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.