Author's Note

Content Warning!!

While I imply things and haven’t shied from graphic stuff with mild restraint, this chapter will have some descriptions less suitable for viewing. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 49: Prisma Nexus

We all readied ourselves, staring down the centaur that stood before us. I couldn’t help but tilt my head slightly. Wasn’t he supposedly infect by the Kalenite?

“Tyrone.” Lilac addressed. “Surprise to see you alive and well.” Tyrone chuckled and rolled his shoulders and neck before responding.

“All thanks to this new found power I’ve acquired. Worth the effort of enduring such intense might.” He said, clenching his fist out in front of him, bulging his arm muscles. “I must thank you for getting rid of that sorry soul. I didn’t want to expend the power on a formidable foe so soon.” Sonata glared.

“I’d not have you mock our honor. The Grand Captain was blind to faith and stubbornly prideful. But he served our kingdom to his last. Just as Rosette and our majesties have.” Sonata spoke. “I should have rid of you long ago.” Tyrone gave an amused chuckle.

“Yes. But we didn’t want to disturb your beauty sleep so readily when everything was very close to fruition. Sad to say, the fruit we cared for has had a… minor delay in growth.” Tyrone looked at me and my friends. “They would have served for better uses than they are as of now. But you can’t have everything, sadly. Not even this fallen kingdom, so rife with resources and power any can dream of. Twould be remiss if it did go to waste.”

“There is nothing for you here, centaur.” Sonata spoke. Tyrone smirked and began to pace back and forth as he spoke in a non-chalant manner.

“Nothing, you say? Then how would that explain your presence? Your desire to slay your own captain to proceed unhindered? After everything you’ve been through, my queen. What compelled you to change your outlook? Surely you aren’t growing fond of mortals already. Didn’t you learn what happened to your kind?” He asked. Sonata nodded.

“More than you claim it to be. Far more nuanced for your comprehension, thankfully. But I know what needst be done. And if you stand in my way, I will be glad to make a more less sightly mercy killing than our late captain.” She coldly replied. Tyrone shook his head amusedly.

“Never change, your highness. The moon is only as cold as it is beautiful.” He replied. “That being said… your aid is still required. Can you sense it?” He held up a finger, smiling as we looked around. The only thing I could sense is the foul odor coming off of him. He reeked of instability. Tyrone nodded. “Alas, we unfortunately have no means of traveling further. For you see… the children were quite… intelligent. This whole room is enchanted. A memory of a better time. Were it so easy to break, I would not need to hide in shadows.”

“Then crawl back to where you came from.” Thi shouted, pointing Excalibur towards him. Tyrone chuckled again. He then walked over to us, speaking with gestures as we readied ourselves.

“That is precisely why I need you to break this enchantment. For I must return to his might. I have been separated for far too long.” He explained, walking past us and over to the fallen captain. “That is all I ever dreamed of. For over a millennia, I’ve waited with bated breath for the time to arrive. And thanks to Ouroboros, I have my chance.” He marveled at the alicorn. I glared at him.

“And just why is Ouroboros helping a creature he seems so adamantly chill with? Has he finally given up on being a protector of balance?” I asked. “Why did he start all of this? Why did all of this had to happen? What great plan do the eldritch beings have in store?” Tyrone flicked a speck of dust off the armor of the alicorn.

“Why, they seek nothing. Have no plans. No motivations. They are merely here to spectate. To observe. As for Ouroboros… I must say that I am partially to blame for the reasons he is now.” He explained, rubbing his two fingers together. He then pointed at Thi. “Excalibur had tried to slay the Highest Evil, your Malevolence. But he fell before he could even try. However… he certainly left a lot of destruction in his wake to ensure we would have trouble rightening things. For one, he has separated only a piece of my lord, trapping it here in this pathetic realm in spite of both of our kinds. I, for being an abomination to the very existence you mortals hold dear and for you, who has casted him aside, building him up to be a legend. A monster.”

Thi narrowed her eyes, glancing at Excalibur in her magic. Tyrone nodded with a smirk.

“Yes. You mortals are always so pent up over land, wealth and power. So much so that you would call upon the very beings who should be slumbering as per agreed upon by the Creation Mother. Even going so far as to tainting them with mortal ideals, emotions and curses. And look what had happened.” He motioned around us with his arms out. “Genocide. Betrayal. Corruption. All that perfection and knowledge now put to poor use and care. All because a mortal had the gall to say ‘I don’t think this would or should be that’.”

“That sounds awfully petty to cause doomsday and our generations to suffer.” Flitter frowned. Tyrone nodded.

“You get it! Suffering! Because what is life without a little suffering? You said so yourself, queen. Your kind grew too comfortable. Too complacent. You needed mortals to spice up your lives. The knowledge they bring was valuable for future generations. Sad to say that one generation is what caused the downfall of an entire civilization.” Tyrone seemed to pause. He looked at the claymore, as if sensing something from it. He then grinned and forcefully shoved the body of the alicorn off the claymore, withdrawing it from the ground and easily adjusting it in his hold. We readied ourselves on high alert, weapons racked and aimed at him. Tyrone smirked, testing the weight of the claymore before dawning the pauldron and shoulder cape. Sonata flared.

“How dare you!!” She roared as she blinked instantly, clashing with the broad claymore that Tyrone held. Sonata was quick, her acrobatics in the air inequine just as much as the speed. However, it seemed Tyron was easily deflecting the blows. As he was doing this, he was walking slowly over towards the helmet of the captain. In a swift motion upon reaching the helmet, Tyrone had caught the blade in the cross guard, twisting it around and disarming her. A massive hand grabbed the alicorn around her head, Sonata kicking and struggling furiously at the hold. The Triad ponies and Lilac took aim, but Tyrone held their queen in front of them. Lilac glared with such venom in her eyes as the centaur impaled the blade into the ground and bent to pick up the helmet, grabbing the head by horn.

“With that being said, I feel that it is my turn to aid you. An eye for an eye, as they say.” Tyrone spoke with a grin. He then brought the horn up to his mouth, biting down on it with his teeth and with ease, he broke the horn off the head of the alicorn, dropping the head to take the horn in his hand. A wave of uneasiness shot through me. He then brought the horn over him and with a single swipe over his head, a tear in reality opened.

Holding the horn with his teeth, he plucked the claymore from the ground and lifted it up to the hole. The sword was swallowed into it. He then held his hand open and another weapon took its’ place. A brilliant blade that shined cleanly and had intricate carvings down the blade. The handle was unique in that it looked to be guarded and weaved together an assortment of metals the melted into a strangely natural color of crimson.

He smirked and held up Sonata, who was still struggling to break free. He dragged the blade sharply onto her side, drawing blood that blended into the royal rug. Lilac bristled angrily, her eyes darting rapidly to try and find an opening. Seemingly satisfied, Tyrone then reared back and brought down Sonata into the ground, creating a crack and crater under him. When that happened, Lilac whipped out her arc pistol and the Triad unloaded into the centaur. And it seemed like my friends also wasted no time either.

Flitter fired three explosive arrows that knocked the centaur off his footing, allowing Scribble to chuck out a volley of small fire bolts, pelting the centaur onto his knees. Cloudchaser and Thi sprang forward above the arc fire and while Thi was caught during her strike, a hefty punch that shattered the horn of the centaur from Cloudchaser allowed Thi to unload her mag into the centaur’s face, giving her room to slice his arm off and spring upward, twisting in the air to then bringing down Excalibur into the skull of the centaur.

