The stars whisper secrets to me.

Sometimes, so does the darkness.

In the darkness, Canterlot was a shining beacon of light. The cold glow of magelight that illuminated the street, or the soft flicker of firelight and gas-lanterns that were widespread within the city. Yet tonight, it was cast in a titian shade - illuminated by the fires that had spread through most of the city, the lava that trickled down the side of the mountain that had once been a castle, the eclipse that burned within the sky…

Across the world, millions gestured. They pointed towards the sky with their hooves, paws, claws, hands, tails, minds and a thousand other appendages - and as they looked at the sky-

The stars blinked back at them.

Canterlot was ablaze.

Colored magefire as well as natural fire intermixed together as smoke rose up into the air. Violet flame was the most prevalent throughout the battlefield - for even as it consumed its fuel, it continued to spread along the battlefield. It was a ruinous, burning hellscape where the two sides continued their futile clash - the corpses of thousands littered throughout the streets of Canterlot.

After the dragon - the fighting had diminished mostly. There were those who were beginning to flee, making a mad sprint towards the edge of the city - only to find themselves impacting a shimmering violet barrier. Only to hear a soft growl behind their ears.

And then - there was the center of the city. Utter chaos as the most devoted of the two sides stood in an endless faceoff as the nondescript masses attacked like a hydra - three replacing every two that fell.

And then arrived the Lady in Lavender.

The amorphous mass of shadows that had latched onto the side of the mountain shifted, and its throat began to glow - the mountain was bathed in a lavender light as flames tickled the lips of the colossal shadow-dragon for a second time - and then there was a loud crack as a pacifier formed within its mouth, the flames spiralling out in sheets and blankets that splashed over the dragon.

“I think we have some catching up to do, hmm?”

Discord’s face was cast in shadow and flame. The right side of his face was illuminated solely by the flaming wine below them - and yet droplets of it seemed to gravitate towards him, rising up from the air and collecting in a wine glass that he held between two of his claws. The left side of his face was a shadowy, coiled mass that stretched out over the side of the room - giving him a monstrous visage.

He oozed power. He drank the wine glass even as he shifted it into a molotov cocktail, slurping the cloth wick up like a strand of spaghetti. He tossed it over into the corner of the room - not looking back as it exploded with violent force that caused both alicorn’s teeth to chatter.

He coiled and swirled through the air until he came to a perfectly still stop. “Love what you’ve done with the place,” he remarked dryly.

The Nightmare’s horn bubbled with sickly black energy faster than Celestia had ever seen. The tip of her horn chipped slightly as she threw caution to the wind in an attempt to gather more magic more quickly - immediately preparing to throw a fatal ray of energy through Discord’s skull. The power was intense, world-shaking -

Discord blew it out like a candle with a puff of air and flicked Luna’s horn. “Oh, please. We don’t have to do this tired old charade. There are much bigger things at stake rather than your - fragile egos.” He leaned in very, very close to Luna. “And you’ve been a naughty girl, Lulu. You almost broke the camel’s back.” He reached out and brushed a claw over a small spot on Celestia’s chest where the glass shard had initially dug in.

“Ruinous serpent.” Luna whispered. “You’ll ruin everything. You have to-” There was a snap, and Luna’s mouth was glued shut.

Discord coiled around Celestia. Celestia’s muscles tensed and her eyes shut as his warm breath tickled the back of her ear with a growling whisper. “Are you proud of me, Celestia?”

Celestia didn’t respond, save for a slight shudder going down her neck.

Discord smiled and craned his head so that he could look Celestia eye-to-eye. “I saved your ponies. From your monster.”

“What’s your game, Discord?” Celestia summoned up every ounce of confidence she could - but found that she had next to none.

Neither Luna or Celestia were in good condition. Luna had burned through most of her unicorn magic, defending against Celestia’s heavier attacks - while Celestia’s use of the Sunspear had drained her entire unicorn reserves. While she could draw on more power - doing so would be destructive, and not something she would want to risk doing while both Discord and the Nightmare were still a threat.

