look perfect on my cock!” She added as she grabbed my left wrist from behind, making me quickly stop walking.

“Is that all you care about?” I replied, turning around with an apathetic look slightly tinted with irritation to view the offending masculine jet-black pegasus with a spiky crimson swoop of a mane. “Fornication? Forgoing any possible benefit the world at large merely so you can have some physical pleasure in one moment in time?” I asked of the mare before me with a somewhat accusatory tone, pulling my arm away from her. “It’s rather petty of you, and it causes others to suffer far, far more than I am ever willing to let go.”

The audacious twat scoffed and retorted with impudence, “Fancy words for a little fuck-stick like yourself.”

She reached for me again, but I interrupted with, “Touch me again and you’ll see just how much pain this ‘stick’ can wreak upon you.”

“Oh, really?” The mare asked mockingly, “Those are some tough words, comin’ from you.” Her hand quickly resumed its path towards me, but I didn’t let her grab me this time. Quickly whipping my hand up, I grabbed hold of the pegasus’s wrist, then immediately raised it and twisted it around, keeping her in her place while she yelped from pain. I gave her no time to get away, though, as I raised my left leg and charged the familiar magical electricity through it, making it begin to glow and arc with orchid lightning as my golden-booted foot became poised to kick into her abdomen.

I quickly then delivered that kick, my magically-electrically-charged boot shooting straight into her, creating an booming explosion of electricity at the impact point while the pony got blasted away at speed, lightning trailing her as her pained scream echoed around while she flew off into the distance.

‘That is... quite powerful...’ I said in my mind, squinting slightly at the fading spark of orchid thunder, but quickly shook my head to focus on the other ponies around me; all of them stared in differing mixes of shock and contempt, and I knew their still poses wouldn’t last for long.

“Anyone else wish to try to infect me with your Corruption?” I asked of them in a mocking tone, twirling around half-heartedly to see the nearly a hundred ponies that surrounded me.

As to be expected, some began to back away in terror while others ground their teeth in anger at my ‘audacity’, but one, a dark purple earth pony with an unruly green mane, ran at me and shouted in rage, “How dare you?!”

“Friends, I presume?” I asked while facing the mare and standing my ground between the several feet we were apart, “Far trickier a proposition than most think.” Only when she was rearing back a fist through her sprinting did I act, sticking my left leg out leftward followed by my body while using the opposite arm to keep myself up, then swinging my leg around clockwise to sweep the mare off her feet. I carried that momentum around while jumping up back to my feet, but still carried the force forward into my left leg, kicking the falling pony’s head as I twirled around again, this time grinding my boots into the ground so that I may stop.

The earth pony got her head slammed into the ground after my kick, making her take a moment before trying to stand up, but I wouldn’t bother giving her a chance; I took hold of the neck of her shirt with my left hand and quickly hoisted her up, then span myself clockwise while crouching slight and rearing up an magically-charged punch, then delivered it straight into the pony’s abdomen, another explosion taking place there and making her blast off into the distance, only this time she slammed into a building about a block away.

I stood back up and slowly looked around of the circle of ponies surrounding me, and said with confidence, “Any other takers?”

A couple of the ponies took a step forward with one replying brazenly, “You can’t do that to all of us.” Some others nodded and stepped forward as well, looking at me with disdain and anger that hid terror in some while others were too foolish to even feel fear.

“Can’t I?” I asked as even more ponies stepped forward to put their heads on the metaphorical chopping block. “I seriously doubt all of you combined have a willpower that matches mine,” I stated and shifted my feet to get me into more of a fighting stance while flared the magic in my hands, making it spark with dangerous power across them. “So, prove me wrong, if, you, dare.”

A pony sprinted towards me from my right, and I quickly turned and raised my right arm and shot a short bolt out of it and hit the pony in the chest, knocking her out. Another mare swiftly came from my left, and I did the same to her as well. Several more barreled down on me from all directions, so I lit my horn brighter and shot a beam of lightning into the pony directly ahead of me, then spun around while keeping my horn level with the ground, arcing the electricity from one pony to the next, all the way in a circle around me. They all stopped moving as soon as they were first hit, then their bodies spasmed violently from the lightning blazing through their muscles, but it shut off nigh-instantly for all of them after I stopped the flow from my horn.

I looked back around, I saw more ponies than were there previously, likely newcomers who saw the violence and wished to join the fray. I knew I needed something bigger to truly show what I was capable of, seeking to fuse the two main aspects of my powers; lightning and speed. That second facet though, it seemed to also be composed to two parts; body and mind, and while normally breaking out into a sprint would trigger both, I sought to activate that speed while not moving, thus slowing down my perception of the world around me.

I remember feeling something in my mind, like a sort of passive spell, being active while I was sprinting, and so I dug back into my mind and pulled that part out, activating it like I would a permanent illusion. With that, the sound of ponies snide remarks and groans of pain or anger slowed and lowered pitch, their movements slowing to a crawl. I turned my head, feeling it no different than it would at normal speed, seeming to be the implementation of the body aspect of this use of super-speed.

“Well, that’s definitely something else,” I quietly said to myself, though the distinct lack of echoes or background noise made it all seem very eerie. “This power is clearly so incredibly dangerous,” I continued in mild awe and fear as I raised a hand to see the electricity sparking around my hand at an odd varying speed, about normal just above my hand and getting somewhat slower as it moved a few inches away. “I need to be careful.”

After that thought, I turned my attention to the glacially slow mob of ponies that should be barreling down on me and started to walk towards one of them. The low crackling sound made me turn my head back as I slowed down, finding the sound to be emanating from the orchid lightning following me in the same manner it did when I was sprinting previously. I switched my focus back to the mare I was walking towards, and ended up stopping right in front of her.

I was filled with a level of mirth at the image; a strong, brazen pony that looked to be trying her hardest, yet she was hardly moving at all. It seemed to be akin to my own scenario in life, though mine was far more subtle... at least until now. I shook my head and pulled my right hand into a fist, then placed it right under the chin of the pony before me, then pressed upward and lifting her with surprisingly little effort.

“Very careful,” I commented with more awe and fear as I moved to my left and slowly punched the pony there across the face, once again requiring minimal power. I took a quick hop further to the left and quickly struck the next pony, then the next and the next, slowly transforming my very slow perception of reality back into that sprinting mode, allowing me to hit the twenty or so ponies on the innermost ring of the mob surrounding me.

I went back to the center and returned to normal speed, and saw all of the ponies I hit quickly get thrust away, toppling many others in the process. They soon got back up and I realized that using pure speed wasn’t going to cut it. ‘Well,’ I thought as I looked down at my hand that I still had electricity sparking from, ‘Lightning seemed to be pretty damn effective before.’

I then sprinted back into the mob, hitting one and the next and the next in a ring, sending them upwards as I created a faint magic wire between them, basically turning into a pure sprint as I quickly moved to the next ring, and the next and the next, all the while keeping a connection between all of those involved. After I finally reached the outermost ring of the mass, I skidded to a stop as I pulled that magic connection to me, then pushed a surge of electricity through it that went through all of the ponies I just hit that were now flying through the air, adding a snap from a raised hand for panache. Their organs were likely shredded with some of their blood boiled as they fell back to the ground, but they were certainly all dead while I returned to my normal stance and took a glance back at those corrupt fools.

“That... was far too easy...” I muttered, but my thoughts soon turned to the future. “Even with this power, I still don’t think those Corrupt ‘gods’ will go down without a massive fight.” I sighed while looking down towards the ground, asking of myself, ‘That is what makes me who I am, though, isn’t it? The unwavering determination to help others no matter how much suffering I have to go through?’

Looking up towards the dawn sky that I henceforth haven’t acknowledged, I saw the sun just above the horizon, not doubt having been put there by the princess of the sun and her friends who were all so blinded by their light that they never saw the darkness lurking under them.

“No more,” I swore at them, then reared back into my starting stance while looking off out of the city, then sprinted off with a burst of lightning to find a new city to purify of its suffocating Corruption.

It wasn’t long before I found another city, skidding to a stop just outside its outskirts, right near a sign labeling the place as Baltimare, the stench of the inhabitants’ perversion found its way to me even all the way out there. I could easily see benches ponies were being rutted on and windows ponies were splayed against, all bereft of any real modesty. Sex was clearly the only thing on their mind, their parasitic existences destroying any hope of peace, but I would soon change that.

I started sprinting again into the city, slamming into any of the Corrupt in my way and firing bolts of magic with rage-fueled electricity powerful enough to kill them by itself, all hardly a hassle to my adrenaline-flooded mind. Orchid lightning trailed behind me as I kept running and hurdling through other groups of ponies, blasting them apart with powerful arcs of lightning while I continued blazing through the city.

Hundreds fell before my thunder; some strong, some seductive, some persistent, some endowed, some kinky, but all sexual in some manner, as they are those that needed to be cleansed from this world. I went through the streets, the parks, the houses, the complexes, and the establishments to find and destroy ponies, taking enough care to avoid hitting the occasional pure pony I found along the way.

I skidded to a stop in the middle of the central plaza, and looked upon what I had wrought: hundreds of ponies laid about everywhere, unmoving with a large scorched bruise signifying my ‘introduction’ to them.

“Once again, they didn’t even stand a chance...” I said with a cold, hollow feeling seeping into my words, the power I now realized I had making me question if imposing such will onto them made me any better than them. The purpose I held onto was that of reacting against their grotesqueries, purifying this world of their Corruption and leaving everyone else in peace.

Nevertheless I reared back and shot off into the distance again, the next three cities I found and dealt with were no more match than the others, their populace never seeing my entrance and getting quickly destroyed, instilling in me again that dread and fear. “Five to naught...” I commented weakly before walking to and sitting down on a bench in the outskirts of Marechester, the city I most recently forcefully vacated of its corrupt residents.

“I truly do hope I am right here,” I said to myself, sighing raggedly as I laid down on my back, letting the adreneline flow out of me and leave fear and exhaustion, “Else...” I lifted my left hand into my view, seeing it shake in the warm, humid air as my tail fell off the side of the bench and limply hung there. My hand soon fell back onto my abdomen as my exhaustion fully caught up to me, thankfully giving me a time to catch some rest in this tempest of terror I now found myself in.

I abruptly awoke with a sharp inhale, consciousness coming to me in but an instant, pulling me from the absurd dream-scape within my mind to the horrid reality around me. I soon noticed the cold sweat dampening my fur, glimmering faintly in the dim purple light of the sky, as well as the ragged breaths of mine that left faint wisps of vapour in the air before me. Nightmares of Corruption have often plagued me, but this one... this one was different.

I recall my anger overflowing, pushing me to brutalize my enemies, melting their flesh with my electricity and shattering their bones with my magic, yet keeping them alive to suffer for what they have wrought upon this world. While I do very well know those monsters deserve punishment, years of entrapment within a burning, broken husk is far, far too much, and doing so would leave me no better than them, even despite doing so to protect the Pure.

Shaking my head, I restated my purpose of only killing out of necessity, then looked outside of the city, the Moon visibly raising above the east horizon. I knew the Sun was likely setting behind me as well, the concurring events reminding me of the Corrupt all the way at the top of this world, whom will allow everything to worsen unless they themselves are dead. Even with my newfound power, I knew they were far too strong for me to stop them right then, but dealing with these other cities would no doubt help me better understand what I can do and how I may stop them later.

I sat up and hopped off the bench, using a quick spell to dry the sweat from my body and clothing, then stretched a bit to better awaken myself. The longer I waited, the more ponies would suffer, so I did nothing more before rearing back and shooting off into the greater world where I would continue towards my goal.

The next city I found was still bristling with activity within the slowly dwindling light, though the entrance I stopped just inside of didn’t seem to have a sign delineating the place. It didn’t much matter when I noticed a newspaper flailing towards me in the light breeze, allowing me to use my magic to wrench it out of the air and pull it towards me so that I may use my horn’s orchid glow to read its headline: ‘The Purifier Kills Thousands!’

“That’s hardly descriptive...” I muttered, all too used to the judgmental words lobbied at me from all sides, but I did admit that name stood out to me, though not for the reasons it did for others. The headline was not the only thing on the paper that caught my attention however, as a translucent glimmering fluid stained the sides of the paper in the shape of a pair of hands that would have grabbed onto it. While a certain sexual liquid jumped to mind as the usual candidate, this didn’t seem like the work of lust--no, it was the work of fear.

I shook my head and tossed the paper to the wind, looking up at the city, now partially lit by luminescent crystals embedded at the top of poles littered along the roads, where some ponies could be seen off in the distance as they looked towards me. I begun walking towards them in a measured pace, and they seemed to slow to a stop as recognition and fear seeped into them. Soon enough, the lamps by the road lit me up with their light, and the ponies started in shock, then ran into an alley in the side of the road.

Being feared wasn’t something I was used to feeling. I remember being scorned by society, thrown about and... used by the Corrupt while the Pure often pitied me and abandoned me so they wouldn’t have to deal with any of the terrible fallout that would come from helping me. I remember being respected by those that teetered between Purity and Corruption, helping to swing them into a life of sanity and true happiness, as opposed to the burning-out sexual reprieve that exists out there in the effluvium. I remember being afraid of the dim world lit by distant stars and short-lived lightning bolts, with only my Mother giving me a candle to scare away the spectres. However, being feared was something new.

Having a power over that which has tortured me and all of my friends felt good, but inciting visceral terror--a feeling I knew all too well--into anyone made me feel like I was doing something horribly wrong. Of course, that wrongness wasn’t entirely new; killing ponies had a way of getting to one after all, but I knew that whatever pain I could inflict onto the Corrupt could never reach the heights that which they have wrought onto the rest of us.

With that in mind, I quickly darted after those ponies that had ran away, reaching them in moments and killing them in less, leading into an angry race through the city, destroying any of that horrible taint that has ruined so many. Pained screams echoing in my ears as lightning blasted out of me and into my foes, time blurring into a mess of death and carnage with the knowledge of my power truly searing into me.

After the multiple minutes it seemed to have lasted, I skidding to a stop just in front of a dark alleyway, what little light that had entered from above showing something I could scarcely imagine; a Corrupt unicorn with a crimson coat and ruffled white mane had her light red magic enveloping her wide-open maw, the head of a Pure pegasus with a red coat and ebony tail stuffed inside. I could hear the sounds of the Corrupt’s throat attempting to swallow the Pure deeper inside of her, pleasure clearly visible across the former pony’s entire body while the other’s only showed pain and terror.

A quick blast of speed landed me behind the unicorn, my hands reaching around to grasp and pull apart the edges of the mare’s maw while my magic engulfed the pegasus’s head, trying to wrench it free of its horrible captivity. Soon enough, the dark-maned mare’s head emerged with a wet *pop*, and I let up my magic on her, but wasted no time in grabbing the other pony by the waist and throwing her against the alley wall behind me.

I used my magic to throw myself forward to deliver a powerful punch into the Corrupt mare’s abdomen, an brilliant explosion of electrical magic overlaying the gut-wrenching sounds of cracking ribs and the pained scream of their owner. Not letting up, I threw another jab at her ribs, breaking a few more ribs before crouching slightly, then launching a magic-enhanced uppercut to the pony’s jaw, sending her twirling up into the air with no level of grace, only for me to then finish off the combo with a roundhouse-jab-kick that slammed her into the wall once again.

Blood spurted from the mare’s mouth as she landed onto the dark stone ground harshly, her eyes filled with immense terror as she stared at my looming form while I looked down at her with rage billowing out of me. I slowly lit up my horn, dragging out the process that would kill this perverted monster before me, but she managed to speak up in a broken, faint whimper, “Wait...”

The gall of that took me off-guard, but I recovered with a scoff and responded, “Why? It’s not like you gave any of your victims a chance to be spared.” I resumed charging power into my horn as I lowered it so that pointed towards the pony, but again she stubbornly refused to be quiet.

“Please!” She cried in desperation, but then devolved into a coughing fit, blood flowing from her maw.

“Begging? Really?” I asked in irate disbelief. “I can hear the cries and screams of your victims as they begged you and yours for mercy, something which was never given to them. They were innocent. You aren’t,” I said, and was just about to finish her off.

However, the dirty mare laying in a puddle of glimmering blood still managed to mutter, “I’m sorry...”

I paused, those words striking deep within me, making my crimson anger turn into a cold, black rage. “No you’re not.” I crouched down with my feet not moving, giving her a better look into my furious eyes as I continued, “After all the pain you’ve wrought upon others, all the light you’ve ripped out of their souls, all of the happiness you’ve so uncaringly taken from their lives, you still take more and more, like we’re just a bunch of plants for you to harvest. Well, guess what,” I grasped her throat with my left hand, pulling her up off of her side so that she sat up and struggled to breathe while my own voice grew quieter and colder, “That shit has consequences. You’ve ignored yours for far too long, and it’s time they all come due, right now.”

My magic finally let loose, powerful and loud arcs of lightning blasting into the unicorn’s face, tearing at it with red miasmas of blood that were barely visible in the dim moonlight pouring out, voiceless sputters of pain peaking through the crackling of thunder for several seconds, my rage being taken out on this horrid beast that used ponies and tossed them away when they no longer served a purpose.

The noise eventually cut out, my magic fading as my anger calmed into apathy, the thunder finishing its arcs to leave a disfigured face with boiled fluids and melted bones as a remnant of my catharsis. Quiet, laboured breaths then took my attention to the other mare that was sitting down on the ground behind me, her darker mane that was still slick with saliva allowed her to blend in a bit better than the Corrupt pony I just killed.

I could quickly tell the pegasus was terrified of me, her breaths seeming as silent as she was able, though faint wisps of vapour spouted from her muzzle. Her eyes, wide with shrunken pupils in terror, also had glimmering tears showing in their corners, no doubt from the despair she felt in that horrid maw I just evacuated her from.

“Are... you alright?” I asked her, not knowing what else to say.

“S-Sis,” She mumbled out, her eyes growing in sadness as they locked onto the dead pony.

Realization struck me with that one word, and I inhaled sharply through my nostrils as I understood her sorrow, though it was still somewhat confusing. “I...” I said to the pegasus, pausing for a moment to think about what to say, landing on, “She was eating you...”

She sniffled and slowly stood up, having to use her hands to push herself up while her eyes remained focused on the crimson unicorn. “It’s not her fault...” She responded somberly, shuffling her feet so that she could move forward towards her kin.

I sighed solemnly as I remembered how Violet became Corrupt. “I know,” I stated, stepping a short ways to the side to allow the pegasus by me, “It’s just... I don’t see any other option.” She didn’t reply, only moving forward a bit more before kneeling before her sister, tears starting to flow down her cheeks. “I couldn’t let them be free...” I continued, slightly quieter to allow the mare some more peace, “They’d only make people like us suffer... and, I couldn’t capture or try to make them Pure; not enough time or space...”

“I know...” She finally said in response, though still wasn’t looking at me, “I don’t blame you...” She leaned forward and gingerly wrapped her arms around her lifeless sister, putting her muzzle into the crook of the body’s neck and crying, quiet sobs of grief and mourning echoing out into the dark alleyway. I moved back a few paces, softly and quietly so that I didn’t disturb her, allowing the mare the minutes on end that she needed.

Eventually, her sobs quieted into silence, only the occasional hiccup and rivers of dried tear tracks down her face left in its place. “I remember t-the times where we played together... a-as fillies,” She said in a broken, parched voice, still hugging her kin’s body, “J-jumping on the bed... climbing around in t-the park... rolling a-around in the garden...” She sniffled, strands of snot glimmering in the dim light as they painted her snout. She smiled somberly and gave a small laugh, continuing in clear reminiscence, “Dad would get so mad at us when we crushed her flowers... I... I...” She moved her mouth as if to keep talking, but she couldn’t find any words, and merely hung her head in silence.

I stood in silence as well, still a few paces away from the grieving pony; depression was so clear in her features, and I knew she deserved better than the cold logic I’ve been justifying my purification with thus far. Shedding my silver illusionary disguise, I spoke quietly to her, “I wish we could go back to that too,” I sighed in sympathy, and noticed the faint tears welling in my own eyes, then used my left hand to wipe them. “I really want to go back to my past life too, but...” I sucked in a breath through gritted teeth, “That’s not how the world works. Just gotta... keep on going, I guess...” I said, as much realization for myself as it was advice for her.

She nodded slightly, her face moving against her sister’s and remaining there for another minute or so before slowly and hesitantly pulling away, like she was scared the body was going to disappear. She stared into the lifeless pits where eyes playful eyes no doubt once stood, her expression showing the cold, hollow feeling inside her. Eventually, she managed to shiver faintly and shake her head quickly, then turn it to face me, where some recognition sparked in her eyes. “You’re... Trixie, right?”

I smiled faintly at the question; it feels like forever since somepony called me my name, even despite how it that happened just a couple days ago. “Yeah,” I replied, my longing for my magic show clear in my tone.

The pegasus smiled a bit brighter at that. “I... remember you. The Red Cross Red Shield Hospital here in Manechester... Your performance raised some money for my father...”

“Oh?” I replied, the somberness fading from voice, being replaced by the happiness I felt for helping those in need.

“Yeah!” She mildly jovially exclaimed and nodded her head, making her dark mane flap up and down, but it all soon faded a bit and she added tentatively, “I mean... s-she didn’t make it, but... thank you.”

I nodded wordlessly, somewhat surprised by the happiness of the pony despite everything that she had dealt with. “I, uh...” I started to continue the conversation, but paused with clearing my throat so I could recall something I didn’t know about this pegasus, something that would help me remember her and my goals; “What’s your name?”

“Oh! Um...” She started, seeming to not expect the question, “I-I’m Cardinal Feather. I’m sort of a teacher here at the elementary school, helping filly pegasi to fly,” She answered, but her kind demeanor turned a bit dour as she looked down to the ground and grimaced, correcting herself, “Well, was a teacher...”

“The staff and children getting Corrupted I assume?” I asked, and received a nod. “I...” I begun, looking up into the early night sky and the Moon in particular, it reminding me of how far the Corruption has spread, “These... monsters, who make demons of everypony else, are who I’m really after here. My main goal is to kill them.” I looked back down to Cardinal, pensiveness clear on her face, and continued, “Maybe then, everything can go back to normal. Maybe then... there can finally be peace. Maybe... maybe...” I trailed off the words being said like questions, but when Cardinal began to open her mouth to respond, I remembered by resolve, and finished, “But, whatever happens, it’ll be better than it is now. And whatever happens, I’m going to see it through.”

The mare remained silent for a short while, mouth partially agape and eyes slightly widened in a mix of awe, fear, and hope. “I...” She begun raspily, but cleared her throat and responded in an almost defeated tone, “I see your point. I don’t... like what you’re doing, but...” She turned away from me to look at her fallen sister with a pained expression, and shivered slightly as she continued, “I-I don’t know what else to do.” She stared at the corpse of the unicorn for a few more seconds, then turned back to look at me, tears flowing from her eyes as she cried, “I j-just want this t-to end...”

I hesitated a bit at the quick emotional shift, but soon stepped over to Cardinal and wrapped by arms around her waist, hugging her tightly and let her pour out her emotions on me. I knew full well the feeling of the overwhelming dread and hopelessness crushing me, always trying to get me to quit and hide away from the horrible monsters that controlled the world, but it was something I always pushed back against, never letting anypony else suffer as long as I could help it. “I’ll end it,” I said softly to her, feeling the dampness of her tears run through my shirt, the unbridled grief she felt strengthening my resolve to continue. “Whatever it takes.”

