Roll for Friendship

My eyes open to a deafening silence and an expansive black sky littered with stars. Sitting up I realize I’m on the moon. Instantly I can feel a smile break out on my face as I stand up and start to run towards our normal meeting spot. “Nightmare! I’ve been tr-”

Cresting over the edge of a huge crater I look down and find an empty throne. “Luna? Nightmare?”

After walking around for several minutes just yelling both of their names I collapse onto my ass and just stare at the planet. “If neither of you are here, then why am I? I am dreaming right?”

Suddenly everything turns upside down and I’m falling through the sky towards the Everfree. Well at least that confirms its a dream, I would’ve taken way longer to go from the moon to here from just gravity. One second later and I’m falling through the treeline into an area of the forest far deeper than I’ve ever gone before. I’m surprised how big it actually is.

I land in a rather open clearing that’s completely empty. No grass or life of any kind, and the dirt is pitch black. Considering where I just was, I can only assume I’m here because something brought me here.

“Well? You’ve got my attention. What do you want?”

“Shhh. Just listen.”

An extremely raspy voice replies and I freeze on instinct. Something about that voice, no that’s wrong, it’s several voices, maybe more. I can tell it’s just 1 creature though, and that’s what has me terrified.

Over the silence I hear it, it sounds like blades bouncing off of each other. It’s faint, very faint, but despite that I can just feel that it’s happening right where I’m standing. It sounds like one of the most intense sword fights I’ve ever heard. It’s only two combatants but they’re clashing so quickly it sounds like it should be 30 people fighting. “What is that?”

“You should know.”

My eyes snap open to the sound of a quietly crackling campfire. A few of the girls were complaining about being exhausted so we ended up making a small camp. I underestimated how much slower this journey would be with 6 mares slowing me down. We still have another four or five hours of walking left, easy.

The system doesn’t say I’m long rested so I definitely woke up early, but with the sun being up in the middle of the night it’s a bit tough to force my body back to sleep. I’ll just meditate instead, what was that…thing in my dream?

Spell Slots Recovered!
Pending Level Up Rewards!

Guess it’s about that time. I still can’t quite figure out what the point of that dream was, or what that thing was. It doesn’t help that any time I think about it I remember the beginning of the dream. Being up there on that rock, all alone, was…hopeless. How did she do it for 1,000 years?

“Pardner, are ya ready?” A southern accent knocks me out of my thoughts.

“No, but it doesn’t really matter. We don’t have a choice.”

“Well shoot, I almost wish you had lied. Makin our situation sound a mite hopeless.”

I offer a small chuckle hoping to raise the mood a bit. “Sorry, there’s usually someone around that keeps me outta that headspace. I’m not ready, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do this. Let’s go.”

“Now that’s more like it!” Just like that we were back on the move.

When I saw a horde of rabbits running around on long stick legs I almost thought we had ended up going further into the Undiscovered West. But no, it’s just Discord's magic. Cresting over one last hill we can see the Ponyville train station with the rest of the town behind it. Or what used to be Ponyville anyways, half the buildings are completely distorted, some are even turned inside out. Strangely enough though we don’t see a single soul moving around.

“I thought the Night Guard didn’t bring everyone from Ponyville? Elytra said a decent few stayed back.” I ask to the group as they crest over the hill and also pause.

“She didn’t lie to you, we definitely left around 25% of the town here. Are you sure that’s Ponyville? It doesn’t even look like home.” Twilight answers me and looks a bit sad as she gazes upon the absolute mess Ponyville has been turned into.

The hyperactive cotton candy pony in our group bounces on her tail ahead of us and just points towards Ponyville.“That’s Ponyville alright! You can tell because of the way it is.” There’s no way that’s a reference here, right?

“You girls remember where you left the Elements?”

Twilight mentions that hers is upstairs in the library and the others mention that they think they remember, so we elect to split up. “Where do you think everyone went?” I’m currently approaching the library with Twilight. While we’re walking I go ahead and cast Mage Armor, just in case. It’s only a level one spell and it lasts for 8 hours so it’s probably worth it. Especially since I’m still shirtless.

“I’m not sure, but it’s rather strange. The ones that stayed behind did so to try and keep things as much in order as they could. That way it would hopefully be just a bit better once we came back…” She closes the doors after I walk through it and it feels so weird to see the inside of the library look the exact same as I remember it. With out fucked up all the other building are I’m surprised this interior looks normal.

