Leviathan watched, tears pricking his eyes as his mother began to feed on one of the most important creatures that he’d met this far in his lifetime. A red glow illuminated Lilith’s horn, trailing down in a ribbon of red magic until it touched the tip of Irradiance’s horn, which was glowing a deep purple color.

Red Changelings from his hive fed off of his mother’s gift; she would absorb the magic out of creatures and then transform it into smaller orbs of magic, of which each guard would get one helping each month. It could satiate them for a while, depending on the creature. As Leviathan watched Irradiance struggle to hold his own, the Changeling could only imagine how long this magic would tide the hive over for. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, tears streaming down his cheeks in silent sobs.

“Oh, you’re positively delicious!” Lilith cooed, eyes rolling as she took in Irradiance’s magic, the point where their magic intertwined now a deep magenta rather than red or purple. “I may just drain you where you stand right now!”

“No, Mother!” Leviathan protested, but Irradiance shook his head, pulling the prince’s attention toward the shorter stallion.

“No, Leviathan…” He managed, gasping through the process. Leviathan could swear his magic was growing brighter, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about me!” Irradiance’s eyes were screwed shut as he focused his energy on his horn, the dark purple crystals absolutely shining under the light of two magic sources. Leviathan thought it was beautiful.

“Oh, how sweet! You should really venture over to Chrysalis’s old hive if you truly hold this much love in your body, darling!” Lilith called to her son. “I refuse to hold a loving Changeling in my ranks any longer. Abbadon will make a better heir than you ever would.”

“Shut up,” Irradiance grumbled, voice sounding awfully strained. Lilith scoffed in shock, smiling as she looked at the purple stallion.

“What was that?” Her magic glowed brighter and Irradiance struggled to stay standing.

“I said… shut up. Don’t talk to him like that,” The deep purple magic emanating from his horn began to grow green around the edges, almost glitching as it grew deeper and deeper in color. It was almost scary.

Lilith’s expression faltered for only a second before she steadied herself, taking a step forward and hitting Irradiance with a harsher beam of magic. “Do you think you have the power here? Tell me again, who’s draining who, pony?”

Irradiance, holding back what seemed to be groans of pain, slowly opened his eyes to reveal purely white eyes glaring up at Lilith. Or at least, Leviathan imagined that’s where he was looking. It was hard to tell with no pupils to go off.

“What?!” Lilith shifted uncomfortably as the stream of magic slowly began to retreat, now turning deep purple as it traveled from Irradiance’s horn to Lilith’s. “What are you doing!?” She shouted, confused and angry at the slow shift in power. Irradiance laughed shakily, taking a step forward, groaning as he did so.

“You said it yourself… my magic is infinite, or whatever,” He breathed heavily through each fragment of a sentence and Leviathan felt his tears stop flowing as he realized that the stallion was gaining control of the situation, “That means… even if you do drain my magic… there’s always going to be more to take its place!” The green glow got brighter around the deep purple magic, black lightning began to flicker around Irradiance’s horn. Leviathan swore his hooves were glowing, now, too, but that could’ve been a trick of the light.

“What are you going on about?” Lilith panicked, taking steps backward as she tried to gain control with her magic, attempting to send more red magic toward the stallion, but it was no use. She was quickly becoming victim to bright purple attacking her horn, overwhelming her with the amount of magic that she was absorbing. “Stop! What is this?!”

“It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” Irradiance was grinning devilishly, white eyes wide as he looked at the queen, “My magic? Even though I can… ugh… replace it every time you drain it, sending an infinite amount of magic your way?”

“Stop!” Lilith cried.

“You wanted this!” Irradiance snarled, black lightning growing larger in amount as he stepped forward once more, causing Lilith to cower against the wall of the tunnel. Leviathan was in awe at the scene; he’d never seen his mother so vulnerable! “You wanted my magic, so here it is! Take it! Take all of it!” Irradiance blasted a wave of green and purple magic at the Changeling Queen, yelling as it attacked her horn, causing the queen to scream in pain.

“Stop!”

“Never! Not until you surrender! Not until you let me go!” Irradiance must have been channeling all his anger– from his childhood bullies to the betrayal Leviathan had caused him, he was fuming. Leviathan felt himself very attracted to the stallion before him at present, but he’d save those feelings for another day.

“No!” Lilith’s voice broke as she shut her eyes, attempting to stop utilizing her magic to cut off the connection, but it was to no avail. Irradiance had her cornered. “Leviathan, darling!” She called to the prince but Leviathan had chosen his side.

“Your Majesty!” Leviathan rolled his eyes as Abbadon ran into the tunnel, likely hearing the struggle from the forest and running to defend the queen. Traitor. The Changeling guard leaped at Irradiance but was swiftly stopped as Leviathan stood before him, taking the blow instead. Oblivious to the attempted attack, Irradiance continued to aim his magic and anger at Lilith, his magic glowing brighter than ever.

“Get off me!” Abbadon struggled, pinned below Leviathan. He squirmed, trying to kick and scratch and bite, but Leviathan, prince as he was, had trained to be a guard when he was younger. He wasn’t letting up.

“No!” Leviathan shouted at the Changeling below him. “Stop fighting! We’re winning this!”

Abbadon laughed drily, “Winning? Winning what? The fight to never feed again?”

“I’ll find a new way to feed!” Leviathan defended. But what was the solution? If they didn’t feed off of magic from ponies or other creatures… what would satiate the hive?