After Cardinal had finished crying her eyes out, I let her go back to her home while I reinstated my silver illusion and ran out of Manechester, continuing my cleansing of the world. I found many other towns, purifying them as well, though going out of my way to help any of the particularly damaged Pure ponies as well as I could, while also taking enough time to answer to all of my necessary bodily functions. The magical power I held had far more complexity than I first thought, as city by city, day by day, I learned new ways to manifest it, and trained myself in them so that I would be ready by the time I challenged the Corrupt tyrants of Equestria.

During that time, though, my mind went back to Violet Gauze. She was hardly unique in her Purity and kindness, but what she represented to me was something more; my past, now trapped because of the Corruption, leaving me unable to go back to it. Perhaps it was that nopony in particular had held that much significance and hope within them, but she soon gained a rose tint in my mind, a feeling so bright and pure in me that I’ve hardly felt it for anypony bar my Mother started to grow within me, and with it, an terrifying and inescapable dread.

I stood a short ways out from the outskirts of Manehattan, the grey cityscape tinted in the cool hues of dusk, whispers of wind passing me by as I grappled with my thoughts. While in other cities I may have slaughtered by the hundreds with little reason to care much for any pony in particular, this place would be far different, and would be my final challenge before I deemed myself ready to take on the true source of Corruption in this world. And all because of one pony...

“Violet...” I muttered, looking down towards the ground in that cold dread that had only grown stronger as I came closer to this point, my eyes subconsciously examining the golden boots that I have worn for several years, through the best and worst parts of my life. Despite that mare’s timid mannerisms, it was clear that she held such a strong love for me, and if it weren’t for the horrible situation we find ourselves in, I wouldn’t know what to think when I started to reciprocate it. However, as it stands, I can only see one solution to free her from the Corruption that has taken hold of her.

Soon I looked up and dashed forward into the city, starting to destroy the monsters that have been made of the good ponies that have lived there before, every mare I murdered I knew would be in a better place when all was said and done, and I tried to keep my mind on them to draw my thoughts away from what I knew I was really there for, but the dread still lingered deep within me.

Eventually, it all came to an end, and I arrived back at the small house I remembered she lived at, staring up at the second-story window with as distinctly a neutral expression I could manage with my inner turmoil. The coral-coated and purple-maned unicorn peered out of the window after a moment with an inquisitive look that reminded me of how she was before, but that soon ended when she saw me, first bearing an expression of shock and fear before it quickly turned into a smoldering, half-lidded stare.

Violet left my line of sight through the window after a short moment, taking several longs seconds before the door on the first floor opened and she stepped out, a level of care and caution still seeming to be part of her as she closed the door behind her quietly, then looked back at me with that same abhorrent lustful expression.

“I didn’t know you were looking for me, silver,” She said, her voice now containing a level of confidence that separated her even further from her past self. “I didn’t know that little old Violet tickled your fancy~”

“Well, she did,” I replied swiftly, not wishing that corruption of a voice I loved to continue any more than necessary. “You don’t,” I added coldly. “You’re not Violet. Your body may be the same as hers, but your mind has been rent asunder by the goddesses of this land, replaced by something far from hers... something far more horrid.”

“Horrid?” She said, sounding offended. “This is normal; how could it be horrid?”

I gave a small scoff at this mental abomination’s logic before responding, “Normal in a statistical sense perhaps, but the takeover out your body was certainly not natural. Furthermore,” I added with some light rage tinting my voice, “Just because it is what everypony else does does not mean it is good. I have read of the days of public execution and ‘advanced interrogation’... Those that lived then saw those acts as normal and justified, yet currently we see them as cruel and unwarranted.”

“Oh, come on,” The corrupted Violet started with dismissal and disgust, “It can’t be that bad.”

“It is,” I tersely replied before thinking for a moment, quickly getting an idea that will test this abomination’s resolve. “Tell me,” I begun as I lit up my horn. “Do you remember me?” I finished while dispelling the illusion that I had on me, allowing the other pony to see my true self.

She let out a gasp as she saw the sapphire and frost of my body and mane and tail, concern and love flashed across her face so evanescently that it may have only been at trick of the light, quickly being replaced by an intense lust. “Oh, yes I do~” She said, making my dissonance for her only strengthen. “You’re that cute showmare that thinks she can do anything by cheating... how naughty~” She said with no chastity whatsoever as she her hands to the top button of her lab coat and undoing it.

‘“Cheating”...’ I thought, quickly growing angry and disgusted by that utter reversal of the truth. I quickly shook my head to clear that rage from blinding my decision here, and responded, “The real Violet thought that honourable.” The other mare stopped and gained a apathetic, yet inquisitive look as I continued with my voice now beginning to be tinted by sorrow as I prepared to do what was needed, “The real Violet truly liked my tricks and my skill. The real Violet was, above all else, kind and compassionate, not this fool you make of her.”

Corrupt Violet put her arms at her side and looked at me with a very conflicted expression as I stepped towards her, stopping right in front of her. “So, Violet- the real Violet,” I started as I placed my hands on her shoulders, tortured grief seeping into my voice while my eyes beginning to grow wet as they stared into her’s, “If you’re in there somewhere, know that...

“Know that I love you.”

The other mare’s expression became one of confusion, shock, slight disgust, and an almost imperceptible tint of what I believe was adoration under it all. “And... I’m sorry...” I said sorrowfully while sliding my hands up her shoulders and onto the sides of her head, then leaned forward and kissed her. Her lips were so soft and giving, just like the mare that once owned them, and it only fueled the remorse I had for what I know I had to do. I saw her expression remain in bewilderment with the disgusted tint become slightly stronger before I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her and kept kissing her passionately, wanting to keep the true Violet alive in my heart forever.

However, I knew I had to fulfill my duty no matter what. And, so I found the thunder in my body, and forced it out through me like I have done so many times before, but it was far more difficult this time around. It eventually came out, and violently blazed through Violet’s body, making her spasm in my grasp with the electricity flowing through her lips enough to make me feel the tingling in mine.

I stopped after several seconds and pulled my muzzle away from my newly-deceased friend’s and watched her fall back as far as she was able while I still held her, the lights behind her eyes having gone out, leaving her head to fall backwards. The immense anguish I felt, not just from having to kill her, but being forced to kill her by the monsters that rule this world; it made me bury my face into her chest, hot tears stinging as they poured out from my eyes and across my cheeks, deep, wracking breaths coming from my mouth with faint sobs and sniffles occasionally coming from me as I let everything out. I knew this would be painful even before I did it, and I could never have been prepared for just how much it hurt.

I kept myself like that, letting out all the pain and sorrow I have built up over years, taking many minutes before I finally pulled away. I crouched down while holding onto the other mare, then pulled away while remaining next to her after she touched the ground, letting her rest on it while I looked on, the tears in my eyes hardly letting me see her at all.

I placed a hand on her abdomen in a mourning fashion, and said quietly, “Goodbye, Violet.” Standing up, I still stared at her for several seconds, hardly able to take my gaze away from her, not wanting to let the horrible world take her back, but I knew I had done enough grieving; there were still other ponies suffering out there, and I couldn’t let that go on for any longer.

Quickly shaking my head to help take my eyes away from her, I managed to look out of the city at the horizon, the crystal, fluid-coated castle that was the home of the Elements appearing in my mind’s eye. “It’s time,” I said curtly, my mind still working to calm itself. “No more Corruption,” I stated, then sprinted out to finally kill of the tyrants plaguing this world.

Chapter 4: Electricity vs. Elements

Loud screaming was heard throughout Friendship Castle as orgasms rocked through six ponies and one dragon, the last of their impromptu party within Princess Twilight’s room going out with a bang for all those involved.

“I seriously don’t get how you do that, Pinkie...” Rainbow Dash said through her exhausted huffing as she laid face-up on the thick and cum-soaked carpet.

“Well!” The aforementioned pink pony exclaimed as she shot up from between her cyan pegasus friend’s legs. “The first step is having a really long tongue...” She continued, then hung her more than a quarter-meter long tongue out of her mouth to show what she was talking about.

“It’s too bad not all of us have those,” Said Twilight as she rolled off of the slightly smaller Barb.

“Eh, at least three of us do,” The dragon commented as she glanced over at Fluttershy, who was currently licking the blood running down from Applejack’s neck with her batpony tongue.

Pinkie then jumped to her feet, letting her decently long cock and huge, plump balls and breasts flop around vigorously while she whooped with her usual ecstatic grin, “Well, I don’t know about you ponies, but I had a lot of fun!”

“I think that goes without saying that everypony else had fun too, Pinkie,” Twilight replied as she sat up and looked across the cum-coated throne room of the castle.

“Rather interesting decor, darlings,” Rarity commented from behind Fluttershy after a moment after observing the dripping liquid as well. “However, I imagine this would be rather difficult to maintain...”

“Yeah, we’d have to have a party like this like, every day, which...” Barb looked over at Pinkie, who looked ten times as excited as usual at that statement, “Would probably cause some problems with our jobs.” She got some odd looks and one very depressed one, so she quickly amended, “Wouldn’t want to go unstable, after all.”

“Yeah, nopony bein’ all too great usin’ only friendship, after all,” AJ responded as she got to her knees, slightly wincing at the pain in her neck.

Twilight nodded in assent, then started to think about she could go about organizing her time to get more friendship time while standing up and walking with slightly wobbly legs over to a partially opened window, peering out of the slit to see the lovely sex-filled paradise of Ponyville below her, all the inhabitants free of any chastity.

The rather hung candy-maker, Bon-Bon and her very large-chested marefriend, Lyra, were going at it like rabbits as usual near the former’s shop; the Cutie Mark Crusaders, despite having gotten their cutie marks a couple years ago, were up to their usual lewd antics around the fountain; the usual line of mares waiting for their shot at Macareina’s massive pole also in the plaza; the silver pony standing at the edge of town...

Twilight did a double-take at that last one, and saw that, yes, there was indeed a grey-coated and silver-maned unicorn with only the barest of sexuality standing at the entrance to town, looking right back at her. “That’s...” She muttered subconsciously, in utter disbelief by the appearance of the other mare at her village; she didn’t even think that mare existed, and sure as fuck didn’t think they go there, as whatever attempt to rip away the freedom they had there would never work.

“You good there, Twi?” Rainbow asked, seemingly a little thrown off by her friend’s sudden silence.

“It’s her...” Twilight said quietly, the others’ confusion at the statement making them come up beside her and barge open the window before tracing her line of sight to see the sliver pony she was still staring at.

A couple gasps rang out from some of the friends, making the confused Pinkie ask, “Huh, who’s that?”

Silence reined for a moment before Rarity gulped and replied, “There have been... rumours these past couple weeks, about mass murder happening in many of the towns in Equestria.” Some more gasps laced with fear and horror were heard, but the white unicorn continued, “They seem to be all perpetrated by one pony, who... you now see standing before us...”

Silence took hold again for several seconds as the six mares and one dragoness stared at the unicorn in a mix of fear, confusion, and anger, the latter quickly rising at the audacity of her.

“H-how? Why?” Barb eventually spoke, her slightly younger self mostly letting bewilderment seep into her words.

“It ain’t gonna matter much longer,” Rainbow responded tersely, practically fuming with rage while gripping the window sill tightly with her fingers, making Fluttershy put a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down.

Twilight nodded quietly, unable to tear away the faint sense of dread overcoming her, but managed to say, “Yeah. She may have gotten this far, but now that she’s walked herself onto our doorstep, there’s no chance she’s gonna be able to kill anypony else.” She practically forced herself to pull her focus away from the window to turn around and walk towards the door, and said to her friends, “Come on; let’s pay this fool a visit.”

Silence.

Peaceful, beautiful silence.

After the world has become so mad and loud, I take every opportunity I can to take in the lovely quiet nature gives us, even if sometimes it is only let through by my own blood, sweat, and tears.

The orgasmic screeches and pounding meeting of bodies quickly died down when the residents of this horrid little town finally noticed me walking through it. Now, the only thing I could hear was the steady beat of my boots hitting the cobblestone ground as I walked with calm intent towards the castle of ‘friendship’ near the opposite edge of the town, warm light of mid-day streaming down on it and refracting its pretentiousness upon those who live about it.

There wasn’t even any chirping of birds or whispers of wind to fill the deadly silence that had taken hold, the Corruption likely having affected the very nature and weather of this world in their own foolish pursuits to fornicate even more garishly, and... the side effects were no doubt felt beyond mere sound.

I exhaled shakily in the horrible scenes I have found becoming more common amongst the Corrupt, what was once rape of the Pure and rough copulation between each other has now devolved into abusing mental and physical disabilities and literally killing each other in many gruesome and lewd manners for their own sexual gratification. I... can hardly even think about all of it without wanting to cry and scream in pain...

Unfortunately, I had no time to care for what has happened in the past, as the future of so many people the world over rests on my shoulders alone.

The pointlessly large doors to the crystalline castle before me creaked open, breaking me from my recollections from my position a short ways before the building and drawing my attention to the ponies and dragon that exited it, all of their scarcely-clothed and excessively varying body shapes and sizes mirroring their absurd-in-scope mental afflictions. Regardless of such individual instability, they held together as one, becoming a force that destroyed everything and everyone in its path with its direction only coming from the foolish minds they and those they worshipped held.

It terrifies me, even now knowing I have powers beyond what any mortal should possess; even the strongest of beings have fallen to these people--perhaps it was due to their starvation breeding recklessness, or mere rage and arrogance, but I know these quote-on-quote ‘heroes’, however foolish they are, are not to be taken lightly, and I have a resolve that none that have fought these beasts have had, and even with that, I still fear them.

Outside of my mental struggle for calm, the seven Corrupt stared at me with contempt as they slowly trotted towards me, any fear they might have of my presence seeming to be washed out by stupidity and buried underneath self-righteousness.

I saw Fluttershy on the far left of the pack, looking the least angry of the group, though that was likely because she was looking for any gap in my Purity in some foolish belief that she could convince me to join them. Rarity was to the right of her, the arrogance and disgust she had on her face for any level of Purity amplified many times for this encounter with myself. Then Barb, who scowled and bared her teeth at me in a manner that was hardly as frightening as the impending doom her group brought with her. On the rightmost edge, there was Pinkie Pie, with an exaggeratedly powerful glare on her face with nothing underneath. Left of her stood Applejack, who had only enough resolve to hold a look of stern contempt. Then came Rainbow Dash with a face of pure rage, looking a micron from attempting to obliterate me. And at the center of it all stood ‘princess’ Twilight Sparkle, who donned a look of smug condescension, but managed a glance at my boots with a faint recognition in her eyes, but didn’t seem able to place why before looking back at me.

“You really had to come right after we came into exhaustion?” The purple alicorn asked in irritation and slight disbelief, gesturing to her and her friend’s bodies, which I could now tell held sheen of fluids and a hint of tiredness, likely something I overlooked in my own fear.

“You hardly do anything else,” I responded in a slightly forced calm.

She scoffed and replied, “Nah, we’re not Unstable. You, on the other hand, only kill everyone.” She finished with some venom, but my thoughts were more taken with the distinction these people make between themselves and the ‘Unstable’ among them. I could never understand why what should be the ideal form of them is treated as their enemy, and I much as wished to know, I had no time to ask that of the monsters before me.

“Not everyone,” I replied simply, but before she could counter, I continued, “But... I’m doing it to free everyone. Those you have taken under your veil are either locked away in a prison of their own mind or simply too far gone to help, and either way, they’d be better off in the afterlife. The others, of course, are also suffering because of you and yours, so Purifying this world of you Corruption is my goal, and I will accomplish it, no matter how much it takes.”

“Corrupt?” She asked in disbelief, then started laughing quietly. “You’re calling us corrupt just because we’re following the natural order?”

“This... order,” I said, gesturing to the world around us, “Is certainly not natural.” The lavender mare looked like she was about to comment, but I continued, “Luna said that. Books I’ve read have said that. Celestia has as well, in the past.”

“Oh, come on. Change happens, you know.”

“Not all change is good.”

A growl came from Rainbow Dash, causing us all to glance to her. “Hm,” Sparkle spoke as she looked back at me. “It doesn’t seem that logic and words are going to win this battle; we’ll have to use a bit more than that.”

I slightly altered my stance to be more battle ready, turning slightly to the side but still looking at them, and replied, “For once, we agree on something.”

The others changed their stances as well, and we stood for several seconds in bated breath, just waiting for the other to make their move, but it appears the cyan pegasus didn’t have as much patience. In a quick flap of her wings, she blasted towards me, but I quickly hopped over and slammed down in mid-air onto her, sending her smashing into and tumbling along the ground at speed. I cast a swift glance back after I landed and saw she wasn’t flying back at me, so I turned back around just in time to duck under a purple bolt of magic.

I started a sprint far to the right, leaving a huge plume of green fire and a confetti explosion in my wake, but I quickly returned and threw them all into the air from right to left. I stopped just beyond Fluttershy and backflipped back into her, and jumped off of her, sending her flying into Rarity. They lingered in the air long enough for me to run under them and jump to take hold of Barb’s tail and quickly spin her around me and release her at the right time to launch her into Sparkle, sending them careening above the last two ponies.

Applejack just barely slammed on the ground when I approached her and jumped onto her chest to give me some more reprieve before I kicked Pinkie Pie, who was currently imitating a bouncing ball, and making her sail through the streets with no more grace than one. I then moved back to my starting position and returned to normal speed, casting a quick glance behind me to make sure Dash wasn’t coming up on me soon, and looked back at the five ponies and dragon that were getting untangled from each other.

“Is that really the best you can do?” I asked with confidence, though still keeping my senses wary for any sneak attacks.

“Not even close,” Sparkle replied angrily, then sent a large bolt of magic at me, which I quickly moved to the side of with ease. She sent another, then another, both no more effective than the last. As she started to charge another one, larger this time it seemed, I heard something coming up behind me. I changed back into slow motion and looked backwards to see Dash flying at me at incredible speeds, at least relative to everything else, likely enough to reach me in less than what I perceived as a few seconds.

A look back at the others showed Applejack attempting to throw a lasso at me, Barb breathing fire at me, Rarity flying some ribbons at me, and Fluttershy... transforming into a bat-pony?

‘That’s a new one,’ I thought, but quickly shook my head and stepped a couple paces to the right, just in time for the chromatic pegasus to be right where I was before giving her a push to the direction opposite me, changing her angle to fly into the dragon’s malachite flames. Another thought occurred to me when I looked back at the fire, then created a small wind spell that pushed them up and apart, directed at the lasso and ribbons floating overhead.

I walked behind Sparkle and shot a small bolt at her horn before returning to normal speed again, and the fruits of my labour were clearly shown, being Dash flying through the flames and coming out the other side engulfed in them, along with the ribbons and rope, making those who wielded them toss them away for fear of the rapidly expanding fire contacting them. The bolt I also created made contact with the alicorn’s horn, shorting out the spell on it and causing its owner to wince heavily and cradle her head to ebb the pain.

“I have given you some pretty good chances here, and yet you still fail miserably,” I said with some mild surprise as the ponies and dragon turned around to face me. “What hubris possesses you to make you believe you have any chance here?”

“You didn’t exactly give us any time to prepare!” Sparkle shouted impudently before they all began to charge at me with varying methods of attack.

“They really are fools...” I muttered as I once again slowed down everything around me. “They hardly even knew of me before now, and yet they still expect me to pull my punches so they can pull out a miracle...” I looked at the slowly moving attackers for a couple moments before heading over to Rarity, who was charging a spell with a vicious look in her eyes, her heliotrope spiraling mane that blew in the wind of out battle drawing my attention. “They really don’t care about anyone other than themselves...” I commented as I took some of the hair in my left hand, them pulsed some electricity through it, causing small embers to be born upon it.

Fluttershy was at my right, flying with decent speed to where I was previously, letting me run over to her and jerk down on her wings to angle them downwards so that her trajectory would lead her straight into the ground. I ran back past the white unicorn and targeted Barb next, the flames pouring from her mouth being no more effective than they have been previously, and the focus she had on them allowed be to grab her tail and swing her around me. My speed helped me get her off the ground, and the inertia she then had helped keep her in orbit for a few revolutions before I released her, sending her sailing into Sparkle again.

I noticed the flaming rope not far from Applejack, and I took hold of it in my magic, keeping it moving at the same speed I was so that I could wrap it around the earth pony, hogtying her in a manner akin to how I did the first time I was in this wretched town. As per the cycle, I stepped back into my staring position and changed back to normal speed, letting the flames on Rarity’s mane and the lasso spread while the bat-pony slammed into the ground at a harsh angle and the alicorn and dragon tumbled leftward across the ground at speed. The former two ponies were fleeing and writhing respectively whilst all of my adversaries were screaming or shouting enough to eclipse the crackling flames and harsh winds.

The bat-pony and dragon got up and nigh-instantly launched into flight towards me, and I quickly jumped above them so that they slammed straight into each other, allowing me to double-jump and stomp onto them, knocking them out. However, when I turned back to my final opponent, I was immediately hit a bolt of magic shot by her, sending me tumbling several paces away. I managed to roll into a one-legged-kneeling position from the tumble, allowing me to reciprocate the purple beam of magic blasted at me with my own orchid one.

‘Of course she’d make this a power-v-power battle, that’s how they always do it...’ I thought as I kept up the beam, though I was quickly losing ground. I focused my horn more and made my ray of magic thinner and slightly tapered, forcing the oncoming one to split around it, spraying all around me as I managed to push forward. The strain on me was still quite strong, so I tapered my beam further and pushed more magic into it, pushing my magic to the limit to keep the physical force from knocking me away.

The bright light of the magic rays we created and the even brighter clashing thereof made my view of my opponent rather restricted, but I still stared at her with bared teeth and intense glare fueled my the anger built over my entire life. Sparkle was looking to be rather strained as well, though mostly in faltering composure rather than pain, with several seconds passing before she gained a confused look that soon turned into shock, making her magic falter partially.

However, that slight error was all I needed. I poured more magic into my beam, pushing me past what should have been my limit, causing the colliding magics to be swiftly skewed in my favour. The length of my orchid ray grew and grew, while the alicorn’s shrunk accordingly, the contact point deftly approaching the latter, making her eyes wide in terror for the mere second I could see her before it hit her, a blinding flash of light and deafening blast wave obscuring my senses for several seconds.

When I was finally able to see again, I saw Sparkle sitting on the ground a short ways away, holding a hand to her head as she looked at me with conflicted bewilderment clear in her eyes. I was grateful for the lapse in concentration that emotion caused in her just previously, but now I was moreso confused as to why she bore it.

However, that ended when she muttered one word: “T-Trixie?”

I gained my own level of bewilderment at that, until I looked down at my arms and noticed their original sapphire colouring has returned, heavily contrasted against the charcoal-black scars across my body. ‘The magic blowback must’ve broken the illusion...’ I thought before sighing. ‘Well, cat’s out of the bag now, I guess.’

“That’s correct, Sparkle,” I said caustically, “I am Trixie, but...” My irritation tapered off into sorrowful reminiscence as I remembered those that have last spoken that name, and with it what my name was supposed to mean. “I... am hardly myself anymore, because of you,” I said to the alicorn whom has so thoroughly ruined this world, “I wish so desperately to go back to that, but I can’t. Not until the world is free.”

She snorted in a mix of rage, disgust, and denial, and retorted, “The world is free. Freer than is ever has been. The only thing plaguing it is you.”

“No...” I replied, slowly pacing my words, “I’m... more of a fever, than a plague. Regardless,” I shook my head to ward off any response and continued, “I’m honestly surprised how easy it was to defeat you. It’s clear you didn’t prepare for this fight at all, and I think that, above all else, shows the main problem with you and yours.”

The purple mare narrowed her eyes at me, and asked irately, “Really?”