And then there was Discord. They had seen Discord move mountains and continents around simply because he felt like it - but even he was still bound to the laws of magic. The aura that radiated off of him was - lesser, somehow. Celestia surmised that it was likely due to his binding - most of the power that he would be able to gather from latent chaos would’ve been blocked off due tohis petrification.

But nonetheless - there was still an order of magnitude between them.

“My game, Celestia?” Discord threw himself backwards into the air - his arms spreading out wide. “My game is my job! Uh, hello - Shepherd of Magic, ring-a-ding-ding?” He turned and shot a glance towards the shadow dragon - snarling as it smashed its head into the side of the mountain in an attempt to remove the pacifier...and the lavender void moving towards Canterlot.

“That is an affront to everything I stand for. No chaos - utter order. Stagnation. Desolation. I won’t stand for it. Or hover for it, either. So allow me to illuminate exactly what’s going to happen.” Discord leaned in close.

“So let’s get this over with, hm? We all know where this is going to go. I’ll prattle on, you’ll prattle on - we’ll all go through our rhetoric...and then we’ll fight.”

Discord shifted into Celestia. “Mortals are in need of guidance and protection from divine threats!”
Discord shifted into Luna. “The only viable means of surviving the Lords is the destruction of Aezilan!”

And as Discord turned back into himself - he whispered,
“Divinities are an affront to the natural order of magic, and the ultimate form of stagnation.” Energy crackled around his claws as reality began to twist and warp.

“So go on, then. Hit me with your best shot. Team up against a mutual enemy - before I get bored of you two and...hm. Maybe I’ll throw you in the ocean. We’ll see.” Discord shrugged as he leaned back - a target forming on his chest.

Luna planted her hooves down. Her horn began to glow with that same level of energy before - only for Celestia to spin around and buck the Nightmare’s horn, shattering it with an echoing crack. Luna stumbled down to the ground as she let out a strangled gasp of pain and shock - and even Discord looked somewhat surprised.

Luna slammed her hoof down into the ground and pushed herself up as she snarled. Discord promptly dispelled the effect keeping her mouth shut as Luna hissed - “Celestia - what are you doing!?”

Celestia shook her head. “One of you seeks to end the world - the other seeks to end my world. There are no mutual enemies here - just enemies.” Celestia’s wings flared. Strands of her mane began to lift up as they turned into ether - swirling around as the temperature began to rise as she pushed herself up where she stood.

“Know this. I am Celestia Astrella Indomita, the Sol Invictus. I will tear my sister from your clutches, Nightmare. Then me - and Luna - will throw your body to the Worlds, Discord - and then we will talk..”

Discord grinned widely and raised his eagle talon.

“Then let’s begin.”

Snap.

A pink shield surrounded the courtyard of Canterlot as Cadence devoted the entirety of her effort towards maintaining it. The only things allowed through the shield were bodies that were being dragged in - pulled towards both their encampments.

She could hear the screams and smell the bodies burning. It was an awful sight - one that she tried to push out of her mind. But with every burn victim that was pulled in - she couldn’t. It was a matter of life and death now - and all hooves were on deck to tend to as many wounded as possible.

Less than six minutes ago, Cadence had flown into the courtyard like a bat out of hell, clutching three bodies within her gasp - one burnt beyond recognition, one more blood and bruise than stallion - and the last was Applejack, covered in scratches and bruises.

The courtyard had been divided into two sections. The medics for the soldiers of Canterlot, to the west - while the medics for the soldiers of the Nightmare in the east. In the middle, there was a neutral zone - one for ponies who’s bodies weren’t recognized by either side. By choice - Fluttershy was working there, suppressing whimpering and crying as she forced herself to stay strong as she did all that she could. Cleaning, bandaging wounds - preparing fresh gauze for burn victims so that they might stay clean - using what little of her pegasus magic she could to keep everyone cool despite the sweltering heat that was washing over them even through the shield.