“Doesn’t this almost feel too easy? I mean we didn’t run into anything on the way here, and town was so empty we just strolled right in.” I’m just rambling to try and fill the silence while Twilight rummages around.

“Ignis it’s not here! I can’t find the Element of Magic! I’m sure I left it in this trash can… Maybe Spike put it somewhere before we left.” She starts teleporting around the library looking all over while I just sigh. I knew things were going too well.

“I’ll go see if the other girls are having better luck, maybe they can come help you look once they get their trinkets.”

As soon as I step outside and close the door all of the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. On pure instinct I flex my legs and start to jump to the side.

Dexterity Saving Throw

13 + 5 = 18.

Right as my feet leave the ground I discover I’m a bit too late to react. A pillar of light knocks me onto my back and starts to burn my skin while forcing me further into the dirt.

-29 HIt Points: 53/82.

“I was wondering how long it’d take for me to catch you by yourself. How foolish are you to think you can just place my student and her friends under your mental magic, and then waltz in here like nothing is wrong. Did you think I wouldn’t step in and handle it myself?” I blink my eyes several times trying to regain vision but nothing happens, I think that was Sunbeam?

And that voice…it’s somewhat familiar, but who? Celestia, she kind of sounds like Celestia. My vision returns as I continue to lay on the ground, unmoving, hissing through gritted teeth at the searing pain. She kind of looks like Celestia too. More sinister, reminds me of Night-... Oh fuck. It’s Daybreaker. Luna told me about this.

I slowly stand up, ready to dodge at any given moment and talk to the demonic looking alicorn. “I don’t have Twilight, or anyone for that matter, under any kind of mental magic. I freed them from Discords mental magic! The same magic you saw him use on your sister! I’m starting to think he might’ve used it on you too.”

“Is that so? Then prostrate yourself before me and lay down your weapons.”

“Will that really help? If that’s what it takes…” I lay the Moonblade and the staff to my left and drop to my knees. Then I lean forward and place my palms and my forehead against the bare dirt. Enable Real-Time Combat.

If she drops another Sunbeam on me I’ll still take half damage even if I pass the save, so I’m better off just trusting myself to completely dodge it. That decision proves to be a wise one as half a second later I hear the air being charged with powerful mana, it’s another beam. I grab my shit and fling my entire body away from the library. Dodging the beam just in time.

“I knew you were a liar.” Daybreaker spits the words at me like venom.

“What?! So I either lay there and die, or I’m a liar? If I die then it doesn’t matter if I’m telling the truth! Whatever you’re clearly under false memories just like your sister. Unfortunately for you I don’t have any reservations about getting a bit violent with you.” I realized when I looked back on the encounter with Nightmare, I never raised even a finger towards her. At one point I had resolved myself to getting a bit rough so I could calm her down, but even after that I didn’t fire a spell or swing my blade at her.

Of course I don’t intend to get that violent with Daybreaker either, I just need to make her think I am so I can get in close and cast Remove Curse. “Cure Wounds.”

+15 Hit Points: 68/82.

Tapping the staff on the ground I use one of the spells imbued into the staff that costs me literally nothing. Enlarge. “So, are you just gunna hover up there all day like a coward or are you gunna come down here and fight me like a real mare?”

“As if I’d fall for your petty provocations. I know you’re significantly weaker from a distance, why would I give you any advantage?”

I’m about to keep yapping to try and stall until the girls get the elements but a certain unicorn grabs both of our attention.

“Princess Celestia?! What’s going on? Why are you attacking Ignis?” Twilight calls out to her mentor from the doorway of the library.

Mizzium, Fly.

Aracana (Mizzium Check DC 16)

10 + 13 = 23.

I’m so used to the Moonblade letting me circumvent concentration that I completely forgot most magic items don’t work that way, including the Staff of the Magi. Enlargement ends as I cast Fly on myself.

“Just stay back, Twilight. I know this is going to sound hard to believe but he has you and your friends under a Geas. Just go back inside until I retrieve you.”

“But Prince-” Twilight starts to speak until a deep red aura gently pushes her a few inches back inside the tree, and after that a quick flash of golden light appears and all the entrances and exits of the library are completely sealed by a barrier.

“Now, where were we? Oh right I was about to turn you into glass.” That’s all the warning I get before her horn shines bright and multiple Sunbeams come down from the heavens. All from different angles.

Tucking my arms and legs in to make myself as small as possible I jump towards a spot in the air that I think none of the beams will touch. Based on their trajectory anyways. Luckily my prediction is right and I jump through the small gap unharmed. As soon as I’m in open air I angle up and fly straight at Daybreaker.