I nodded, “Yes. You only care about those closest to you within the very near future, everyone else getting utterly ignored unless they get near you, in which case, you completely destroy them. You likewise ignore the future, any possibility of cataclysm growing larger and larger where none of you do anything about it, only until luck lands in your favour and all effort by those that oppose you is for naught.” I started flaring my magic while my tone grew more venemous as I continued, “You are pathetic, horrible, and disgusting,” Lighting started sparking around my horn and I stepped forward slowly to look down at the fallen tyrant, “You only see the world in black and white, with everyone that opposes you getting destroyed,” My magic was now glowing with deadly power as I stood above Twilight Sparkle, her eyes still defiant despite the terror I could see just behind them, “And you have ignored the consequences of your actions for far too long; It’s time they come due,” I finished and moved to execute her, but I felt a light tremor rock through the ground, giving me pause.

The tremors slowly grew in power and volume, and along with them a smirk on the alicorn’s face. I could feel the ground shaking from far behind me, and I slowly started to turn around, only to gain a horrible sense of dread and déjà vu as I remembered what happened the first time I came to this terrible place.

My magic faltered and fizzled as I finally wrenched my view back enough to see... a colossal beast, at the opposite edge of the town, its ethereal violet body covering a span larger than several houses in width, its height nearing that of the castle behind me... “That’s not an Ursa Minor...” I muttered, so thoroughly taken by terror and trauma to leave me staring at the monster with wide eyes and a wracking shiver.

“Yeah, it’s a Major,” Sparkle said from behind me after a couple moments, breaking me from my reverie to look back at her. She was still sitting down, though her expression was now of superiority and victory as she added, “I actually asked Snips and Snails to see if they could find it when you came here.

“Because, seriously, there’s no way you’re going to beat that.”

My gaze was drawn back to the beast, as it now had begun flattening buildings under its massive paws, making me think of the conclusion of all of this.

“You do realize,” I started, turning back to the alicorn with heavier, fearful breaths tinting my words, “That if I don’t actually vanquish that damned beast here, you’re all dead, yes?”

Sparkle scoffed and rolled her eyes, replying with, “Oh, don’t worry, I can beat it. I always do.”

I stared back at her incredulously for several seconds before shaking my head. ‘The chutzpah on her...’ The Ursa Major’s wrath did not ebb, however, forcing me to look back at it and shout in my mind, ‘How the Luna-damned Tartarus am I supposed to defeat that!?’

I continued stare in awe and dread as tried to think of some way to destroy that monstrosity as it continued its onslaught, soon dragging my thoughts to the consequences of it all. ‘I need to beat it,’ I gulped down in an attempt to affirm myself of what I was doing, ‘Because if I lose, then...’ I cast half a glance back at the smug Alicorn behind me, ‘Then this town gets destroyed.’

A bit further into my thoughts, I continued, ‘I could walk away from this, and all of these horridly corrupt ponies would die...’ I shook my head, a slightly conflicted frown adorning my face as I interjected, ‘That would hardly be a bad thing... but then everyone else will be conflicted about me, seeing a lapse of determination there, so I’d likely be in a worse position...

‘Unless...’ I took a look back towards the massive castle behind, the rage I held at its mere existing faintly bubbling back into my mind, ‘Unless they thought I killed them.’

Looking back towards the monster before me, I asked myself, ‘So, what the fuck can I do here? I mean...’ Turning my thoughts to what my abilities were as a whole, I continued, ‘All I really have is speed and electricity...’ That thought was interrupted when I remembered an odd fact about electricity and magnetism. ‘Huh. That could work... but I’d need to...’ I squinted my eyes slightly as I thought about it more deeply. ‘I’d need to go faster for that.’ I nodded to myself and said quietly to myself, “I’ll need a run-up.” I then exhaled deeply before going into my starting stance, then blasting forward through the streets, sprinting between the Major’s legs.

Twilight Sparkle sat a decent several paces in front of her castle, watching her ‘rival’ stare at the Ursa Major stomping buildings on the opposite side of town, but coming closer every second. She saw Trixie as rather conflicted as to what to do, filling her with hubris, lasting until the other mare muttered indistinguishably to herself and hoisted herself up onto one leg, then went blazing forward. However, instead of stopping at the Ursa that was now at the town plaza like she expected, the unicorn sailed straight past it.

“...What a bitch,” The alicorn said with a disparaging tone. “She didn’t even fucking try! She acts like she’s the thing you should fear the most, and just fucking runs away in the face of danger.” She scoffed, and was about to continue when she noticed the pink electrical trail whipping around the edge of town that she could see past the beast before her.

“What is she doing...?” She asked quietly, seeing the trail flash by again a couple seconds later. She looked to her left and right, seeing the edges of the town quickly streaked by an orchid trail in a counter-clockwise motion, slowly increasing in brightness and speed. The trail eventually began to go one layer of buildings in, the speed at which it circled the center of town increasing. It kept going further inwards every second or so, until it eventually reached the Ursa Major, becoming no more than a bright orchid ring of lightning whipping around the beast at tornado-like speeds.

The starry monster grew angry at the electrical blur, attempting to stomp it multiple times, but the blur always seemed to instantly move around it, expanding the ring it was making. However, the pink blur seemed to have more than just tornado-like speeds, as after several moments, the Ursa began to float into the air, drawing aloud gasp of awe and bewilderment from the lavender Princess looking at it.

Twilight looked at the ring of wind and thunder for several vexed seconds before she muttered, “Foal of a bitch... she’s using electromagnetism.” The ring soon began to do something even more inexplicable though; it began to get taller. The alicorn fell back into utter awe as it quickly grew, surrounding the Ursa Major with the clouds above beginning to get slightly distorted, their bottoms slowly getting pulled towards the electric cyclone, eventually fusing with it to become something previously undreamt-of: A tornado infused with lightning.

The orchid, thunderous whirlwind became stable, keeping the beast it surrounded firmly locked inside as the violent winds and crackling thunderbolts it wrought destroyed the town even further. It was hard to tell with its tempestuous and harshly sparking shape, but it looked like it was getting larger.

No, wait... it was getting closer!

“You madmare!” Twilight shouted in rage and horror, beginning to frantically look around to recall where all her friends were sent by the murderous unicorn, all the while the tornado could clearly be seen speeding up. The alicorn may be practically magically exhausted by her fight, but she knew that she always had more magic to summon up to destroy whatever monsters came her way, so there was no way she was going to let her friends be taken from her!

She started charging her horn and managed to locate her friends with her magic, but the mass teleport she was going for next required a bit more effort. It was enough to make her groan in pain from the powerful throbbing in her horn, but the massive orchid tempest could be felt barreling towards her, but she knew her friendship-fueled-magic could do whatever she wished, and so with a strained scream and a bright white burst of magic, she was gone.

It did seem my idea managed to work better than I would have thought. The Ursa is a magical being, after all, so magical lighting worked rather well in keeping trapped, allowing me to grip the harsh and violent whirlwind with my own magic, making it rip and burn at my right side as I continued to run in circles, pulling the thing and forcing towards the crystal edifice the Corrupt were blessed with. Eventually, when the magical and physical strain of pulling a lighting-filled tornado with a massive beast inside that tore at my body became too much, I let it continue forward on its path of destruction while I finally stood back within the streets of the town, hands on my knees as I panted heavily from exertion and pain.

I could see on my right side bloody gashes and tears in my flesh through the ripped clothes I wore, most of the fur on that edge of my waist burnt off while faint fractal scars looked to be growing from the gashes. There was certainly bleeding, but nothing profuse, and none of the blazing bolts seemed to have damaged much internally, so I was still alright for the time being--I would definitely need a hospital after all this, but there was something I needed to do first.

Looking back up the powerful thunder-cyclone, I managed to start lightly chuckling through my heaving panting, the catharsis of the situation beginning to hit me; the first time I came to this horrid town, my life was ruined by a infant beast which had strained the bane of my life to get rid of, only for me to take down the adult mother of that beast who the now-alicorn herself thought unstoppable. And with how large that tornado I made was, there was no way that alicorn was going to be able to save her undeserved home, even with the over-powered ‘friendship’ magic she and her friends had together.

Actually... they weren’t together just then. I had separated them, inadvertently preventing any of their strongest power from being used. That, and Sparkle was likely searching for her friends rather than trying to find a way to stop the tempest from destroying her home.

...

While I let the purple mare and her friend’s home get destroyed, I do still know very well that such destruction doesn’t even come close to that which they have wrought upon the rest of the world. ...And even though what I have attempted to do--taking Sparkle’s friends and loved ones from her--may hit rather close to home to me, I cannot and I will not let it stray my course; these people have taken too much from the world, and they, will, pay.

Through the loud sparks and bright flares of the tempest shattering and shredding apart that crystal castle, I caught a flash of light out of the corner of my eye, drawing my sight through the winding and haphazardly laid out town streets to see a pile of colourful creatures near the left side outskirts of the village. They seemed disoriented from what was clearly a teleport by the alicorn of the group, but all seven of them were definitely there and certainly alive.

That wouldn’t last for much longer, though.

Taking a deep inhale and exhale to slow by laboured breathing and pained groaning, I pulled myself up straight and started towards the ultimate Corrupts, my feet and legs stinging with each step I took while my side started burning even stronger as I moved, forcing me to use a hand to apply some pressure to it so that I may slow its worsening.

Even with that torrid pain, I kept my focus on the monsters, their collective gaze locked onto the castle as its pieces got flung violently from the whirlwind, no doubt in horror for the loss of their favorite place to practice their ‘friendship’. I suppose that just goes to show just how much they have been given, where the loss of any of it causes them anguish, as opposed to my own apathy towards the beatings life gives me time and time again.

That agony of loss could be felt around me and seen from the corners of my eyes, large, cool-coloured shards of crystal with smatterings of a white evaporating fluid all being flung across the town, landing with loud crashes amongst the many other homes of this Corrupt town. Terrified screams and fleeing could be heard as the threat of Purification finally became clear in their minds, but even with such pandemonium all about me, even with the searing pain in my legs and at my side, I still moved forward with my goal.

The many meters between us closed slowly, yet steadily walked forward with my borderline infamous golden boots striking the ground, a sensation that there was more to this creeping into me. It was strange how the Elements created a plan to stop me--the minimalness of it notwithstanding--even though their audacity and egos prevented them from even knowing who I was. I may have utterly destroyed something important to them, as many of those who have opposed them is the past have failed to do, yet I still doubted the possibility that a miracle would come their way didn’t exist.

Regardless, I continued my quest, walking into and stopping within speaking distance of the seven beings that have taken so much from the world. Their exhaustion and injuries were obvious in their heavy breathing and bloody selves, but their attention still was completely taken with the destruction of their castle, their ears hardly even having perked at my steps and raspy breaths.

“I do not understand,” I started, watching their jaws clench and expressions tense slightly at my voice, “Why you think you deserved that thing. Even in your... twisted ideology, I don’t get how destroying the most ultimate forms of yourselves, those which you should see as ideal, makes you feel right.” They didn’t respond, or even seem to think on the matter, their minds clearly having been made up a long time ago. “I would appreciate an explanation,” I requested, coughing lightly from the pain and exhaustion, before finishing, “It’s not like you’ll have any words after today, anyway.”

It was clear in their tense and contemptful expressions that they didn’t want to respond, but the fear and dread that made them shift their bodies uncomfortably seemed to get the better of them, with Sparkle eventually looking towards me and speaking up, “It was Princess Celestia.” Her friends turned their eyes to her in a sort of deference, though I only raised an eyebrow in confusion, but still let her continue, “I never really understood why there was that distinction between us and the unstable, but I always trusted Celestia’s word on it. Everypony did.”

“So that’s it?” I replied, baffled as to their foolishness even after all the stupid things I’ve seen and heard of them doing, “Just a blind devotion to one person?”

“It was faith,” The alicorn responded hollowly while looking off into the distance, as if she was questioning how right it was, and with how it had brought her to her knees before me, that actually made sense.

I brought my expression to a deadpan stare, and again cursed whatever god blessed them with their victories in spite of their unwavering stupidity, but soon shook my head and asked, “And everything else?”

“Everything we did was from her orders, or just for our own enjoyment. Even this,” She spoke as she gestured towards the wings on her back, not even bothering to lift them.

“Yeah, I heard about that...” I mumbled, the rage I felt at her undeserved prestige swelling up in me again. I’ve just tried to repress that event in my mind, for fear of becoming out of control in my attempts to restart my magic career. However, that rage has proven to be useful in fights against the Corruption, as it won’t let me let up and forces me to destroy all of the horrid monsters that pose a threat to those that may do good, and even beyond that, right then and there would be the time to get some catharsis.

“But, we have been trying to be more independent recently,” She resumed, prompting me to break from my thoughts with a growling exhale, which caused to her tense up a bit beyond her emotionless state, but she still kept speaking, “It started as only a matter of having the Princess order us less, but we’ve been trying to reform our enemies and using the Map to find Friendship Problems we can solve.”

I gaped openly at the gall of that statement; the black and white lens these people saw the world through, the then cult-like behavior of brainwashing any opposition, and the imposition of their will onto others which they call ‘solving problems’. I... had no words, truly, and I knew it didn’t matter to reprimand them, for they would make no more decisions after the day was over, but one other thing they did say required an explanation; “T-the ‘Map’?” I said with a stutter, still recovering from my utter bafflement and restrained anger.

“Yeah,” Sparkle replied with a nod, now looking more at where her castle stood before, “It was a Magical Friendship Map created in the Friendship Castle that gave us quests; the location of some place with a Friendship Problem appeared on the Map, the Cutie Marks of the ponies best suited to solve it glowing their and on the ponies themselves’ flanks.”

...I can scarcely comprehend the level of naiveté in that statement; these ponies were given a map out of nowhere that they knew nothing about, yet when it told some of them to go some place, they just... did it?! Forget blind loyalty to Celestia being an issue--this was just retarded! And I don’t use that term lightly either, I’ve been called it many times back when I was... used.

“I swear to Luna...” I muttered, sucking in a long inhale through my teeth, before beginning to growl out with rising volume, “How has this nation lived so long when everyone in it is so FUCKING STUPID!” I could see them flinch at my shout, but I was moreso taken with the luck, or dare I say, destiny, these fools had on their side. It’s always been touchy for me, but knowing that at the peak of power in this world, so many things line up just right so that some people get everything with negligible effort while others slave away only to get curb-stomped by the universe... there’s hardly anything I want more in life that to buck that stupid idea into Tartarus.

Exhaling slowly, attempting to contain my anger, I recalled the situation I was in at that moment, and thought that maybe, just maybe, I’ve already done just that.

My cognizance returning to me, I looked back down at the pitiful ponies and dragon that lay below me, silent and fearful for their lives. I had held a subconscious sort of respect for them and their kind because of how much of a threat they were and how much they managed to do, but at that moment, I realized it was all just luck that landed in their favor, and nothing else.

I slowly charged magic into my horn, orchid arcs and sparks flying up and down it while growing in heat and brightness, the fear and dread on those below me’s faces growing along with it. This was it, this is what everything has been building up to all these years; my life of hope, struggle, and bloodshed, and their lives of blitheness, gifts, and godhood, all of it has been leading up to this battle between corruption and Purity, a battle their foolishness left them ill-prepared for and my drive trained me for, a battle... that I won.

Lowering my horn to them, I closed my eyes and finally released the built-up magic in a huge, blazing bolt of arcane energy, its thunderous orchid glow blitzing towards them and causing them to instinctually raised their arms to prepare for their bodies being utterly destroyed in a deafening crack and agonizing sizzle...

But..., those sounds didn’t come--only the fading of the lighting’s crackling could be heard.

Opening my eyes, I quickly saw the golden barrier between me and the corrupt, a bright orchid mark scorched onto it. “No...” I muttered in disbelief and anger; how could they get there only then? They would’ve arrived earlier if it was the tornado, and Sparkle didn’t write for them--the Ursa was only a bullshit trump card they pulled just so they could have an easier time defeating me.

Regardless, there was no time; I immediately turned on my heels and sprinted away from the fallen corrupt, the gash along my side making itself known again, but I ignored it and forced myself forward, knowing that the pain wouldn’t matter if I didn’t get out of there as soon as equinely possible.

Unfortunately, even my speed wasn’t enough, as a cobalt barrier soon arose in my new direction, but I only turned leftward to try to find a gap between the two shields as they grew into a dome shape around me. I pushed myself to sprint to the edge right in the middle of them, where they’d close the last, but the dome closed too rapidly, and with no time to think as I approached the sealing barrier, I threw myself forward with my left shoulder put in front of me to slam harshly into it.

It didn’t give, though, only beating back onto my joint and dislocating it with an agonized grunt erupting from my throat, the adrenaline-fueled numbness keeping me from doing anything more. However, the massive entrapment around me and what at a glance appeared to be the entire plaza of this town was hardly enough for the monsters that made it; a huge bolt of bright magic sprung forth at my side and gave me no time to get up from my kneel before slamming into me, sending me sprawling harshly a ways to the side.

My head probably got hit the hardest, though, with how my hearing was mostly just a ringing and my vision suddenly became blurry. I could still see enough to spot a pair of bright white and dark blue splotches outside the tinted area around me, but I couldn’t orientate which directions they were in before another bolt came speeding into my face, throwing me backward into a solid wall, my head getting rammed against it as well.

After that point, there was no real sight or sound, only a dim cloud in my eyes and a void in my ears. There was no pain either, with how numb I had become, only able to feel a faint heat on the back of my head with wet tearing on my waist. Still, the corrupt weren’t done, as one final unseen blast slammed into my skull and made me fall into an empty abyss.

Pain.

White-hot, burning, searing, pain.

That was the only thing I could feel. It flooded my every sense in every part of my body, from the parched pressure on my feet, through the blazing ripping at my waist and shoulder, to the throbbing inferno in my skull, all the way up to an agonizing flare in my horn.

My sight was a void of nothingness, my hearing both empty and full of blaring sirens at the same time, scent and smell only perceiving a putrid burning all around me. I couldn’t tell my body’s orientation amongst all of its limbs, the pressure of the ground unable to pierce the torment within me. Even time held no presence in my mind, with each moment feeling like the beginning and the end of this madness.

Eventually, though, sense began to creep back into me, my sight clearing from a dark red fog while my hearing blurred away, and I could feel myself laying face down on the cobbled ground with the ability to sense one moment from another coming back to me. Letting my eyes open further, I could see what I remembered to be the home of the corrupt around me, blurred and smudged though it was. I could also hear voices speaking--shouting from a ways away from me, thankfully far enough that it let my ears heal.

Soon I could make out more detail in their words, most notably of which was the repeated use of my name. It didn’t seem taunting however--no, it seemed frightened, and angry. My sight managed to clear up enough that I could peek up to see them several meters away from me, arguing animatedly and vigorously. With other words and phrases coming into the mix like ‘need to’ and ‘get rid of’, I could tell they were arguing about whether to kill me or not, but I had no idea why they would do that; I have been a real threat to them, and every single time before they either kill them... or brainwashes them...

Oh.

Reasoning that I at least needed to get up and escape to recover, I forced my right hand down onto the ground and started pushed myself up, the agony I was in flashing back into my mind and nearly making me slip back onto my face. I managed, though, to get enough height there to shove my left knee under me, then used both parts to force that leg up enough so that I could put my boot flat onto the ground.

My left arm now hung down limply from its disjointed socket, and I took a glance over at the arguing corrupt to see they didn’t notice my movements yet. Taking the chance, I grabbed my left arm with my right and and braced myself, then shoved it harshly back up into its socket, relocating it like muscle memory with a raspy grunt of pain. That did manage to get their attention, unfortunately, with their heads jerking over to see me in a half kneel, looking back at them with an battered and exhausted, but still determined stare.

I could see the conflict in their eyes; the fear, the contempt, the blitheness; I could tell they truly did want me dead so I couldn’t do any more damage to what they saw as their utopia, but I could still sense they were foolish enough to think they could use me in some way--it was the only thing that could ever hold them back, after all.

Eventually, their princess Celestia gathered herself and fired a powerful beam of her golden magic at me, its brightness enough to force me to clench my eyes shut and brace for it, as I could hardly even try to move out of the way quickly enough. When it hit, a heat an pressure began enveloping my horn and seeping into my mind, making my senses blur with a warm, yellow tint. It may have tempted some, but I only saw it as disgusting--a horrid taint by the corrupt in a futile attempt to destroy their opposition.

I fought it, opening my eyes with a heavy strain on my body, staring back at the white alicorn with anger fueling me, the rage I felt at their horrible actions helping me beat back the warmth with an inferno, no matter how much it lit up the pain already within my body. My horn felt like it was on fire as the blood on my side seemed to heat up, making me put a hand over it to slow its heightening flow; a flare also lit up in my legs, pulling and ripping at them, and the light of the magic being shoved into me felt so blinding, but I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing the pain they were causing me.

However, through their bewilderment, they managed to catch on that I wasn’t giving any, so Luna too cast her magic onto me, her cobalt beam fusing midair with her sister’s, becoming a mess of blue and yellow before striking into my horn. The pain forced out of me an agonized groan, but the temperature of the invasive magic cooled into a peaceful mix of warmth and coolness as it pushed harder into my senses, but still I fought it. I could see the mix of light in the peripherals of my nearly white-filled eyesight, and my hearing was being filled with a deafening silence from the power coursing through my head. Blood began to creep into my scorched mouth as my horn felt like it was dipped in lava and the blood in my legs and emerging from my waist seemed to boil, yet I never let myself fall away from the waking world, never letting myself be taken by them again, never letting myself be used against those that have sworn to protect.

The moments bled together again as I felt another addition to the mayhem; this time it was an uncontrolled rose magic, sparking and sputtering with foolishly handled power. It added a vibrancy into the nightmare that crept into me, sparkling stars and glimmering waves giving it a texture beyond the rest’s cloying suffocation. However, it also shifted all of the magic, working in tandem with them to shift it away from trying to tempt me to closing all around me, getting stiffer as it numbed my senses, my already faltering grasp on the ground fading away while my sight and hearing dimmed into a silent black void, even though I could tell I was still awake.

At the edge of my consciousness, I could still feel the chaos--the triple-feed of alicorn magic being forced into me, keeping myself at bay as they were too cowardly to truly face me down or even bother to finish me off. My mind was still dulling, though, and I could scarcely keep myself awake, but time still marched on, leaving me alone in the cold, black space with nothing to keep me from drowning...

End of Act 1

Author's Note

Barb, if you’re wondering, is genderswapped Spike. I use the former name because I refer to everyone in the story using female pronouns only, so it made sense to use female names as well.

Interlude 1: What has Happened to Harmony?

Interlude 1
What has Happened to Harmony?

I may be battered and beaten, but I am far from broken.

It was that thought that kept me my sanity in this dreamless void that suffocated me, pounding me with pressure from every side and crashing cymbals and drums leaving me unable to think with any real clarity.

I have been bested by the monsters that think themselves gods, those that have felled many an unholy beast and made them one of their own by way of their seductive natures, forced to shirk their duty towards giving consequence to those that have wronged the world and becoming a megaphone for the filth they wish to force down everyone else’s throats. But unlike the Tartarus-spawn before me, I shan’t give into their temptation--I know damn well I what amount of power I have been given by the lightning bolt that started me on this crusade, and I will not waste it.

Slowly, with a touch lighter than a feather, I could feel the darkness recede from my senses--the painful suffocation released its chokehold and the booming silence faded from my hearing... My faculties were soon left to return, but only enough to sense something out there beyond the veil, something moving, something speaking, something--no, someone...

I could remember being captured just then, having finally fallen into the void that they thrust upon the world, left unconscious for their filthy selves to bring me... here, wherever here is...