There was a tremble as a great flash of something came within the ruins past the courtyard. The Sunspear hadn’t affected the courtyard too much - angled at a degree so it mostly melted the castle and sheared off a section of mountain rather than hurt any innocents. Yet, the burning caldera where there had once been a castle was still an echoing beacon of magical activity - surges and flashes, the ground shaking occasionally…

It felt like the end of the world. And all Fluttershy had to deal with it was gauze strips and alcohol as she moved from one body to the next.

One of the most wounded patients - who just Fluttershy was tending to - a mixture of all species - was a mare who had arrived on the brink of death. Some of her limbs were more metal than flesh - and it looked as if the limbs had been attached at an angle made to make the most visual conflict as well as inflict the most pain from simply breathing. There was heavy internal bleeding, most of her bones broken, scarring on the inside of her eyes - a constant trickle of blood from her ears and mouth…and a wing missing.

Yet with only some cleaning of her wounds and bandages, she looked like she was going to make a full recovery, save the wing. It was almost like what she had seen with Twilight - if Fluttershy really squinted, she could see bits of flesh knit themselves back together in a grotesque manner.

She dabbed some small flecks of blood off of her face with a swab of cotton - only to let out a strained scream as the mare’s hoof shot up and grabbed onto her throat. The mare’s eyes were wide and bloodshot - her pupils trembling with rage as she squeezed, and squeezed.

“Where?”

Fluttershy squeezed at the hoof and whimpered - opening her mouth to say something - but finding the words dead within her throat. Rainbow stared at her for a few more moments before letting her body drop to the ground and immediately began walking towards the barrier. Immediately, ponies began flooding into the scene - helping Fluttershy up and throwing strange looks towards her assaulter.

Fluttershy gasped for air, only to push herself up. “W-wait! You’re - hurt.”

Rainbow Dash slowly turned to look at her. She flashed her a glare over her shoulder - and found Fluttershy looking back at her with equal intensity even as she rubbed the bruise on her throat. The mare began rapidly approaching Fluttershy - only for two more fillies to come stumbling into the scene.

“Applejack, I insist-”

Applejack powered past Rarity’s attention to her relatively minor scrapes and bruises before standing between Fluttershy and Rainbow. Applejack was tall - standing to the barrel of the full grown mare despite just entering the equivalent of her teens.

“Y’dont want to do this.” Applejack spoke more honestly then she knew. “T’aint a violent place. You’re safe here. Safer then out there,” she gestured towards the smoking caldera, “or out there.” She gestured out past towards the thing laying siege to Canterlot - as well as the flashes of blue and green light of unknown origin from the edge of the courtyard.

Rainbow Dash leaned in closer. Applejack stood her ground, shifting her prosthetic leg slightly as the faintest bit of gold light seemed to leak from the joints. The two stood like that for a long moment - before Rainbow Dash turned towards the shield...and leapt through it.

Fluttershy let out a cry. “W-wait!” Before immediately throwing herself after her. Applejack didn’t wait for a moment as she barrelled after Fluttershy.

“Applejack! You - oh, screw it.” And Rarity promptly chased her through the barrier.

“Why her?”

A brilliant spout of magefire tore from Ceresze’s mouth. Frost stomped his foot as a curved ramp of permafrost formed from the moisture in the air almost instantaneously - sprinting up it and bringing his blade down towards the base of her skull. Ceresze teleported to the side - and Frost was already on her, his blade slashing towards her face. She leaned backwards as it slashed above her forehead ever so slightly. Frost lunged forward and grabbed towards her throat - only for her to teleport onto a ledge behind him, her eyes glowing brightly.

“So silent!” Ceresze grinned. “Did I strike a nerve or something? You’re usually a lot more rabid than this. A lot more effective. I haven’t seen you dodge in - how long?”

