I Am Sorry

She looked into its eyes. They were like red mist, swirling in the dark, an unnatural sight that sent shivers down her back. As she gazed into them, she saw her parents burning once more but it didn't put fear in her like it used to. This journey had given her peace already. Her wings flapped, firey heat all around her. She already knew that she was using Magia's power against it but for now it worked. That would be fine enough. She didn't need to finish it, all she needed was to give Twilight and Derpy some time to figure out what to do next and then they could escape.

The form was taller than the dragon, Firefly noted, with larger wings, too, but the head was the worst. There was no symmetry there and while the dragon's head had been mostly bone this one had the black liquid drooping from it constantly, whatever remained of the bones was bent and beaten and broken, so were the few bones on the wings. The pegasus considered herself lucky, if there had been flesh upon those bones, she probably couldn't have looked much longer at Magia. Or maybe she wasn't lucky and the king of the Night Terrors had started taking her seriously after her little demonstration. Her eyes remained on him and suddenly she felt a different kind of fear in her bones. She had never fought anypony before and this? Some god-like black goo that could transform into the worst looking monstrosities, ever?

Suddenly all of this started feeling like a very bad idea.

Then a few more moments passed, only for Magia's head to suddenly lurch forward in a way that Firefly would have considered physically impossible. The teeth didn't bite into anything, as Firefly closed her wings and let herself fall. Wind went through her mane as she saw the heavy figure of Magia lifting itself into the air. Her eyes went to Twilight, who looked utterly scared.

We could run now, she thought but at the same time she already knew that running away was going to be useless. Magia was hardly going to be stopped by water. So she spread her wings before she hit the water and with a beat she was flying past her friends.

"Follow the lights, I'll distract Magia," she shouted and she didn't know why. Firefly saw Twilight shaking her head. Were those tears or just water?

Wind was swirling around her as she flew upwards again, her eyes fixed on Magia. The beast was far above her, turning around and coming down hard, a mighty, dissonant roar erupting. Now it just annoyed Firefly. She couldn't defeat it, she told herself, but that didn't automatically mean that it could defeat her. Flapping her wings as quickly as possible she drove towards it, her thoughts drifting towards Octavia and Lyra. Anger was rising within her and she felt the heat of the flames forming around her. Magia's mouth opened, like it had before, moving in to eat her.

"You won't listen, won't you?" she asked, gritting her teeth. She flew right into it, like a fireball and as it closed its jaws the heat melted and burned the black liquid Magia was made of. The amulet around Firefly's neck was burning and the pink pegasus was cutting through the monster like a hot knife through butter. She emerged from the back of the beast, while it screamed and fell. Firefly was grinning as she hit the ceiling with her hooves to turn around, her mane moving in the wind that had been caused by the action and ember was falling down, remnants of the firespell that had embedded itself into her very being. She couldn't help but feel a bit satisfied as she saw Magia above the water, transforming again. Now it just had to be angry.

She didn't waste a moment, she could hurt it. She couldn't kill it, she couldn't win in the long run but she could actually weaken it, do something unto it that it had done to them. She went in, her arms stretched before her, like a lance of fire and lightning. Magia screamed the scream of a thousand dying children. It didn't transform into another beast, however, instead a lance of pure black launched towards her, with a speed that greatly exceed her's.

"I!" She shouted as she and Magia's lance met.

"Said!" She shouted as her own magic tore through Magia and turned whatever-it-was-made-of into cinders.

"NO!" She screamed as she tore through its main body again, this time leaving a sizeable hole in the black, swirling madness that was the king of the Night Terrors. She halted just above the water, in which the ashes and the liquid both fell. Still it's clearness hadn't changed. Firefly looked around but couldn't see Twilight and Derpy diving. She wondered why and then her look went to the side, where both of her friends were moving unto a patch of land. Her eyes widened. That was wrong.

Suddenly the laughter of children erupted. The sound of fillies on the playground and young colts playing soldier in the garden. The giggle as a child was tickled by a parent. The most lovely sound in the world, she thought, like she had never thought before, like she was one of those mares who stood by the side of things and thought of how their own childhood had long passed. Something has changed. She turned around and she saw something moving, flying.

A cloud of black mist was above her, swirling like whirlwind and she saw pegasi flying with it. She didn't know where they had come from but she saw a lot of them wounded, of some she saw the bones in their wings, of some she saw the burn marks. The burn marks, she thought, they all looked so horrible. She was flapping her wings, squinting her eyes, trying to figure out where they had come from. She looked at them, tried to make out who they were and then she saw the face of a stallion, muscular and tall, who had once sung his songs in the silence.

Each of you will make a decision.

Firefly blinked, everypony's eyes were on her and then she heard Twilight scream. The pegasi growled and screamed with pain and fear filling their voices. Then, her own family and all she had ever known came sweeping down upon her. Maybe it was meant as another scare tactic, however she had already made her decision and nothing could bring back the dead. She gritted her teeth and looked angrily at the uncoming storm. "I'm not gonna repeat myself," she said lightly and then fire met the darkness.