...I could soon hear their words, though blurry and vague, and held a tint of energy that was so often present within the depravity they bathed in, so it was clear my presence near them was not taken as seriously as it should have been given how many have already fallen by my hands.

Heat then pressed into my eyes, sense returning to them as well, a dim red coming with the pain that heat made, eventually settling into a faint searing pressure as pricking, tearing heat quickly made its presence known across the rest of my body. Fighting back the temptation to leave it be, I forced open my eyes to let the blinding white light above flood into my sight, shocking my senses to attention with what felt like a flaming needle beings shoved into my eyes.

Gritting my teeth, I worked my way through it, letting my eyes slowly calm down and adjust to the bright area around me, though its searing pain was soon replaced with the blinding grin of a pony’s face popping into view, the seductive nature dwelling just barely underneath the surface made even cleared by the aggravatingly high-pitched voice asking me something, though exactly what I didn’t have enough respect to learn.

However, with all my senses back into awareness, even though stymied by a flaring agony that wracked through my form that was enough to leave most creatures writhing in it, I was then able to tell where I really was.

The small hat with a red cross on the pony before me’s head told me I was in a hospital of sorts, though the ivory marble walls seen in my peripheral made clear it was in the castle of Canterlot. The warm softness I felt myself pushed into was to be a bed, and the other voices faintly heard were other nurses that clearly wished to have their way with me.

But beyond all of that, I could tell there was... something in my way, something telling me, practically urging me to give into it--the pleasure, the peace, the harmony...

Unfortunately for it, I could recall what had happened before I was dragged here; I knew the corrupt had managed to entrap me within a prison in my mind, what with the suffocation and bleariness present in my memories, and I knew they now wish to make me into one of them, to make me one of those undeserving beasts that would make the world suffer that much more... But, it seems their will was too weak to keep me down for good.

I quickly lashed my left hand straight towards the nurse above me’s throat, grasping tightly onto and digging nails into her flesh as my eyes stared back with a blazing fury into hers so filled with terror and confusion, but it didn’t last when lightning surged up past the resistance in my tainted subconscious and through the agonizingly sensitive nerves of my arm, blasting forth in a surge of power that blinded my senses for a moment, leaving what felt like fire pouring through my arm as I was left in a suffocating white void.

That pain faded away quicker than its predecessor, leaving my gripping my left forearm while my teeth practically ground against each other with the force gritting them together. However, with my external senses returned, I could make out the creature smashed into the wall before me, nearly having broke through the marble while burnt rips in her flesh and fur were formed around her neck, letting blood pour out in a waterfall with some vapourizing from the heat into a pale red mist.

The other two nurses left alive in the room were huddled against a wall to my left, and when I twisted my furious gaze upon them, I could see them cower and shiver in terror, clearly not having recalled just how much of a threat I really am.

I deftly turned and jumped out of the bed onto the floor, my boots thumping against the tiled flooring (Odd, I didn’t expect them to keep all my attire still on my person) and let go my arm as rage flooded through me; These creatures really think me defeated? They think I have fallen under their whims with but a spell? No. If they want the blight upon their corruption to truly be defeated, they’re going to have to put some effort into it!

Launching myself forward with thunder and magic, I threw a fist straight for the left nurse’s abdomen, and the sheer heat of the lightning coursing through that fist practically melted the flesh it struck, but the bone cracked and shattered under its force, letting the fist carry through and hit the wall behind her, massive cracks forming within it as the whole room seemed to shake somewhat under its force.

Unfortunately, the searing pain flared up with that use of power, numbing my legs and arm with the lava-esque heat as my head throbbed with a gut-wrenching nausea--I was likely out of most of my magic, so the only way to get the energy needed to smite the fools around me would be taking it from my body.

Letting it calm down for a moment, I could soon tell the last nurse had moved away and was attempting to leave the room, but she could only get so far before I could stand back up and throw myself towards her, arm outstretched before me with its hand flat and surging with thunder once more, and it soon dug like a sword through the flesh and organs of the nurse’s back and chest, giving her no more chance to plead mercy for the negligence that had so ruined this world.

The pain moreso numbed my arm this time, its abuse having been gotten used to, though agonizing it still very much was, but my focus was soon drawn away from it as loud steps faded in through my ringing ears, the sound coming from beyond the wall before me seeming almost angry with a hint of stomping, and a voice eventually emerged beneath it.

The words were hard to make out, something about ‘taken away’, ‘celebration’, and ‘this isn’t important’, but I could immediately tell from the voice who was speaking: Celestia. My teeth grit harder as the door handle soon turned and the door opened, revealing that pale monster caked in the filth of her subordinates, a sight which gave me no thought except how disgusting, in every sense of the word, that false god truly is.

No moment was wasted before I lunged forward to destroy her, and she could only manage an expression of shock and fear with a reflexive use of magic before I slammed my fist into her abdomen, and with a burst of thunder, sent her flying backward into the wall of the hallway behind her. The pain of movement and magic, now ever-present in my body, were hardly strong enough to beat out the rage I felt, the rage that always pushed me forward to destroy these hideous creatures on high, the rage that immediately followed up that previous attack, charging up magic in my horn and firing it as a crackling beam of orchid magic and lightning right towards Celestia’s face...

But it didn’t.

I forced magic harder through my horn, but I could soon feel wrapping around my mind, much deeper than they ever were before, and they burned into the scars already present in me, forcing a venomous blaze to wrack itself through my body enough to send me stumbled back and down onto the floor with an agonized scream. My charged magic just as quickly faded, and while the lesser friction granted me a slight reprieve from the flaming torture, I still felt blood bubbling in my throat as my consciousness dipped for a moment, the suffocating blackness making its presence just beyond the veil known once more.

Despite all of that, I still pushed forward, turning rightward enough from writhing on my back to push myself up to half-kneel, and I turned my head to see the monster that calls herself a god looking back at me with that oh-so-confident look that she and hers always had around anyone Pure. Forcing the bloody bile out of my throat and onto the ground before me, I could tell that overconfidence of hers was hiding a real fear of me; a fear that no doubt prevented her from actually truly fighting me.

Unfortunately, that knowledge, and the righteous fury it imparted into me, was still not enough to beat away the gold magic that flared on that corrupt monstrosity’s horn, letting the blackness creep yet further onto my senses, making my vision dim and my hearing flatline, with everything else becoming numb as I sputtered a single word out of my faltering throat: “C-coward...”

Blackness...

Stifling silence...

Fixed just above a flaming abyss...

With the barest hints of awareness returning to me, that was all I could feel. Just... stuck, unmovable, suffocating, with nothing but the deafening quiet void to hear and see.

In what felt like both a moment and eternity, I found myself able to pierce through the veil of that darkness ever so slightly, with what was likely the real world outside my body being made aware to my senses; a faint pressure pushed evenly into my back, the agonizing flames I felt so often now seeming to just barely lick my fur, and some slight reverberations could be heard within the flatlining void, though it took yet more time for them to be distinguished at all.

My senses slowly creeped back up in awareness, and the flaming pain across my body from all of what I remember to have happened before got more intense, but I focus more on what I could now tell were voices...

Only a pair of creatures spoke, one with a curdled warmth and the other a cool caution... Their words were hard to discern from within this void, but I could tell something of being ‘too dangerous’, a ‘mission’ with ‘mind... control’, and a mention of ‘break her’.

Even with only those words for context, I could still a cold hollow dread make itself known in my core, and with the flaring heart across the outside of my body, it made for a disgusting mix that forced shivers across my body. That movement, though seemed like enough to alert the two creatures behind those voices to my awareness--as little as it was--as filthy black tendrils emerged once more from the void to wrench me back, the faint horrid feeling fading into an even colder... emptiness...

Author's Note

I’m... not sure what to make of this chapter, honestly.

I wrote most of it a couple months ago, and in the downtime, my mindset on what I wanted to do here has changed a bit, so it may feel empty or pointless.

I think I originally wanted this part to show more of the inner workings of the corrupt’s society in some ways, like how they may celebrate their enemies’ defeat or how they’d act in fear, but it seems to have faded into mostly just some connecting tissue between the previous chapter and the next one.

Regardless of that, I am still going to keep this as its own interlude, as I feel it’s different enough from the two chapters surrounding it to be distinct, and I have already been waiting for quite some time to actually finish this, and with the stress of college and other stories I want to do on my mind, I just really want this thing done and out of my mind.

Chapter 5: Dolor in Depravity

Act 2: Battles of Minds and Worlds
Chapter 5: Dolor in Depravity

I can’t have lost. I can’t have, not after getting so far. They can’t have won with their cheap tactics and utter naiveté, after having everything given to them.

My body may be taken, my mind may be trapped, but I have not lost, no matter what anypony may say. And they do say it often.

I hear the cheers and jeers of the nobles and servants as my body walks into Canterlot Castle, from those who celebrate the princesses’ ‘victory’ and those who utterly despise my existence. I find their zealous demeanors and their lewd bodies repulsive, though my gaze is attracted to them, via the will of the corruption in my body. The princesses walk behind me with expressions that show their relief at my capture, their joy at their reclaimed freedom, and their hatred of my life. However, Celestia in particular has a mocking look on her face, as if she knows what I’m going through, and truth be told, she probably does.

My disbelief made me lose focus of my goals, but it did not last. I soon found myself focusing on the loathing I felt for all of these madmares, the pain they have wrought upon myself and those I love, their lack of care for anything or even anypony good. I took hold of those emotions and used them to fuel my resistance, trying desperately to wrench myself free of this unholy trapping, with my efforts not quite in vain. I could feel the occasional twitch in my body, a spark of my magic, a sharp pain in my mind, all signifying that escape is not futile.

I kept pulling more pain and hatred from my past, all the while finding it complimented in the present, furthering my emotions to heights worthy of only the darkest of magic, yet I still could not break free. My body was led through the castle an into a ceremony that was to make me part of the royal guard, specifically an ultimate member meant for hunting, and then into a celebration of unfathomable lewdness, both only adding to my rage. Yet even with my body being made to follow the exact opposite of my ideology in the most extreme ways, I was still restrained.

After that debauchery, my body was led up to the room it was to stay, located directly across from Luna’s room- no doubt more taunting by Celestia- and contained a four-poster bed, huge wardrobe, large chandelier, opulent washroom, and more than twenty times more space than my trailer had. In short, it was ridiculously excessive and megalomaniacal, but that didn’t stop my body from taking it in stride, sauntering on into the room and hopping onto the bed before stripping off my clothes quickly and laying down in an attempt to go to sleep.

However, sleep would no easily be found for the corruption controlling my body, as it seems my incessant mental thrashing unsettled it, keeping it awake. The exhaustion of the day did slowly begin to take over though, blurring the senses in a manner that may usually feel pleasant, but to me it felt suffocating. My mind was running faster than my body, tossing about in a constricting void where I could not see or hear, with nothing but a blazing heat about me to remind me of the pain that encompasses my life.

I found myself standing up while shackled tightly to a wall in a pitch-black room, the cold feeling on my backside and the stale air letting me know I was bereft of my clothing within a dungeon of sorts. I attempted to light my horn, yet magic didn’t even begin to flow on it. The feeling I usually have of my horn seemed mostly gone, and what was left was short and jagged, meaning my horn- my very catalyst of magic- was broken.

Such a revelation would generally incite fear and depression into any unicorn or alicorn (with Sparkle probably going to suicidal levels), but I could immediately tell something was off, as the last thing I remember before being here was a ceremony where I was given a position because of my magical prowess. So either the ceremony was some elaborate ploy to get my body to drop its guard, which doesn’t make sense given they already have full control of it, I was foalnapped when I was sleeping, which would be nigh-impossible given my body’s physiological paranoia, or the corruption placed on me did not even give me control within my dreams.

No matter how much I wish it weren’t true, it seems the evidence is unmistakable.

“This isn’t real,” I noted as I made the conclusion, though further thoughts were interrupted a blinding light erupting from a decent ways in front of me, making me have to clench my eyes shut and look away.

“This is real!” A familiar voice exclaimed from where the light was, though I couldn’t currently place it given the distracting situation. “Well, at least as real as you make it,” The voice finished as my eyes adjusted to the light and I saw the dark stone of the room with a rectangular aperture of light several meters ahead of me, with a unicorn silhouette in it.

Said unicorn stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, the room still somehow being lit up, also somehow keeping the other mare pitch black. “Cool the stuff you can do with dreams, isn’t it?” She said, her voice seeming so familiar, yet I couldn’t quite place it. “Oh, right; you’re probably wondering who I am,” She said, putting her hands at her hips. “Well, it’s simple. I’m you.” With that, the blackness faded from her, showing her to indeed be myself. Same coat, mane, and voice, the only reason I couldn’t place it before was because of her particularly modern enunciation and utterly gall-replete tone.

“You’re not me,” I stated with a scowl.

The fake Trixie merely smirked, replying with, “Maybe not, but that doesn’t matter. After all, you’re trapped here. Forever.”

“No,” I said tersely. “I’m not.”

“Well, yes, technically not,” She responded blithely. “You will die at some point, and so will I... unless they make you an alicorn, I suppose,” She continued, looking up in thought as I stared at her callously. “And they might just do that! I mean you are their ultimate hunter and would be useful for a very long time, and would be even better with more power and wings...” Her gaze returned to me, and seeing my dull expression, she exclaimed, “What?!”

“I meant,” I replied slowly while continuing to glower at the other mare, “That I will escape from this. No matter what you say, no matter what the princesses or anypony says, I will get out of this prison. And I will purify the world.”

The other Trixie scoffed at that and responded with incredulity, “Oh, come off it! You’re in denial! Getting out of this is impossible!”

“Maybe. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try my damnest to do so.”

We devolved into a silence where we merely stared at each other, I with determination and conviction, she with chutzpah and disbelief as she tapped her bare foot in thought. “Why?” She asked after several moments. “Why do you do this? Why do try so hard to do something so clearly difficult?”

“Why wouldn’t I want to do this?” I asked in response, getting a confused look from the corrupt pony. “Why wouldn’t I want to purify the world, to cleanse it of those who take advantage of others for their own sexual gratification, to eliminate those who care not for true worth, to make it better, for those who actually deserve it?”

“To have a better life maybe?” She replied, her tone rather perplexed. “To leave most ponies alone so they can have fun and, you know, live?”

“Most ponies take far more of others’ life to leave them deserving of their own. And as for myself,” I continued, sighing heavily, “I care not for what happens to myself; I would go through Tartarus and back to ensure good ponies have good lives.”

The fake me didn’t respond to that, instead staring at me again in disbelief and thought for a while before sighing. “This isn’t working... Apparently I can’t get logic through your thick skull!” She exclaimed as she turned around and walked back to the door. “It’s not like it matters anyway; convincing you of the truth isn’t my job, after all,” She added while opening and going through the door, then closed it, the room changing back to black.

That dream was certainly the tamest I had at the castle, as every night after, I had not a dream, but a nightmare. These nightmares were famiciles of my past, twisted and distorted to be even worse, with sex and pain at levels that could only be described as ungodly. I suppressed those memories as best I was able to during the days, where I was truly made to be a hunter, given assignments by the royals to arrive at specific locations within Equestria and find the pure ponies there, then capture and threaten them into submission, leaving their mind ripe for the taking by a cloaked mage named Sortilege Sloe that accompanied me.

I will always remember the looks on their faces when I confront them; the utter terror, sadness, and hopelessness as they see the mocking smirk written on my body’s face that showed them my failure, letting them know that any retaliation is completely futile. I tried so many times to escape from this madness, taking the blazing rage I felt for the abominations of ponies that capture me and turning it onto my confines, burning and warping them to what should have utterly ionized them, yet they still stood. I am truly impressed by the power of this corruption, but far moreso disappointed and disgusted at what they used that power to do.

The flames of my anger burned ever brighter with each mental entrapment, with no chance to go out due to the nigh-unlimited fuel I have for it, and being left to stew as my body rested either in the castle or on the trips to and from my assigned locations. Those trips weren’t purely myself and the corrupting mage though, as some guards were on the missions with me for insurance.

More and more missions were assigned, making my body help capture more and more pure ponies’ minds for months, letting the emotions they instilled into me drive me to madness. And so, when I was assigned a city in Neighpan, I continued to seethe from the utter depravity I was forced into, unknowing of just what would be different there.

My body was leaning over the edge of the large carriage as it was flown through the mid-afternoon sky, the relatively tame noises of Prench kisses and muffled moans flooding my ears as my eyes kept scanning the surroundings, looking for its next target. The chasteness of the situation, and my body’s in particular, was because we needed to keep watch for anypony that would try to escape the hunters’ wrath, as sometimes they attempted to flee as soon as they saw the carriage approaching.

I basked in the not quite infernal pain of the situation while my body kept watch, seeming to be subconsciously enjoying the lewd background noise, until a small portside town came into my view. “There it is,” My body said as a smirk came onto my mouth, continuing to steadily watch the town for any frantic inhabitants.

The guards drawing the carriage lowered their angle while the two others and the mage inside paused their ministrations. “Oh, really?” Sloe asked in a tone that implied she wasn’t fully paying attention.

My body nodded and replied coolly, “We’ll be there in a couple minutes.”

“M’kay,” The reply came, with those lewd, scathing noises resuming afterwards. My eyes were still set on the town though, my body seeming to be appreciative of the numerous sexual acts being done in the streets, but I felt a burning pain that still scorched me even while I’ve long since gotten used to it.

The carriage continued to descend towards the town, taking not too long before it landed on the outskirts and my body opened a door and hopped out, landing on a dirt path amidst tall shrubbery with a scent of the ocean moderately noticeable through the heavy stench of sex I pretty much filtered out at this point. My body walked towards the town and saw a sign near the entrance written in a language I didn’t understand, most likely Neighpanese, with shouts in the same language amidst the sounds of sex I have grown to loathe emanating from within.

After a moment, I heard footsteps behind me, and my head turned slightly to see Sloe walking up to me, clad in her usual black cloak as opposed to the obsidian-coloured half-t-shirt that seemed more like a bra with how it accentuated my cleavage along with matching jean shorts and leggings my body wore. “Hiroshimane,” The mage said, faintly gesturing to the town before us. My eyes drifted further back to see the two guards that didn’t pull the carriage trailing a bit further behind, though likely not so because of their heavy golden armour.

“The Princesses said that there’s only a few here,” The cloaked pony added as my body turned back and started walking further to the town, the others following it.

“‘Course there is,” My body quipped, “In small places like these, there’s so much freedom and connectivity that the ponies here would’ve already ridded most others of their purity. Makes our job a lot easier.”

The town soon came around us with bright light coming from my right in the nearly cloudless sky, reflecting across the shimmering waters, slightly tainted though they were, and illuminating the sparse sepia-toned buildings amidst dirt streets and tall bamboo around us, the loudening sounds of ‘friendship’ supposedly finishing the picture. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” The words came from my mouth, my resentment for them notwithstanding.

“It truly is!” Sloe said from a few paces behind me. “The lovely mix of chaos and peace only attainable by nature, bereft of all the dull mattes the pure heathens wish to impart upon us!” She exclaimed, my body turning to walk backwards to see the cloaked pony raising her arms and spinning around slowly.

A short chuckle escaped my lips before they replied, “Eloquence isn’t your thing, Sorts.”

The other pony put her arms down and let out a short laugh of her own. “Oh, I know,” She responded mirthfully, “It’s the pures. They polish their garbage faith up with fancy words to make it seem more important and truthful. It’s ‘The grey beneath the silver,’ As they say.”

“Don’t I know it,” My body said while it turned back around, only to find a calm-looking building a ways down the street. “Let’s start here,” It continued, keeping the single-story house in view as it slightly accelerated its pace.

When they all finally arrived at the front door to the house, Sloe began again, “So, how do you want to do this?”

“Hm?” My body replied quizzically as its head turned towards the mage, the other guards with us doing the same.

“Like, do you want to go all, ‘Konichiwa, prepare to get fucked, nerds!’ Or, what?” The mage responded enthusiastically, emphasizing the quote with a fighting stance.

The other ponies stared for a minute before my body replied, “...Does it matter?”

“Of course it does!” Sloe exclaimed, “We haven’t been in Neighpan, after all!”

“I... don’t see how that’s relevant...” My body said, mystified.

“It’s for emphasis!” The excitable mage shouted, thrusting her arms above her head, raising one of my eyebrows. “We need to make a good impression. I mean, culture is different here, and ponies are gonna respond differently to what we do...” She trailed off with a gesture for use to figure out the rest.

My body merely blinked as it looked back, staying unmoving for several seconds before an exasperated sigh was released as my eyes closed, my head then tilting downwards. “You two,” My body started, pointing to the guards, “Go,” My finger then gestured to the door.

I could then hear footsteps moving towards the door, then a grunt by one of the guards and a loud smash, quickly followed by a scream in a voice that I found... familiar. My body seemed to as well, turning its head to and looking through the smashed open door, squinting slightly in thought as it looked at the guards cornering somepony under a desk, though they were hardly visible because of the dim lighting. My body then shook its head and looked at Sloe, who looked back with confusion.

My head was then quickly flicked to the side to gesture the mage inside, with my body soon following her. My eyes glanced around the slightly cramped room, observing a bed in the far-right corner, a desk and bookshelf on the other side, a wardrobe on my right near the door, drawn curtains over windows on my left and the far wall. My orchid magic was then used to open the curtains, showing the colour of the room to be of dim reds, blues, and purples; once again striking me as familiar for a reason I don’t know.

My mind and body’s attention were pulled back to the desk when the cloaked pony standing before it announced, “Hiding won’t get you very far, you know.”

My body took a couple steps forward and listened to the whimpering, eyes twitching in thought as it and myself attempted to place the voice, but to no avail. Shaking its head, my body commanded, “Bring her out.”

The guards then leaned down to crab the crying mare by the arms and pulled her out, Sloe stepping to the side to let me look at a terrified dim blue unicorn with a dim red swoop of a mane... wait...

‘M-mother?!’

Chapter 6: Arcane Awakening

My breath caught in my throat as I saw her, my mind stopping but for my observation of the emotions playing on her face.

Arcania Lulamoon, my very mother, standing before me, utterly terrified for what she knows is to come, and what I will not allow to happen. Not this time.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate having to terrify any pony so they can be corrupted, my damnest attempts to stop them proving fruitless. But this time, this one pony, is what threw me over the edge. It made my rage boil into my subconscious, rendering me uncaring to the pain and torment I brought upon myself while I practically melted my soul in the most desperate tries for freedom.

My efforts began to manifest as a headache in my body and mind, the former putting a hand to its head while clenching its eyes shut in pain. My magic began to spark, erratic bolts of orchid electricity arcing from my horn and covering my skin with a hot, stinging ache. My body fell to its knees while grasping at its head in agony, writhing and shaking as I felt lightning arc from my skin in searing bolts.

“Stop it!” My body shouted with immense strain, hardly noticeable through the agonizing haze on my senses.

‘No,’ I replied steadfastly, despite the blazing force wishing me to scream out. ‘No, no, no,’ I repeated, my mouth starting to twitch with each word on top of the electrical writhing. “No, no, no,” I began to speak, my words now merely louder in my mind as took back control of myself. “No! No! No!” I felt the arcs growing more powerful as my agony grew stronger, my magic building up within my body with the corruption strained incredibly in an attempt to hold me, though it started to weaken and crack until...

“NO!!” I shouted as I thrust my arms from my head, the last vestiges of corruption blasted from my body, a blast wave leading massive arcs of thunderous magic that shot out with incredible force. I shot my eyes open with my newly returned control, seeing the orchid electricity erupting from my body, striking everywhere across the room. My focus was returned to the two guards that travelled with me, one thrown into the bookshelf on the left and the other leaning back through a window on the right, magic pooling in my hands before thrusting them forward, another pair of writhing arcs jumping into them, adding their screams of agony onto the tumultuous cracks of thunder.