Frost blurred as he suddenly appeared by Ceresze. He grabbed onto her hair and tore backwards, throwing her off the tower and throwing his blade down into her stomach. The blade pierced through her stomach - and she shattered into glass as dozens of her illusions circled him.

“You know - Isaliena misses you.”

Frost threw his blade down into the ground and let out a rabid howl as he tore across the battlefield instantaneously - grabbing onto the true Ceresze’s throat and slamming her into the wall. He didn’t wait for a second as he began tearing into her - squeezing her throat tighter and tighter as his free paw was dedicated to carving up her face, slashing out at her face and reducing one of her eyes into a bloody mass of scar tissue. He grabbed onto her mouth and began pulling, in an attempt to crack her jaw open.

Ceresze teleported out of his grasp as her form shifted - becoming a great brown doe with gigantic horns, her eyes a brilliant gold as she cracked her neck. She looked over her shoulder and smiled before leaves began tearing out of the trees, aimed towards Frost’s heart. Cryogenesis flew up into Frost’s hand as he whirled around - hacking and slashing the sharpened leaves apart into their component pieces as he moved closer towards her.

Ceresze’s eyes turned green as a vine tore out of the ground, slashing deeply from Frost’s groin towards his chest - before it slashed up and found itself stuck within the center of his chest. The blow would’ve killed anyone but Frost - who just tore himself free with a spray of gore, viscera and fluids splashing out onto the ground like a popped water balloon.

Frost threw his blade towards Ceresze’s chest - who simply shrugged as the blade tore through her shoulder and took one of her limbs off. She remained standing, her balance not even affected. A disc of blue energy spread out around her feet - gravity being amplified on her and bringing her down towards the ground just as icy shackles tore their way out of nothingness and curled around her wrists.

Ceresze’s eyes flashed - and two sticks on the ground suddenly shifted. Two gantic creatures took form in the courtyard - one of them with a skull much like a crocodile, the other with one much like a dragon as their long serpentine bodies dragged behind them - equipped with a set of chitinous, spider-like legs. One tore into his left leg, the other biting into his chest and cracking his shoulder blades with sheer bite force.

Frost fell down to the ground as he started flailing towards them. Ceresze grunted as she snapped her dislocated jaw into place, shaking her head side to side. She waved her hoof to the side and his wrists were enveloped with vines pulled taut - stretching him out wide as the monstrous animals began to devour him.

“Why the FUCK ARE YOU HERE!?” Frost hissed.

“Because I wanted to see you. Because I wanted to mock you, and hurt you, because you hurt me. And because I wanted to see my sister.” Ceresze’s head slowly shifted to the side - watching in awe as a swarm of violet tendrils and tentacles tore its way out of the ground. Rabid, consuming - conquering.

“You are not my daughter. You will never be my daughter.”

Ceresze looked over her shoulder. And then her form began to crack and shift - and then she stood as a female wolf the size of Celestia, her tail dragging behind her as she batted her eyelids.

“I could be.” She whispered.

Frost howled as with a sudden burst of energy he tore free from his bindings. He grabbed onto the animal to the right side of him and squeezed, claws digging in and splitting its belly as he supplexed it into the one to his left. He flailed along the floor as he smashed his fist down into their lined up heads, tearing through their brains as he lunged forward and grabbed onto Ceresze’s throat tightly.

“I die - she dies.”

Frost went still.

“Is that why it’s her? Does she remind you of Winter? How utterly pathetic. A sociopathic mass-murderer who thinks he deserves pity - deserves anything less than pain because he misses his daughter. You disgust me.”

“I am a monster. There is no redemption for me. I will kill my mother - then I will kill you, and your sister, and I will tear Grogar’s fucking heart out and throw it into the void.”

Ceresze leaned in. “And yet if you kill me - she dies. And you’re too pathetic to let that happen, aren’t you?”

