“Any sign of the other bearers?” Sergeant Flaw asks one of her subordinates as she approaches the lookout position on top of Canterlot Hospital.

“Yes, we spotted Rainbow Dash sneaking across the rooftops about four blocks to the east. We’ve already sent a squad to go pick her up and bring her back here, but we haven’t notified Miss Rarity yet. Any updates from the other lookouts?”

“Negative. Don’t forget we’re also trying to spot any of the Princesses. Princess Cadence and Princess Luna were also stripped of their horns and wings, so they are extremely vulnerable right now.”

After checking on the hospital lookouts the guardsmare goes back downstairs. In the Intensive Care wing she spots Rarity using her hooves to sew a wound closed for a pony that was attacked as soon as everyone teleported in. “Miss Rarity, they’ve spotted your friend Rainbow Dash and are sending a few guards to escort her back here. Once more of the guards rendezvous here we’ll start moving towards the castle as a unit.”

“Oh that sounds wonderful, dear. I must say I’m impressed how coordinated you all are considering we only arrived here 15 minutes ago. Already establishing a point to defend, shooting flares to bring more guards over, setting up lookouts for several blocks. I had no idea how involved being a guard truly was!”

“Truthfully, that new creature serving under Princess Luna has been a huge help. He lets our guards attend his training sessions and is surprisingly well versed in tactics. This situation isn’t exactly the same but we did run simulations for the city of Canterlot being invaded. A lot of that has been applicable here, I just never thought the enemy would be our own citizens…” Her face contorts into a pained look as she glances to the side, towards the ground.

Rarity finishes closing up the wound and turns towards Sgt Flaw. “It is a bit tragic, but they’re just scared. If I wasn’t one of the bearers I’m not even sure how I’d react if I was them. It’s easy to say that I’d still be here, doing what I’m doing now. But, reality is always a bit more cruel. Something I think everypony has learned to some degree the last few days. Is there anything else I can help out with? I’ve finished dressing and suturing the few wounded we have in here. If any of the guards need some repairs to the non-metal parts of their uniform I could help out.”

“No ma’am. The only non-metal parts are underneath the metal parts, so if they’re messed up that likely means the entire armor is compromised. I’d say you could see if there’s anything you can do to help out with the fortification of the lobby downstairs, but that’s probably the most dangerous place you could be at the moment. As one of the primary targets it’d be foolish to even let you near that area, so I’ll just have to ask that you stay up here on the second level.”

There’s an extremely loud crashing sound as the entire building shakes and dust falls from the ceiling. Rarity drops to the floor and holds her forelegs over her head as she dramatically screams. Flaw looks up at the quaking ceiling with a concerned face before bolting out of the room and back to the roof.

Slamming the door open as she skids to a stop on the roof, she calls out. “Report! What’s go-”

She interrupts herself as she looks across the street and sees nothing but rubble where there was once several nearly pristine buildings. In the middle of the rubble there’s a cratered line hundreds of feet long and at the end of the grooved line lies the Princess of the Sun.

Celestia shakily rises up to her hooves and yells out at the many guards from the nearby hospital approaching her. “Stay back! This is something far beyond any of you, and as long as you don’t get in his way you’ll all be safe. I can handle myself, find the element bearers and get them to the castle, now!”

The guards stare and hesitate as the order goes against years of training. It’s only when Blazewraith slams into the ground where Celestia was once standing that they fully decide against approaching the battle. The presence of that creature placed far too much pressure on the guards. Thankfully he missed Celestia because she blinked into the air, but just as quickly as the natural disaster, that is their battle, arrived, it leaves as they zoom off to the north.

“Why does it feel more unlikely for the element bearers to win versus that thing than it does against Discord?”

“Probably because Discord isn’t actively participating and he’s seemingly just letting them get the elements, but if that thing was against all of us instead of just the Princess…? I think we’d be screwed.”