Lilac halted the firing platoon and everypony waited with bated breath. The centaur’s body was mangled and several chunks are missing, hissing into black smog. Thi smacked the pommel of Excalibur, digging it in deeper. When she withdrew and sprang off of him, landing deftly onto her hooves, the centaur’s body fell limp. Thi flicked her blade and flourished it.

“Hmph. Ya’ know, not giving them a chance to do anything is honestly cathartic.” Thi commented out loud. I narrowed my eyes. Din nodded in agreement.

We’ll set up further ahead. I have an idea. She stated. Lilac and the Triad rushed over to Sonata, who groaned and pushed herself off from the floor painfully, clutching her side.

“Mother!” Lilac blurted, helping Sonata to her hooves.

“I am no mother…” she rasped as she looked at her side. The cut wasn’t deep, but it was enough to sting. She then yanked an arc rifle off of one of the troops, racked it and unloaded into the body of Tyrone. The gun clicked twice when she ran out and she tossed it aside, spitting on the ground towards Tyrone. “For Illion and the Grand Captain…” She then looked to Thi. “Pest. Acquire the Grand Captain’s horn.” Thi grinned.

“Don’t mind if I do.” She said. I was a little disturbed by Thi casually picking up a broken off horn and walking back to us. Sonata eyed her.

“Give. It. To me.” Sonata coldly said. Thi levitated the horn in front of her.

“I don’t know. Your track record right now is not looking so great. How can we trust you if you’re going to go off over nothing left here?” Thi replied with a curious hum, spinning the horn in the air. Sonata pushed herself off of Lilac and awkwardly walked over to us in a limp.

“I am in no mood for this, Thi Billet. Give. It. Now.” She angrily growled. Thi frowned and levitated the horn over to me. I disgustedly took it from her.

“And I’m in no mood for any unwanted sacrifices. You’re a damned elemental bearer that we need. The fact Tyrone didn’t outright kill you regardless of the knowledge or not was reckless.” She retorted.

“You dare talk about recklessness with me?” Sonata flared. Thi nodded.

“I’m not excusing my own actions. My life doesn’t matter in the end. I can be as reckless as I want to. Because I can confidently back it up. You of all ponies should know that. Or is getting your ass handed to you is just a common thing to expect at this point?” Thi challenged. I walked over to her and nudged her a little.

“And you of all ponies should know when to not toss her authority needlessly.” I said with a small frown. Thi sighed.

“I’m only trying to ensure that if anypony dies, it’d be me.” She said. I shook my head.

“No pony is dying. But I will say one thing.” I looked to Sonata, levitating the horn to her, which she took in her own magic. “What’s going to happen after all of this is over. If we cannot find any agreement, then it’ll be a trial by duel. And not the fancy honorable one. Din and I aren’t walking out of here without you and the power needed.” I looked to the Triad ponies. “And I won’t hold back either.” Sonata looked at the horn. She then lowered her head slightly in thought.

“Hmph.” Sonata began. “Indeed. We still have much to discuss. So long as things go smoothly and with less distractions.” She eyed Thi. Thi shrugged and shook her head. I glanced over to the body of Tyrone.

‘Yeah…’ I thought calculatively. “So… What do we do now?” I then asked. Sonata awkwardly limped over to the bottom steps of the thrones. She looked up to them, her eyes studying everything. She then took a deep breath and held out the horn. She released her magic on it and stepped back. Our jaws dropped, seeing the horn then begin to move on its’ own. It began to draw symbols in the air, as if painting a blank portrait.

When the horn had written out what looked to be a passage to something in the shape of a rune, the horn then flicked the center before dropping to the ground, shattering. The throne room began to shake and rumble. We looked around, seeing that the throne room began to twist and morph into an entirely different room. When the room stilled and we got our footing, we could see that a whole new passage had opened up, leading downward. The thrones no longer displayed and instead, have vanished entirely.

I also noted that the body of the Grand Captain had vanished as well while Tyrone’s didn’t. In fact, there was a strange fog that seemed to emerge out of the downward passage way. And from the fog stepping out of it was a strange visage of a very handsome alicorn. His raven mane curled with a small strand sticking out of the front and kind, but stern orange eyes met us. He unfurled his wings, not only displaying his presence, but showing the many scars of battle on his white coat. Sonata stepped back in shock.

“Grand Captain…” She uttered in breath. The alicorn nodded to her.

“Well met, Illion sos vas Moonlight Sonata. A clean strike might I add.” He said, his voice smooth like caramel covering a tasty treat. Something I didn’t think would be on a fabled idol of the Illion tribe. “You must forgive me. These past millennia have not been kind on this old colt. Tis good to see one of ours's living to the fullest. And still so young.” He smiled. “If only Rosen could see you now.” Sonata lowered her head slightly. The alicorn nodded sadly. “I see. Then you already know of our fate in full. Let it be a lesson in how high a hubris of an immortal can take us. For twas our own that doomed us all.” We were speechless, but Sonata was able to reply.

“I… I thought you to be merely a husk of the stallion my acquaintances looked up to. I…” She faltered. Deci placed a wing under her chin and gently rose her head.

“Stand tall, scholar. Even if not of military might, you are an Illion both in blood and birth. Carry our name in pride.” He said with a smile. Sonata studied the stallion.

“How can I… if there is nothing left but I?” She asked with a shaky voice. I hummed a little. Din sharing the sentiment. Deci nodded and looked to the others.

“Indeed. There is nothing left for us here. But you do have someponies who have brought you far in this land. And if you truly desire the Prisma Nexus, none will stop you now. You have our blessing.” Deci spoke. “And lastly, I must thank you for putting our majesties to rest. May the Creation Mother welcome them into her heart.” Deci’s visage began to fade, leaving us in total silence.

I walked over to Sonata and looked up at her. She looked puzzled before changing her expression to a serious one, nodding. Din shifted in my mind.

Hmph. Don’t be complacent, sister. Din stated. We proceeded down into the passageway, the cold wind of magic washing over us. It is said that even the most normal creature can sense magic. The magic here would probably make the weakest attuned creature sick to their stomach. It was a complete struggle to even walk a single step without us having to fall to our haunches. Sonata eventually gathered herself and we felt a soothing wave of relief.

“Irradiated magic…” Sonata began. “We are sorely underprepared. We must retreat and think of a different approach.” Din chuckled eerily.

Weaklings. She grinned. I felt a sudden warmth flow through me and the sickening feeling faded away. I looked to see my friends looking relieved of their own ailment and looking at me with soft worry. Sonata stood up straight and adjusted her silver coat.

“Tis souring to admit that the fire elemental has grown to even quell irradiated magic.” Sonata grumbled. Din was satisfied with this reaction. With Din able to keep the irradiation away from us, we proceeded further into the passageway. Not much stood out as we progressed, save for the tiled flooring that seemed to be glowing with every step we took. Eventually, the passageway opened up and we stood in front of a stone door with a painted mural of an alicorn displaying her wings in a presentation to her presence. At the center chest of the alicorn, a strange looking crystal like object, being depicted as glowing, stood out the most. Sonata brushed her hoof softly against the door, her body shivering from what might be excitement. Or maybe nervousness? The irradiated magic may have given us some concerning side effects perhaps.