She seems a bit surprised which is what I was hoping for. She probably only thinks I can fly when I’m using the new Bladesong. Time to go all in! “Misty Step.”

I teleport just a few inches above and start to swing my hand down towards literally any part of her body. I just need to touch her and I win. Unfortunately as soon as I appear an orange bubble expands outwards and pushes me away from the alicorn. It’s almost hot enough to burn me as well. This might be harder than I thought.

I was hoping to avoid using the bladesong since it seems like it still leaves my body pretty tapped out, but that move just now was my best shot. I won’t be able to catch her by surprise like that again.

“As if something that simple would work. I know you require physical contact to use your mental magic. The only way you’re laying a hand on me is if I’m dead.” Well. That fucking sucks. Even Greater Restoration is touch.

I could try sending Callisid in, I can channel spells with a range of touch through him. He’d just have to get in close, but that fire shield is probably enough to take him out before he can even get close enough. She has true sight so Invisibility is off the table, same with any type of illusion. All of my heavy hitting spells are fire and radiant so I doubt I can even do much to her if I decide to go all out.

Well I do have that one spell…

This time Daybreaker just fills the air with small orange balls and I get the feeling if I touch one it’s a bad time. Just to test my theory I reach out and boop one.

-12 Hit Points: 56/82.

Holy shit I didn’t think it’d hurt that bad since she just launched like 100 of them! They’re so small as well! The good news is that they’re Radiant damage and not Fire damage. Time to see if this object will meet the Material component for the spell I’m thinking of. It’s my Lunar Knight badge. It’s apparently worth over 500 bits so I spent an hour or so and carved a symbol into it.

Alright Mizzium time to try a 6th Level spell! Don’t let me down!

Arcana (Mizzium Check DC 22)

20 + 13 = 33.

Fuck yes! Oh I wish I could meet Natasha one more time just so I can call her a hypocrite for making this spell. Denied me from her school because she doesn’t believe in wizards that can fight in melee. Why did you make this spell then, huh?

“Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise.”

I feel the Fly spell slip away from the loss in concentration, but it's okay because a pair of angelic spectral wings sprout from my back.

Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise (Upper Planes)

• You are immune to Radiant and Necrotic damage.
• You are immune to the Charmed condition.
• Angelic Spectral wings give you a flying speed of 40ft.
• +2 AC, and you can use your Intelligence modifier when attacking with a weapon instead of Strength or Dexterity.

The spell kicks in and I can feel a golden aura enveloping me, it’s warm. At the same time I activate the Moonblade and use the Haste spell stored inside. Now my AC is 22, and my flying speed is 80ft. Now we finish it off with the Bladesong. “Once you’re back to normal don’t hold it against me if I end up getting a bit rough, kay Celly?”

Unsheathe the Moonblade. This is another opportunity for me to get the jump on her, she won’t expect me to just plow through these explosive balls. Wow you know what? Twilight was right, I really gotta work on my phrasing.

“Symphony of-”

I’m surrounded by complete darkness. Why is this happening now? What even is this?

“It’s too early. Chaos is very close but you would waste your strength and go all out now?” It’s that same haunting set of voices from my dream. What is this?

“What do you mean it’s too early? Daybreaker could literally kill me with one misstep, I can’t afford to hold back. Also I have a method to recover all of my strength in an instant. That is what I’m trying to save for later. Why do you even care? What are you?”

“We are but an echo, an echo with a common enemy.”

I’m back in the clearing deep in the everfree. Why should I know what this is? Why do I hear the clashing of steel with nothing nearby for miles? Wait, an echo?

“Yes. You’re right there…just a little closer.”

The only way this could be an echo is if the sound is coming from the mana. Mana is the only thing present here. The mana is replaying the last sounds it captured from this spot, but that would’ve only happened…if they were using the evolved Bladesong.

“Are all of you…Bladesingers?” I ask, barely above a whisper.

“Yes. Your predecessors. We’ve been trapped here in this clearing, all of us who performed in this final symphony were able to imprint our spirit and vengeance into this harmonized mana.”

“Wait if you’re trapped here then how are you reaching out to me?”

“Any of us can leave whenever we wish, but once we fall out of sync with the echoes of the harmonized mana we lose our rationality. That’s what we are. We are the remnants of the ones that grew impatient and left that accursed clearing. Then we became something much worse. Heed this warning, if you do not do everything in your power to take down Chaos we will seize your body like a pupp-”

The layers of voices are drowned out by a loud rush of howling wind. “Sorry about them, they can be a bit, well, aggressive. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with them.”