The two guards that were standing on top of the hospital comment to themselves as they watch the two combatants disappear into the distance. Flaw just gawks at the crater where the Princess once stood. That thing was Ignis? I knew he was strong but I didn’t think he was THAT powerful…

The door to the roof bursts open as another guard emerges and calls out to the sergeant. “Alpha Squad has returned with Rainbow Dash, Sgt.”

Snapping out of her stupor the guard turns towards the new voice. “Anything else?” The guard shakes his head no. “Where are they now?”

“Rainbow immediately went to greet Miss Rarity. They were still conversing when I passed by.”

After thanking and dismissing the messenger, Flaw goes back to the Intensive Care wing to find the two element bearers. “Plans changed. We’re moving now.”

“Why now, darling? There’s only two of us!” Rarity replies with confusion evident on her face.

“We’re better off using the castle as our base of operations and it’s where both of you need to go anyways. Logically speaking, it just works out. We’ve got well over 50 guards so we should be fine if we run into any trouble.”

Rainbow and Rarity share a hesitant look at each other but follow the guard down to the lobby.

Time remaining until Canterlot reaches the Ponyville shelter camp: 150 minutes.

Ignis is really doing a number on me right now. I don’t think I’ve been tossed around and physically harmed like this in 1,000 years. Ironically the same pony that was responsible for my wounds back then is also the cause for these wounds. No, that’s wrong. It’s my fault.

I’m interrupted from my thoughts as Ignis slams his claws into my barrel and a sickly green light glows in the wounds.

“Eldritch Smite.”

There’s a strange taste in my mouth and I feel several stone structures collapse as I crash through them. It’s been much longer than 1,000 years since I’ve had this taste in my mouth, it’s copper. It’s blood.

Eventually I stop cratering through downtown Canterlot and a legitimate fear starts to settle in the back of my mind. It’s taking effort to stand and I can taste blood in my mouth. This creature is truly strong enough to actually kill me. After a few seconds I manage to stand and notice several guards running towards me.

After yelling at them to find the elements and leave I feel mana shifting in the air. Channeling a teleportation spell I blink several feet into the air and spread my wings wide. The corrupted elf lands where I was just standing and causes the crater that was already there to expand and deepen.

There’s too many ponies here, I need to move this somewhere safer. It’s quiet to the north I’ll go there. Luna I’m sorry but I can’t hold back anymore. If things continue like this for another 30 minutes I won’t survive.

I understand, Tia. Just don’t…don’t kill him. Please. Where are you? I want to try snapping him out of it one more time.

I’m moving north, it seems less populated than the other sections of the city. There’s too much collateral damage everywhere else.

Alright. I’m on my way.

Glancing a look backwards I see him closing in on me as we continue to fly north. Summoning my armor I quickly veer upwards, ascending at a sharp angle. I’ll use one of my most complicated spells.

After flashing a blinding light to buy myself the few seconds I’ll need to cast this I get to work layering the 17 rune spell. He’s enraged, that’s good. That means it blinded him. Just a few more seconds.

Conjuring a nearly invisible crystal in the air, I channel several mana channels into the crystal from all sides. Refraction magic combined with illusion magic. The mana hits the crystal and pure sunlight is scattered from the crystal, creating six alicorns that are purely made of sunlight. Next is the illusion magic. Following the already established mana channels that were created by the crystal I send a perfect cloned illusion of myself. All six clones now look identical to me, including my armor and wounds.

The crystal is the weakness of the spell, if it were to break all of the solar clones would disperse instantly. Since the clones are all connected to me via these established mana channels though, that means I can cast spells from them as well. It's quite powerful as a trade off for that glaring weakness.

Looking at Ignis I’m surprised to find him floating there glancing between all of the clones. All of us are staring down at him like he’s beneath us. He simply raises his hand and utters an incomprehensible incantation.

“Eldritch Blast.”

Suddenly three bolts of energy fire off. All of them aimed at a different clone, but thankfully none of them are aimed at me. Before those bolts even hit the bracers that are barely visible on his forearms glow and three more bolts of energy are fired. This time one of them is aimed at me.