Frost’s arm began to glow a soft blue. He tilted his head to the side.

“Try me.”

The two stared at each other for a long, long moment - before Ceresze tilted her head up and teleported behind Frost.

“We leave until a victor is decided.”

“We?”

“We. I don’t want you to influence the outcome.”

“Then what?” Frost hissed.

Ceresze shrugged. “You get what you want. Train the girl. Kill your mother - and then it’s my turn to get a go at her. Some - family bonding time, in a sense.”

Frost’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah. Good fucking luck.”

Ceresze flashed a smile over her shoulder - her eyes glowing a swirling green, gold and blue. “Thank you.”

There was a pop, then a shimmer, and the courtyard fell still.

The Lady in Lavender stood at the center of the courtyard. If you were to look at her from the corner of your eye - you'd see a strange looking alicorn. But any direct contact - and you'd see the monstrosity that she was.

When she had apparated to Borea - she looked like a heavily mutated pony. But now there was no mistake about what she was - a monster. Her form was a flickering mass of screaming shadows that curled around her fur, light tearing out from the shadows even as the edges of her form seemed to blur into the rest of reality - as if she was a different artstyle, messily stitched on to the canvas of reality - surrealism taped onto photorealism. There were eyes all around her body, constantly shifting and both disappearing and appearing as they blinked and opened their eyes.

Then - there were her non-pony parts. Her wings were gigantic lavender things that were tipped in black - violet flames dancing off the tips of her feathers and along her wings. Her legs and tail shifted into the appropriate draconic appendage - save the keratin of her claws was a pitch black, and her tail seemed to be made of fire. Her skull wasn’t a pony skull, and was instead the skull of a dragon with two gigantic antlers with a horn in the middle, piercing towards the sky. The antlers were slightly mismatched, and one was marred with a dark spot of pulsing shadow that was slowly spreading.

But most terrifying of all was not her appearance. Most terrifying of all was the thing that echoed over the courtyard - that caused brains to leak from the noses of those who heard, blood dripping from ears and ponies to whimper and cry out for a deity that would never come - her mind.

Hungry, she thought. Six of the eyes on her body opened as spears of shadowy blood tore out of them, striking through the nearest ponies. It pierced through into their hearts - and in a fraction of a section it began corrupting them. Their flesh began sloughing off even as their muscles darkened, blackened blood beginning to spray from them as they lunged towards the nearest pony and began to feast.

She walked forward slowly, dragging her hoof along the cobblestone even as those began to scream around her. Some fractured part of her mind continued its rabid feast. Her spells weren’t visibly offensive - She twisted and warped reality, breaking it into jagged fractures that turned ponies into paste. From the sky above - shards of darkness and light began to crash down towards the floor, shattering into homing shards of absence that sunk into flesh and ate away until there was nothing.

She looked at a minotaur, and saw the fundamental threads that made her. She reached out and pulled at one, and watched as it fell slack. And with another - it melted into an amorphous sludge of magic. She smiled and licked her lips as she inhaled deeply - feeling all the food that was left within the battlefield.

Her mouth opened wide. A thousand, thousand teeth were illuminated in a deathly white glow. White was often seen as a color of purity - but those who looked her in the mouth knew that it was anything but as she began to consume. Her head snapped down on the closest abyssinian as she tore the cat's head off, its spine trailing behind it as she snapped it up - her tongue lapping out and swallowing its soul. And the shadows grew darker, the light grew brighter.

More,the Lady in Lavender whispered.

More, the Lord in Violet agreed.

Fire. Look at how fragile they are.

We were meant for this.

We were meant for this, she agreed.

And so flame crackled within the back of his throat - but it was just as much hers as it was his. So the Lady opened her mouth, and from that mouth she breathed death.