I still can’t see the source of this voice, but it’s a woman for sure. “Why are you apologizing on their behalf? Who are you?”

“Well it’s kinda~ my fault they can even contact you. It’s great that you’re here though! I’ve been trying to figure out how to talk to you, but if I had known you spoke Celestial this would’ve been way easier. I didn’t really know how to talk for a while, but I found this one friend and she taught me this language.” She sounds so peppy, almost like Pinkie Pie but this voice is much more, hmm, silky. I think that’s the best word here. She sounds older, more mature, but that hint of playfulness is still there.

“That only answers half of my questions. Who are you?”

“I’m your friend! And you’re my friend! You should be honored, you’re my 2nd ever friend.” I take it back, she’s starting to err into the territory of annoying.

“Then why have you been trying to talk to me? Did you want to ask something?”

“Oh! Yes! I already assumed you’d say yes since we couldn’t communicate, but apparently this has to be done for formalities. I want to form a Pact with you.”

What? “How am I going to form a Pact with something when I don’t even know what it is? What do you look like? WHO. ARE. YOU?”

“You’re no fun. I thought you’d be more fun when I first saw you. Listen, I don’t get an opportunity to see most of the world, and you’re interesting enough that I thought I’d give you this offer. You let me see the world and I’ll lend you my power.”

Insight

9 + 10 = 19.

“Can you be more clear about how I show you the world? I don’t wanna do something like give up control of my body.”

“I’d merge with your mind, possess you, and become your eyes. You’d still be able to see, of course. Maybe even a little better than normal if I’m being honest. You can draw on my power from there, but unfortunately while you wield my power the more you draw out, the more your personality will mesh with mine. It’s only temporary though and I always try to give my partner as much control as possible while in that state. Freedom is something I truly value and understand. So, what do you say?”

“This sounds too good to be true. I get improved eyes, more power, and the only side effect is that our personalities temporarily mix together? Thanks but no thanks.”

“Why don’t you just sit on it, take some time and come up with an answer. If you change your mind at any point just say you accept the pact.”

I’m back in the sky, but everything is different. All of the floating mines are gone, and Daybreaker is nowhere to be seen. I still have 59 seconds on Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise though. Did I pause while everything out here continued to move?

“Ignis! IGNIS!” I glance down and see Twilight and her friends. They still lack the elements, that’s not good. As soon as Twilight sees that I’ve acknowledged her she points towards the Everfree.

As soon as I looked in that direction whatever she said next went completely unheard. The first thing I saw was a dark red beam pushing against a shield of stars. Nightmare. Before my mind had even processed exactly what I was watching I was blitzing towards the ongoing conflict.

Within a few seconds I’m close enough that Nightmare spots me. She gives me a pained look before I hear her voice in my mind.

I’m so sorry. Letting myself get manipulated so eas-

I continued to barrel straight at her, wrapping my arms around her as we collide in the air. My body thudding into hers causes the telepathic interruption. “You disappear, cut our connection, and don’t respond to my Sending spell?! I was so confused! That’s the only thing you should be sorry for. Idiot!”

I hear half of a chuckle that gets choked up into a sniffle. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Are you two finished yet? Since the two of you were kind enough to both show up and allow me to purge both of you at the same time I thought I’d let you have your moment. But, I’m bored now. First I’ll turn the bladesinger to glass then I’ll immobilize you until you tell me where my sister is.”

“That is your sister. We were trying to get them separate bodies but discord merged the two of them together again. You were even there for that!”

“More lies. It’s time to end this.” I don’t know why, maybe it’s just everything catching up to me like some sort of emotional whiplash. But, Daybreakers constant denial of the truth and all the different things I felt when I saw Nightmare start to bubble. This last statement from Daybreaker was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I feel my mana run wild and my hair flashes for a moment. It’s not on fire, but it has changed into its blonde color with red streaks. The only thing I can think is, “Fuck this, I’m done holding back. She’s a big girl, she can take it.”

Nightmare, I just need to touch her with my hand. If I can do that she’ll snap out of it. So focus on restraining or stunning.

Got it.

“Symphony of Steel.” 27 AC.

Till death do us part.~

Nightmare flies straight at Daybreaker and Ignis tucks in behind her, hiding his approach.

But we’re already past that phase.