Din assured me that we were not majorly irradiated but should get checked out for anything… extra to us. I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not as she had this strange smug look to her.

‘How do we open the door?’ I then asked Din. Din’s eyes directed my gaze to the door, darting and looking for anything that stuck out. We did manage to make out something shimmering on the door, but it was hard to even make out any comprehensible shape from it. Thi rubbed her chin.

“So… any ideas?” She asked out loud. Sonata sighed.

“Loath am I to say this, but even I do not know how to enter into the Nexus Chamber. And the ponies that do are, from what I have been told, locked away in this very chamber. The first generation of alicorns. Our heritage.” She explained. I rubbed my own chin and looked to Thi.

“Thi. I think I have an idea. But I need your input. The mural. It’s faded, but isn’t there something at the base of the door?” I spoke. Thi blinked and looked at the stone door. The lighting wasn’t the best, but Din’s fire around me gave off plenty. Thi’s eyes widened.

“Good eye, Fie. Gimmie a bit. Flitter, can I use you as a cursor?” She asked, turning to the sisters. Flitter tilted her head curiously but nodded and walked over to us. Thi and Flitter walked up to the door, Thi directing Flitter with a hoof. Flitter rubbed her chin in thought, nodding to Thi’s directions. Flitter took a deep breath and plucked out a loose feather. She then began to trace the feather stem tip over the faded drawings. Thi narrowed her eyes, scrunching her face as she tried to picture what it was. When the two were finished, Thi hummed and looked to me.

“Well… from what I can vision is that there is a gathering of alicorns worshipping the object, but that’s about as much as I could make out. Thanks for your help Flitter.” She smiled. The pegasus shrugged, still a bit curious. I then lowered my head a little.

“Sonata. What if we present a relic to the door? One that can actively sunder ancient magic?” I asked. Sonata looked to me questioningly. I motioned at Thi. “Perhaps, Excalibur? During your assault against Tyrone, when Thi impaled the sword into him, Din and I noticed a dispersal of malignant magic. Perhaps… and this is just a theory, we could use our primal’s manipulation of the magic around us, concentrate into the sword and use it as a functioning key?” Scribble’s eyes widened a little as he thought about this.

“The theory is sound… Worth a shot.” Scribble marveled. Thi shifted her smile a little before calling forth Excalibur. The sword glowing brightly in Din’s fire. Sonata didn’t look too pleased, but she nodded and stood next to me. Thi walked forward and seemed to flush a little.

“Err… so I just… hold it up… like this?” She said, holding Excalibur up. I couldn’t help but snicker.

“How heroic.” I teased. Sonata frowned.

“A disappointment to your own caretakers.” Sonata commented. Thi sighed.

“Let’s just do this quick…” she aaid embarrassingly. I shrugged.

“We aren’t the one forcing you to do a pose.” I teased again. Sonata and I readied ourselves and the winds of magic began to grow colder and colder. Our spectators shivered, their breaths visible as Din’s and Lux’s magic began to bring the irradiated magic around us. With the two’s magic weaving together, the magic began to be purified and directing itself towards Excalibur. Thi kept the sword held aloft as it began to glow brightly. Thi then aimed Excalibur at the door. A beam of light shot out and began to trace the mural, spreading out like a web. The light then traced into one center point. The strange object at the chest of the alicorn. There was a loud rumble and the room shook.

The stone doors began to open inward. A bright prismatic glow illuminated the room. Our eyes widened as we could see in the center of a large, circular room, a pedestal. It was strangely surrounded by machinery, crystals and other assortments of materials. On the pedestal, floating in the air and being hit with a visible pillar of light that trailed as far upward as the eye could see. Lining the walls from the bottom to the top, disappearing into the light above, were thrones.

And each throne was occupied by a mummified corpse of alicorns. We stepped in and found ourselves feeling small once more. Sonata looked around.

“Our ancestors really did lock themselves away… but… why…?” Sonata marveled.

“My guess is… to watch over the Prisma Nexus.” Thi said, her eyes falling onto the pedestal. “Is this it? I was kind of expecting a relic of some kind.” Sonata nodded and pointed at the pedestal.

“You cannot see it as well, but it is in there. We just need to figure out how to prevent my homeland from crashing into our realm now.” Sonata stated. “I’ve been thinking about the process. We need to activate the Busy Bodies.” She then looked to the troops. “Strike teams, return the base camp and make ready to activate the Busy Bodies. They’ll be in a special pod that you cannot miss. Avoid the white ones as those contain the kingdom’s alicrons. We will begin plans on how to approach the Prisma Nexus in the meantime.”

“For she has spoken!” The Triad troops said before turning and rushing back down the passageway. I rubbed the back of my head.

“Will they be okay on the way out?” I asked. Sonata scoffed and proceeded to walk around the base of the machine.

“You mock the organization of Euclides. They will come through. We should focus on finding a way to get to the relic.” She stated coldly. And thus, with Din keeping us safe from the irradiated magic, we began a painstakingly, too long of a bother, tossing of ideas and theories. Meanwhile, Lilac was monitoring the strike team’s progress. Eventually, I got a little bored and proceeded with my own plan. Din directed me to certain areas of the massive space, using her magic to set the stage (so to speak) when the time comes.

Din is here for power. The Prisma Nexus should not be in Sonata’s hooves, no matter what her people may think. And for risk of her realizing this, I didn’t mention this to my friends. Better they conserve their energy for what’s to come. My eyes then soon fell to the many mummified alicorns dotting the walls and up towards the light. I hummed in thought.

‘Were you ever aware of this Prisma Nexus and the history behind it? Did Rosette ever mention it?’ I asked Din. Din was staring up at the tree, the phoenix curiously eyeing her.

The fog is still there, but from what I can remember is in passing. Doc has only ever brought it up between those she deemed trustworthy enough. The Prisma Nexus, the very source that makes the tribes believe of her existence. For it was a tear from her that it was bestowed upon them. A single drop, carrying the very nature of the Creation Mother. Din explained. Tis as much a mystery, and one of the pillars of pursuit the Doc has died upon. I looked up at the pillar.

The vast quantities of magic, sickening the more I looked upon it, couldn’t help but strike a certain wonder. And that wonder caused my gaze to fall upon a strange sight. Amongst the thrones, there was an alicorn, who didn’t seem mummified. In fact, they looked to be brimming with life. My eyes widened when the head shifted slightly, acknowledging itself to me. Instinct suddenly took over and I rushed by everypony, who looked at me confused by my action. I stood up and called upon my halberd, aiming it up at the alicorn. Using Din’s eyes, I noticed upon further inspection, it wasn’t a throne. The alicorn was perched upon an arm of an empty one. How long was it observing us. And now that it has been caught, the alicorn stood up. The alicorn descended, allowing the light to not blind me so I could make out the features of the alicorn. My jaw dropped a little.

She appeared young. No more than having reached, in pony terms, early adulthood. The slender, snow-white figure covered by a golden armor, hugging to her chest and hooves, gave off an ethereal feminine build. And yet, the body was toned. She landed a couple yards away from me, standing upright, her valkyrie helmet glinting with an orange-reddish mane flowing above her almost similar to my own under Din’s power. She silently eyed me from under her visor, as if judging my sins in full.