The mare and the three fillies came to anarchy. The remnants of both sides - reduced to a fraction, maybe a tenth of what there was initially - were all focused on one creature. Bolts, ballistas, cannons tearing towards her - spears digging into her side as she stood stoic and unmoving while blades sunk harmlessly into her flesh.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took flight. Or - she tried to. She ended up sort of jumping off the ground and landing - before glancing back at her stump of a wing and letting out a soft noise. And it was only then that Fluttershy was able to race by her side, grabbing onto her side.

“Y-you - you have to-” She was silent for a second. She slowly turned and glanced towards the abominable thing within the center of the battlefield - and recognized it.

Applejack grabbed onto Fluttershy’s tail and didn’t wait for a second before she began sprinting backwards, Rarity following closely behind.. “What were you think-”

“Twilight?” Fluttershy whispered. Applejack turned - only to follow Fluttershy’s eye level and stumble backwards as she saw - her.

A voice rang out in her head - one that had rung out many times throughout the course of the battle.

Courage, Applejack. And gold light began to shine from her prosthetic.

Rarity let out a soft gasp as her hooves moved to her mouth - her eyes straining as she tried not to stare at the carnage.

Rainbow Dash let out a gurgling cry before she sprinted towards the city-center. Fluttershy jerked to move, but Applejack moved backwards and shook her head. “N-no.”

“B-but - it’s Twilight! We have to-”

Applejack grabbed onto Fluttershy’s head and craned it awkwardly to look towards the carnage. “Look at that! T’aint a game, Flutters - this is life, or death - and that’s death!”

Fluttershy looked Applejack in the eye. “Then let us be life. We can calm her down, talk her down - I know we can.”

“...but - what if we can’t?”

“But what if we could - but we didn’t?” Rarity suggested. The two slowly turned to look at her.

There was a loud crack as a body flung over their heads. Rainbow was sent smashing into a wall - her spine audibly shattering, her ribs breaking...and she slowly pushed herself up, even as they broke through the thin layer of flesh. She shook her head side to side as she began sprinting back towards the charge.

The Lady in Lavender tilted her head to the side. Her mouth opened - and her tongue shot out like a spear, aimed straight towards Rainbow’s skull. Rainbow began moving out of the way - but she was frankly too slow.

“TWILIGHT!” Fluttershy yelled - and as she whipped her head to the side, the tongue simply lashed across Rainbow’s forehead, throwing her form down to the ground.

The Lady in Lavender slowly began approaching her. Her mouth fell open, her teeth beginning to rotate as more shards of darkness and light began to rain from the sky. And some part of Fluttershy knew she should be terrified - but it was the gold glow of energy that washed over her from Applejack’s limb that filled her with the courage to stand more resolute than she had in years.

“T-Twilight? Are - are you...okay?”

The Lady in Lavender tilted her head to the side. Her many, many eyes shifted onto Fluttershy - and blinked all at varying rates. Behind her, those who were still alive - hiding under bodies - began to make a mad dash towards the city gates. The Lady’s ear flicked - and the dragon in the skies shifted as the two quickly exchanged some words.

Escaping.
Hunting.
Curiosity.

“...do - do you remember - um...when - when we met?” Fluttershy whispered.

The Lady was silent.

“There…uhm. W-we were in the gardens. And I was talking to you about...um...animal facts. And then - you got really upset at something...and Celestia came-” the Lady blinked - “and she curled her wings around you...and you fell asleep - and then you woke up a few days later and it wasn’t because of my animal facts…”

The Lady leaned in. Her mouth fell open. The light shined out.

“...B-but that’s - that’s not - the point. T-the point is…” She was silent for a second. “You’re...really nice, Twilight. You’re - weird. But you’re nice. And you - you talk to me about animals - well, you listen to me talk to animals...and you sit with me...and I know that if I ask for anything, you won’t just help me - you’ll help me.”

The Lady turned her head to the side.

