The End
[Blazing’s Entry]
Day six since we destroyed Harmony. Still no movement.
It turns out they heard Harmony’s screaming as I was tearing his soul to pieces. They didn’t know what was going on, but they heard it.
What I did was monstrous, and I can’t blame Cromach for being suspicious about me, nor for avoiding me ever since Joy dropped us off back in Manehattan. I thought about calling Joy to spend an evening together, but I decided against it in the end, mostly because I had a lot on my plate too, namely training.
I know, it’s boring, but by now Nightmare must be planning something. The amount of power she must have gained with Discord and Harmony dead is… unimaginable, really. One, true, omnipotent god. Maybe the Blades and I are the only things standing between her and the end of all life.
I almost wish it was already here. I against the Nightmare. No more waiting, no more uncertainty. Damn, I’ve been thinking about it day and night, barely able to sleep unless I demolished myself with training.
Thankfully, the needs of my body, mind, and potential continued survival aligned for once, and passing out day after day was a viable option.
[End Entry]
A food tray lands on the table I’m sitting at in the Silver Sun canteen. Strange, I usually sit alone these days. Oh well, whoever wants to eat here is free to do so.
“Blaze?” my ears perk up when I hear Cromach’s voice.
“Hi,” I give him a meek smile before digging back into my lunch.
“Uhh, mind if we… talk?”
And here it comes.
“Alright,” I chew the last bit of my lettuce, and face the griffon.
“You didn’t have to sigh like that...” he frowns, “I just… look… I watched you murder defenseless… fillies, that’s what it basically was. I don’t mind gore and eldritch horrors at this point, but… this? It’s not that you killed them, it’s… that you didn’t even think about saving them.”
“True, I didn’t,” I admit and have to look away when Cromach looks as if he’s about to cry, “I didn’t even try to explain to them what was going on. Young, stupid, impressionable. Every second we would have given them was a greater chance of them blasting one of you with the Elements. I would have remained untouched, Joy or you wouldn’t. They were between you and me, it’s that simple. At this point, when we’ve gone this far and survived this much to barely get ONE NIGHT together… well, I didn’t know I would be able to so easily snuff out a life so full of potential, but I was. On top of that, when I realized they were just some mares barely compatible with the Elements, only life force to fuel whatever Harmony’s plan was, i knew he wouldn’t let them live, and in the end I was right.”
“You’re the alicorn of Hope, Blaze. If they didn’t have any after Harmony got them in his clutches, you were supposed to be the one to give them one last chance.”
I turn back to my plate.
“There’s actually nothing I have to say about that. You’re wrong, that’s all.”
“I’m mad at you.”
“I don’t care,” as soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize it’s completely true.
I actually don’t care what he thinks about me regarding that. A chill runs down my spine.
“W-What?” he leans backwards as if struck.
Now I have to carefully choose my words so that he doesn’t misunderstand.
“You are free to love me. You are free to leave me. You are free to do anything you want. I am happy whenever you are with me. I’m unhappy, whenever you aren’t. I’m happy when you’re happy. I’m sad when you’re sad. Same goes for Joy,” I take a deep breath, “HOWEVER, if what I have to do to carve a future with you results in the exact opposite, there’s nothing I can do about that. I’m not in a position to choose. Right now there’s only one path ahead for me, and that is fighting Nightmare. If I have to torture and slaughter foals I don’t know to defeat her, I’ll do it. No second thoughts, no doubts. I know that the old ‘becoming what you hate’ cliche is applicable here, but I’m far past the point where I can quit. If that makes you hate me, so be it. You deserve a lover who wants to live for you with all his heart, not one who is just willing to die for you.”
“I… see,” he breathes out. I flinch when I feel his foreleg wrap around my shoulders, “You’re broken, you know that?”
“Yep.”
“You don’t care, do you?”
“Nope, I am who I am. Wherever that path leads me, I’ll end there.”
He pats my back.
“You used to overthink things a lot, now you’re not thinking about the future at all.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I can’t plan ahead. I'm too tired to think.”
“And here I thought you learned something from what I told you on the airship.”