The rest proceeded to ready themselves. Sonata approached the alicorn cautiously. She got halfway before stopping as several weapons impaled the ground in front of her from above. The alicorn didn’t move. Only silently shifted her judging look to her. The alicorn tilted her head, her posture easing a bit. She then smiled and nodded to her, stunning Sonata herself. Sonata then gasped.

“You… You’re alive…?” Sonata gasped, dropping her arc pistol to the ground with a clatter. Sonata hesitated, looking around. “Then… is he…?” Sonata paused and her jaw fell open. We followed her gaze and our eyes fell onto an alicorn, who had perched upon an empty throne’s arm. The alicorn, dawning a silvery blue tattered robe, revealing an ivory white chipped chain mail and worn-out hoof wraps that dangled loosely upon the hind and forelegs, descended and landed opposite at the same length of the other.

The alicorn’s features, while hidden under the silvery blue hood, were slim and masculine. When the alicorn removed the hood, the mane was unkempt, chestnut and curly. However, the alicorn had a tattered bandage wrapped around his eyes, hiding any expression they might give above the stoic muzzle. He did, however, nod knowingly to Sonata’s direction. Sonata had a dumbfounded expression on her face.

“All this time… but I thought…” She faltered.

“That was quite rude of you to interrupt my preparation.” A voice chuckled. We looked and immediately readied ourselves again. Emerging from the passageway was none other than Tyrone. In his hold, the blade he had called upon previously. “It was taking a while that I had worried that you all have perished to the irradiated magic. But thanks to a certain Primal, that is null and void.” He looked at me. Thi called upon Excalibur and aimed it at him.

“Should have guessed that wouldn’t be enough. We can fix that right here and now.” Thi stated, ready to fight. My friends readied themselves in agreement. I was about to say something when the two alicorns suddenly walked forward, stepping in front of us. They looked over their shoulder to Thi, who arched a brow questioningly. The mare lowered Excalibur gently with a wing and Thi blinked, staring at the sword. “Did… did you just coo?” She asked herself out loud. The two alicorns stepped forward, suddenly brimming with powerful magic that completely nullified the feeling of sickness.

Tyrone grinned and shifted his blade in his grip.

“Well, well. To think there are more still alive. And first generation no less.” He said, cracking his neck. The two alicorns smirked and Tyrone’s eyes narrowed. “Wait… this magic… it’s familiar…” Tyrone suddenly stiffened and the male alicorn took off into the air, hovering just a little above the centaur as he floated upwards. The alicorn’s hooves began to move, drawing runes around him almost like a blur. The runes glowed to life and when the alicorn swished his head, the runes combined, enlarged and shot forward, trapping the centaur inside of them.

The alicorn’s mouth began to move, as if chanting something under his breath. In an instant, Tyrone screamed in agony and a black miasma cloud sprayed out of his mouth. The dark purple coloring fading and Tyrone’s red skin returning. The black cloud began to twist and morph, as if writhing in intense pain. The alicorn paused and the runes shattered around them, the cloud freeing itself and diving back into Tyrone. The centaur gurgled and made a disgusted face, his skin returning to a dark purple.

He wiped his mouth and growled.

“You’ll pay for that, brat!” Tyrone snarled. A sickening throbbing sound made Tyrone lurch forward, his back then exploding and revealing demon like wings that now kept him aloft. He primed his blade to impale, kicking off at high speed towards the alicorn. However, time seemed to slow. The stallion grinned and only shifted back a bit. Out of nowhere, the mare appeared from above, bearing down a massive sword. Using the flat of the blade, the massive sword struck Tyrone and flattened him into the ground with a crash. Time sped up as the gigantic sword was then brought back up by the mare and brought back down again, crashing into the ground.

The impact knocked my friends off their hooves, leaving Sonata and I to shield ourselves from the amount of dust and debris that came flying. Once, twice, thrice. The alicorn mare then swished her head, a large tear in reality appearing as she dropped the gigantic sword into it. She then swished upward, creating another tear above the crater and a massive, spiked mace fell right on top of Tyrone. I was dumbfounded.

“Who are they?” Thi asked with a rasp as she pushed herself off the ground and rubbing her head. Sonata smiled. A genuine smile.

“Old allies.” She said softly. I felt a relief wash over me. However, Din felt uneasy. And not in the uncomfortable sense.

They live… they truly live… She spoke. I furrowed my brow and looked to Thi. Thi studied Excalibur and her expression matched mine, looking at me knowingly.

“Okay… so we don’t have to worry about them then?” Cloudchaser coughed and waved away the dust.

“Just watch.” Sonata spoke. I narrowed my eyes and Din shared my sentiment. The two alicorns flew away as Tyrone chucked the mace at them, the mare quick to tear open reality and have it vanish before turning to Tyrone. The stallion alicorn began to draw runes and both of them began glowing. The mare then tore open another hole and decided to fall into it, leaving the stallion to begin firing off arcane energy so strong that I felt the ripple of magic become distorted.

Tyrone swiftly avoided the magic, flying quickly around and rocketing towards the stallion. I blinked once and the stallion had somehow warped himself behind Tyrone. The centaur crashed into an empty throne, pulling himself away and glaring angrily at the stallion. Tyrone roared, his horns glowing as he unleashed a massive beam at him. The stallion was quick, seemingly anticipating the attack. A barrier formed and absorbed the beam, canceling it outright. Tyrone snorted and waved his fingers over the blade and creating a sinister glow surrounded it.

With another cast of magic from the centaur, he suddenly blinked forward and bore down on the stallion. The stallion reacted quickly, but not enough as he was batted into the ground with a crash. Tyrone swished his head and aimed his horns, unleashing a massive blast downward. We were nearly knocked off our hooves. When the dust cleared, the stallion stood up, dusting his robe off and seemingly annoyed about something. Tyrone shook angrily.

“Just die!!” He roared, slashing his sword horizontally and releasing a sharp wave at him. The stallion didn’t move as a tear appeared out of nowhere in front of him. The wave vanished, the centaur looking confused by this. The tear vanished and then reappeared above him. A hail of weapons of varying shapes and sizes rained down on the centaur, causing him to shield himself with his arm and blade, the raining weapons drawing blood as they slashed and struck him. A tear appeared under him, catching the weapons before appearing to rocket out behind him, several sticking into the back, body and shoulder of the centaur.

Tyrone roared and threw his fist at the vanishing tear. Tyrone unstuck a spear from his shoulder and chucked it at the next tear that appeared. From the tear shot out the wave the deflected the spear and grazed Tyron, then followed by the emergence of the alicorn mare, this time surfing on a great sword with a variety of weapons circling and creating almost a separate entity she was surfing on. She caught the spear in her magic, directing herself under and around the centaur, throwing out waves of weapons at him. Tyrone flew away, deflecting and batting away several that tried to strike him.

The mare gave chase as the stallion began to draw runes that appeared in front of her, seemingly boosting her along to catch the centaur. Tyrone roared and began striking out wildly. However, the mare snatched a dagger and a sword from the wave of weapons and deflected the blows. She kicked off her sword, flipping over the centaur, parrying the follow up strike and quickly slashing at him. A true strike. Tyrone reared back, clutching his face as the mare landed back on a weapon and surfed it back into the tear. Not giving the centaur a chance, the stallion held up his hoof and brought it down, rocketing Tyrone into the ground with a crash.