“...I think there couldn’t have been a worse first meeting for us, darling.” Rarity stepped forward. “You dropped out of the sky - then you were split in half and we had to pull a half of your body out of a maze. It was certainly - something, one that I...still have nightmares about,” Rarity hoofed at the ground - before she fell silent. “...but I don’t have much more to say on that.”

There was an awkward beat of silence. Applejack shot a glance towards her.

Rarity shook her head. “Not because there’s not much to say about you. There is. You’re the smartest filly I’ve ever met - but there’s nothing more I could say, or that Applejack could say that Fluttershy hasn’t. You’re our friend, Twilight Sparkle. Brilliant, wonderful, and kind.”

The Lady in Lavender slowly walked towards them. She tilted her head to the side - before Applejack piped up.

“...y-you...uh. Smell like...dead.” Applejack scratched at the back of her neck.

The Lady tilted her head to the side. Her mouth fell open, her tongue lolling out - until Applejack spoke up again.

“T-twilight.” She whispered. “I think - I think we really need you. Things are - they’re bad, Twi. And - yer’ making them worse. I don’t know if - if you’re in there, or if that’s you - but...the Princess-”

She tilted her head to the side.

“She’s hurt. She’s hurt bad - no way she couldn’t be, after something like that. Those flashes - t’aint right. T’aint natural. So - p-please, Twi. Help us out. Help - the princess out. Please?”

There was a long beat of silence.

The Lady’s antlers began to glow, her horn quickly following suite. She cast out her mind - stretching it over the veil, wrapping it around the sun and the moon - and then there was a tug,

And then, there was darkness.

The thing that was at the center of the city screamed. It’s pulsing flesh wriggled and writhed, its eyes blinking before they split open and gnashed their snapping teeth. Tongues and tendrils tore out of the thing and began reaching towards the sky - while the thing began snapping its mouth to one side even as it seemed to try to pull away from itself. Its claws began digging into its chest, tearing out large chunks of flesh and shadow that sprayed down to the ground with a sound akin to a blood-splatter.

In the skies above, there was a horrible beast. It struck and lacerated flesh with tail and claw - only bit down and drew blood, only to cringe as the blood it drew was its own. It screamed and lashed out, for it bubbled with rage and hatred but had no target of which to Conquer -

And in one unified voice, both the Thing and the Beast cried -

HUNGER

Around the Thing writhing down below - five fillies watched in horror - before there was a twist of something within their hearts, and they knew what to do.

There was a filly with the heart of the Merciful- and she murmured a word, and it was Generous.
There was a filly with the heart of the Warrior- and she spoke a word, and it was Kindness.
There was a filly with the heart of the Conqueror- and she dreamt a word, and it was Loyalty.
There was a filly with the heart of the Just- and she spoke a word, and it was Honesty.
There was a filly with the heart of the Oracle- and she saw the words, and it was Desolation.

And so, she cried with a tongue that wasn't her own -

Born from hate!

Watched by eight - a weapon of destruction's end,

Of dark and light a blend.

Little girl, thrust into power -

Made mortal by a fragile flower.

The Void Touched God,

The Beast Clawed,

Journeys to the In-Between,

and stands against the Demon Queen.

Tainted by the Eternal Red,

Tested by the Endless Dead,

Defied the Immortal Lord,

Denied the Winged Horde.

And when the stars bleed, and break -

And the ancients stir, and wake -

Fear the Lady in Lavender! Lo, her terrible might -

Cloaked in endless dark - and eternal light.

And so, she spoke in ninety words what others spoke in one - one single word. A word that was funny, and stoic. Kind and cruel, loyal and treacherous, honest and deceptive, generous and greedy - a thousand contradictions, a thousand things - a single word!

Twilight.

Her eyes opened.

Discord’s laugh was maddening. It cast itself through the Caldera as he weaved fluidly between spells - distorting his body as he formed holes in it, shrinking and shapeshifting - only to be struck!