“I’m using all the time I’ve got. You were the one avoiding me.”
“Ouch. Not pulling any punches today, are you?”
“Sorry,” I finish my meal, “I just want this to be over.”
“Do you think we can win?”
“That’s not your kind of question.”
“We’re both full of surprises today, it seems.”
“Heh. You know, we… might. I don’t know how much more powerful will Nightmare be now that the others are gone, but Harmony barely stood a chance. On top of that, said chance was killing you two and then boring me to death.”
“Then… should Joy and I… disappear for some time?”
“No point. If you’re away from me, she’ll get you first before going after me. If you’re nearby, she’ll drag you into it anyway. Although, let me repeat myself - that’s not your kind of question.”
“I guess your… fatalism is freaking me out a bit. It’s different than before. No hope that this is already over, no way out of this... ”
“Alright,” I give him a bright and completely fake smile, “We’ll win. The Blades have proven powerful and effective, and will work again. If not perfectly, then at least they’ll make our life easier.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes, I am.”
***
“NOTHING, Bucket? Absolutely nothing? The literal god of death, the will behind the full force of entropy is now completely unrestrained, and there’s nothing? Everything I’ve read, everything I’ve experienced, every worry of everyone ever fighting against the gods was that their power would go unchecked and destroy the world almost immediately. What the hay, Bucket?!”
The robot ignores my shocked tone.
“No noticeable increase in murder cases or crimes over the last weeks at all. No public unrests. No new wars brewing. No unexplained disappearances. Nothing out of ordinary. I used my Black Ops contacts, Silver Sun agents, Equestrian Intelligence Service as well. Princess Twilight personally pushed my information requests through to them. Queen Nightshade tapped into the feelings of Corrupted from Crystal Empire to Manehattan. No new chaos, no new malice. Nothing the Corrupted have seen and she described to my agents proved anything.”
Why is she lying in wait? Is she shocked that I actually managed to get rid of Harmony?
How long will this take? Do I have to wait months to have a chance to end this? YEARS?!
Is she… afraid? Did her plans crumble when she saw how powerful the Blades really were?
Was Starswirl correct when he said the gods would begin sending their minions at you instead of facing you directly?
Is that it, Mistake? Is Nightmare really hiding and preparing her assassins?
Honestly, if I was a god and saw what happened to Harmony, I would be pissing myself in terror.
But that doesn’t explain the lack of her influence. The whole problem was with a god not being able to control all the power, and then destroying everything because of it. Harmony and his unification, Discord and uncontrolled chaos. Pigs flying, houses turning into grains of sand, ponies eating ponies. THAT DID HAPPEN UNDER HIS TEMPORARY RULE.
“Nightmare was supposed to be the worst one. So why is there nothing happening?”
“Because watching you stew and slowly go crazy was far too much fun for a while, my favourite pet.”
Bucket’s horn flares up with energy, immediately conjuring a barrier around him.
And you forgot your little sword things, making you so easy to crush here and now. Go on, rush for them. I’ll amuse myself with your toy soldier here in the meantime. If he proves fun enough, I might not go after you so soon.
“RUN, BLAZING!” yells Bucket as his barrier shatters into pieces which fade away.
As much as I’d like to stay here and fight still invisible Nightmare, Bucket is right. I crash through the door surrounded by a shield of fire, and run as fast as I can towards my room where I keep one of the Blades.
The other two are the problem. What sounded like a great idea at first - to keep the Blades separate when I’m not using them, having one on me, giving one to Joy, and one to Cromach just for the most basic protection - now backfired horribly.
“Joy, JOY, JOY!” I scream, galloping.
“Way ahead of you!” she appears out of nowhere, two Blades flying towards me, “But I couldn’t get the third one. I can’t find Cromach!”
Ignore the chill running down my spine.
Ignore the liquid dread filling my veins.
If Joy couldn’t find Cromach...
Then it means he can’t be in his room so it’s pointless to waste time looking there.
With the Blades firmly in my telekinetic grip, I turn around and run back to Bucket’s office.
