Dan:

“We have to tell Celestia about this,” I said walking to the door to the castle.

Discord flew down from his perch and landed in between me and the door, “What the hell happened back there?” He asked.

“Somehow Colin took us to Earth for a few seconds,” I said.

Discord looked over to Colin who was rubbing his neck, “Are you sure?”

“I know Earth when I see it,” I said flatly. “Move; I have to tell Celestia.”

“You can’t do that,” Discord said, still looking at Colin. “Not yet.”

“And why is that?” I asked annoyed by Discord.

“If what you say is true, then there is hope yet,” Discord said as he walked closer to Colin.

“What do you mean?” Colin asked.

“What happened when you went to earth?” Discord asked.

“I just didn’t want to be in the gardens, and then I wasn’t, if that makes sense,” Colin said.

“Why does that matter?” I asked.

“What was Earth like?” Discord asked, ignoring Dan.

“Alive. There was no evidence of a war. But It was Earth, I remember the hill we were on,” Colin said.

Discord turned around and marched off, deep in thought.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Go tell Celestia. I have to think,” Discord said as he walked away.

“Ok… That was weird,” I said as we watched Discord leave.

“We should go see the Princess now,” Colin said.

“Yeah,” I said as I opened the door to the Castle and walked inside with Colin following me.

Aidan:

I’m getting closer to Canterlot minute by minute. They won’t know what hit them. Dan and Colin are acceptable losses to the cause, just like anyone else. I’ve come to terms with that. Celestia, however, I will have more trouble killing. Not a problem, but may cause mental unrest after the deed is done.

I look at the massive castle built into the side of the mountain. From a realistic perspective it wasn’t possible that the heavy castle was still hanging. Magic works its wonders. For instance, I should have died a long time ago. Someone has other plans though. Prophet’s cause still seems a little too much. I am the darker side of Aidan, but I still have my limits. Whatever happened to him to magnify his anger still hasn’t happened to me yet.

I should be at the castle in a matter of hours, sometime in the afternoon. It will be worth the journey and murder, or so I’m told. The good side of me has been resisting, but with no powerful motivation and Prophet’s work he still can’t get through to the real world. He has come out a few times on the way. Mainly just tries to force Prophet out with brute force, which will never work.

I have sat and waited, being forced to watch as I run to Canterlot either to murder my only remaining friends, or to die. I have no idea what will come inside those walls. Prophet is still as confident as ever but I’d like to believe that there is some way that the others will stop this.

On many an occasion I have journeyed back to the moment Mendax was fading. ‘Remember this, Aidan, Pure Harmony is flawed... but it can be mended.’ The sentence just circled my head, repeating itself over and over. What on Earth, or Equestria rather, was he talking about? I thought Harmony was what the princesses sought above all else. How, then, could Pure Harmony be a bad thing?

Dan:

Colin, and I walked through the hallways and into Celestia’s throne room.

“Hey, Celestia,” I said walking in first with the Colin in tow.

“Hello, Dan, Colin.” She said. “What brings you from your ‘training’?” Celestia asked.

“Something fucked up happened, that’s what,” I said. I can appreciate her concern, but this was real. “Ever heard of traveling across worlds?” I asked with a hint of urgency.

“Well, no. Not besides the traveling that you three did,” She confessed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Celestia, when Colin and I were training I was winning and backed Colin into a corner. When he had no way out and with me choking him-

“YOU WERE CHOKING HIM?” Celestia asked, stunned. “WHAT FOR?!?”

I responded with a flat glare and kept going, “and with me choking him he took us to Earth.”

She looked shocked as she sat upon her throne. “But… how?”

“I was hoping you could tell us that, Celestia,” I said staring back at her dazed expression.

“Well, I suppose teleportation can occur over long distances. We have never been able to go across worlds though. The closest is the moon, and I reserve that for,” Celestia had a depressed look, “urgent matters.”

“It wasn’t our Earth, Celestia,” I said looking at the goddess. She had no clue what was going on here and was just beginning to grasp at what a powerhouse Colin must be. Hell, he can summon pure energy out of nothing! He is against the laws of physics, but I told those to piss off long ago. “It was different, alive. Ours was burned out and dead, this one was full of people and still functioning.”