Another tear appeared and this time, the weapons that fell from it were strange. They circled the centaur and before Tyrone can push himself off the ground, he was flattened and pinned, struggling to move. The alicorn mare flipped out of a tear and landed next to the stallion, seemingly proud of herself while the stallion seemed acceptant of this outcome. Just who are these two? Din remained quiet.

Thi whistled.

“Who are they?” Thi asked Sonata once more. Sonata opened her mouth but paused. The two alicorns had met her gaze. With their eyes covered, it was hard to gauge what they were expressing, but Sonata lowered herself.

“No pony important enough. Just know they are on our side.” She replied. Thi arched a brow and rubbed her head. She glanced at Excalibur, seemingly puzzled by the sword. “You two.” Sonata began. “We must take the Prisma Nexus. How do we acquire it?” The two alicorns remained silent. The mare looked up at the pillar and shifted her wings. Sonata sighed. “Not even you could manage it? Perhaps for the better. Regardless, it is of utmost importance the Prisma Nexus be removed from this dying realm.” Tyrone began to laugh.

“Remove it? Yes… an idea for sure.” Tyrone rasped, struggling against his binds. Sonata glared at the centaur.

“You should have cut his tongue as well. We’ve no time for games. Update status.” She looked to Lilac. Lilac nodded.

“The teams have successfully activated the Busy Bodies. Intel reports that they were in the process of constructing a ‘net’ for the kingdom.” Lilac replied. Sonata’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Interesting.” She said, her eyes looking towards the alicorns. They remained silent and still. “Then that leaves the matter at hoof.” Thi hummed and held up Excalibur.

“Maybe… try the same thing?” She asked. Sonata studied her before looking at me. I rubbed the back of my head.

“It’s something we could try. I’m not expecting anything out of it.” I said simply. Sonata nodded and readied herself. Din chuckled quietly to herself, her anticipation increasing as I readied with Sonata. Thi held up the sword and aimed it at the pedestal. Our primals channeled their power into Excalibur and a beam shot out at the tip, striking the pillar of light. The pillar reacted with a glow. Yet, nothing seemed to budge. That is until another stream of magic channeled into the sword.

I looked and saw the two alicorns silently aiming their horns at the sword. This appeared to have worked. The sickening feeling of the irradiated magic had vanished entirely and the light pillar dimmed tremendously. We canceled our magic and looked up at the pedestal. We could make out something hovering just above it. A prismatic, glittering dodecahedron orb reflected the light, bringing color to the grey-ish lighting. We stared at it in awe, the magic aura visibly swirling around it.

Finally! The Creation Mother’s power… all for me! Din marveled. There was a loud roar and we looked to see Tyrone break free of his bindings. I gasped and Din immediately kicked me off the ground. Tyrone did the same and we sped towards the Prisma Nexus. I reached out my hoof and touched the orb at the same time Tyrone did. Before we could even wrestle it from each other, a sharp, electric pain shot through us and the Prisma Nexus exploded into a colorful aura of intense magic around us.

I screamed in agony, the magic being too much to bear. Din was also writhing in pain, the power beginning to seep into us. I wanted to let go, to end this sudden agony. But I steeled myself, seeing Tyrone struggling with his own and glaring down at me challengingly. No, I can’t let up. No matter how bad it is, I will endure! Din struggled to keep herself steady. A loud cry of a phoenix broke the sudden pain. The phoenix landed on the back of Din and erupted into a bright, crimson flame.

Din grinned maniacally, a surge of energy flowing into her.

That’s it! More… I command more! She cackled loudly. I felt a powering warmth course through me, allowing me to find the strength to rise from my near buckling. I glared angrily at Tyrone, pulling the Prisma Nexus towards me as he did his best to pull against me. Din and the phoenix’s fire began to combine with the rainbow prismatic aura, flaring it brightly into a raging heat.

Thi Billet’s POV

The atmosphere was too much. The intensity froze us all into place. The magical aura surrounding my best friend and the possessed centaur was bright and should be blinding. Yet, we could see the tug-o-war the two were having over the Prisma Nexus. I noticed Sonata trying to kick off the ground to confront them, but it seemed whatever this magical power is is inhibiting Lux from aiding her.

So, this is the Creation Mother’s power? A single tear drop no less. The brash voice resonated in my mind.

‘What should I do??’ I asked the voice. The voice seemed to chuckle and shrug.

No clue. Though, we should probably start heading on our way out. the voice replied. I shook my head, pulling myself up with Excalibur.

‘Buck that! I’m not leaving Fie!’ I growled at the voice.

Then think of something, badass. We don’t have all day. The voice replied casually.

‘Insufferable bastard…’ I grumbled. I looked around, seeing that my friends and enemies were struggling to get their footing. The two alicorns seemed frozen in place, looking upon the sight with quiet marvel.

“Hey, you two!” I called out to the alicorns. They shifted to look at me. “A little help here!?” The moment I said that, the aura flared tremendously large, reaching the thrones of the mummified alicorns. I gasped as I saw several light dots of magic appear. The mummies didn’t move nor breathe. And yet, their horns began glowing. One by one in a wave, the colorful glow of magic appeared. And one by one, they fired a weaving trail of magic into the center where Fie and Tyrone were struggling in.

A bright rainbow suddenly surrounded them and shook the entirety of the castle. And in a single flash of light, everything stopped. I could still feel my body shaking from the tremors. I looked up at the pedestal and gasped.

“Fie?? Fie?!” I called out in a panic, looking around. I then looked over to the alicorns and was about to demand what happened when I noticed them glowing. They examined themselves, as if curious what was happening to them. In a blink of an eye, they vanished into a puff of light. I slumped. ‘Great. Any ideas?’ I thought. There was silence. I blinked quizzically. ‘Excalibur?’ I looked down at the sword. Nothing seemed to have changed physically or magically. And yet… the presence isn’t there. I began to panic a little, unable to fully process it as the castle began to tremor once more.

Several pieces of what might be throne bits crashed around. Sonata growled and turned to us.

“We must leave!” She called out, bolting to the stone door. Lilac was quick to follow. I nodded to my friends and we bolted as well. We barreled down the passageway, dodging debris and other stuff as we made our trek through the crumbling castle. By some stroke of luck, Sonata waved a hoof over a door and we wound up outside the castle, looking up at it from a distance. Taking a quick look around, we appeared to have been thrown out near the bridge. Just as we were about to take a breather, the ground began to tremble.

I peeked out over the side and could see the foundation of the Illion civilization crumbling bit by bit. Not even the newly constructed massive propellers seemed to be safe from it. I could make out small white dots hurrying about to construct newer ones, materializing them as if from nowhere. Upon looking back up at the castle, we could see pieces of it beginning to crumble and fall apart. The black sun began to stir.

“Get your asses moving!! Or you’ll be left behind!!” Lilac shouted, lowering her hoof from her ear. “We must leave now.”

“But Fie-!” I began, only for Sonata to pick me up in her magic and pull me along as my friends and enemies barreled down the bridge. Not too far off just behind us, the strike teams were galloping over to us.