Their screams soon silenced however, my eyes perceiving no major damage to their bodies in the moment before I glanced back to my mother, seeing the happiness and relief at my freedom through the terror that still consumed her. I then looked to my left while standing up, seeing Sortilege Sloe with her back partway into a wall, my orchid lightning illuminating the normally light green face that was now as pale as the moon in horror. My steps were slow and steady as I begun to walk towards her, my thunderous tempest blew off the hood of the mage’s cloak, exposing the dull red mane and short horn that soon started to build up a bright green magic as her eyes clenched shut.

When I arrived before the unicorn, I quickly reached a hand to her horn, gripping it and using the magic overflowing from my body to easily snap it off, a shriek of pain sounding through the room with another soon following as I stabbed the horn into her hip. I then took both of my hands and grabbed the mage’s cloak, lifting her somewhat and pushing her further into the wall, a blazing glare meeting a terrified gape as I stared into her crimson eyes.

“Know this Sortilege Sloe,” I began, my voice echoing with power, “What I am about to do to you is a mercy compared to what you have wrought upon others.” I then blasted more magic through my hands, its immense current surging through the other unicorn, beginning to burn her clothing and sear her flesh.

My thunderous magic was pulled from my blazing rage, fueled by the pain I felt within my corruption. I recalled the utter constriction of the darkness while being unable to see or hear anything around myself, unable to even feel my own body while it was unconscious, and being forced around something that controlled my every move while awake. My corruption may have been created by Celestia, but the very pony before me had done so to a multitude of others, inflicting such torture onto those whom are unable to hold themselves together under that.

Those tortured ponies’ faces flashed through my mind, the honest terror I saw in them that was quickly transformed into a lustful façade which merely hid the suffering they’re going through, they instilled in me a rage that I blasted into the mare before me, making her scream at the top of her lungs. Her voice was broken from the agony of her flesh and organs beginning to melt, crimson vapour starting to pour out as if to show my vindication for those who were trapped in utter pain...

…just like the pain she was now in at my hands.

That revelation made me instantly cut off my magic, the blinding arcs that filled the room quickly evanescing as I pulled away from the wall, my mind only peripherally noticing Sloe flopping onto the floor as it was overrun with guilt. ‘What have I done?’ I asked in my mind, the knowledge of me doing to ponies what I despise them for doing to others weighing heavily in my soul.

A tortured gurgle pulled my attention back to reality, and made me look down and see the writhing mess of flesh and cloth that was Sortilege Sloe. I quickly blasted a bolt into her head, frying her brain and killing her instantly; a merciful death that should be the absolute worst of what I now saw that I should wreak upon others.

“T-Trixie?” A voice asked from behind me, making me turn around to see my mother sitting between the halves of a snapped table, a concerned and slightly fearful look on her face as she looked back at me.

I felt tears begin to roll down my face as I walked over to her, her expression becoming worried and comforting. I knelt down in front of her and hooked my arms around her, pressing my muzzle into her neck and crying into it, the crushing pain of my past fueling my grief.

The truth is, while I know and love my mother, my father is lost to us. Based on what my mother told me, she was a magician like myself. The Mystic Arcania, they called her, and she was brilliant! She was the best magician of her time, which even when the pure made up about two percent of the population back then, was still amazing. She managed to impress Celestia herself, making the princess visit her shows whenever she could.

However, that all came to a head in a particularly corrupt town, where she was performing like normal, wonder on many of the viewers’ faces, disdain on others. Those spiteful ponies eventually spoke up, interrupting her show and challenged her to incredibly lewd acts, and she quickly declined. However, the corrupt insisted and, while my mother did her best to hold them back, they managed to force themselves upon her with their power of ‘friendship’, taking her onstage while the cheering of the audience became louder with the change of pace.

The next thing my mother remembers was waking up with genital fluids covering her entire body and Celestia standing before her, looking at her with concern. The princess made sure she was alright before cleaning her up and bringing her back into her trailer, which had been mostly ransacked. The usually calm mare nearly burst into flames at that, resolving to work far more actively on cleansing Equestria and expressed her disappointment at herself for letting it get so bad. She also assure that she would send replacements for everything my mother had lost that she could replace, try to get back anything that couldn’t be replaced, and protect her against any further transgressions as best as she was able.

Those commitments only became bolstered weeks later, when my mother was found to be pregnant. That revelation was a bit a surprise, as both parties involved have to want it to happen (my mother only agreed in the utter heat of the moment, what with her mind being fucked into nonexistence), and even then, the probability is still very low.

My mother was helped back into performing a while later, the first few stints having Celestia physically there to protect her so that her reputation may be rebuilt safely, and the ones that came after having only a lingering threat that still kept the lewd hecklers at bay.

Those went on for months until her pregnancy developed to a stage where she couldn’t perform, and the princess paid for everything she could not until my birth, where she managed to find a pure nurse to deliver me. She was even more protective of us in the years of my youth, basically acting like a father to me and was extremely happy when I started my own performances, even if they were just between us.

However, all of that ended with the Luna-damned Sonic Rainboom. All the care and love, the peace and purity; it all vanished from her that day, turning her cold and corrupt. When she refused her personal studenthood to me, it was more that just a matter of giving the position to somepony who didn’t deserve it; it was a matter of betrayal. She betrayed me, my family... her family, and all for what? Some random pony who couldn’t control themselves?

While I can’t argue for turning her away, giving her to a doctor, or creating an entirely new position so she could keep track of that pony, she could have easily made both of us her students, with managing us not being much more difficult that with just one, and would give us the opportunity to be actual friends. But, no, I was deemed an accessory and me and my mother were pretty much enemies of the state with how much despised ‘being tricked into purity,’ as she said.

We had to lay low wherever we went for years while the rage built in me, making me desperate to do something to purify this world, and eventually I relented. I left my mother to become a magician of my own, to reestablish the Lulamoon legacy and fully spark the flames of revolution. And while my first performances were rough, harsh hacklers forcing me to be more violent than I liked, but eventually I became more stable, starting to light fires of purity wherever I went, all the way until the catalyst that was Ponyville...

Where Equestria froze back over, falling back into the old ways of corruption. Whereas my mother fell from the pushing of the state, I was felled by the pushing of mere townsfolk, making me feel disappointed, guilty... enraged. That is what pushed me to using the ‘accursed’ Alicorn Amulet in a desperate attempt to regain some ground, yet that attempt also failed.

It is only this third time that I am finally getting somewhere, having to have the princesses directly stand in my way in order to stop me, and while they may have for a while, they won’t any longer.

“There, there,” I heard my mother coo soothingly while my eyes were pouring into her shoulder, hardly ceasing as I pulled myself from my thoughts. I eventually pulled away while keeping my arms around my mother’s back to look into her somewhat damp face that still held a caring expression as she asked, “Are you alright?”

I paused, guilt taking over my mind as I turned back to look at the destruction I had just caused. “N-no,” I stuttered, turning back to my mother, “I-I mean, look at what I’ve done!” I closed my eyes and turned my head down as tears continued to stream down my face, staying there for several moments as I reminisced on my recent past. “All this violence and suffering...” I started, looking back at my mother, “How can I really be good when I cause all of that?” I asked, the determined demeanor I held to stave off the pain of my guilt finally unravelling.

“You don’t usually do... that, do you?” My mother asked softly, glancing to the mutilated mage for emphasis.

“No, but... I’m still killing them,” I replied, glancing away from my mother’s sad, though still concerned eyes. “I’m... taking away their life, a-and any potential for them to change or escape from their c-corruption, a-and...” I gasped as one particular mare came to mind; somepony I overlooked in my generalized observations, yet what I realized I did to them brought me far more grief than anything else. “Violet...”

I buried my face back into my mother’s shoulder and hugged her tighter, sobbing loudly with rivers pouring out of my eyes, the knowledge of me killing one of the three ponies I held affection for racked through me, shattering my confidence and making me give in to the pain.

I continued doing that for... a while, just letting my grief flow openly as I only now realized the full ramifications of my previous actions; disregarding love and not even trying to help others out of their corruption. I eliminated others without remorse, and now feeling what I had wrought upon myself, I truly knew how everypony else felt about what I’ve done.

My tears did eventually ebb however, though I remained clinging onto the once source of love I had left in this desolate, depraved world. I did soon realize that that source needed to know the reason for my anguish to help me, and so I begun, “Violet Gauze was... s-somepony I ran into in Manehattan, a-after I first got struck by l-lightning...” I felt my mother turn her head slightly to better focus on my words, so I continued, “She helped me after... t-that, and I could e-easily tell she was a fan of mine, a-and was so nice!”

I inhaled heavily through my nose and kept explaining, “She was a-a light, a beacon, in this darkness... but I wasn’t able to spend much time w-with her, b-because the royal guard came within minutes of me waking up.” Another deep breath and a gulp as I prepared for the worst of it; “W-when I was going through those towns... s-she was always on my mind, a-always something I thought of. I was captivated by her... a-and I quickly realized why... I loved her.” I took another pause before finishing, “But I soon r-realized what that meant, what I h-had to do... because I saw her get corrupted back in Manehattan.”

I heard a small gasp from my mother, and her grip on me tightened, staying that way for some time as she comforted me in silence. “W-well,” She eventually began, sorrow clearly audible in her voice, “Wherever she is now, it’s probably a better place than this.”

“I-it’s even worse,” I started before pausing with a deep breath. “B-because I now know t-that she could’ve gotten free... e-especially after I confessed to her...” I sniffed and continued before my mother could respond, “A-and it’s not just her I failed, it’s everypony... I-I didn’t even give them a chance...” My crying kept going as I pressed my face further into my mother’s shoulder.

Another silence descended upon the room, only my light sobs and sniffs breaking the air for several minutes before my mother finally spoke up. “Everypony makes mistakes, Trixie,” She said, her voice comforting despite the lament it was replete with. “Others may not have made at the same scale you have, but you’ve done much more than them as well,” She continued, my sadness beginning wane as I paid more attention to her.

“A lot of ponies are content living in this horrible world, or at least they don’t try to do anything about it.” I felt her loosen her grip and pull back, prompting me to let her lean back far enough to look into my eyes. “But you have. You have thrown your own life to the wind in order the make the world a better place, and you’re succeeding with it,” She said in a proud tone, and while the words seemed to contradict my own, she seemed to be going somewhere with it. “You’ve managed to defeat the Elements themselves, forcing the diarchs to take direct action against you. The only being that’s ever done that before was Eris.”

I gasped as the realization struck me: I was a force to be reckoned with, and was on the cusp of revolution for the second time in my life, only this time, I had far less to lose. “You are so close to changing everything, Trixie, to freeing everypony. I know you can do it,” My mother said encouragingly as she smiled at me. “You may have made mistakes in the past, but the only way to do right by them is to learn from them and change your actions for the future.”

That made sense; I can’t keep wallowing in my past, I won’t be able to move on like that. There’s too much at stake, and too little time to get dragged down. I smiled back at my mother and pulled an arm away from her to wipe my eyes before slowly replying, “T-thank you... for everything.”

My mother merely smiled brighter at me for a few moments until my emotions became grim. “Unfortunately,” I started, then pulled away from my mother and grunted as I stood up. “I don’t think we have much more time here. The princesses probably already know what’s happened, and are coming to get us,” I said while taking my mother’s hand and pulling her up.

“Yes, probably...” My mother responded with a solemn tone as she looked downwards. “I don’t really have much of value here, but there is one thing,” She soon continued as she walked over to the wardrobe. She looked around in it for a moment before pulling out something very familiar: a vivid purple cape and hat with shimmering golden and silver stars strewn about them.

I gasped as I saw them, confusion and surprise immediately eclipsed by elation as nostalgia filled me, memories of the
performing that I loved so much flipping trough my mind; the wonder and awe on the fillies’ faces as well as the surprise and disbelief on the mares’ that filled me with so much joy, all rushing back into me. “I assumed you lost your originals, so I made a copy,” My mother said, temporarily pulling my attention to her.

I was entranced by the outfit as I slowly walked over to them and plucked them out of my mother’s violet magic, turning them over in my hands and feeling their enchanted silky touch. Tears began to flow form eyes once more, though now from joy as I hugged the outfit tight to my chest, vowing to never again forget them or the memories they gave me.

I soon took the hat and placed it on my head, then wrapped my cape around my neck, clasping it together with the bright sapphire brooch. I looked myself over, the old ensemble lightly billowing in the wind from the broken window, helping to compliment the open black clothing I still wore, making me feel empowered with the confidence I held in my past.

“And now,” I begun quietly, “It is time,” I felt for the illusionary magic I was once known for, “For the return,” I continued with my ardency returning, “Of the Great and Powerful TRRRRRIXIE!!” I shouted to the heavens as I did a quick spin, then thrust my arm up and froze with a wink, my fervor having finally returned in full force.

I saw and heard my mother applauding happily, her face reflecting and amplifying my elation as she slowly approached me, then wrapped her arms around me, myself doing the same. “T-thank you so much,” I stuttered out with tears once more flowing down my cheeks. “There’s no way that I can ever repay what you’ve done for me.”

“Really?” My mother asked with slight incredulity as she pulled back, making me slightly confused as I looked back at her. “I don’t think the entire world can repay you for what you’re trying to do, Trixie,” She said while pulling an arm to my face and wiping away my tears with her thumb, filling me with a sense of love and purpose I’ve been lacking for a decade.

“Well,” I started with my smile becoming slightly sheepish as I pulled away from my mother, though keeping an arm on her shoulder. “I still thank you for everything.”

My mother let out a small giggle, but I quickly interrupted it by pulling my arm further around her as I crouched down to wrap my other around her legs. “Whoa!” She yelped as I lifted her up, a rosy blush lighting up her dark blue cheeks as she looked back at me.

“We should probably get out of here. Are you ready?” I asked, oddly feeling hardly strained with the weight of another pony in my arms.

“Give me a moment,” My mother said, lighting up her horn as she looked over to the wardrobe. A dark red purse carried by a violet aura soon flew out of it, landing on my mother’s chest, where she gripped it tightly to herself. “Alright, let’s go.”

I gave her a nod and opened the door with my magic, then got into a slight crouching position and felt the electrical magic within my body begin to charge up, crackling through my nerves with an incredible power that reminded me of the power I held in the world. An ardent grin crept onto my face as the orchid thunder began to arc around my body, sparking and sizzling through the air with a power that continued to build until I finally launched.

I was out the door in an instant, a quick turn redirected me through an empty street, which I tore through until I hit the shore, where I went blazing across the tainted waters into the cool sunset, winds whipping by me in a way that finally made me at peace.

Author's Note

Eris is female Discord, if you didn’t know.

Chapter 7: Storming the Stronghold

I could hardly comprehend the gravity of the situation I was in.

I, a washed up magician with a horrid past, was attempting to take on the princesses of Equestria and Elements of Sex, whom have only been truly challenged by the most powerful beings on the entire plant, to try to rid the world of the corruption that has been building up for millennia, all by myself.

It’s... rather overwhelming, to say the least.

However, there was too much at stake for me to get caught up in all of that, so I instead focused on my past, specifically the good parts. The parts where I was the Great and Powerful Trixie, and truly felt like it. The parts where my life wasn’t crumbling down around me. The parts where I felt happy, experiencing a lull in the madness of this world.

That happiness was only now returning, having finally had the chance to meet my mother after these long, painful years, and reconcile the previous actions that subtly tore at my soul. The cape and hat I also received there helped empower me, giving me the strength to stand strong when everything seems to be crashing down around me. This is far from the first time my outfit has done that, as the wide-brimmed hat shaded my face, making me seem mysterious and impassive, and the long, flowing cape billowed behind me as I moved, giving me a sense of flow and control.

Those facets were brought to an extreme as I flew through the streets of Canterlot amidst the indigo skies of dusk, the cool air whipping by my body at incredible speeds. Such speed was not at a maximum however, as I kept my perception of the world around me higher than usual, the pair of ponies I passed on my right and a trio later on my left whose movements were so sluggish and imprecise, they made me feel in control of my surroundings.

Such peace was not to last though, as the castle I was sprinting towards took up much of my focus, the anger I felt for those abominations that own it that was only hardly stayed by my resolve to give them mercy. I did a quick hop from my run to land on both of my feet when I was only a short ways in front of the castle, then made a big jump to go flipping through the air, shooting my legs out at just the right time to kick the massive doors in, though I kept enough momentum to continue barreling into the entry room.

I deftly landed in the middle of the room with marginal skidding, gasps and shouts echoed the banging of the doors opening as I turned my gaze up to find the Elements standing further down the room, looking back at me in surprise with their outfits no more modest than they’ve ever been.

“Halt!” I heard a guard shout from behind me. “You are under arrest by the order of Princess Celestia! Come quietly or we will have to use force!”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at that. “‘Force’,” I muttered sarcastically, “I seriously thought they would’ve learned by now...” I did a quick dash behind me and trailed around the walls of the room, charging the attacks I made against the guards with a minimal amount of electricity, yet it still was enough to knock them out.

I then stopped back in the center of the room, the Elements moving back into the positions I saw them in our previous encounter, their expressions turning angry and fearful with only a touch more calm than last time.

“Well then,” I started with a sigh, “Time to settle this once and for all.”

The emotions playing on all of our faces held for several seconds as we stared at each other, just daring the other to make the first move, the tension building until I saw Sparkle’s horn begin to light up, a bright flash of light and a pop of displaced air surrounding her a moment later. I heard another pop behind me after an instant, making me quickly turn and dash to where Sparkle reappeared.

However, I was stopped a few meters from her face by a purple barrier, slamming into it with a pain that felt for only a moment, letting me glance quickly around to see the shield act as a wall that went the entire width and height of the room. “Coward!” I shouted as I punched the barrier with a tinge of lightning in a minimal attempt to break it, but I hardly had time to look at the emotions playing on her face before I heard a whistling of wind behind me that forced me to turn back around.

Even with my speed, I didn’t turn quick enough to stop myself getting slammed in the chest with a lasting pressure as I was pressed back into the arcane wall behind me. Another blast of pressure hit me with the burden being released right after, allowing me to look up to see a rainbow trail fleeing from and seeming to come back around. “Okay,” I muttered hoarsely as I started to slow everything around me, taking a few steps to my left to avoid the pegasus dashing at me.

When I looked back to see the rest of my adversaries, I couldn’t see them due to the large wall of malachite flames barreling towards me, only a few meters from my face. I took off further to my left, the fear of being captured by the flames made my attention focus on them... too focused.

I suddenly got tripped up, falling to the floor and rolling across it for a few moments, seeing my tail and some ribbons curled around me before my front stopped on the floor. I quickly let a pulse of electricity flow through my body and into the ribbons, burning them while I got to my feet, yet once again not quick enough to avoid the rainbow pegasus slamming into me.

I felt the wind rushing by me on all sides for a couple seconds before I felt a constricting feeling around my chest, pulled heavily on my front, making me feel like I was being spun through the air. My eyes began to grow wet and my sense blurry from the pain as I felt for the rough thing around my body, eventually grasping onto a rope that I promptly pulsed more lightning through.

The rope was quickly weakened by the flames and soon snapped, letting me fly free through the air again for a few more moments until I slammed into another wall, then dropped down to the floor and let my back rest against the wall. I starting coughing from the lingering pressure with the pain feel like a blaze in my chest, aching it with flames that paralyzed me, leaving me open to the wet, spongey object I soon found smacked into my face.

“Gaaahh!!” I yelled through the pain as my eyes began to sting, adding another element of searing pain and making me press my hands to my face and try to wipe off the spongy material for yet a couple more seconds before I felt hands pushing me into the wall behind me, my eyes seeming to be torn open as I tried to look at who was holding me down, yet all I saw was a yellow blur for hardly a moment as I was soon flooded with yet more pain, this time with spikes seeming to be shoved into my neck.

I felt my body begin to slow with my consciousness starting to wane, pain searing through every fiber of body, thoroughly testing my resolve. ‘No!’ I shouted in my mind, working through the agony to try to get a hold on the world around me. ‘I don’t care how much Tartarus I’m put through, I will defat them!’ I reaffirmed my will, taking back control of my arms and pushed them onto a pony that I felt latching onto my side.

Thunder began to burn through my body as I flooded it through my hands and into the pony before me, making her scream and fall off me, allowing me to push down on her to stand up. I felt a wind gust to my side, making me speed up my time as I looked up to see a rainbow blur in the aching mess that was my vision. A bolt of electric magic was thrust through my horn as I pointed it towards the blur, causing it to scream as well while it careened to my right, seeming to smash into a wall moments later.

I quickly got to my feet while wiping off more of the stuff splattered across my face, a malachite wall closing in on me as I looked back in front of me. While my instinct was to dodge it to the side, I promptly dismissed that as the others were likely going to try that coordinated attack again if I did. My attention turned upward, seeing that to be the only escape, and I forced my thunderous magic into my back, flowing out of two points on it and beginning to crackle with power.

The orchid lightning quickly took shape, its blazing arcs forming a translucent pair of wings that looked to come from my body. The flames before me were still rushing forward, hardly a meter from my face when I took a hop into the air as flapped the arcane wings, propelling me skywards.

I took a moment in the air to calm myself, adjusting to the pain with the warm air whipping across my body as I flew upwards for a few moments, eventually pulling the wings back slightly to slow my movement, leaving me at a halt as I looked back down from most of the way up the massive room. My adversaries were in a line near where I was previously, starting to look upwards, though their eyes trailed far behind me due to my speed.

I turned about in the air to be upside-down before I flapped my arcane wings, making me dart downwards as I pulled magic into my lower arms and legs, making them light up with an orchid trail as they themselves trailed behind me. I targeted between the four standing enemies, their eyes seeming to not notice my descent as I continued to charge my extremities, their glow going from merely light crackling to thunderous bolts arcing around me. My motion began to change as I twisted my wings, making me spin on all axes with my orchid magic twirling around my body, seeming to make my entire tumbling form glow with thunder.

The blaze grew ever brighter as the floor grew ever closer, the former peaking as I finally slammed into the latter with my feet, a white burst encompassing my vision with a loud explosion drowning my hearing. I quickly looked up to see the lightning I slammed into the ground with blasting out from me and into my adversaries, seeming to course through their bodies as it launched them away from me.

I looked to my right to see the two earth ponies tumbling quickly away through the air, though slow enough for me to run over to run over to them with ease. I soon landed after a short hop near Applejack, who was twirling across the axis along her backbone with her body parallel to the floor, and made a jump out of a crouch to punch her in the face, heavily increasing her upward momentum.

I then turned to Pinkie, who was tumbling end-over-end while her mane and tail made an unrealistic arcing trail through the air. Her back was facing me when I arrived at her, allowing me to reach up and grab her tail with both hands, yanking it backwards after I landed back on the floor.

My next move was to turn around, still holding onto the pink pony’s tail, and see the dragon and unicorn on the other side just barely starting to attack where I was now. My gaze was then drawn to the left, and I saw the purple arcane wall that blocked me some time ago a ways across the room, the similarly purple pony behind it looking at my actions with displeasure.

I realized the wall Sparkle was powering needed to be destroyed for me to get at her, and while she may powerful enough to keep up that wall for some time and under some abuse, everypony has their limits.

My attention was drawn back to the pony whose tail I was holding, and I saw some potential use for her in this situation. I pulled her further back and up while turning around, continuing to spin as I pulled on the mare, accelerating her to a speed that was relatively swift even to my fast perspective when I let go, sending her flying towards the arcane wall.