I shudder at the mental drain this level of multitasking requires. I send all six of the clones plus myself scattering and weaving in the air as we all attempt to dodge and evade the energy bolts. The one clone that isn’t under threat blurs through the air and unleashes a beam of pure mana right into the creature's chest.

Strange, he was much harder to hit last time I fought this form. Is he not coherent enough to have the intelligence to deal with clone spells like this? He lets out that disgusting screech as he’s buried in rubble from the beam of magic still being channeled.

Now that he can’t see I can let my clones get hit by his attack. The attack will just phase straight through the clones so it was vital that I evaded them until he wouldn’t be able to notice. Letting the bolt hit me I wince. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would, but it’d be bad if all six of those bolts were aimed at me instead of just one.

cough Well that’s not good. Blood just poured out of my mouth with a cough. I need to end this now. I’m sorry Luna, I can't wait for you to show up.

The beam relents its constant burning and Ignis instantly zips out of the rubble with the skin on his torso bubbling and charred. Once he’s high enough into the air I summon a cage that is similar in shape to the crystal allowing my clones to function. I know from last time it takes him two hits to shatter this cage, so I need to strike within an instant of summoning it.

The magical Forcecage encloses the creature and within a fraction of a second all of the clones surrounding the Forcecage at several different angles all fire a Sunbeam into the cage. One claw pokes through the cage and cracks spread everywhere. He rears up his other arm when the Sunbeams make contact.

Similar to the crystal this Forcecage is shaped for the sole purpose of refracting and reflecting light. The crystal projected the light back out, but the shape of this Forcecage is optimal for trapping and focusing the intensity of any light that enters into the center of the cage.

I let out a sigh as the claw poking through the cage seems to go limp as screeching pierces the air. The second claw never came. After a few seconds the screeching stops and I stop channeling the beams from all of the clones. The creature is smoking all over and is crumpled up, limp at the bottom of the Forcecage.

Dispelling the clones I fly down to the ground and slowly bring the cage down to the ground with me. Once we reach the ground I dispel the cage which has filled with smoke, so I can see if he’s still breathing.

Quickly blowing the smoke away I grab the creature with my telekinesis and flip him over onto his back. It’s only now that I realize he has a slightly golden glow emitting from his body. Is that a side effect of being assaulted from that much pure sunlight? It’s never happened to anypony else I’ve used that on. Wait, are those angel wings?

An image flashes in my mind from when I was still Daybreaker. This glow and those wings is what he had when he was immune to my holy fire. With a gasp I widen my eyes and attempt to throw up my most powerful shield, but it’s too late.

As soon as I gasped he shot up from the ground and seized my throat with his clawed hand. His other hand grabbed my horn and squeezed it tight. He’s channeling mana into my horn to disrupt any casting. We never taught Ignis that, but it’s plausible the Spirit of the Everfree is aware of such a method.

Darkness starts to fade in at the edge of my vision as I feel my neck getting squeezed tighter. He’s just staring into my eyes the entire time. Such lifeless and empty eyes. Part of me feels like I deserve this, but I still have too much to teach Twilight. I just got my sister back. I can’t die. Not yet.

Flailing my forelegs at his arm and kicking at his gut with my rear legs, I struggle with everything I have left in me. To think I’d be reduced to such a pitiful and desperate state. With every hit I make on his body he doesn’t even flinch. He just keeps staring into my soul with those eyes. This is really it… I’m going to die.

Everything goes dark.

“Ignis, you will put her down this instant! Ignis! Lucas! Stop!” Luna screams out at the elf as she sprints towards the scene of her knight choking the life from her sister.

She can see Celestia’s flailing limbs growing weaker and slower. What used to be Ignis turns towards Luna and looks at her for a brief instant before turning back towards the Solar Princess. Celestia’s limbs stop moving and her eyes start to slowly close and Luna slams her entire body into the outstretched arms of the elf.

Celestia falls to the ground, unconscious. She does start violently coughing while trying to desperately gulp in air, but her eyes remain closed. Alive but unconscious.