And shatter into glass, as three more Discords cackled while circling the two sisters. As it stood - the dynamic of the battle was an ebb and flow between Celestia and Luna, an undulating serpent - for as one gained some advantage, they lost some other.

But it was only with her current skill and age that she was able to realize just how Discord was so mobile. His reaction time was absurd - but he always teleported to a location out of danger. And as Celestia cast her enhanced senses out...she could feel Discord’s attention, divided between a few dozen spots. It clicked in Celestia’s head as she realized he had an escape plan prepared preemptively, rather than reacting to it on the fly.

Celestia threw herself to the side out of a simple bolt of energy before she pushed her Will into the ground. Pillars of stone began rising up, which Celestia promptly shattered into over a hundred shards with a heavy beat of her wings. The shards of stone began to glow as they were made sharpened and unified into equal-sized points - each one about two inches wide and six long.

The slivers were then enchanted. Celestia didn’t have the magical reserves to enchant each one individually, less so the time. Instead - she wove zones and focuses. She arbitrarily divided the spikes into six uneven groups, choosing one shard as a primary that all the others were spatially linked to - essentially following it wherever it would go. From the focuses, large “zones” of heat resistant magic were applied to prevent the rocks from burning into slag - and then let them loose.

One set shot towards the Nightmare, each one erupting from its fixated point as it shattered the sound barrier. The other five seemed to move at random - but instead were moving towards places where Celestia could sense a slight concentration in chaos magic. She shot a bolt of energy towards Discord - and much to the confirmation of her suspicions, there was a loud boom as dust filled the caldera.

Luna beat her wings once, twice to clear the dust.

The eclipse had broken - the world bathed in the soft glow of Twilight. Discord was missing - but Luna…

Her form was ruined - half of her face hanging limply off her face, large sections of her fur and skin missing as the muscle was peeled back and still-burning. Her wings looked almost rotten - a host of feathers having fallen down to the ground below, sections of the limbs missing.

The two stood there, panting, heaving for a few moments before they pulled their will into themselves. Luna’s mane began to ripple with moonlight. “You’ve gotten stronger, Celestia. It’s almost admirable.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “I - am just getting started.” She whispered.

Celestia broke the sound barrier three times over as she tore from the ground with such force that her hind legs shattered. Her wings beat as she carried herself further - tackling the Nightmare off of the mountain...before adjusting course and beginning to plummet down towards the ground.

The Nightmare slammed her forehooves into her chest, breaking away from her in the air - her wings snapping open...but Celestia spun around and headbutt her, blood spraying from both of them as their muzzles shattered.

“I want my sister back,” Celestia whispered more intensely than any war cry she could give - and with a mixture of her pegasus magic, her earth pony magic, her unicorn magic - pushing past into her wellspring of divinity…

Her ethereal mane - soft shades of green and blue shifted as it became a swirling mass of coronal flame. Her eyes darkened, the pupils becoming slitted as her form was enveloped in fire - and the Sol Invictus promptly punched the Nightmare up the side of the mountain, hurtling up into the sky -

The rainbow struck.

A horrible cacophony of screams tore itself from the Nightmare’s lips. Her head tilted back as something forced its way into the world, screaming all the while -

Only to shatter.

And as Luna’s body fell down towards the caldera, hurtling through the air - as Celestia could feel the rainbow growing more intense as it poured down on them...in the moment before the consciousness faded from her -

Celestia wondered just where Discord had gone.

The Canterhorn was shattered in rainbow.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes - and did not scream.

There was no pain that tore her mind and body apart. There was no strangeness she felt bubbling up within her no longer unnatural, uneven limbs, no hatred that was so intense that she felt as if she might burst from simply containing it.

The warm light of the sky burned her eyes. There was no smell of blood or fluid - no looming weight on her shoulders.

And so, she rested her head and shut her eyes - and much like the red-eyed skeleton that stood by her bed, she wondered what tomorrow would hold.

-

Author's Note

Ultima.
Behold! A discord server!