“Lux cannot sense both of them! We have to move!” Sonata growled. She can’t?

‘Excalibur, can you sense them anywhere?’ I thought to my sword. Only silence. The lightning began to crash around us as they made their way up the marble staircase, the massive portal still brimming with life still waiting for us. I looked towards that crumbling civilization. Buildings were falling, the Severance Cascade bearing down cruelly on what was once a prosperous and glorified home to prideful alicorns, dedicated to their pursuits. Before I was flung into portal, I noticed off in the distance three figures.

The alicorns had shifted their wings, one of them waving farewell to us before vanishing as the world around me flashed. I landed on my side with a skid and looked up as the others barreled through the portal (all having made it) as the portal shrunk and vanished. I furrowed my brows at my friends, their concerns matching mine.

This ends now, Tyrone. Fie’s voice rang out. We all looked up and our eyes widened. It was like a gargantuan projection of my best friend still wrestling with the centaur over the Prisma Nexus. My eyes stared in awe at Fie. How she towers so magnificently even over the earth.

Quiet Fire’s POV

I grunted as I began bucking and kicking at the toned abdomen of the centaur, only making him bend over a little as he tried to wrestle the Prisma Nexus from me. I hadn’t realized that we were out in space until the Prisma Nexus pushed both of us away and we went sailing. I was expecting for Din and I to correct myself in space. But yet, I hit a non-existent ground hard enough that it felt like a flak high of water and concrete.

I shook away my daze, pushing myself up and looking to the Prisma Nexus. My eyes widened. A starry alicorn cradled the Prisma Nexus close to her chest. She looked desperately at me.

”I do not have much time!! My daughter, you must stop the malice from spiraling out of control at the Edge of the Expanse!! I beg of you, end this now!!” Equualie said desperately. The Prisma Nexus glowed brightly and she screamed in agony. I balked, but before I could do anything, Equualie glared at me. ”I’ll hold off the tear from preventing an overwrite of the galaxy!! Focus on your destiny!!” She struggled to say. Tyrone laughed.

“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise. Now how did you escape the serpent’s cage?” Tyrone marveled amusedly. Din spoke through me.

“Silence, worm! You’re the only thing right now in my way to true power and my rite of ascension!” She stated loudly. “It doesn’t matter where we are or what is happening! The only thing I want is my victory!” Tyrone chuckled and flourished the massive blade skillfully.

“Then be my guest, little spark. Let’s see who’s the real apex of this pathetic realm!” He said, cracking his neck and priming his blade to strike. I underestimated how quick Tyron really was. The size advantage he had on me was obviously putting me on the defensive. I bobbed, weaved, jumped and flipped around Tyrone’s slashes. He is insanely quick. Given how he handled Sonata earlier, I found myself being cut and nicked more than I could get a hit in.

With a skillful flourish, my halberd managed to deflect a blow. Then again and again in quick succession. Din synchronized with me, able to help me keep up with the blows. Eventually, I began to find cracks in his assault. It began as small nicks that bounced off his hardened toned muscles, but with a quick zip around from behind, jumping up to avoid a buck from him, I hooked my hoof around his horn when he turned around, letting the momentum carry me and allowing me to flip over and drive both my hind hooves directly into his face, drawing sickly black blood from the impact.

The centaur stumbled back, but I didn’t waste time. Din cackled maniacally as we began a flurry of stabs and jabs, putting the centaur into defensive. I saw an opening and was about to deliver the blow when a sudden flailing beam of prismatic rainbow cracked in between us, sending both of us back a bit. My eyes widened and I looked over to Equualie. She was still struggling with the Prisma Nexus, but she seemed to be wavering a little as prismatic rainbow beams flailed about, tearing open space itself.

Back on earth, Equestria began to tremble. And not just Equestria. The north, south, east and west countries and denizens were panicking. Like a broken mirror, reality and space began to crack and crawl all over in no particular direction, revealing an empty void of blackness. And it was not just the world, but the entire galaxy was beginning to crack.

”You must… hurry…!” Equualie struggled in pain to speak.

“Where are you looking, little pony?!” Tyrone roared eagerly as he grabbed me entirely around the head and slammed into whatever ground we were on. He then galloped, dragging me along before chucking me high into the air. He roared, growing his devil wings from his back and rocketed up to me. I felt the wind being knocked out me as well as the whole space spinning as he delivered drive-by blows. He finished it with bucking me in the stomach, rocketing me into the space ground with a loud crash of rippling water.

I couldn’t breathe. Tyrone landed directly over me, a smug smirk on his face. He then reached down and grabbed me tightly around my torso, pinning me from using my forelegs at all.

“Hehe. As the space and time falls apart around us, I can only think of one thing on my mind. How delicious your power is.” He licked his lips. My eyes widened as he opened his mouth, bearing his sharp fangs and brought me closer. I struggled but to no avail. I felt a sharp pain bite down on my horn and I screamed in agony as he jerked and bit hard at the base. I felt cold blood trickle down my face before he yanked me away. The pain was excruciating that I couldn’t stop from screaming, thrashing my head wildly and flicking blood at the centaur. He then under-tossed me away and I went rolling, clutching my head and trying to feel for my horn. I screamed in horror at the feeling of nothing.

Get ahold of yourself, Fie!! Din growled angrily, more at the centaur. I shakily held my head, covering my amputation. I felt sick. Horribly sick. So much so that I vomited then and there, my fluids falling and vanishing into the space water. I could see my reflection. Copious amounts of blood trickled and spurts of blood escaped from my hooves. My mortify reflection couldn’t comprehend this. I looked up to see Tyrone dangle my bloodied horn above him and drop it into his mouth, crushing it with his teeth. He chewed briefly before spitting out the dust and bits of my horn out.

“Blech! How disappointing and awful! Not a single amount of magic to you. The fact you have made it this far relying on a primal is beyond me. But…” He flourished his sword. “There is still more to go around. I want what’s inside of you. That power you hold… I can’t wait to feast.” He licked his lips again. Din growled, a sudden surge of concern hitting my mind and dulling the throbbing pain.

Listen, Fie. I only have one shot at this. Din said, looking over to the Prisma Nexus. She then looked to the phoenix and nodded. With a soothing cry, I felt a surge of energy in me, dulling the pain. I managed to stand up, gathering myself together. What was once pain and agony, was now anger. I felt a strong warmth flow through me. Din didn’t seem to mind me tapping into her power. In fact, she gave it all to me. She stood tall and straight, aiming her horn upward. The phoenix cried again and both unfurled their wings.

I unleashed a hellfire blaze that flailed wildly around me. The fire lashed out and began to weld the cracks closed. At the same time, it was intercepting the Prisma Nexus. Equualie seemed to ease a little, looking on in astonishment as the Prisma Nexus’s prismatic power began to twist and twirl like a funnel into my raging hellfire. The fire began to glisten and glitter like a stained-glass mosaic. I then began to feel… strange. I felt taller. Calmer. Much more in control of myself than I thought.

Tyrone looked on in amazement, his smile creeping wider and wider as he let out a marveled laugh.