“You don’t believe that,” Abbadon scoffed, writhing again under the prince’s grasp. “You just want to save your little marefriend!” Leviathan saw red, swiftly kicking a hoof to the Changeling’s abdomen, silencing him. Turning around for a moment, he saw Irradiance continuing to overpower Lilith, nearly face to face with her now as the queen had crumpled to the floor with Irradiance merely steps away.

“Surrender and let me go,” Irradiance demanded, hooves shining under his magic, still burning bright.

“...never!” Lilith hissed, voice hoarse. Irradiance shook his head, disappointed at the response.

“Then you leave me no choice,” Leviathan watched in awe as Irradiance, fueled by years of anger, overpowered Lilith with his magic. The deep purple and green magic emanating from his crystalline horn grew more ferocious, enveloping the queen in a swirling vortex of power. Lilith’s red magic was absorbed and transformed, completely absent now as Irradiance’s curse overpowered her.

"No! Stop!" she cried, but Irradiance only intensified his assault, his white eyes gleaming with determination.

"You wanted this," he growled, his voice echoing through the tunnel, "Take all of it!" His mantra from earlier was repeated, forcing Lilith to become a victim of her own actions.

With a final, devastating blast of energy, the magic consumed Lilith entirely. Her screams of defiance turned to ones of pure agony as her form began to change. Her once formidable body stiffened, the vibrant colors draining away as her skin hardened into a dull, lifeless gray. Cracks appeared across her body, spreading rapidly until she was completely encased in stone. With a final shout, the last light of life drained from the mare’s eyes, leaving nothing but a statue where the queen had stood moments before.

Leviathan’s mouth was agape as he stared at the petrified figure of his mother. The battle was over, and Lilith, the once-terrifying queen, was no more.

“No! Your Majesty!” Abbadon cried, finally escaping Leviathan’s grasp as he ran over to the statue, in denial of the conclusion that had unfolded before him. Shaking in anger, Abbadon turned to the purple stallion that had done this, attempting to lunge at him once more, but was stopped yet again, this time by a glow of magic that surrounded his frame, stopping him mid-air.

“Absolutely not!” Leviathan exclaimed, stepping in front of his friend’s face, brows furrowed in irritation. “You won’t be serving anyone anymore. How does living as one of the prisoners you’ve been guarding for so long sound?”

Abbadon scoffed, spitting at the hooves of Leviathan. “Curse you! I serve only Queen Lilith!”

“As you wish,” Leviathan sighed, blasting Abbadon with the same magic Liltih had used earlier, encasing him in a red crystal, immobile and unable to escape until freed. Huffing in satisfaction at the sight before him, the prince quickly turned around at the sound of pained breaths behind him.

“Lev… Leviathan,” Irradiance gasped, the magic finally fading from his horn, eyes returning to their wonderful turquoise color the prince had become so accustomed to seeing. Struggling to stay on his hooves, the stallion collapsed into Leviathan’s waiting arms.

“Irradiance!” He exclaimed, looking around nervously. “Let’s get you out of here. We’ll find the others and get help.”

Lifting the stallion onto his back, Leviathan quickly took flight, red wings fluttering anxiously as he zipped out of the tunnels as fast as he could move. Flashes of cave, tree, swamp… and then… there! Up ahead were three familiar figures, all anxiously waiting near the tree they’d stayed in just two nights ago!

“Help!” Leviathan shouted to the trio. “He needs help! Hurry!” Slowing to a stop, Leviathan slowly rolled Irradiance off his back onto the softer forest floor, heart stuttering as he heard pained groans coming from the stallion.

“Oh, no,” Marigold breathed, quickly running up and examining the stallion before him. “How long has he been like this?”

“Not long. He defeated the queen and then he collapsed. I got us out as fast as I could,” Leviathan assured, looking around at the other two ponies anxiously. Absentmindedly, he wondered where Amber had gone.

“We need to get him to Canterlot! Fast!” Hibiscus decided, watching as the others nodded in agreement.

“I’ll get a stretcher. Cobalt and Emerald– er, Leviathan,” Marigold corrected, still unsure of exactly what had unfolded back at the hive, “Can fly Irradiance to the Canterlot hospital as fast as they can. I’ll go with Hibiscus and we’ll meet you two there.”

“Sounds good,” Cobalt nodded, face scrunched up in worry. “I hope he’s okay…” The purple stallion was still on the floor, eyes shut tight, mouth twisted in pain.

“He will be,” Leviathan decided. Marigold quickly ran into her tree-house and returned with a makeshift stretcher, which Hibiscus loaded the stallion onto with her pink magic, nodding at the other two stallions to pick him up and begin their trip to Canterlot.

“We’ll meet you there as soon as possible,” The pink Unicorn said confidently. “Make sure you take him to the nearest hospital the moment you make it to the city. Mention that he’s the missing pony from the academy!” Hibiscus’ face lit up with the idea. “There’s been memorials for him every year! The sudden appearance of a lost pony will surely mean quicker medical attention!”

“Got it!” Cobalt nodded, readying himself for flight before stopping for a moment as he realized the Changeling’s appearance. “Er, not to be weird, but…” He gestured to Leviathan.

“Oh!” With a flash, the prince once more returned to his pony disguise as Emerald Shield. “Got it. We can explain the Changeling thing at a later date.”

“Okay, now go!” Marigold shoved the stallions into the sky, urging them to get help quickly. “We’ll see you there!”

Securing the stretcher in their mouths, the pair of Pegasi took to the sky, soaring over the forest as quickly as they could.

Author's Note

btw the alternating POV between leviathan and irradiance wound up lining up SO WELL with each chapter! like i don't think i ever had to use one character twice in a row. it wrote so well. i love these ponies SO MUCH AGH