Daybreaker unleashes a deep red beam from her horn and Nightmare angles her flight upwards while throwing up a shield to block the blast. Daybreaker instinctively looks up, so as to keep her horn trained on the other alicorn. This perfect coordination leads to Ignis going completely unseen once Nightmare pulled up.

The elf is mere centimeters from making contact when Daybreaker feels the shift in wind and a tingle up her spine. Alerting her that something is near. On instinct she launches a bright orange bubble around herself that looks like the sun. Since Ignis is still immune to Radiant damage it doesn’t injure him but it does launch him away from the alicorn.

This is a brand new start~, and I think I deserve some praise.

Nightmare and Ignis both stop themselves around the same time and start charging at Daybreaker from opposite angles.

For the way that I am~

In-between every word of the next lyric Nightmare rapid fires a series of teleportations*. Causing her and Ignis to swap places or shift them just a few inches to change the approach angle. All in an attempt to throw off Daybreaker.

Despite * having * bit * the * dust, * yeah * was * quite * unjust.

The solar alicorn is constantly firing blasts and flying in a zigzag pattern in a mad dash attempt to land an attack on one of them to end the teleportation chaos. She could just keep throwing the bubble up but then it blocks her from attacking.

I don’t give a damn! I’ve let my emotions go, fuck being a sober ho.

Daybreaker, in a fit of annoyance, teleports high into the air above the two. They both widen their eyes as they realize she’s gone and by the time they look up, it’s too late. Daybreaker launches a wide wave of magic, wide enough to hit both of them at once.

Ignis uses Misty Step to get in front of Nightmare, and takes the blast head on. Keeping the lunar alicorn completely untouched. She calls out his name in a panic, but he just calmly replies telepathically that he is immune. Nightmare shoots upward into the open sky, completely out of the attack and charges up a surprisingly powerful attack. Surprising given the target anyways.

This is the mantra, this is my life!

Ignis flies towards Daybreaker while still inside her magical attack, completely concealing his presence.

You’re playin with now ‘til the end of the night~

She unleashes her counterattack and as the beam of pure darkness flies towards Daybreaker, she stops channeling her attack on Ignis. Only to launch an even stronger beam that collides with Nightmares. The beam struggle only lasts for a fraction of a second though, because as soon as Daybreaker fires the beam at her sister she realizes the elf somehow took the brunt of her attack and traveled inside the solar magic.

Daybreaker stops channeling the beam she fired at Nightmare and attempts to teleport in a panic, but gasps when she feels his hand wrap around her throat. Time seems to slow as Ignis activates his magical item, but he fails the Arcana roll. He’s concentrating on Tasha’s so he couldn’t use Guidance. He rolled a two which landed him a total of 15, but he needed a 16.

So instead of Remove Curse the Mizzium misfires and unleashes a Fireball right on top of himself and Daybreaker. Hitting himself with a whopping 32 points of Fire damage. His HP now at 24/82.

The elf, still glowing with a gold light and angelic wings, gets launched backwards through the air covered in burns. Ignis reaches out to Nightmare via telepathy. “Moonie, I think we need to give up on this whole strategy. Let’s just hit her until she passes out and I can cure her. Afterwards I’ll heal her.”

“That was my plan before you arrived, so that works for me. How does that really change anything for you though? You still won’t be able to hit her with your sword.”

Surrounded by fire, the passion ignites!

Nightmare throws up a concussive field in front of her and flies straight at Daybreaker from below, while Ignis flies straight down at her. “Disable Real-Time Combat.”

A hit of that Heaven and Hell,

Daybreaker throws up her classic orange sun-like bubble shield, but when it expands into Nightmare's concussive field it triggers it. A thundering wave ripples the air and blows away the sun-shield. “Steel Wind Strike.”

A hell of a high!

The instant the shield drops Ignis casts his Level 5 spell. With a natural 20 he disappears from sight entirely, and Daybreaker quickly looks around to find him. She’s completely befuddled when something slams into her back with enough force to knock the wind out of her. “Staggering Smite!” He passes the Mizzium check to cast the Smite spell he normally would be unable to use.

The combined force of a critical hit PLUS 6d10 Force damage and 5d6 Psychic damage, sends her down through the air like a brick with 147 combined damage. “Enable Real-Time Combat.”

The corrupted alicorn stands up and glares upward as the dust from her crash clears. Ignis casts Cure Wounds on himself at 2nd level. HP: 50/82.

We’re forever gunna have a fuckin’ reason to sin.