I turned to the pony that was slowly moving upwards near me, her height above the floor making me have to reach above my head to grab her tail. I pulled her down to my level before spinning to my left, getting nearly two full rotations in before I let her fly towards that abominable alicorn across the room.

Looking to my other two standing adversaries, I saw the dragon starting to breath flames, though they weren’t even a meter from her face due to how slow they crawled towards me. I walked over towards her, going around her left side to stand behind her and grab her tail, letting out a short a exhale before yanking it to the right.

Barb’s weight was a lot more to get use to, having to strain my muscles to accelerate her as I started to spin her, though after the first loop, most of the strain was to keep her in orbit. That strain only built a twice and third time before I finally let go, sending her flying in the same direction I sent the others, though my momentum pulled me forward as I released her, nearly making me fall over for a moment.

After I get back to my footing, I looked over at the one adversary that I had yet to attack, seeing her flare her horn and weave some ribbons through the air. I slowly started towards her, looking at her horn and noticing its sharpness, which made me gaze back at the arcane wall I was attempting to break as I got an idea.

“Maybe...” I muttered as I worked some of the details in my mind, glancing between the wall and unicorn for several seconds. “It’s worth a shot,” I said after shaking my head to clear it, then hastened my pace towards the pony. When I arrived at her, I looped my left arm around her back and my right around the front of her legs, keeping her relatively straight as I pulled her up.

I then started to spin, quickly accelerating as I twirled on the spot, keeping the pony in my arms as straight as I could in the two revolutions I spun, then hurling her forward like a spear towards the purple wall, all in a likely futile attempt to have her pierce the wall as though she were a spear.

I left those four creatures hurdle to wards the wall for a moment, then turned back around to the two pegasi that were laying against the wall behind me. I walked over to Dash and grabbed her tail, then slowed down to think as I reached over to grab Fluttershy’s as well, dragging both of them back a short ways from the wall before stopped completely to ponder my next action.

Throwing these two ponies likely wouldn’t do too much to the arcane wall that the other creatures didn’t, I presumed, making me know that I needed something more here, something stronger, more powerful, more destructive...

I felt a devilish grin creep up onto my face an idea, one that would inflict untold amounts of pain onto the ponies in my grip as they helped shatter the barrier.

I took a deep breath as I crouched down somewhat, twisting my body to the left to charge up my momentum, then released it with a pressure that made me quickly start spinning in the other direction. The pegasi I held in my hands got taken along for the ride, making us all spin like a large top that upheld the momentum intensely.

I slowly tilted to the side, the entire top doing so as well, which made it start to move over to the wall on the other side of the room, which the creatures I threw before were closing in on. I accelerated towards the wall, the fast speeds making me start to feel dizzy, so I focused on one point in the distance, specifically the pony behind the arcane wall whose expression was in the process of transforming from distaste to terror.

Some slamming sounds started to slowly echo through the room, and through my narrowed field of vision, I saw they were caused by the three ponies and one dragon starting to hit the wall. I kept moving forward through all of their impacts, and after the bright flashed they made on the wall from their collisions all faded, I was only a few meters from it and the pony beyond that was starting to wince at the sharp pain from her shield being attacked.

I kept whipping around as I continued to approach her, air blazing across my face that started to make my eyes sting on top of the strain on my arms to keep a grip on the ponies I was holding, all which I tried to ignore by focusing on pushing myself further across the room, getting closer and closer until...

WHAM!

A loud bang echoed through the room, accompanied by a a harsh jerk back on one of my arms. It was quickly followed by another on my other arm, becoming a rhythmic pounding on the wall as I kept shoving a foot across the floor to continue spinning. The force I felt through my arms became quickly and wildly variable, the spikes made the tails start to slowly slip through my hands, even with my death grip on them.

I focused all of my attention to keep spinning, working through the searing pain all across my body, from the wind singeing my eyes and the painfully tight grasp of my hands to the crackling of my magic all over my body, its orchid power seeming to arc from everywhere on my skin, making it feel like I was on a bed of flaming needles. My body was becoming numb to everything else, making it it feel like hours before I barely noticed the slamming pressure on my arms starting to waver.

The immense drop in pressure a few moments after that which was echoed by a cacophony of shattering sounds was something I couldn’t ignore though, making me gasp in relief and surprise as I shot my eyes open, the dizzying speeds I was spinning at once again blurring the world around me. When I managed to focus back on what was in front of me, I saw that the arcane wall previously summoned was indeed shattered, flakes of it exploding outward as the pony on the other side was attempting to cover her face with an arm, the hand on the other arm holding her head to help curb the pain.

I didn’t allow any reprieve from the pain however, as I quickly released the pony in my left hand when she was in the right direction, hardly paying attention to the consequences as I gripped the remaining tail with both of my hands, and spun a couple more times before releasing her as well.

Only after all of that did I end my super-speed, my momentum throwing me forward until I stopped in a one-sided kneel, my senses barely being clear enough to hear the crashes a ways down the room after the few instants I was facing downwards. I looked up to see the three winged ponies in a heap right next to the wall in front of me, not even moving, and when I turned my head to see the ponies and dragon to my sides, they were all in a similar state.

I put both of my hands on my knee and forced myself up, groaning with the effort until I stood, looking around at the carnage as I panted heavily, the exhaustion and pain only now coming to the forefront of my mind. The pain in my eyes from the stinging winds that made it difficult to keep them open, the pain on my hands that I could see left a slight redness across their palms, and the pain across my entire body from the lightning that relentlessly blasted through it.

I could only wallow in the pain for so long though; the other princesses were likely here and waiting for me, though they wouldn’t do so for long. I’m not sure what I could possibly do to defeat them, but I had to at least try, for else the world the world would be forever within their crushing grip.

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to push all of the pain to the back of my mind so that I could fight my next and final opponents without distraction. I slowly opened my eyes and examined the room around me: in front of me was the two pegasi and one alicorn I slammed into each other, resting right next to a wall and to the right of the massive entrance door. On my right, the wall was still a ways away, and it quickly reminded me of the excessive wealth and superficiality of the ponies who own this building.

In my more immediate surroundings though, the two earth ponies, one unicorn, and one dragon still lay there, unmoving from the pain I wrought upon them. I felt a level of satisfaction from wreaking such pain, but I knew that the situations is far too complex to accept that at face value, what with their minds possibly being corrupted by others and lost potential of even more true corruption. I always find it disheartening that so many ponies waste their talents on such frivolous things, foregoing actually benefiting the world just so they can experience more immediate pleasure.

I shook my head; there’s too much at stake for me to just stand around, ruminating on my actions. I turned around and saw a large door on the far wall that led to the throne room, and, gathering my courage with another deep breath, I sped off towards it, short hopping to land close enough before taking a big jump and spinning in the air, crashing both of my feet into the door to blast it open.

I quickly landed in the middle of the room and skidded to a stop, looking ahead to see a large machine in the center of the room with the four remaining princesses standing around it in their usual lingerie-esque attire, all sharply turning to me from what looked to be a conversation.

“Trixie Lulamoon,” Celestia said, quickly recovering from my explosive entrance. “Back so soon, I see,” She noted with a smirk as she stepped to the left of her sister and further away from the machine, with Cadance and Shield on the right of it.

“I’m not going to let you continue to trap ponies within their own mind for your own sexual gratification,” I stated sternly, my posture and expression following suit.

She scoffed and replied, “How could it be for my own sake? I don’t do anything with them besides give them a little push in the right direction.”

“It’s hardly a ‘little push’,” I said with distaste. “You physiologically torture them for an untold duration for no other reason than you like doing it. Most of the ponies you corrupt don’t even have the capacity to fight back, and even with those that do, forcing them to watch their own body defile itself is far too much a punishment just to keep yourself safe from them.”

“I’m just making sure they learn their lesson,” She said dismissively with a wave of a hand, but soon added, “Also, I wish to show them what their missing out on.”

I was about to respond to the effect of forcing them into it permanently, but I realized the frivolousness of the entire conversation, making my eye twitch slightly in restrained anger. “You’re stalling.”

Celestia was about to reply, but Luna quickly cut her off. “Yes, you are,” She said, looking sidelong at her sister. “We all know these conversations go nowhere, Trixie included,” She continued while looking back at me.

My frown deepened for a moment at the thinly veiled insult, but I reigned in my anger to reply, “Then get on with it.”

The ivory and phthalo sisters shot me a scathing and wry glance respectively, with the verbal response coming from Cadance. “It’s this!” She exclaimed as she gestured to the large machine, adding with satire, “Obviously.”

The princesses looked at each other while I stared up at the machine, and it was up, for the machine was rather large; about a quarter taller than the elder princesses next to it. It had a massive metal coil around some sort of cylindrical crystal, all sitting on a short base with a small stand extending out of it to about waist height, a panel sitting atop it with several lights and switches upon it.

“This was made by my sister,” Shield noted, getting my attention as she gestured to the device, the other princesses also looking to her. “And it will allow us to finally get rid of you once and for all,” She said with the chutzpah-replete grin I’ve come to know and hate cropping up on her face.

“Oh, really?” I asked with faint mockery, and watched with light mirth the faces of the princesses transform into expressions of disbelief, as if to ask, ‘Do you seriously think you have a chance here?’ I said nothing more before dashing forward, looking to grab the panel and tear it off to prevent the device’s activation, and with none of the princesses even coming close to accurately tracking my position, it seemed there was nothing in my way.

At least, that was until I was but a few before it, when a white shield began to form around the stand, getting brighter as I moved closer, and I hardly had to time to try and raise my arms to brace myself before an explosion of magic emanated from the device, quickly throwing me backwards as a loud booming echoed through my ears.

I soon felt the floor slam into my back and I tumbled for a couple seconds, eventually coming to stop face-down, but I quickly turned my head right to the machine untouched, the princesses showing mirth around it.

“We’ve taken some precautions this time, Trixie,” Celestia sneered, crossing her arms pridefully, the others adopting similar postures.

“You’re not going to win this time,” Shield said as she stepped over to the panel, flipping some switches while continuing, “As this TESLA, the Total Expansive and Lightning Suppression Apparatus, will give us enough magical power to wipe the floor with you.”

“Hath thou no honour?” I asked, grunting as I got slowly got to my feet.

Luna scoffed and replied scornfully, “Oh, come off the Old Equestrian. You’re a disgrace against the legacy of everypony who used it.”

“No,” I said steadfastly as I stood tall, “I’m the only thing holding it together.”

They all released disgusted sounds, as Shield dismissed, “Whatever; life is clearly more important than any honour.”

“You are the true disgrace,” I muttered quietly, knowing them hearing that would have no benefit.

The unicorn soon turned to me, a large smile on her face as she hovered her hand over a large button in the center of the panel. “So now,” She started, pausing shortly for dramatic effect, “It it time,” She paused again while waving her hand around wildly, “For the coming,” Another pause, “Of youuuuuur-”

“Your panache sucks,” I blurted flatly as she shot her hand downward, making her spin as she moved, which made her trip over her feet and land on her hindquarters. The other princesses laughed at her while she pouted in anger, Celestia soon breaking hers to look at me.

“I didn’t take you for a jester,” She said with an expression of light disbelief.

“No, that was just a disgrace against the panache I have known my entire life before I got into all this madness,” I responded emotionlessly, gesturing all around to signify the situation at hand.

The room silenced and the white alicorn shook her head. “Of course; you’d never think that altruistically.”

“There’s no such thing as true altruism in this world. Not anymore.”

We stared at each other, attempting to read each other’s motionless, stoic expressions for several seconds, during which the other alabaster princess stood up.

Celestia exhaled sharply, then said, “And here I thought you were the happy one, always instilling wonder into the world.”

“I used to be,” I replied, “But you and your student took that away from me.”

“Hm,” The ivory pony responded, then looked downward and nodded slowly. “That may have been a mistake,” She said quietly. The rest of our expressions turned somewhat confused, but she looked up before we could respond, and had a sly smile on her face as she added, “Because now you’re a pain in our flanks.”

My expression expression dulled at that while the others gained their irritating grins, only amplifying as Celestia stepped towards the machine and said, “But now, we will rectify that.” She started to reach her hand to the button, but I wouldn’t let her push it as long as I could stop it.

I dashed forward again, preparing to jump to her side and violently shove her away from the machine, but I was quickly stopped, completely unable to move and with my vision tinted cobalt. Celestia stopped and turned to view me with a mocking grin, the other princesses following suit.

“I don’t think so,” Luna said, her horn lightly flaring with magic.

‘Damn it,’ I thought with rage, but no words left my mouth as I stared back at the honourless curs, not moving because I knew conserving my energy for my possible escape would be best.

“You’re not going to say anything?” Cadance asked with interest, seeming to speak for all of them.

“What could I say? You’d never listen to me,” I replied flatly.

“That’s fair,” Celestia said after a few moments, then pressed the button on the machine.

All four princesses gasped as their entire bodies began to glow with their respective aura colours, making them look them at themselves and each other.

“Oh, wow,” Shield breathed, her voice showing her bliss and euphoria. “I didn’t think it would feel this good,” She said, starting to pant lightly with lust.

“Well, what did you think?” Celestia teased, hiding her emotions better. “Pleasure is magic, after all,” She said, that infamous and biased quote once again cropping up.

“This is...” Cadance started, panting, “This is... ohhh...” She moaned out, her body seeming to start growing. I looked across the other princesses to confirm the same thing was happening to them, and their moans signified they were experiencing similar pleasure.

I pulled at my magical bindings, knowing that pleasure tends to make a pony’s magic weaker via lack of focus, though it was in vain. “Oh boy...” I muttered, fear creeping up into me as the princesses creeped upward in size, and I quickly noticed their... assets were growing slightly faster as well.

The room became filled with moans as the princesses grew, nearly half a meter taller and only getting faster while they started to grope their enlarging breasts and hardening appendages to help sate their lust, but it seemed to only make it worse. Cadance eventually pinned her wife to the floor and messily kissed her, the other two princesses watching on semi-casually while masturbating.

I soon realized what would become of all this madness; the entire world in the literal hands of these gods, free to destroy or enslave us merely for their own sexual gratification. It is that which I have feared from the start, and now, it’s all becoming real.

I stared with dread at the lewd spectacle before me, just knowing the ultimate consequences of it and my inability to stop it all from happening. They were more than a meter taller now and not slowing down, their magic power likely similar as they used it to caress each other, their positions and movements so sexual that I slammed my eyes shut to prevent myself from seeing them, but there was no escaping those noises.

Those lewd noises of kissing and slapping, of jumping and rutting, of moaning and shouting, only getting louder with splashing and fizzling introduced into the mix.

Wait, fizzling?

My eyes shot open and I observed the cobalt tint around me, and I saw that it was sputtering. ‘While these ponies’ power may be growing,’ I thought with light relief, ‘Their focus is waning.’ I then jerked my arms forward, the magic around me shattering into myriads of shards that quickly vanished, letting me fall a short distance to the ground before dashing forward to the machine causing all of this.

I stopped right in front of the panel and looked at all of the buttons and switches on it, with labels such as ‘Activate Crystal’ and ‘Coil Safety’, but nothing relating to deactivation or reversal. I heard a sharp whoosh of air to my side, and I quickly backflipped away from the machine, watching as a golden bolt sped towards it and blew it up with a large plume of flame.

“You fool!” Celestia boomed from my left, making me turn to face her, though I had to look up as she was nearly thrice my height now. “That device only created a power we absorbed! It doesn’t affect us anymore!” She shouted, her previous sexual ministrations continuing as she flared her horn to try and capture me, but I wouldn’t let it happen this time.

I darted back through the doors to the throne room, blowing them open and barely noticing the ponies still laying in the anteroom before blasting through the doors to that room as well.

Terror flooded through me as I flew out of the castle, blazing down the streets of Canterlot at a speed that reminded me of the pain inflicted upon me earlier, lightning crackling across my singed skin and wind whipping across my face, making me feel an agonizing inferno across my body. Water was coming up in my eyes as I worked through the pain, clouding the already blurry world around me as it flew by, only basic shapes left to guide me from running into buildings.

The torrential thrashing of wind against my ears flooded them with noise, the ubiquitous sounds of sex around me only barely piercing it. The static soon got more pierced with a faint crashing in the background behind me, prompting me to glance back to the castle, where the four growing princesses burst through the roof, though their size indicated they had to fly upward to do it.

That granted me a slight relief, but it was quickly shattered as I heard a voice echo through air.

“YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE, TRIXIE!” The voice boomed, though all the other noise prevented me from discerning who said it. “WE WILL SOON HAVE THE WORLD IN OUR GRASP, AND BRING IT A PLEASURE THAT YOU CANNOT STOP!”

Those words filled me with a further sense of dread; what could I possibly do here? I can’t stop their growth, for its fuel is within them, and I can’t kill them, for they are far too powerful for even my level of skill to stop them. Even with running away, what could I accomplish? These ponies would eventually take over the world, effectively becoming gods with the ability to impart their judgement however they wish upon whomever they wish, rendering any attempts at saving others fruitless.

My mind, running as fast as my body, was soon cut off by a shrill screech, making me glance back to see a rainbow-coloured blur approaching.

‘What?!’ I shouted in my mind, ‘How is she still conscious?!’ I didn’t have time to answer as I repeatedly looked back to see her gaining on me, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before she caught up to me. She has performed a Sonic Rainboom, after all, and I never have, so I would never be able to match her speed...

…unless I siphoned off of it.

I could easily tell this wasn’t going to be easy, as I could see the light bending intensely around her, signifying that she was preparing for the infamous Sonic Rainboom, which would likely kill me if it went off next to me.

She was so close now that I didn’t have any more time to think on it, so I timed when she would reach me. ‘In five... four...’ I started, counting my relative seconds. ‘Three... two...’ She was very close now, only a few meters behind me with her rainbow trail brightening. ‘One... zero.’ I jumped, turning in the air to help position my feet right where she was, though I had to close my eyes because of the nearly blinding light of the Rainboom going off.

BOOM!

A deafening blast echoed through the air as I felt something shove into my feet, and I let them fold for a moment before jumping off, spinning back to land on my feet and sprinting forward with my newfound sonic speed.

Pressure was building around me, pushing harder onto my already singed skin and making me feel like I was pushing through a blazing liquid that ripped into my body. I cracked my watering eyes open to see the world around even blurrier than when I last looked, though there was a noticeable glimmer around my vision, making me look down to see paths across my entire body glowing in all colours of the rainbow.

I had no time to think on that though, as everything soon started to blaze around me, a blinding white filling my vision and making me clamp my eyes shut once again before...

BOOM!

A Sonic Rainboom of my own sounded and I felt magic flood into my body, filling me with an intense power and relief that surprised me enough to force a gasp from my mouth and my eyes to shoot open, revealing...

‘What the fuck?’

A psychedelic tunnel I looked to be running through, a rapidly moving conglomeration of colours all around with a pair of white spots far in front of and behind me, though they didn’t quite feel like I was running towards and away from them. I felt raw magic coursing everywhere and eccentric pulsing echoing around, making this place feel less like a place in the world I know and more like one that transcends it, like some sort of ether realm.

I didn’t feel like I was supposed to be able to be here, and the power around me felt like it was trying to force me out, send me back to the realm of normal creatures, and the feeling was only getting stronger as the white spot in the distance grew. Soon, it began to envelop my entire sight with the sounds becoming a constant static, making me once more attempt to shut it all out as I felt the raw magic thrust me forward, another blast echoing around before all the crazy sensations stopped and when I opened my eyes, the world was normal again.

I skidded to a stop, my heart beating a million miles an hour, blooding blasting through my veins as I looked around and saw the dusk sky surrounding myself within Canterlot, though the castle was in front of me and there wasn’t anything off about it. No ponies bursting through the roof, no crazy light shows or magic blasts, nothing.

A noise sounded behind and to my right, making me sharply turn to merely see a pair of ponies having sex in the street.

‘Strange,’ I thought as I looked at them. ‘They look familiar...’ I shook it off with a shake of my head and looked back ahead of me, only to see a trio a ways forward on my left. ‘Also, very familiar...’ When I looked at the castle, I saw it was the same distance it was when I encountered these ponies before, and the sky was the exact same colour as when I first came here. All of this gave me a thought, one that seemed impossible despite there being no other option...

“Did I just travel through time?”

Chapter 8: The Transcendent Tempest

Time travel...

Even the Great Starswirl the Bearded had barely theorized about it, and yet I did it completely without intention...

And here I thought going up against the princesses and Elements by myself was overwhelming.

Fear and confusion flew through me as I had no clue of the possible ramifications, fictional stories featuring it often playing heavily on ‘The Butterfly Effect’ or ‘Temporal Paradoxes’, both of which tend to have incredibly negative effects. Of course, I knew a lot of that was for the purposes of storytelling, preventing a character from having an easy path to victory or completely retconning the story, keeping the entire thing more interesting and realistic. However, there was one facet of time travel that was pretty much constant and did make realistic sense, and it was that that made me ask: ‘Where’s the other me?’

It didn’t make any sense how I didn’t encounter my previous self, as she should exist and be here at this exact time, and she didn’t already enter the castle, as its main doors were still closed. I did hear one story about a incredibly fast superhero that had that type of time travel (of which the uncanniness to myself certainly didn’t escape me), but I really didn’t think reality would work that way.

I shook my head and focused back at the castle a long ways in front of me. Whatever happened to the other me didn’t matter; I had something more important to deal with.

I blasted through the main doors and deftly landed in the middle of the room with marginal skidding, gasps and shouts echoed the banging of the doors opening as I turned my gaze up to find the Elements standing further down the room, looking back at me in surprise.

“Halt!” I heard a guard soon shout from behind me. “You are under arrest by the order of Princess Celestia! Come quietly or we will have to use-” I quickly dash behind me and trailed around the walls of the room, knocking all of the guards out very quickly.

“Force,” I finished after stopping back in the middle of the room, then watched the Elements moving back into the positions I saw them last time, their expressions the same as well.

“Well then,” I started calmly, “Time to settle this once and for all.”

The emotions playing on all my adversaries’ faces held for several seconds as we stared at each other, just daring the other to make the first move, the tension building until I saw Sparkle’s horn begin to light up, a bright flash of light and a pop of displaced air surrounding her a moment later. I listened to hear another pop behind me after an instant, making me turn and dash to where Sparkle reappeared.

I skidded to a safe stop right before the purple barrier that went the the entire width and height of the room. “Coward,” I said with a level of anger, though I intentionally paused to listen for the whistling of wind that I soon heard behind me, making me start to slow everything around me and take a few steps to my right to let the rainbow pegasus dashing at me slam into a wall.

Turning backwards, I saw the large wall of malachite flames barreling towards me, though it was several few meters from my face. I continued to the left, focusing not on the flames, but on the ribbons snaking their way into my path. I reached forward to grab them and pulse some electricity through my body and into them, burning them while I skidded to a stop a ways away from them looking to the right to see a lasso headed for me.

When it was close enough, I grabbed the loop of the rope with both hands and pulled back quickly on it, sending the earth pony holding onto the other side flying towards me. I took a few steps forward to get close to her, then I crouched into an uppercut on her muzzle to send her flying upward.

My next counterattack was to tentatively grab the cake that was headed towards where I was supposed to be and hurl it back towards the pink pony’s face, knowing she must’ve thrown it at me... or fired it, given the cannon she had before her for some reason.

The pegasus-turned bat-pony I then saw flying towards me, making me slowly approach her and jump up onto her back and then back off it, shooting her down at a diagonal into the floor. I saw the dragon and white unicorn a short ways to my right, the former pulling back her muzzle and the latter flaring up her horn, but both in preparation to attack me.