The reality of the revelation sunk into Celestia as well as the two of us. “Colin, is this true?” She asked.

“Yes. Do you know what it means for us?” Colin asked.

“You are far more powerful than I had originally anticipated.” She said.

I looked at Colin, “Well, bout time you did something!” I teased. He responded by telekinetically flicking my ears. Hard.

Celestia, regaining our attention, said, “If Aidan is supposed to be the greater of the two, and you can travel trans dimensionally, then-“ Celestia looked down as more tears came.

“Oh FUCK ME!” I said marching off, understanding the implications that Celestia was making.

Colin:

I stood watching Dan walk off out of the throne room as I stood there, not knowing what to think. If Dan has only a fraction of his powers and I have less than Aidan, then this could all go south in no time. Prophet was supposed to be able to simultaneously kill Celestia, Luna, and the Elements. If Aidan is truly that powerful, then is there any hope for us?

“Princess?” I asked as she sat on her throne. I could tell that the little hope she had left was quickly diminishing. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine. Aidan promised, remember!” I said hoping to cheer her up.

“Oh, give it up Colin!” She yelled at me. Where the fuck did that come from! I was only trying to help! “You know as well as I do what Aidan is capable of. We don’t stand a chance anymore. I Should have killed you two when you got here, not held onto what I thought was possible. Prophet betrayed us before; I should have known that he would use you to ruin everything.” She said as she slumped in her throne.

Things around the room started to lift off the ground. My hair and fingers started to spark. There was a rush of blood in my ears, and my right eye started to twitch. “So that’s all this is to you? Just something to end your reign? You don’t care about the thousands of people Prophet has already killed? You don’t care about the one chance you have of stopping him for good? Well then, sorry for being the only one who STILL FUCKING CARES!” I yelled back to the forlorn princess. She was fucking dead to me at this point. Who gives a rat’s ass what happens to her? All I want to do is get Aidan back, and then we can leave. I took one look back at her before leaving, “You think Aidan really wanted this? He saw something in you. I know he did…” All the objects slammed back down as I left.

Dan:

I stormed through the now crowded halls. The largest fleet I had ever seen had amassed in the Castle. The courtyard had even more patrols and sentries. Celestia had called the remaining Elements of Harmony back to the Castle just in cast shit hit the fan. I walked around hoping to spot them somewhere.

I must have spent about thirty minutes walking through the hallways; they all looked the same and now looked less impressive as they had before. Finally deciding to ask one of the many guards walking about I asked, “Hey, you know where the Elements of Harmony are?”

“Yes, sir. They are all in the main hall, awaiting the Princess’ escort,” He replied.

“Thanks,” I said before walking off. If Aidan was as powerful as Celestia seems to believe, then we better hit him with everything we got, including the Elements. I hate bringing them into this; they had such easy lives in Ponyville. They didn’t have to put up with this doomsday shit all the time.

As expected the six ponies were in the main hall talking amongst themselves with worried looks. “Hey,” I said to get their attention.

All the ponies looked at me with happiness. I guess that I am the only person they talked to that wasn’t a faceless guard. “Hey, Dan!” Twilight said as I walked down the stairs.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“We were supposed to be greeted by Celestia, but it seems she’s a little busy at the moment,” She responded.

“Yeah, busy,” Definitely not cracking from the situation at hand. Oh, no; Princess Celestia is far too regal to do that… Fucking disgusts me. “How ‘bout we go see her?” I asked.

Twilight nodded and the rest started to follow me up the stairs and toward the throne room.

Colin:

I walked away from the throne room as I spotted Dan with six ponies and a baby dragon in tow. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“They are here to see Celestia,” Dan replied.

“Fuck that bitch,” I said as I walked past the ponies. Twilight looked at me in bewilderment; she had never heard me say something like that, nor towards the Princess. Celestia wasn’t much of one as far as I’m concerned.

“Jeez, what the fuck happened to you?” Dan asked as I turned back around.

“She doesn’t care about us, Dan. She just wants to use us now,” I said as I walked off to the only place I can be alone: that hidden cherry grove, where I found the knife. It was still in my pocket.

Dan:

“The fuck was that about?” I asked as I watched Colin storm off.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said.

“Maybe he’s jus’ feelin’ a little down,” Applejack added.