Let me leave my soul to burn and I’ll be breathin’ it in

Daybreaker realizes that none of her attacks have had any effect on Ignis, but his own Fireball did. She comes to the realization that he might be immune to her Divine Fire, but not regular fire. The alicorn launches a spell that is very similar to Scorching Ray. Well over 10 rays of fire spout from her horn and they arc through the air in all sorts of different paths.

I’m addicted to this feelin’, gettin’ higher than the ceiling.

And we’re never gonna want this fuckin’ feeling to end…

Passing an Arcana check Ignis realizes this attack is Fire and not Radiant. He quickly throws up a Shield spell, AC: 32, while blitzing through the air down towards Daybreaker. Six beams of fire explode against his shield, doing nothing. Nightmare tucks her wings in and rolls through the air to dodge two while also flying down towards Daybreaker. Then she blasts three more of the beams with her own blasts, intercepting them. They’re both about halfway to her now.

Just concede and give in to your inner demons again.

Nightmare and Ignis both slam into the ground, missing their attacks on Daybreaker as she blinks a few feet away. Now that they’re back on foot Ignis becomes a lot faster. The lyrics cease as the beat drops, all three combatants disappear. To an average observer it just looks like no one is even around, but small craters and cracks start appearing all over the ground, feet apart from each other. Nightmare and Daybreaker have both summoned their spectral weapons, and the three are engaging in a melee.

All three are slowly accumulating cuts as their fight transcends mortal standards. This continues for a few more seconds until Daybreaker suddenly launches back up into the air at incredible speeds. The look of pure rage on her face signals to Ignis and Nightmare that this might be their chance. Both of them blast off with Nightmare pulling away from the elf.

Daybreaker glances back and takes note of how far behind Ignis is. She’s fine if Nightmare gets in close, but having him that close is uncomfortable for her. After judging that she still has a few seconds before he catches up she looks back up into the air and begins stealthily channeling mana for a big attack.

“Moonie, throw me!” As soon as Daybreaker looks away from the two Ignis issues his order and Nightmare follows without hesitation. Grabbing his entire body in her telekinesis she slings the elf upwards significantly faster than he could fly himself. So fast in fact that when Daybreaker glances backwards again she audibly gasps for the second time at how close both of them are now.

Any plans of attack she had go out the window and on pure instinct she just unleashes her charged mana. Both of them continue forward as Nightmare throws up the concussive barrier again to shatter the bright red bubble expanding towards them. Ignis is confused when the bubble doesn’t push him backwards instantly. It envelopes him and then slowly pushes him back.

It’s only when he hears a sudden scream in pain that he looks over and realizes this isn’t a shield, it’s an attack. Anyone inside the field gets constantly assaulted as if they were in the sun. Luckily for Ignis it’s pure Radiant damage. He slowly pushes his way through the attack to make it to Nightmare who has black smoke oozing off of her body.

Ignis is just a few feet away, ready to Thunder Step her out of the attack when he watches as a massive cloud of stars covers the alicorn. Suddenly Luna is launched out of the attack as she plummets toward the ground, seemingly unconscious. It’s only when he sees Luna that he realizes Nightmare just expelled herself from Luna’s body so she could save her.

The elf holds out his hand and screams at the cloud of stars to re-possess his body like before. Unfortunately he can only watch in shock as the starry mist goes from a night sky to deep gray cloud of smoke and the few stars that were present in the starry mist fall out of the smoke and slowly float around aimlessly in the wind. Another second later and the gray smoke emits a few drops of water before going up in flames.

The attack finally relents and Ignis just waves his hands where Nightmare had been a few seconds prior and tries to catch the now dull stars. All he can do is mutter incoherent sounds as he stares at the empty air wide eyed.

The golden glow and the wings leave his body as the transformation spell and the bladesong run out of time. He starts to plummet towards the ground without his flight, but he’s seemingly unaware as he just stares at the dull gray stars in his hands. Suddenly a Sunbeam slams into him in midair and sends him ragdolling through the air, landing in the dirt next to the unconscious Luna.

Twilight and her friends run up to the scene just in time to watch the elf impact and crater into the ground. They’re completely speechless as he just sits there on his knees, staring at the ground. Jaw slightly slacked, eyes wide open, and he's in complete silence as steady lines of tears run down his face. Even Daybreaker is a bit stunned at the display.

Twilight looks up towards her mentor and with a tone of disbelief shouts. “Princess, I don’t…I don’t understand. How could you do this?”

Before Daybreaker can respond the air starts vibrating as music starts to play once more. It sounds like several high pitched notes are being distorted and stretched as the sound grates on everyone's ears.