I ran around to grab Barb’s tail, then pulled her leftwards and upwards around me, straining to increase her speed quick enough for nearly a full rotation before slamming her into Rarity’s head, launching her forward as she turned end-over-end. I spun the dragon around me a few more times while remembering Rainbow Dash might still be conscious, then looking to her to see that she was, though still rather dazed, before letting the dragon go at the right time to launch her towards the pegasus.

After all of that, I finally turned time back to normal, letting me watch the fireworks fly: Fluttershy rammed into the floor at a harsh angle and quickly rolled across it, Rarity and Barb went tumbling through the air into the translucent purple wall, Rainbow Dash getting crushed under the latter, Pinkie got smacked in the face with a cake with enough force to send her tumbling backwards, and Applejack flew most of the way up to the ceiling before falling back down with a loud thud and she slammed into the floor.

I reveled in the silence for a moment before focusing back on the purple pony in front of me, who wore a look of utter shock from how efficiently I bested her friends. She soon lost that look though, replacing it with relative indifference as she said, “You may have beaten them, but there’s no way you’re getting through this shield.”

“Oh, I don’t need to,” I replied with a small smirk, slowly turning my head to the left to see one of the massive windows splayed throughout the hall.

I barely heard a gasp before sprinting off towards the window, taking a large jump to go up to it and smashing through it with my boots, though my heavily hasted perception of time allowing me to see it bend, stretching out nearly half a meter before breaking. It soon shattered into a beautiful prismatic spiderweb, the orchid thunder arcing from myself quickly suffusing the iridescent contrasts with a soft gradient.

It ended after some time, and by then I was far enough away from the wall to build more lightning in my feet to quickly double-jump to my right, charging another blast as I went the several meters to another window before launching towards it. When I slammed into this one though, the metal strut holding it together made the window bend unnaturally, and the lower light in the room made the light piercing through it all but a single colour.

The glass mess soon fled my vision, allowing me to focus on the purple pony inside the room, who was only barely beginning to look towards me, many seconds passing to me as I watched the shock slowly form on her face as she slowly turned to face me. I eventually hit the floor, and I then rolled once to cross the short distance to the pony, standing up while shoving a hand into her chest in a manner that would generally stagger, but with this force it launched her across the room with great speed, slamming into the wall on the opposite side upside-down and flopping down to the floor, not getting up.

I looked to my right as the arcane wall there quickly disappeared, the ponies and dragon I saw on the other side all still strewn across the room, completely unconscious.

“You had such confidence in your Plan A, Sparkle,” I started while walking to the door to the throne room, “That you forgot to make a Plan B.” My walk then turned into a sprint as I made my way across the rest of the room, a spinning jump allowing me to quickly blast through the door, landing in the room with a short skid a ways away from the large machine with the four princesses around it, all looking quite a bit more scared than my last attempt.

“...Trixie Lulamoon,” Celestia said, quickly recovering from my entrance. “Back so soon, I see,” She noted with a slightly forced smirk as she stepped to the left of her sister and further away from the machine, with Cadance and Shield on the right of it.

“I’m not going to let you continue to trap ponies within their own mind for your own sexual gratification,” I said, my posture and expression becoming calm.

She scoffed and replied, “How could it be for my own sake? I don’t do anything with them besides give them a little push in the right direction.”

“Hardly a ‘little push’,” I said with slight distaste. “You trap within their own minds for an untold duration only because you like doing it. Pretty much all of the ponies you corrupt have no ability to fight back, and even with those that do, forcing them to experience their own body defiling itself is far more punishing that what is required to keep yourself safe.”

“I’m just making sure they learn their lesson,” She said dismissively with a wave of a hand, but quickly added with light humour, “I do also wish to show them what their missing out on.”

I pantomimed the actions I had last time, forcing an eye twitch as I paused before saying, “You’re stalling.”

Celestia was going to reply, but Luna cut her off. “Yes, you are,” She said, looking obliquely at her sister. “We all know these conversations go nowhere, Trixie included,” She continued while looking back at me.

I deepened my form for a moment, then replied with a tone of repressed anger, “Then get on with it.”

The alabaster and indigo sisters shot me a pair of glances, with Cadance soon waving to the large machine as she exclaimed, “It’s this! …Obviously.”

The princesses glanced to each other while I looked up at the machine, remembering that the crystal within the metal coil gets powered up, then siphoned off of in order to create the corrupt cataclysm it was built for.

“This was made by my sister, and it will allow us to finally get rid of you once and for all,” Shield said, though I didn’t divert my attention from it as tried to think of a way to get rid of the magic housed in the crystal.

“Oh, really?” I asked with mild disinterest while I formed my magic onto the crystal, attempting to find its properties as another layer of my magic made the usually orchid glows invisible.

“Really,” Shield responded scornfully as she stepped over to the panel, flipping some switches while continuing, “Because this TESLA, the Total Expansive and Lightning Suppression Apparatus, will give us enough magical power to wipe the floor with you.”

I found the magic in the crystal to be completely suffused within it, requiring that it remain in one piece for the magic to retain itself, though through my thoughts, I off-handedly asked of the other ponies, “Hath thou no honour?”

Luna scoffed with contempt and replied, “Oh, come off the Old Equestrian. You’re a disgrace against the legacy of everypony who used it.”

“No,” I said adamantly while I got an idea, “I’m the only thing holding it together.”

They all released disgusted sounds, as the other unicorn dismissed, “Whatever; life is clearly more important than any honour.” She then turned to me with a large smile as she held her hand over the large activation button of the device. “So now,” She started, pausing slightly as I firmly wrapped my magic around the crystal, “It it time,” She paused again while waving her hand around erratically, “For the coming,” Another pause, “Of youuuuuur-”

CRACK

The princesses all went completely silent as they jerked their heads to look at the crystal, which now had a huge crack running through it from my magic pressing intensely on part of it.

“Wh-what just happened?!” Cadance exclaimed as she worriedly jerked her gaze between the other royals and the crystal.

“It’s... definitely not supposed to do that...” Shield replied with fear while I weaved my invisible magic into the center of the cracked crystal.

“Oh no...” Celestia added with dread as I pulsed a lot of magic into the crystal, its cracks beginning to emanate light at an increasing brightness, a resonating sound coming from within as it began to separate, before...

BOOOOM!

It exploded, a blinding flash of light accompanied by a thunderous shockwave forcing me to snap my eyes shut and create an arcane shield in front of me. The light went out a few moments later, revealing the other princess, who were looking at the now useless machine in shock behind their own shields.

“Why... why did that happen?!” Luna shouted as we all dropped our shields.

“I-I don’t know!” Shield exclaimed, looking around the machine frantically. “Twilight told me she put something in place to prevent stuff like that!” She added, the other royals having no more comprehension of the situation while I stood back, silently expressing my mirth.

“Oh,” Celestia said as she looked at me, her voice becoming tinted with anger. “She probably knows, though,” She told the others while gesturing to me.

I let out a short laugh as they all faced me, rage visible on all their faces. “Maaaagic!” I responded gleefully, pulling my hands up to my chest before waving them outward in an arc, leaving a rainbow behind with the word ‘MAGIC!’ imprinted on it.

Cadance growled and replied, “You really have to the fun away from everypony like that?”

“You have your fun at the expense of other’s lives; I can’t allow that,” I said while setting my arms back at my sides and dissolving the illusionary rainbow.

“The ponies would all love us if they could worship us everywhere,” Celestia stated flatly, “And that machine would have allowed them to do that.”

“Not all ponies,” I rectified, “And definitely not all creatures. Some of us actually want to live in peace, you know.”

Luna sighed heavily, taking a moment before replying, “We shouldn’t do simply what the minority wants, that wouldn’t make any sense.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. The issue here is that you’re forcing the minority to bow to your whims so you can abuse them. That, is what I intend to rectify here.”

“They don’t matter,” Shield said after a moment, “Not in the grand scheme of things. All those ponies, changelings, griffons, whatever, that are pure, they’re never going to have an impact on anything important. So we have no reason to bother with them.”

I sighed in exasperation. ‘This is going nowhere,’ I thought before I grew a determined expression. “Yeah, we can.” I stood still with an ardent mien, the princesses’ looks became derisive as I continued, “We will. Because we have the will to fight, to make the world better. We find hope for success where you find inevitable failure, and we will still fight for what is right even when it seems impossible. We are the stars that are born in this pitch-black void you have made, and we will burn ourselves into oblivion to assure that this world is not left without light.”

The royals showed distaste at that, with Celestia replying, “No; you’re just to stupid to know when to stop.” I said nothing, looking at them with resolution, which seemed to give them mirth. “You do realize we are basically gods, right?” The ivory alicorn mocked, yet I still held my tongue.

“I don’t get why you people don’t like this,” Cadance said with a tone of persuasion. “You can fight against us all you want to protect the pures, but you’re only paining yourself by doing that. You’d all make it a lot easier on everyone if you just accepted our way.”

“That’d only be a want,” I replied, “And wants are negligible in comparison to what is right.”

“Right,” Luna scoffed, “‘Cause making ponies happy is completely irrelevant.”

The other ponies agreed with that, while I knew just how frivolous this all was. “This is pointless; nothing will convince either of us that we’re wrong,” I concluded, though I left a pause before adding, “Well, barring the Reaper herself, of course.”

They all looked incredulous at the threat, but Celestia soon recovered. “Hm, I suppose that’s true.” She took on a fighting stance, the others quickly following suit, and quipped, “Better get packing, then.”

I held a firm frown for several moments as I let the comment sink in, then quickly bolted at Cadance and slammed into her with my shoulder, sending her flying into a wall while I was carried forward with my momentum. I quickly turned around though, and ran at Celestia, but she managed to summon a bright blast of yellow magic right before I got to her, blasting me backwards while spinning end-over-end.

I was able to control the tumble enough to leave my feet striking the wall, allowing me to immediately jump off and sprint at Shield. A pink wall soon formed before her however, so I had to go around it to the left in order to slam into her and launch her towards the other princesses still standing, but a cobalt blast of magic from the one in front sent the unicorn flailing away at a right diagonal.

Next, I went forward a slight bit to the left, leaving me able to blaze around the sisters clockwise, an orchid thunderous cylinder wrapping around them. They had their horns flared with moderate magic and seemed to be trying to track me in the several revolutions I made around them, so they seemed to be no threat to me quickly spiraling in and striking them... but, I was wrong.

I felt a burning blow on my chest for an instant when I approached them, and was hardly able to understand my current position before I felt my back harshly slammed into a wall, then fell onto the floor face-down.

My muzzle felt warm and wet for the several seconds I lay there, gathering my faculties as I stared at the crimson carpeted flooring, lightly being covered in a viscous vermilion liquid.

“Feels painful, doesn’t it?” I heard a voice ask, making me look up to see the ivory and phthalo alicorns staring at me with harsh expressions. “That’s what you’ve been doing to us,” The former seemed to have said, as my sight was able to see her moving slightly more and I could hear the voice was a bit brighter.

“What you have done...” I started hoarsely, pushing myself off the floor to get into a half-kneel and wipe my muzzle, “To others and myself,” I managed to stand up, though slightly wavering as I held a hand to the wall behind me, “Is far worse than anything I could ever conceive of wreaking upon you.”

The alicorns looked ready to fight again, but I realized that I couldn’t defeat them face-to-face, given what had just happened. My sight cleared as I looked at them, allowing me to notice I was at a relatively sharp angle with the wall behind me, the massive still-open doors to this room directly to my right.

“Nuclear option time,” I muttered as I closed my eyes, then blasted off through the doors and out of the castle, yanking the main entrance doors closed with my magic as I passed through them.

Celestia and I were left questioning Trixie’s last line before she bolted out of the castle, though I had faith she had something for this. Me and my sister were incredibly difficult to defeat, though our current attacks were mainly focused on power, and the showmare was focused far more on skill, which was truly the deciding factor.

The white alicorn turned around as she flared her magic, and I turned as well to see her lifting both the other princesses off the back wall. My own magic was quickly used to poke their subconscious, pulling them back into the waking world as I felt Celestia’s magic work a healing spell on them.

“Are you two alright?” She asked the young princesses as they soon awoke, both groaning loudly as they did so.

Shield opened her eyes and blinked a few times before replying dazedly, “Um, yeah... Just kinda dizzy,” She added as she pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Mm,” Cadance murmured in agreement and slowly shook her head. “I’d appreciate it if you could let us down, though,” She said, to which Celestia nodded and lowered them to the floor, leaving them wobbling slightly on their feet as her golden magic faded.

The pink alicorn looked around the room for a moment, soon asking, “Where did...?”

“She left,” The corruption that controlled me said. “Mentioned something about a ‘nuclear option’ though, before she did.”

“That doesn’t sound great,” She commented, slightly downcast. “Mm, probably just-”

“Twily!” Shield suddenly shouted, drawing our attention to her as she ran over into the anteroom. Celestia quickly followed her, seeming rather worried by her former student’s condition, me and Cadance soon following.

When I entered the anteroom, my head jerked around to notice the ponies and dragon laying around it, all completely unconscious. Sparkle also lay there, face-down and right next to a wall with a smattering of glass strewn in front of her from the window on the opposite side of the room.

“Twily!” The alabaster unicorn exclaimed again, running over to her fallen sister and kneeling next to her while flipping her onto her back. She then put her hand to the lavender pony’s neck to check for her heartbeat, and next hovered it over her mouth to check her breathing. “Oh, thank Celestia, she’s alive,” She said, clearly exasperated, with a relieved sigh coming from Celestia herself.

My body conveyed relief as well for a moment, during which Shield laid her hands on her sister’s midriff and had a forlorn mien. “That bastard!” She suddenly exclaimed, seeming to glare at the main doors as she shook slightly in rage. “She will pay for harming Twily...”

I took a few seconds before slowly walking forward, then tentatively reaching my right hand to her left shoulder, which made her quickly look back to me with a morose expression. She saw the controlled expression on my face, and looked back to her sister to let my magic be flared and pushed into her mind, invading and pulling her out of the sleep-like state she was in.

I stood up and stepped a short ways back before Sparkle’s eye’s fluttered and eventually opened, looking into the eyes of her sister who was now leaned over her face.

“Are you alright?” The unicorn asked with concern.

“Um... yeah,” Her sister replied, still not fully awake. She let out a small grunt as the white mare hugged her, though it only lasted for a moment before she pulled away.

“I didn’t want to lose you,” Shield said with compassion, then looked back to the main doors and muttered, “She’ll pay for this...”

Sparkle nodded as she slowly sat up, only to look around the room in confusion. “Where is she, anyway?” She asked, looking back to Celestia, myself, and Cadance.

“She left the castle,” I was forced to say, “And she said something about a ‘nuclear option’ of sorts, though we don’t what what it would be.”

The young pony nodded slowly in understanding, though she seemed to get caught on something, as she narrowed her eyes with an expression of thought on her face.

That expression didn’t last long though, as her ears soon perked up, making me pay more attention to the faint vibrating noise I could hear emanating through the room. My gaze quickly looked around the room, eventually falling on the windows, which seemed to be wobbling slightly in their frames.

“That’s not normal...” Cadance commented off-handedly while I noticed a faint pink glow through the window that was coming from below, slight distortions in the air above it seeming to indicate the rhythmic pressure it was going through.

“Oh no...” Sparkle muttered, getting our attention.

“What is it?” Celestia asked with worrying tinting her voice.

The purple alicorn grunted as she stood up, staring worriedly out the broken window. “Remember what happened last time, in Ponyville?” She asked, her tone flattened by dread.

Me and my sister gasped with the realization. “The tornado,” I said as my fingers snapped, dread and fear flowing through my body, which let me know that the corruption pervading this world was beatable.

My legs quickly carried me over to the main doors, which my cobalt magic swiftly opened to reveal an orchid blur blazing around the castle, hardly more than a few metes from its walls. Vibrant bolts of electricity were trailing it and beginning to flow upwards to coalesce into a thunderous wall of wind that surrounded the castle.

“She’s making a tornado... out of lightning?!” Shield shouted in bewilderment from behind me.

“She is,” Celestia replied, trying to hide her fear. “We need to get out of here,” She said, making me turn to face her as she flared her magic and grabbed all of us and the ponies and dragon still laying on the floor, then teleported us all away.

We landed twenty or so blocks in front of the castle in the cool dusk, made even darker by the black clouds covering the city. Even in the darkness, I could see the streets around us empty, all the ponies likely having all fled in terror.

“W-what do we do?!” Cadance shrieked while I turned back to face the growing tempest, its swirling orchid bolts nearing the height of the top of the large windows.

“L-Luna,” Celestia stuttered faintly, though I still could hear the terror in her voice as I looked back at her. “Wake them up, at least,” She said while gesturing to the ponies and dragon laying a few paces behind her.

My head nodded as my magic flowing into their minds, pulling them from their unconsciousness. They took several moments to awake, being rather groggy and dazed as they looked between us and the forming tornado, taking even more time to comprehend what they were seeing.

“What... in the Tartarus... is that?” Rainbow Dash asked slowly, staring in awe at the electrical cyclone.

“It’s... exactly what you think it is, unfortunately,” I said while turning back to see it new encompassing the spires of the castle, though the tone of my words was far from what I truly felt.

There was a silence between us all as we stared in horror, the air being ravaged by the thunderous blasts and bolts of the tempest, its wrath upon the castle beginning to damage it. Large cracks snaked their way around the spires and wings, though they lasted for but a moment before the pieces they separated flew apart. The entire castle began to rupture, concussive blasts of sound accompanying parts of the building smashing together, chunks flying out only get swatted back in by the arcane wall of lightning that trapped it.

“W-we should, um...” Fluttershy stuttered quietly behind me, though her voice was distinctive enough to draw my attention, “M-maybe do something...?”

There was several moments pause, with a dread and hopelessness the corrupt must’ve felt contrasted with the semblance of victory I had, only with a faint breaking of Celestia’s voice saying, “...Of course. We... just don’t know what to do.”

“Well, we gotta do something!” Dash shouted, desperate and fierce. “We can’t just stand around, letting a frickin’ magical lightning-tornado destroy everything!”

Some more moments passed before Sparkle spoke up in a shaky voice. “Well... it is magical, right?” Our attention was pulled somewhat to her as she continued, “All magical spells do have counter-spells, after all, so...”

“You can’t exactly counter-spell a tornado though,” Shield replied in a mostly remarking tone. “It’s too big, and even then, it’s still fused with nature in a way that’s going to make it still exist even if the magic was removed.”

“Yes, and the magic isn’t like a typical magic-user’s,” Celestia added. “It’s... jagged, rough, dangerous. The lightning it’s fused with makes it nigh-impossible to combine it with normal magic in a predictable way.”

“Well, no,” Sparkle began again, “But, the magic there is still normal to her. While it may hurt us, she can deal with it just fine. So, if the magic was even more ragged, it may harm her.”

My head nodded, and then turned to look back. “...And infusing our own magic into it would be unpredictable,” I said, the others turning to me. “It’d likely make the magic within it a chaotic mess even she can’t deal with.”

“Okay...” Cadance said from behind me, “So, how exactly do we do that? I mean, we can’t just blast it, right?”

“No, it would just deflect,” Celestia responded, staring at the cyclone, which I turned to see was nearing the cloud line. She tapped a for for a few seconds before adding, “Lightning may work though.” She turned to face us and continued, “We could summon lightning and infuse our own magic into it, then connect it to the tornado to fuse them together.”

“That seems rather dangerous...” Shield said, rubbing her temples. “Fusing lightning with magic would probably require fusing them in the air, which is likely just gonna blow up, or fusing them within somepony, which requires lightning to be in them, so...” She paused to let us fill in the gap while watching the tempest finally reach the cloud line, becoming a fully-fledged tornado that would likely sustain for many hours. “...Unless you managed to fuse them in the clouds themselves, that is...” She muttered, staring at the whirring clouds, crackling with lightning and feeding into the cyclone in a beautiful, yet destructive, display of magic and weather.

The alicorns seemed to turn thoughtful at the unicorn’s comment, with Cadance eventually asking, “Is that even possible?” We looked towards each other as she continued, “I mean, pony and natural magic tend not to work together, from what I’ve heard.”

“Well, the lightning is only a manifestation of a large amount of electricity flowing from the clouds to the ground,” I started, gazing back at the tinted and blazing clouds. “So, if the magic with in the cloud, it would likely carry through the lightning.”

“Alright, so we can just zap the clouds with your magic and it’ll blow up the tornado, right?” Dash asked, eager as ever.

“No, the magic wouldn’t work that way,” Sparkle replied, getting an exasperated groan form the pegasus. “But, you are on the right track. We need to separate a charged cloud from that mass Trixie’s using,” She gestured to the cloudy skies that covered the city, “And infuse it with magic. Only then will the magic be able to disrupt hers, but even then, it won’t explode; it will only likely trap her inside, as she would be able to touch the lightning without getting hurt.”

“Alright, I’mma get the cloud then. I’m sick of sitting around and doing nothing!” The cyan mare exclaimed before flying up into the sky. We watched as she pierced the cloud layer a ways away from the orchid vortex that consumed a large section of it, then trailed around to collect a decently-sized circular patch of clouds that she quickly flew downwards, stopping several meters above us.

Celestia looked at the cloud for a moment before responding, “That should work. Now, give me a moment...” She trailed off, flaring her horn weakly and closing her eyes to focus on her magic. She stayed in that position for several moments while her magic slowly grew brighter, though it only reached slightly over typical power before she launched it at the cloud in the form of a golden, blazing bolt. The bolt then struck the cloud and seemed to disappear into it, its glow seeping into the grey-silver of the cloud for a moment until it dissipated.

“Okay, good,” The alicorn noted, “So; little force, no direction, mostly as a nebulous mass of magic, though tinted with electricity to cling it to that already in the cloud.” Me and Sparkle nodded, though Cadance and Shield took a moment to process the instructions before nodding as well, letting all the magic users (barring Rarity) prepare our magic in the form we were told.

My eyes were closed while I felt the cobalt magic build on my horn as it formed, feeling staticky and diffuse, as though a bunch of metal powder surrounded it. A beam was soon shot from my horn at the cloud, and it was held as my eyes opened to see four other beams of varying colours accompanying mine, though all of them looked jagged and wispy, their charged state seeming to faintly branch like a true bolt of lightning. The beams all diffused into the puffy mass of vapour and thunder, charging it further and suffusing with a technicoloured aura that started as a mere tint, though worked its way to becoming a blinding incandesce that will be all but magic.

Several minutes passed as the beams held, turning the previously a mere cloud into a now beautiful display of colour, blazing reds and yellows dancing with soft blues and pinks, gradients amassed and split haphazardly by thunderous rifts of white and rainbow to bequeath upon us the truest show of natural magic I have ever seen.

“What is that blinding mess?” A refined and pompous voice interrupted, showing just how uncaring the corrupt are for nature.

“It’s a force of nature,” My voice replied with faint exhaustion, turning from the stunning display to look at the rude heliotrope-maned mare with what I felt as my face’s typical apathetic expression. “We had to use natural magic to create it,” Several gags and grimaces were thrown up at that, “But it’s our only option here.”

“Right,” Celestia responded, panting slightly from the magical exertion, “Because as we’ve said before, this magic of nature doesn’t work well with our typical type of magic. They clash too harshly.”

Everyone nodded in varying levels of comprehension before we turned back to the rampaging tornado. The vortex on top ripped away at the cloudy layer above, drawing power from it in the light grey forms of clouds and pale blue bolts of lightning that turned orchid as they fell into the twisting, writhing mass of thunder that was multiple block in radius now. Loud cracks of power flew from every branching bolt, rushing wind with terrifying force, tearing buildings apart as it grew to an ultimate maelstrom of arcane thunder. Even amidst the chaos, I still felt I could see the blazing dot trailing around within, powering it with her thunderous magic and the whirlwinds left in her wake.