“Ahahahaha!! Yes!! That’s it!! That’s the power I want to see!! Oh, so delicious!!” He then flourished his blade and aimed it at me. “Very well then!! If it is to be a contest of power, I happily oblige!!” I tilted my head slightly, watching as the centaur began to grow and contort at the muscles. To my slight surprise, he ripped open a satchel and in a sickening blast of darkness and light, washed and swirled around Tyrone. His body began to transform grotesquely ss the Rainbow of Darkness was sucked into the centaur, I narrowed my eyes slightly at the disgusting sight.

Whatever was left of the centaur was gone. Four demonic claw legs dug into the watery space, his arms and torso bulging with thick black, serrated skin, his face demonic with fierce looking demon wings extending further outward. His mane now wild and flailing out behind him, elongated and having a mind of its’ own. He grabbed the sword with his free hand by the blade and cut himself, letting the dark malice wash over the blade and transforming it into a sharp, jagged and serrated claymore.

“Come, Champion of Equestria. Demon of Fire. The one who walks away from here is the true victor of all the galaxies.” Tyrone declared, his voice sharp, deep and echoing hisses. I looked down at myself. I had changed drastically myself. In the reflection, I am tall. Slender. My missing horn now an ethereal projection of prismatic rainbow sharpened to the point. My mane glowed brightly with fiery prismatic colors and flowed freely at my side. My coat a bioluminescent hue of rainbow and my hoodie cloak fashioned into prismatic fiery armor. But what stuck out to me most, were my eyes. Both were swirling like a galaxy. Looking back up as I saw Tyrone vanish and appear behind me in the reflection, I looked in his direction and his blade clashed with the tip of my horn.

This sent a shock wave through space, the water rippling. Tyrone grinned as he pushed me back, my hooves digging into the space ground. Suddenly, Tyrone’s face contorted into confusion as a clone of myself delivered a hefty buck across his face. This sent him sliding back a few yards away, but he stood straight, shaking the blow off. I called to my halberd and in a same display of my transformation, a fiery golden halberd shone brilliantly in my fire. The blade resonated the magical aspect and even left a light trial as I flourished it and stood on my hind legs, aiming it at Tyrone.

“I will set this right.” My voice, combined with Din’s, resonated harmoniously from me. With a quick swish I was already up in Tyrone face, taking him by surprise. One good slash at his heels caused him to fall right on top of my waiting horn piercing his throat. The black liquid trickled down onto my head, but it would not be enough. This allowed Tyrone to grab me by the mane, yank me away before picking me up and slamming me down hard, doing it over and over and over himself. Eventually, he held me up and began pummeling me across my muzzle.

He would have followed it up with something else had my reflection not reached out of the water and set him on fire, the blaze making a beautiful light show. Tyrone screamed in pain, dropping me. Landing on my hooves, I wiped my muzzle and called to the stars for aid. One by one, clones of myself began dropping around the space, immediately rushing him and clashing their halberds one by one with his blade. As my clones kept him occupied, I looked over to Equualie. She was still struggling with the Prisma Nexus, but from what I'm sensing, it's only minimal. Her blank eyes met mine. She then smiled exhaustively.

"How beautiful you are, my little star..." She rasped. I didn't react to this. At this moment, I feel nothing but serenity. I looked back as I heard a roar and Tyrone unleashed a malevolent wave of darkness, eviscerating my clones. I called to the stars for aid again as he huffed and snorted like a bull, looking my way. More clones dropped out from space and began rushing him. Tyrone leaned back, his chest puffing out before he lurched and bellowed out a spray of dark rainbow, washing and creating an ominous glow in space. My clones were once again dispatched as the wave grew closer to me. Throwing a barrier onto Equualie, I then backflipped high into the air, avoiding the wave as Din's wings appeared. I noticed in my reflection another set of wings just above Din's. Phoenix wings unfurled brightly as brilliant feathers fluttered around me.

Tyrone looked up at me and grinned, kicking off the space ground and blinking right to me, clashing with my halberd.

“Honor-less fighter? My respect.” His demonic face beamed. It was quickly scrunched into pain as my horn bored deep into the chest of the creature. Calling upon the stars once more, several clones rocketed in and one by one, pierced their horns into Tyrone. Tyrone struggled, managing to shakily grab me by the torso and pulling me out, chucking me hard into the ground with a crash. Seemingly getting his second wind and ignoring my clones still impaled into him, he took a deep breath and exhaled another wave of dark rainbow.

From the dark rainbow emerged phantasmal equines of demonic shape and gigantic sizes charged me, a sinister whinny echoing from them. I stood up and faced them.

Ha… Ha… Need to… vent more… Din panted.

‘Din?’ I asked with calm concern. Din rightened herself.

I’ll be fine. Let us expend most of this power. It’s getting too hot in here. She replied with a smug grin. Together, we flourished the halberd and rocketed into the charging horde. One by one, I dispatched the phantoms with relative ease, even being cocky with a few of them. Din was also using her magic to take out those that would approach from behind the ones I’ve felled. I noticed Tyrone growling, letting out an angry roar and throwing off my clones, dispatching them himself before charging me.

His horns gathered magic and he began rapidly firing beams of dark rainbows at me. I deflected what I could with a propeller spin of my halberd and dodging the rest. We clashed again. Blow for blow, our strikes on each other rang out into the nothingness of space. When a moment of us breaking away allowed Tyrone to charge up another beam of magic, I quickly javelined my halberd into his leathery throat, vanishing and emerging from my halberd and locking my hooves around his horns. With all mine and Din’s might, we pulled the horns, ripping them off from the base. Tyrone roared in agony, only for me to twirl the horns and stab them directly into his eyes, holding on as he flailed and thrashed to get me off of him.

I ensured that his horns were rightfully dug in before I backflipped off my halberd (giving a heavy buck against the horns for good measure and for distance) withdrawing it from his throat before correcting myself and like the very light itself, charged and appeared behind him in a blink of an eye. I held my pose, hearing the satisfying spray of filth the centaur had in him and a heavy thump. I stood upright and faced the fallen centaur. He painfully and shakily pushed himself off the ground and faced over to my direction, stabbing his blade to keep himself up.

I readied myself, staring him down and anticipating his next move. However, I wasn’t expecting him to tear open the fabric of space with a single slash of his blade in a fit of rage. A strange, golden swirling light appeared, only to spit out a massive comet aimed at me. My eyes widened a little. It’s the same comet I saw in my out of body experiences. The three headed bundled dragon, now in full view and rocketing towards me.

”YOU IMBECILE!! YOU DARE DEFY OUR MASTER?!?” A guttural hiss and cry of anger blurted out from Tyrone. The centaur clutched his throat, choking himself before he could utter his words.

“Fuck you.” He rasped. Time seemed to slow as the massive dragon comet hurled itself towards me.

We push through!! Together!! Din barked. I only nodded and drawing from all our reserves, we threw up a barrier and caught the comet. However, it began pushing me back with ease. I dug my hooves in, trying with all my might to push back. Din let out a cry of anger, her determination burning brightly like the stars around us. I grit my teeth, trying to keep myself from buckling under the weight of it. I couldn’t push back any longer. Before I could even kneel, a star in the distance shone and rocketed over to me.