"I want to help her," Derpy said, anxious.

"Yeah, I do, too," Twilight responded. She looked at her friend fighting off what appeared to be an army of pegasi spawned by Magia's vile powers. "But we can't."

Raindrops had been a pony of mere black, which had been a rather common color amidst ponies and then she had turned into a pegasus, her mane blue and wild, her coat pink and rough, unwashed even, and her eyes filled with a lively fire. She had grown, not just mentally but physically as well. Now she looked like a full-grown mare, fighting off the darkness and the sight of her alone going up against this creature they had run from should have been awe-inspiring. But she hadn't cried when Lyra and Octavia had died and she couldn't feel inspired now. She was simply worried.

She looked like a lone firefly in the night, fighting off the blackness. The pegasus kicked and rammed into the others, evaded more of those lance-attacks Magia did, maintaining a look of grace and elegance Twilight had thought impossible. She had never heard of a pegasus fly so well. More importantly, she had never read about a pony fly so well. Looking at her fighting off the nightmarish hordes seemed so utterly unrealistic.

And it is. You know, you should've heeded her advice and just left.

Twilight's ears perked up as the voice rang through her head, "You?"

Yes me and quite frankly: I am happy to have a conversation partner again. Anyway, you should leave. All you need to do is take a dive, like I said before.

Twilight shook her head after the wise goat finished. "We already took a dive and we took it together," she said, grim. Derpy looked at her, scared for a moment. Not knowing what was happening.

Twilight, the friend you called Raindrops is gone and the pony called Firefly made her choice already. I told you, trust in yourself, just like she does and everypony else. You are able to change everything. Just go, please.

Twilight looked a the spreading flames, tears welling up in her eyes. "I won't leave anypony behind again," she said, there wouldn't be one more Octavia or Lyra or Trixie. They'd make this together, they had promised. They would all go to Firefly's home and then...

Twilight Sparkle. You are a most magnificent pony and in any other life, I would have liked to be your opponent but larger things are at stake. You need to take a dive, before Magia does. They are waiting for you, the Princess is waiting for you and so am I. One more dive before you can save the world. I beg of you.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the sky. Firefly was fighting for them, she was doing this for them, if they made it out she would follow. Twilight was shaking, her heart was beating against her chest and it felt like it would soon burst. Panic was within her and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Twilight?" Derpy asked and Twilight looked to her.

"We need to go," she said weakly.

Her hooves landed in the faces of two more ponies with faces she had once known but her own was a cold mask. They weren't her family and she could make it. She beat the air with her wings, launching forward, somewhere in between, trying to get herself into a good position to attack Magia directly. A pony suddenly tackled her and she was falling. Only at the last second she rolled midair and threw her attacker off and into the cold water, where it immediately dispersed. She found herself panting and the amulet around her neck wasn't glowing as strong as before. She couldn't go on much longer.

Her eyes suddenly widened and she lost altitude as another black lance came from behind and this time it hit her. She felt its tip piercing through the feathers of her left wing and she was falling, too. Right into the sea, and the pegasi followed her. The water engulfed her and the beasts crashed against the surface of the water, turning into black goo as soon as they touched it.  She found that the nightmarish creatures couldn't make it into the water, all but Magia itself, for the lance was still stuck in her. Her mind raced for a moment, but she understood, these things couldn't make it into the water, except for one. Pain surged through the wound of the lance and blood spilled into the water. She hadn't hurt Magia, she hadn't slowed Magia down and if she ran now it would come after them. She closed her eyes for one moment.

She had been on the burning field that day and after this was over, she would go back to it. Her friends didn't deserve to die, none of them. Her family hadn't, too. Back then she hadn't been able to stop herself, though. She hadn't been able to stop Lyra and Octavia from leaving, too. One of them always had the largest smiles, she remembered, and it already seemed so long ago. The other had been plucking her strings and there had been magic in her music. For some strange reason she still hoped Trixie remained alive.

What could she do now? Run and maybe live, while Magia remained on their trail, or sacrifice one thing so that the others might reach their goal. A long time ago she would have said that she was a little filly and that she wasn't able to bear such responsibility. Now, she opened her eyes and there was no more pain, the glow had returned and the fire in her heart had been enkindled. She was ready to do this.

Raindrops didn't take a dive, Raindrops decided to fly higher than ever before.

She spread her wings and moved her arms and legs, swimming towards the surface. Now it. Was. On!

She emerged, water splashing around her and the heat around her, a lone firefly fighting against the darkness. She felt Magia's eyes upon her and looked up. Amidst the black whirlpool from which the pegasi emerged, screaming as they were living through their most painful nightmares, were two eyes of red swirls, with black liquid drooping from them and beneath them a grin of a thousand rotten teeth. She decided to go against her better judgement and take the beast on directly. All it would need was one hit and if done right, she could hopefully do some damage. All she had to do was go for the eyes.