“Alright, so how exactly are we gonna fire this thing?” I heard Dash ask, and we turned to face her as she looked up at the technicoloured cloud several meters above us. “I could probably hop onto it and fire a bolt from it like normal...”

“Definitely not,” Sparkle interjected with a head-shake, though she was far more exhausted than the elder alicorns. “There’s way too much power on that, it’d kill you before you even got close to it. But,” She cut off Dash’s groan, “The power should be stored within the cloud at this point though, so we should only need to throw it into the tornado.”

Celestia looked at the arcane cloud and tilted her head for a moment before replying, “That sounds right.” She changed her expression from interest into intent, then inhaled deeply and closed her eyes while flaring her magic, using it reach out the raging amalgamation of magic and mist. She winced as her golden magic materialized, the lightning sparking toward it and curbing its creation.

The alabaster mare did eventually manage to get a grip on the prismatic mass, her aura faintly tinting the violent sparks that took hold all around the cloud, clashing with the corrupt magic in an attempt to stave it off. Such efforts were for naught though, as it was soon shoved off with a grunt from its carrier, launched towards the orchid maelstrom that seeks to unmake the world.

The magical mass quickly approached the tornado, its writhing form soon looking distorted and pulled towards and around the cyclone. Blazing bolts then jumped between the arcane forces, intermittently at first, though it hastily grew into rapid blasts of power that sapped the multicoloured cloud’s magic and interwove it with the pale power of the maelstrom.

The intruding energy began to assimilate the preexisting magic, transforming the orchid tempest into a prismatic vortex, only matched in its beauty by its destructive potential. While its previous state had a semblance of control, this new storm was entirely unmanageable, the natural magic it was built from made it so chaotic that it clashed even it with its creator.

As the rainbow power created for destruction finished its transformation of the tornado, I could see the wisp of pink thunder get blasted around the inside of it, the sight of each of those collisions showing the pain the pony there was dealing with. But still, I held strong in my faith that Trixie Lulamoon would live through this, live through the final instance of suffering before she finally could bring forth harmony onto this utterly corrupted world.

“Okay,” A voice said from behind me, my ears getting perked back and my subconscious listening. “Now what?” The scratchy, impatient voice asked.

Several moments passed with only the violent, thunderous sounds of the maelstrom to fill the air, before a sharp inhale was made and Celestia said, “Well... the tornado should eventually kill Trixie... but after that, it should just go away after a while.”

“So, we got ta let it jus’ tear Canterlot down?” Applejack asked with a hint of irritation and disbelief.

“Correct,” My voice replied. “We don’t have the ability, with our normal magic, to destroy such a massive naturally arcane storm,” It added, my eyes only glancing back at the others for moment before returning to stare at the tempest with venom.

“Why not? I’ve managed to manipulate weather a lot before!”

A sigh escaped my lips. “To a degree, Rainbow. You may be able to push clouds around and incite some storms, but normal magic is limited in precision and ability with something like this. Destroying a tornado requires a lot more care if you want to do it without killing yourself.”

An exasperated groan was heard before the ‘quiet’ returned, letting me focus fully onto the technicolour tempest, and the orchid dot within as it bounced around violently. I did notice, though, that the dot seemed to be bouncing in a more regular formation, as if the pony it represented was gaining control of her movements. The dot moved in a near-triangular fashion around the interior of the cyclone, moving frantically up and down a decent ways on each hop, but its movements slowly folded outwards into a mildly flat square, a moderately flat pentagon, and then even further in flatness and roundness until it moved it a blazing circle, hardly deviating in height.

“What is she doing...?” I heard Celestia ask quietly as the dot wrapped around at incredible speed, its thunderous trail layering upon itself to make its orchid glow brighter than the rainbow tornado around it, and it paused at that brightness for the time being.

However, something odd starting happening soon after that, as while the brightness of the circle had mostly stopped, its hue had began to shift and twist, faintly taking on the prismatic power of the maelstrom around it. It started as a mere trace, though it slowly grew into a light tint with its brightness beginning again to grow stronger.

“What is that...?” Sparkle asked, though her tone suggested it was moreso denial than confusion.

The circle’s tint became even more prominent now, splaying all the colours of the rainbow around it haphazardly in hues that were now more shaded with pink than a shade of pink. Its shape then began to waver, first seeming to split into a pair of discs, though it quickly became something more. The bolting pony which lead the multicoloured trail began to move around the cyclone quickly up and down while going around, her trail forming into more of a cylinder now.

The main twister seemed to be slightly different now, faintly thinner and a touch less vibrant, its power having been siphoned into the blazing trail within. Over the next few minutes, the internal storm get even brighter with its source becoming ever thinner, the dread of what we were witnessing settling in upon the corrupt while I felt victory on the horizon.

“What... exactly… is that going to do?” A voice asked, its awe and terror breaking up its words, though my ears were perked nonetheless.

Several seconds passed before I heard Celestia reply, “...Absorbing that amount of energy will probably kill her, but...”

“...‘But’?”

“That power has to go somewhere,” My voice replied, only slightly calmer than my sister’s, “So it’s going to go out, and in a far less than pleasant way.”

The maelstrom continued to shrink, its width now only half of what it once was and its brightness fading, only to be replaced with the intensifying glow of the thunderous trail within.

“But, wait,” A now even more terrified Sparkle started, “That explosion’s going to have enough power to destroy most of the city!”

Some horrified inhales and gasps were heard before Shield frantically replied, “W-what are we going to do?! We can’t just let that happen!”

“Unfortunately, we must,” My voice responded. “While we have enough power to protect ourselves, we don’t have enough to protect the entire city.”

The white unicorn seemed like she was going to reply, but Celestia cut her off. “But, Trixie will be defeated at the very least,” She said in a slightly somber tone, though one she believed in nonetheless.

A defeated sigh was released before our attention returned to the tempest, its power beginning to be overwhelmed by the inner blaze and its size shrinking at hastening speed, indicating that we don’t have long before its destruction arrives.

“Let’s get ready,” My sister said, her composure clearly forced.

A shield was soon summoned before us, each of the alicorns adding our power to it and Shield bolstering it further to create a nigh-unbreakable wall, though we knew that its power would sorely be tested by the blast created by Trixie’s demise. I know not what she has planned for this, as she likely knows of our combined power, but I still have faith she knows what she’s doing, as that faith is the only thing keeping me on this razor’s edge of sanity.

The arcane cyclone shrunk and brightened yet further, the time until its collapse now measured only in seconds. We were forced to cover our eyes as the brightness grew too intense, but it only lasted mere moments before...

KRAAK-BOOOOOOM!!

A thunderous blast rocked the air, blinding our eyes and deafening our ears while a wave of wind smashed into our shield, forcing my eyes to slam shut and my ears to clench downwards while a pressure went through my horn, though it was oddly less painful than I expected.

Many moments passed as the ringing in my ears slowly subsided, the blinding flare before me no longer paining my closed eyes, letting me finally peek one open. Outside, I saw nothing usual; the shield we summoned still lay in front of us, and the city around still stood tall- with the exception of the castle and the sky, the former which now lay in a smoldering crater only a short ways wider than it originally stood and the latter devoid of clouds, letting some light back in.

Our stances relaxed and our shield faded away, allowing us to turn to look at each other, relief in everyone’s eyes, though the princesses’ were tinted by confusion.

“I... expected that to be far worse...” Celestia noted with mere puzzlement.

“Yeah, that was supposed to nearly destroy us!” Sparkle responded, quite a bit more frantic. “And I know I got my calculations right!”

Many frantic and bewildered looks were thrown around, the former out of fear something went wrong and the latter because of the former.

“Well...” Shield started after several moments. “Trixie’s dead, though, right?” She asked hopefully.

My body seemed to be mulling it over as it looked back to the crater, taking a few more moments before answering with some doubt, “It seems so.”

Several sighs of relief and shouts of glee were heard, soon followed by the type of sounds I automatically tuned out, but I at least understood everyone beside me and my sister went to celebrate their victory. My body ignored them as well, starting to walk towards the crater as I felt something out there, in the aether- a feeling I’ve only felt twice before, giving my body a horrible sinking feeling while Celestia began to follow.

The salacious noise behind us slowly faded while our slow steps kept constant, distraction seeming to be desired by our corrupt shells as dread filled them, heavily contrasted against the hope that I felt. The noise did get louder at a point, and we glanced back to find the ponies that had previously fled were returning to rejoice in their naïve belief of success.

Eventually, the sound of the corrupt waned, leaving us only with the cool air left in the wake of storms and the hollow steps of our boots, dread creeping further on our shells as we neared the crater.

“What are you thinking, sister?” Celestia asked, though it was clear it was to only fill the air.

“Something I sorely hope is wrong,” My voice replied, even if my thoughts heavily disagreed. The anticipation I felt hanging in the air gave me the hope to keep going however, as I knew that if I was right, then there is no chance of failure.

We kept going, only a few blocks between us and the crater now, and the answer to the question of our fate rested inside. Only when we reached the final position before we saw the answer did we stop, our normally composed exteriors shivering lightly and having to take a deep breath, then looking at each other with terror-filled eyes and nodding in acceptance before stepping forward further to show the aftermath of the maelstrom...

…With a crescent-shaped wisp around a wand scorched into the ground at an impressive scale.

I could feel the shock and terror rock through my body, eyes wide and nearly stumbling backward, though in my mind, I was laughing. I was guffawing in a schadenfreude-inspired elation, knowing the doom upon the corrupt to be imminent and inexorable; what had just happened in order to create that mark has utterly insured it.

Celestia’s and my body glanced to each other, conveying the simple message of ‘flee’, to which they both quickly obliged. They broke into a terror-filled sprint, headed directly away from the crater and back towards the celebrating ponies that we now know had no reason to do so, though it wasn’t long before the ground began to darken once again, and we knew it was too late.

Our legs nearly stumbled again as they brought us to a stop, our eyes looking skyward to see the returning cloud layer, air swirling around above the city and coalescing into a thick layer of mist that let no light through. The clouds may have started a ways away from the crater, but they soon closed in, taking mere minutes to cover the entire city.

The air got even colder now, and we started to back away from the epicenter, our eyes having followed the recreation of the clouds. The fear our corruption felt only grew as thunder echoed through the air, its arcing amongst the clouds now a pure silver. The bolts were calm at first, taking several seconds between each other and only somewhat breaking the air, but over time they grew in power and frequency.

Frantic steps were soon heard behind us, though we did not turn, as our eyes were too focused on the eye of the building storm.

“W-what’s happening?!” A voice yelled in terror as it approached.

“Yeah, is this Trixie?!” Another asked in similar panic. “She is dead, right?!”

Several more steps and wingbeats were heard for several drawn-out seconds, filled with only the thunderstruck and wind-whipped air, before Celestia replied with dread, “No... She is the very opposite of dead...”

Looks of confusion donned everyone else’s faces, their understanding minimal, or perhaps their denial maximal, but it didn’t matter. The thunder and wind got ever louder, now able to drown out anything we could say outside of shouting, making our eyes gaze upward at the streaks of silver bolting amongst the clouds, seeming to focus on a point within them that was as near as could be.

The lightning soon began to coalesce into the clouds, focusing into a bright point that glowed and arced with incredible power. Mere seconds passed as the point became blinding, forcing us to cover our eyes and ears in preparation for the immense bolt of thunder that was to come.

And come it did.

At first, it sounded like a typical bolt, though louder of course, but it quickly devolved into a deafening wall of air that I could feel physically pushed me, making me stagger backward in order to not fall over. The sound itself became inaudible, its power wracking my ears so violently, they weren’t able to take in any information of the outside world, leaving only a pure, suffocating silence.

Many moments passed, the time now blurred together while my ears slowly regained their senses, only starting me with a faint ringing within the void of sound I was trapped in. I tentatively lowered my arms from my head and peaked an eye open to behold a flowing mass of dust a few meters high and a block or so away. My eyes seemed undamaged as my ears slowly recovered, barely audible whistles of wind signaling the air now stood untorn by harsh winds and thunderous blasts.

Low groans were heard behind me, my body then turning to see several of the ponies laying on the ground, their eyes unfocused and their movements sluggish, clearly having not weathered the storm. Their daze did slowly ware off though, and they got to their feet, standing unsteadily and having to hold onto the more stable ponies and dragon for support.

“Are you all alright?” Celestia asked, to which the dazed ponies looked to her.

“I... I’m fine...” Sparkle replied, rubbing her ears, and several sounds of agreement were heard from the others, lethargic though they were.

My head nodded and turned back to face the dust cloud, which seemed close to settling, though was still opaque. Heavy breaths were heard behind me, the others seeming to have now gotten a hold of themselves and looking at the fog as well. Many tense seconds passed while we waited for it to clear, and eventually I could see glimmers of silver and gold peeking through, all tightly compacted around a radiant heliotrope. And when it all fully cleared...

…There stood, eyes closed and perfectly composed, Trixie Lulamoon herself. Her brilliant purple cloak and hat fluttered with the soft winds, the golden and platinum stars adorning them shimmering with the mild light filtering through the modest clouds.

However, only fleeting glanced would see her as she was before, because now, there were many things which separated her from her previous self: She was taller, though not by much, and her muscles were more defined. Her horn, uncovered by her hat, was slightly longer and sharper as well, its curve reflecting with a pristine silver instead of the pale orchid she had before. But, most jarringly of all, were her wings. Her coverts were the same brilliant sapphire as her coat, though her feathers were the purest of silvers, jagged and seeming to glow and spark with magic.

And when she opened her eyes, her irises too were silver, glimmering and glowing with purity and power in the most beautiful of ways. Her entire body showcase an indescribable beauty, and while my body may have been frozen in fear and terror, my mind was frozen in admiration and love.

“I gotta say,” She says with a calm, serene voice, “I wasn’t expecting this. But...” She fluttered her wings slightly and glanced back at them, only to then return to look at me with that lovely smile, “There’s no way I’m turning this down.”

There was a long while of silence, the air filled with the dread and bewilderment of the corrupt, before a dry-throated Sparkle asked, “H-how?”

One side of Trixie’s smile rose at that, and she responded, “Natural magic. There’s a lot more use of it than any of you ever thought.” She inhaled deeply and exhales softly before continuing, “See, this world has been run by your corrupt selves that all forms of purity, be it magic or mindsets, get suffocated amongst your ruthlessness and uncontrollability. We only wanted to live, while you always pushed us down.

“Now, though,” She flapped her wings lightly, “Things are different. Now, you are the ones who are weak and helpless and we have the power.” She paused for a moment and closed her eyes, smirking in realization. “While we do care for helping those in need, those that can’t help themselves,” She started as she opened her eyes again, her voice more neutral, “The corrupt, especially you all, have parasitic pleasure engrained so deeply within them, that there’s no way I could possibly purify them.”

She gazed downwards and her tone became somber, “I do apologize for having to let you down like this... but I can’t risk the lives and livelihoods of those I know to have potential. You all have done so much wrong, and I suppose your penance is far past due.” She had an expression of ardency as she rose her head to look at us again, and I could see silver magic charging on her horn while she raised a hand to her hat to cover it. Her boots dug slightly in to the ground as she leaned forward somewhat, all in preparation to launch herself at us, and I could feel the anticipation of victory bring a smirk to my face.

It’s an interesting feeling, being reborn.

I first started fully implanted in the reality I know, in the throughs of agony with the violent natural magic of the multicoloured tornado ripping though my body, my senses being dulled from the pain, eventually throwing me into a suffocating void.

Not long after, though, did that void become clear and shone all around in dots of starlight. I felt an ethereal magic around me, suffusing the void and soon pouring into myself, filling me with a power I’ve only grazed before, a power that for as strong and unending as it was, gave me a sense of calm and control. I felt the subconscious taint leave me, getting replaced by the purest and most natural energies I once thought I truly knew.

In that void, I realized I was experiencing what most considered legend until a few years ago, I knew that the collapse of the corrupt’s empire was at hand, and that I was to be the one to instigate it. The ardor from that filled me along with the silver lightning that had become entwined with me, and my soul seemed to be reaching back to reality, power focusing in a point that suddenly blasted into existence, and there I stood, now an alicorn.

I could see the terror in the corrupts’ faces, the many far around me that had come prematurely to celebrate my supposed defeat now were bewildered, and those closer seemed in denial, though the diarchs of the the day and night were different. I saw Celestia defeated, broken and hopeless, having accepted her failure, but Luna’s face showed she knew victory, the corruption finally dispelled from her mind.

The corrupt were then slaughtered as I blasted forward, the familiar thunderous power never before having felt so pure and powerful, making me accelerate to top speed in a fraction of the time I was used to. The silver lightning crackling all around my body arced straight to the ponies as I approached them, first dazing Celestia so I could slam my side into her, launching her away at speed.

Next were the other three corrupt princesses, those only taking hooks across the face to stop their oh-so-slow turning, quickly followed by the Elements and Barb, whom I used a combination of punches, kicks, and slams to take out. I then sprinted the several blocks to strike the remaining corrupt, my silver magic attaching an arcane wire to them as it struck them, my running letting the wire run through each and every one of them.

Only when I stopped back at where I started did electricity truly begin to flow through the wire, its crackling power blasting through all the ponies to which it was linked, blinding them with pain and soon turning off the lights behind their eyes, preventing their corruption from taking anyone else. After a few seconds of powerful bolts streaking around in silver light and roaring blasts, the calm returned, the defeated corrupt laying around myself and Luna.

“We did it...” I said after some moments of looking around at the eradicate plague, scarcely able to believe it. All the pain, the suffering, the violence and chaos borne of selfish beings has come to an end.

“No, you did it,” Luna responded with undeniable pride, walking towards me with a smile on her face.

“We’re free...” I said, glee rising on my face as I turned to my friend. “We’re free!” I shouted while running to her, flapping my wings to quickly reach her, throwing my arms around her and hugging her tightly. “We’re free,” I repeated, the victory, my victory, finally sinking in, making tears fall from my eyes and laughs erupt from my mouth in happiness.

I felt Luna return the hug, tears falling onto my mane as she rested her head on it, her composure being broken by the pain finally coming to an end. “Yes, we are,” She replied, her voice faintly breaking from the happiness. “The corruption that hath taken over the world is at an end. Pockets may still pervade the world, but they shall prove no match to you.”

I looked up at her face and teased her for her forgetfulness, “You mean us, right?”

She lessen her grip on me and had a slight somber smile on as she replied, “Ah, no...”

“What do you mean?” I asked while pulling back and looking at her face in confusion.

Luna seemed to wrestle with something in her mind for a few moments before starting somewhat solemnly, “I... can’t go on any further like this...” Bewilderment filled me far more at that statement, and I was far more grave as she went continued, “Your purity has overthrown that of the past, of which I am from. The corruption pervades all of the past, and to remake the world, all of those remnants must be destroyed, including myself.”

I blanched at her words, but bafflement still let me ask, “Why? The corruption isn’t affecting you any more!”

“Maybe not now,” She said bleakly, “But is still exists within me. It will return, trapping and torturing me further.”

“B-but...” I stuttered, horrified, but I still would accept the death of my only friend that quickly. “We can get rid of it, though; We can find whatever spell Celestia used and reverse it!”

She smiled slightly, but hopelessness still seeped from her words as she said, “Maybe, in time. But, the version of the spell used on me is far different and more complex than the one used on others, making it far harder to fully eradicate.” She grabbed my hands and looked into my eyes, her words filled with gravity as she continued, “Though, please, do not waste your time on me. I am a remnant from a bleaker past, and would be tortured during the time you would be trying to fix me, and all that time you would be missing out on everyone else. This world still contains corruption, and there are still many more trapped by it; my eventual release is not worth all of their lives.”

My vision blurred as I stared back at her, tears staining my horrified and disbelieving face. “B-but, please, Luna...” I pleaded, my voice starting to choke. She seemed to smile back at me, though soon let out a low groan and put a hand to her head in pain. “L-Luna?! What’s happening to you?!” I shouted, pulling my arms further around her.

“It’s the corruption...” She replied with slight exhaustion, though her voice lacked the horror I felt she should have. “Please,” She begun, grabbing onto my shoulders and looking me in my eyes, “Do not waste any more time on me, and do not get dragged down in the past. You have the chance to save those trapped by the corruption and remake the world into something better.”

“L-Luna...” I said, sobbing as I hugged her closer, not willing to let go of the closest friend I’ve made in my entire life. She groaned louder and pressed her head further into my mane to help curb the pain, but it was no use.

“Please...” She started, panting, “I-I can’t fend it off much longer. This monstrosity will torture me far further if you don’t end me now.” She pulled back slightly to let us look each other in the face, and a hand made its way to my eyes to wipe some of the tears away, letting me see her own azure eyes dripping with pain-inflicted tears. “Please, spare my pain and save my soul...” She pleaded, her voice becoming tear-ridden as well. “Helping each other is what friends do, is it not?”

I stared back into her eyes with heavily blurry vision and a tight throat as copious tears flowed down my face, what I now knew horrifying and terrifying me with the worst of it lying in what I was now being asked. My words kept sputtering as I kept trying to deny it, but it proved no use when Luna let out a sharp yell from the corruption writhing again in her mind, forcing her to pull her arms tightly around me, just trying to slow the pain.

“P-please...” She sobbed in my ears, and I knew what she was saying had to be the truth; there was no saving her. I clutched onto her tightly as well, grasping the last vestiges of my past happiness and friendship with the desperation and love instilled in me from knowing that I had to end her.

“I’m s-so sorry...” I muttered, power welling in my body in preparation for what had to be the most agonizing thing I could ever imagine. My mind was already so overcome with dread and anguish that I could barely feel the magic building in me until...

“GHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH-H-H-H!!!”

The thunder blasted out of my body and into Luna’s, making her let out a gurgling shriek as the pain rocked through her body with the same intensity as the agony I felt from having to deal it out. Her voice quickly devolved into choking sputters, saliva and blood being caught in her mouth and boiled like the blood in her veins, but I kept going as I would not let my only friend suffer any more.

It felt like hours as I endured her tortured screams, this final act shattering the belief that I had actually won, because this- having to kill the closest friend I had made across months of sympathy, and hardships- was far worse than anything the corrupt would have ever done on their own, and made me realize that my reckless tearing to the top inflicted far more pain than the princesses ever could have.

The screams did eventually end, though the pain I felt only grew worse as I cradled the corpse of my friend and pulled back slightly to look into her eyes, seeing the humorous and loving light behind them having gone completely out.

I couldn’t believe it; I had just killed the only friend I had left. I soon felt a mix of emotions building within me as I stared into the voids in those eyes, hopelessness, sadness, horror, and rage all filling me to the point of bursting.

“WHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!” I shouted to the sky, my emotions boiling over as I clutched her body tightly and pressed my face into her neck, my scream turning into wretched sobs. “Why... w-why...” I repeated, the pain dulling my senses and pulling me into the suffocating land of unconsciousness.

End of Act 2

Author's Note

Natural magic is the magic in and of nature, whereas ponies and other creatures have become so corrupt that the magic they used has been transformed in and of itself, becoming a corrupt form of magic. Natural magic can still be access by ponies, and can be used for ascension, though it requires the user to be pure in order to do much.
Trixie’s magic isn’t natural by itself, but it is infused with natural magic, specifically lightning. This allows her to move and think faster as well as summon lightning in the variety of ways that she does. When she ascends, though, her magic fused even more with natural magic, purifying her even more and not making her body any bigger.

Coverts: The top layer of feathers on a wing, and wraps around the bones.