“Not my problem,” I said as I opened the door to the throne room and walked in as the ponies and Spike followed.

Celestia sat upon the throne in tears. Whatever Colin said to her really ruined her, badly. “Celestia?” I asked as I walked to the base of the steps.

“It’s all over, Dan,” She replied, not looking up.

“Not until I say so. Aidan is still in there! I know there is a chance at saving him. If we hit him with everything we got, we might have a chance. It’s a longshot, but what do you say?” I asked.

“He -can’t- be stopped,” Celestia replied irritated.

“That’s bullshit and you know it!” I said. I have no idea if he can be, I just don’t want to be the one who gives up on everything when we are so close, when Aidan is so close.

Discord came barging into the room and all of us looked at him. “Well hello there everypony, Dan! How good to see all of you again!” He said.

“The fuck is up with you?” I asked.

“Oh, I just have been thinking and stuff, nothing to worry yourself over, Dan!” Discord said as he snaked over next to me.

“Oh, really?” I asked.

“Why, don’t you believe me, Dan?” He asked.

“That doesn’t explain your –different- attitude,” I replied.

“Does anything ever explain me?”

“Got a point there…” I said. “Any plans for Aidan?” I asked.

His eyes lit up again, “Oh, yes! We kill him while Aidan resists prophet’s control!” He said excitedly.

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” I said.

His happy expression faded a bit, “Please, Dan, you know that there is no other way.”

I clenched my teeth and looked away in anger. Yes I know, but I don’t want to hear it. I can’t help but hope we can save Aidan.

“Fine,” I said flatly. “You game, Celestia? We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

She had stopped crying and the tears had dried up, “It’s no use, we’ve already lost.”

After everything she put us through, she decides to give up now? “Wonder what Aidan would say about that?” I asked glumly.

Aidan:

Listening to the constant fighting of Celestia and my friends really can put me in a shitty mood. Before fucking this whole place over Prophet wanted me to check up on his old study, see if anything of use was still there.

I snuck about the gardens quietly. Surprisingly there were no guards in this area, not that any of them were an issue before. I moved over to the Eastern side of the garden and crouched into the tunnel covered by the shrubbery. On the other side was a grove of cherry trees. In the middle of it was a clearing, with a large rock at its center.

“So what is it you want here?” I asked.

Answers, and maybe something to help us take over.

“What do you mean answers?”

Something tells me that Mendax left something here for me. Before I attempted to take over last time, we were close friends, like you and Colin.

I walked over to the rock in the middle of the clearing and noticed some hieroglyphs on it, none of which I could make out.

This will just take a second.

The rock began floating up in the air and revealed an overgrown staircase leading underground.

“Sneaky, I like that,” I said as I began walking down the staircase and the rock lowered to the ground behind me.

Torches magically lit as I walked along the path to Prophet’s old study. We came to an open room that lit up upon my entry.

“Was this all really necessary?” I asked.

I have my reasons.

“Sure ya do, buddy,” I said looking to a desk with notebooks filled with things that didn’t make any sense to me. After a few minutes of looking around, with prophet’s instruction, we found nothing out of the ordinary. Well, we found nothing out of the ordinary for an underground cave.

Shit! Nothing at all! Well... may as well get this show started. Head back up there and do what you do best.

“Bout time,” I growled.

I walked the cluttered path back up the stairs to the entrance. The rock again lifted to allow me to exit the lair.

“Well, fuck me.” I said.

Colin:

I stood wide-eyed at Aidan as he exited the hole under the rock. That must be prophet’s private lair or something. I couldn’t take any risks and sprouted my wings and flew as fast as I can back to the castle. Aidan was still following me shouting insults and taunts as I flew. He was fast on foot. Remembering that he could fly, I wondered why he didn’t then, oh well, better be thankful.

Aidan:

I caught up to Colin and grabbed the wings on his back, ripping them from him. That light shit stung like a motherfucker! That didn’t stop me from roundhouse kicking him through the door to the throne room. The door opened just in time for me to hear Dan say, “Wonder what Aidan would say about that?”

“Say about what?” I asked flashing a grin. This was going to be too fun!

Author's Note

To my readers. I need help making a decision. All you need to do is drop a comment, either yes or no. That is all. Thanks!