In a brilliant flash of light, I felt the weight lessen a little. I looked and saw the figure of an alicorn mare standing in front of me, defiantly facing the dragon. A second star shone, and the weight was lifted even more as the figure of an alicorn stallion, standing with the mare in front of me appeared. The familiar alicorns looked over their shoulders, their teeth grit in struggle against the weight. I still could not see their faces, but I could tell they smiled and nodded to me. I felt a burst of energy and determination, taking a single step forward, working on taking the second step. I only managed three steps when all of us began to be pushed back.

What’s even worse is that I saw movement from the dragon. It stirred awake. A rorsarch pattern of what I can only assume was pure malice in energy eyed me from all three heads. It didn’t even lift a single muscle and suddenly, an explosion of malice began to wash over the edge of space. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing Equualie struggling against the Prisma Nexus as cracks had been working on opening up during my fight. Through her pained expression, she gave me a reassuring smile and nodded.

I blinked and looked up, seeing the wave of malice bear down on us. I braced myself against the tide, waiting for the inevitable fate. And yet, through the darkness came the light.

”Do not falter, young one!” A voice rang out. It was commanding, almost fatherly. A star rocketed in and the weight of Malice lessened more. A tall, handsome alicorn stallion that I recognized as King Illion, stand defiantly against the wave. ”The realm she created must not fall!” My jaw dropped a little.

”You can do it, Chosen One!” Another voice called out, a star bearing down and allowing me to make several steps forward. A beautiful goddess of an alicorn mare matched her husband’s defiance. ”My children protected this realm from all Malice. Let it continue in their absence!”

”We are with you!” Another voice called out. I looked above and saw, to my surprise, Rosette Nebula, lessening the weight again. ”Our sacrifice will not go in vain! As my pride of an Illion member, Malice shall fall here!” She called out sternly. Suddenly, another star shot out from beyond space and soared to stand in front of me. It is a stallion, ethereal as if only a shadow of himself remained. Yet, he bared Excalibur at his side, the brilliant sword erupting into a bright aura.

”I’ve been meaning to tie up loose ends. Let it be now!” The stallion said. He then picked up my halberd and tossed it to me. I caught it in slight confusion. ”Together!” He grinned cockily.

”Together!” The alicorns echoed. Din and I were speechless.

Deep inside the center of space, all the way into a bright blue earth, the nations of Equestria, Pony Land, Saddle Arabia, Crystal Empire, Yakyakistan, Dragon Lands, Kirin Valley. From Manehatten to the smallest hamlet known to Equestrian kind. The voices of many rang out in unison to the sky, their prayers and all manner of limbs reached to the sky to the projections of good and evil facing each other down.

“Together!” They all cried out.

I felt amazing. Stronger. Better. My confidence skyrocketed and I smirked. I shifted my halberd and nodded. Excalibur and I primed our weapons, aiming at the dragon. With a cry of war and the song of everycreature counting on me, we charged. The alicorns broke away, allowing Excalibur and I to combine our might, making one clean slash as the dragon passed by us. I panted and looked over, seeing Malice cut cleanly down the middle. A spew of darkness sprayed everywhere and the dragon began to drift away, breaking apart piece by piece. No sound was made from it. Only the eyes met mine before vanishing completely.

”NOOOOO!! MY MASTER!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!!!???” Tyrone blurted out again. I looked to see him erupting into dark rainbow flames and angrily gazing at me. I aimed my halberd at him.

“Din helped me tremendously on my own journey. But it was because of our friends and strange allies that we were able to make it this far.” I echoed. “Now, we are unstoppable. Balance will be restored.” Tyrone shifted his head in confusion. Despite the buried horns, he could still sense around him from what I’m guessing. The alicorns stood behind me, facing down Tyrone. I felt a nudge and looked to see Excalibur smiling through what energy he was made of.

“Don’t squander your peace we failed to bring. Got it?” He spoke before holding up his sword to me. “And make sure the kid doesn’t fall too far from grace.” I tilted my head a little and took his sword in my magic. He then stepped back and rubbed his chin in thought, beginning to fade. “Huh… So, this is what it is to be a hero. Not really my style.” The last visage of Excalibur vanished, leaving the alicorns to smile and nod to me. They too began to fade. I looked back to Tyrone, who was heaving angrily.

“All this power… to be overshadowed by… by… friendship?!?” Tyrone stamped his claw hooves angrily. “Such! A! Dumb! Power! Who needs friends?!? All that matters is who is the one above all!! I’m not going to be bested by a worthless pony bug!!” I couldn’t help but shrug with a smirk.

“What can I say? Friendship is freakin’ magic.” I said simply before blinking and appearing right in Tyrone’s wounded face. Din cackled as I smacked his chin with the butt if my halberd, causing him to stare into the stars as time slowed. I then flipped and with my hind legs, forced open his mouth and stabbed my halberd in. “You want power, right? Then here. Have a taste.” Tyrone began to gyrate, unable to move as Din and I unleashed the power of the Prisma Nexus and Din’s into the gullet of the demonic centaur.

A guttural in-equine cry shrieked across space, Tyrone’s body beginning to boil and bubble. Our fire burned brightly, creating a nova cloud as his body began to grow and grow. I then pulled my halberd out and floated away from the centaur. He choked, gurgled and clawed at his throat, overwhelmed by the amount of power fed to him. He then spewed all over, releasing the dark rainbow, whatever magic he had for his meals and lastly, a tiny blob of an ameba laying injured on the space ground.

Tyrone shrunk tremendously, becoming skeletal and pale. With his injuries however, he reached out to me, clutching his throat before falling still where he stood. My eyes then fell onto the ameba. A strange and curious little thing. Weak and hopeless as it tried to sift itself in the illogical water. Din scoffed and I felt myself move to crush it. A sickening squelch made me stick out my tongue a little in disgust, wiping my hoof before looking over to Equualie. She looked weak as she was surrounded by small cracks and tears. I walked over to her and placed my hoof gently onto the Prisma Nexus. I took a quiet breath before placing my horn against the Prisma Nexus.

‘I wish. I wish. I wish. For this realm to heal and its’ denizens returned to their original states before the implanted sickness tainting their bodies. Cleanse any ill-gotten hate and purify the land with your love. By her will be said. By her will be done.’ My mind seemed to know the words the moment I touched the relic. With a bright flash of light, the cracks and tears were mended, leaving only the quietness of space and time. I pulled away and caught Equualie from falling. She leaned against me, weak and exhausted. She smiled and nodded to me.

I took ahold of the Prisma Nexus in my hoof and studied it.

“Time to go home.” I said to myself. I touched my horn to the relic, but nothing happened. I blinked in confusion. Equualie stirred and steadied herself off of me. I furrowed my brow and turned the relic around. Equualie gave me an apologetic look and placed her hoof on the relic.

”I… must apologize. I tampered with her love. It is unable to take you home at the moment.” She said. I blinked questioningly.

“What? For how long?” I asked with concern. Equualie lowered her head a little.

“Until I can get my own answers to my own questions. Directly from you.” She said. I arched a brow.

“I don’t have time. I need to get home. I’m certain I still have to ensure nothing escaped the restoration.” I said. Equualie nodded and held her hoof to her chest.

”Please… Just humor me for now? I… would like to see how my own has faired in my absence.” She said. Din scoffed.

Keep her distracted long enough for me to fix the nexus. I’m certain I can make something here. Din said coldly. I sighed and looked Equualie directly into her eyes.

“Alright. But only because I have questions of my own.” I replied.