Luna throws herself over her sister, attempting to cover up as much of her body as possible while staring at the elf with wide eyed fear.

“Why stop me?”

“She doesn’t deserve this. Deep down you know it as well as I do. Also without Celestia the elements can’t be retrieved. You need the elements to defeat Discord and her mana signature is the only thing that unlocks the vault.” Luna tries to appeal to any corner of logic in his mind. Any attempt to buy as much time as possible. Last time she was in front of the creature Ignis showed signs of resistance and fought for control.

This is her last hope. All or nothing, if this doesn’t bring him back then he’ll kill her and her sister.

“Please Ignis. I know you’re in there! You’re just going to let this thing control your body? How can you kill Chrysalis like that? You won't be satisfied with that revenge! How can you love Force and I like that? There’s no way we’d let this thing assume your role in our lives. It’s not you! FIGHT!” She pleads to an Ignis that she hopes can hear her as the creature just stares at her silently.

“Wow, first you take me to a secluded clearing by a lake and give me some of the best food and wine I’ve ever had. Then you bring us to a private hot spring to relax, unwind, and embrace each other. Now you’re showing me this big empty ballroom. I wasn’t aware just how truthful you were when you mentioned being a noble.” Nightmare Moon is in her human form as she and Ignis slow dance by themselves in an empty ballroom. Lit up only by moonlight.

Ignis chuckles a bit before replying. “Yeah, but to be fair this place was probably only half this fancy and built up back then compared to now. A lot of this is new for me too. All of that aside though, did you enjoy the date?”

As he asks the question he leans forward and forces Nightmare to lean backwards into a classic dip. “I loved it.”

They have a quick kiss before exiting the dip as the music in the background fades out. The two start to wander around the Natsume grounds as they make their way back to the mansion with their fingers interlocked. “Was this enough Ignis?”

“What do you mean? Enough for what?”

“Was this enough to satisfy my regrets? Is it enough for you to confront reality?”

“Y-your regrets? Confront…real-, wha?”

“Don’t make me spell it out. You know what this is.”

Their leisurely stroll comes to a stop as they turn and look each other in the eyes. Nightmare continues speaking. “You can’t stay in this place forever, Ignis. You have to wake up. Wake up to the world that I’m not in.”

Ignis is still immensely confused by what the former villain is saying, but he’s even more confused when a rogue tear falls from his eye. “I am awake, Moonie. I told you and the others every morning I wake up and realize this isn’t a dream. Are you okay?”

“I’m not okay, Ignis. I’m dead. I died fighting Daybreaker while she was under the mental manipulation of Discord. You know this, but you’re refusing to accept it. I know you’re in an unimaginable amount of pain, but if you don’t wake up soon then you’re going to be in even worse pain. You’re going to lose everything.”

Everything fades around the couple, nothing but a white void remains. Suddenly Ignis shrinks a couple of inches and feels his hair become much shorter. His vision becomes a bit worse. He’s back in his human form, silently crying. “I don’t wanna wake up, Moonie. I don’t want to go back to that place.”

“You’re going to kill Celestia soon, and maybe even harm Luna. Even if you don’t physically harm Luna she’ll never forgive you for what you’re about to do. You’re not even under the effects of Discords magic. You’re just choosing to wallow in this dream.”

Suddenly Ignis fades into existence and walks up to Lucas and the fake Nightmare Moon. “It’ll take both of us to get our body back. You truly do need to wake up Lucas. Come on, there are still people, no, ponies that need us. We have to go back. I’ve been using the system to stall the creature for well over 30 minutes now, but I can’t hold out much longer. I need your help.”

Ignis holds out his hand towards Lucas, but the human just turns and throws himself at Nightmare. “I’m… I’m g-going. I’m going to bring you back. Whatever it takes.”

“I know you will.”

Ignis interrupts them. “Lucas, it’s time.”

The human gives her one last kiss before grabbing the elf’s hand.