Firefly spread her wings and practically dived upwards, wind blowing against her face. The pegasi around her reacted seemingly slowly, so it seemed to her, but she was, despite the angle she was going at, only growing in speed, fuelled by the thoughts of her friends and family and what she still had to protect. She was a pegasus and the pegasi had been warriors and defenders for a thousand years. She was going to live up to that legacy right in this moment.

Magia laughed, she heard, a broken cacaphony of a laughter, but it was still there and then she saw a thousand needles launch at her. It didn't matter anymore, she wasn't scared, she wouldn't evade. So she didn't. They were piercing her and cutting her, feathers fell and blood rushed from the fresh wounds as black spots formed where she had been hit. She screamed something, mirroring a friend as they had jumped down a hole: "CADENZA!" and hit the beast's red eye.

She was blind and falling, somewhere between this world and another, somewhere where warm water was and green plains awaited, maybe she was still alive, maybe she was already gone. She didn't quite know. That saddened her, since no matter what was right, the end would be the same. I am sorry, I truly am, Twilight.

Firefly took a deep breath and then looked at her hooves. They were small again, normal even. She spread her wings and they were fine, too. She smiled and looked before her. The fields weren't burning this time. Instead, they were the greenest green and spread from the Windswept Mountains to the great ocean. Some flowers already bloomed and soon these fields would form an earthly rainbow, more beautiful than any the sky had to offer. Rivers ran through some parts, she knew. They held fresh water, so clear you could see to the ground far beneath and so cold, like they were still at the spring. These fields had been the home to her family for centuries and here they had waited for the return of the old ages and the coming of true harmony.

Firefly looked up to the sky and yes, it was the sky again, the old and beautiful one. Her sky. Thousands and thousands of stars were spread across a carpet of black and blue, most were lonely but there were so many, they formed rivers of milk across the heavens. There were some brighter than others. The crystal light, the most northern star was the brightest of all and the great constellations seemed so clear from this point, too. Yes, she told herself, being home again really felt the best.

The moon looked down on the world, a bright, white ball with the head of a unicorn on it. There was a word for that in old equestrian. It had been a word she had heard somepony tell her once, a name given by Celestia herself: 'Family' and it was said to be both a promise and a reminder, though for what, nopony knew. Even now she didn't understand what it meant.

She heard somepony beside her and turned around. Princess? From the sound of her voice she already knew that this wasn't her physical body anymore.

I am sorry, I truly am, Luna said and reached her hoof out. It held a staff with a lantern at its end. In it was a group of fireflies, happily chasing after another. The lantern itself had stained glass, on each of the sides a picture from Firefly's life. Her birth, her family, her second family and her death, the most important things that had happend to her. The glass was held by wood with golden ornaments, finely crafted work that made the industrial produced stuff she had seen in Canterlot look downright amateurish. She knew what it meant.

I'm going to see my mother and father?

Luna looked at the plains before them and silence overtook the moment.

The two of them simply sat there, looking at the seemingly eternal ongoing plain before them. Some trees stood their lonely watch amidst thousands blades of grass. Wind brushed softly against the leaves and they moved slowly with it. It looked like a dance, even if it was a fairly unenthusiastic one.

What is magic? I asked myself that for a long time, my little pony. I asked myself what it was, why we need it and where it comes from. Magic is casting spells, we need it since it makes life easier and it comes from the ley-lines that formed through Magia's presence in the past. That was the first answer I came up with but as my sister laid down and we talked for the last time, I found that without Tia there would be something missing from the world. A spark of laughter, a bit of generosity and a whole lot of its magic. My sister's death opened my eyes to what magic was and to what it should be. I want you to aid me, Firefly. Take the lamp and leave for wherever you want to go, or follow me and rescue this world from its rotten state.

There was the sound of grass moving in the wind and Firefly saw leaves falling in the distance. Magic, she said. If Magia hadn't come to this world, what would have happened?

Somepony would have found this world's own magic and given us an age of true harmony and from there, I don't know. I guess Celestia and I might still rule, you and your friends would all live different lives and partake in different adventures.

Firefly let herself fall on her back. Do you think I would know this sky?

Mayhaps everypony would know this sky, but I do not know, sadly. I never knew it, myself.

There was a song in the grass, an old song that filled her with pride.

On wings of light

With wings of night

We beat against the sky

And our songs will never die

They'll do it, Princess. Twilight, Derpy and Trixie, they'll finish it and then it will happen, this age of true harmony. Don't you worry about it.

I had known there would be sacrifices, but once more I find it hard to believe that anything will come of my plans. You lost your lives and even if everything works out you will not see the world that comes tomorrow.

Firefly smiled, Don't worry. I'm just a little filly and I lived more from the moment I met Twilight than I had done ever before. It's all going to be fine.

With those words she stood up and took her lanterns over the shoulder. I guess we should go to the rest, Princess.

Luna looked up above them and she looked so old and dead at that moment, like she had never lived her life and now longed for it to return. These stars are beautiful.

I really don't want to leave them behind, you know?