The white void turns into the black inky ocean he was in when he fought for control of his body to prevent it from attacking Luna. Now the human and the elf are here.

“My time management, personality, and intelligence.” Lucas says as he stares at the elf while still holding his hand.

“My temper, kindness, swordsmanship, and magic ability.” Ignis replies as both of them start to smirk at each other.

“Shed every negative aspect from each of our lives. Anything we share, combine them or take the greater of the two. Optimize everything for fighting. Ignis has the patience of a Saint and kindness to match, he doesn’t make rash decisions without thinking. But he’s naive and sheltered. I’m ruthless and cold, I’m not naive to how cruel the world can be, I have all of Earth's modern and historical war tactics, but I’m rash and my temper always gets the best of me. We can cover for each other's weaknesses.”

Soul and body synchronization complete.

Suddenly the dark void is just Ignis again, and the void shifts to the Feywild. Ignis reaches up into the air and grabs seemingly nothing before the scene shifts again. Now they're in Lucas’ backyard, and the elf reaches out with his other hand and grabs seemingly nothing. Now both scenes are present and half of his body is in each scene.

The empty air in his hands transforms into the shadow cores that are shooting black tentacles everywhere. The entire void starts to shake as he pulls on the cores as hard as he can. His hair ignites into fire that spreads to the tentacles. The cores start to make high pitch, shrill, ringing noises as the tentacles burn and shrivel.

Screaming with every ounce of strength he can muster, Ignis pulls on the cores and everything starts to crack. The scenery, the sky, the walls of the void. “Get. Out. OF. MY BODY!”

“GAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Celestia wakes up to find that she is still alive and her sister is shielding her body. Unaware of how long she’s been unconscious she coughs and weakly calls out Luna’s name. Then she starts to stand, much to the protests of a frightened Luna.

Luna is scared but also perplexed at the situation. The creature hasn’t moved or spoken in over half an hour. No signs of a struggle or anything like that. Just an uncomfortable silence. Seeing Celestia weakly stand in front of him now, though, puts an overwhelming fear in her heart.

I don’t know what he’ll do now that she’s just standing in front of him without me blocking him. Luna thinks to herself as the corrupted elf makes a low rumbling noise.

He flexes his hand and rears back his right arm, readying himself to thrust his claws at Celestia's throat.

Suddenly the inky black lines and the shadow enveloping half the elf's head just starts to float off of his body. Fading into nothing. The black fire of his hair returns to normal fire, and his eyes return to their normal green color. They have their normal shape as well. Then a black orb floats out of his chest and drops to the ground, completely inert.

Celestia flinches as something makes contact with her, but she realizes there’s no pain. Opening her eyes she sees the elf, returned to normal, and instead of lunging with a claw he reached out with both arms and pulled her into a hug. This is the first time the two of them have shared a hug, and Celestia is a bit curious why he would do such a thing even if he did return to normal.

“I know it wasn’t your fault, Celestia.” The Solar Princess is surprised when the simple statement combined with the hug causes her to choke up a bit.

Luna jumps in and makes it a group hug as her body nearly collapses from the amount of stress it just dumped out of its system. “You’re back! Oh maker above you’re back. I was so scared I was going to lose both of you.”

“I’m back. Sorry it took so long.”

“You were possessed by that shadow core from the old castle! The fact that you were able to return to your normal self without the elements is immensely impressive, Ignis. Do not apologize when you did something that even I was unable to do.”

“You got it. Now then,” Backing away from the group hug he looks at the two alicorns. “Let’s wrap this up, so I can revive Moonie.”

“I thought you couldn’t? It seemed like you had already tried…do you mean like you’ll recreate her in your dreams?” Luna asks, a bit confused. She is familiar with crafting dreams out of grief, though.

“No. I’m done dreaming.”

Character Profile: Ignis Ferrum.
Bladesinger 11/Paladin 2 - Level 13.

Time remaining until Canterlot reaches the Ponyville shelter camp: 85 minutes.

Author's Note

We are so back.

Thanks for reading.