Only now I realize how dark it’s become within the few minutes of me running back and forth.
Aaand the screaming from the outside.
No time. Bucket first, apocalypse later.
The robot’s mangled and burned chassis is all that remains. His legs are hanging purely on strands of his living cables, his head is nearly ripped off, and there’s no light in his eyes. He doesn’t react when I lean down to examine him at all.
“Oh gods...” I hear Joy looking out of the open window whisper.
I dart towards her, freezing as I take in the doomsday outside.
This went to Tartarus really fast...
“No, just one god...”
The sky is billowing with dark clouds, their rims glowing brightly with lightning every few seconds. Manehattan is burning, black fire consuming stones and leaping as if alive onto screaming ponies running by, their flesh rotting and turning into ash.
Shockwaves of power radiating from some point I can’t see pulsate in the air. Recruits, civilians I can see fleeing behind the destroyed walls and inside crumbling buildings drop with each of the deadly shockwaves.
Underneath us, the waves break against something, though. A wall of corrupted tentacles tightly knit together which burn away immediately but regrow in the next instant.
Heavy Hoof is protecting the retreat of a group of survivors hiding behind his wall. He’s barking orders which I can’t make out over the accompanying screaming, moaning, and shouting of the living and the dying.
Bright light bursts out from nearby when Heavy trips after yet another of his barriers disintegrates, stopping the next wave of dark flames from devouring everypony. Cross, levitating a shining sword in front of him which seems to repel the power flies towards the Corrupted like a bullet, and helps him back on all fours. A quick kiss on the cheek later, they’re retreating together again, shielding the group with them.
“CROSS, CROSS!” I scream, hoping he’ll hear me over the cacophony of agony.
He does hear me and shouts something back. However, I don’t have his enhanced senses, and I can’t make out a word, so I shake my head, levitating Bucket up and dangling him out of the window.
“Joy, I’m gonna need your help. I can’t throw him so far. He’s too heavy.”
“No problem,” she nods, and I can feel a vastly stronger telekinesis join my own.
The two of us throw Bucket towards Cross. Our accuracy is off, but the "changeling" still disciplined enough to wear his batpony disguise flies up and snatches the robot from the air on his own before returning back to support Heavy.
He shouts at me again, I tap my ears and shake my head. He nods, and points towards the front of the mansion.
Some of what he said was “Cromach”.
Damn it, why did Bucket have to make his office overlook the side lawns, and not the front?
Without a word, I turn and run again, this time towards the front balcony of this mansion wing.
It’s not even carnage. Carnage suggests blood, gore, pieces of ponies… but this is raw annihilation. Bright souls hanging in the air, screaming from the top of their nonexistent lungs as their bodies underneath feed patches of dark fire. My head feels as if it’s going to burst, but none of that matters.
On the front lawn, three floors down, Nightmare, the simple pony made of nebulae, darkness, and stars, is laughing at one solitary slumping griffon holding the final Blade in his talons.
Cromach looks exhausted, but not hurt. That’s not really a victory. Nightmare’s mere presence is draining life out of everything without proper protection, and one Blade is nowhere close enough.
I vault over the railing.
Third floor.
Screw third floor.
The blast of phoenix fire as I land burns away the invisible cloud of Nightmare’s presence weakening Cromach.
“What took you… so long… buddy… heheh…?” he groans, letting the Blade go as Mistake’s telekinesis grips it.
“Finally, I was just about to make him scream properly so that you could hear it all the way inside.”
Pure blackness spreads out from Nightmare. When I blink, we’re suddenly nowhere. Just the three of us and the god clearly visible against the vast expanse of inky nothing.
The final battle. Three mortals against a god.
”Aaaah, finally. All threats within my grasp.”
Nightmare smiles. That simple pony-like form is more terrifying than all the shadow dragons, tentacles, or the furious draconequus before, especially when I can feel the looming presence everywhere around.
”I use the term threat very loosely, but you’re all about false hope, Blazing Light, aren’t you?”
Not falling for this bullcrap anymore, I lash out with my quickly fading divinity now that I’ve got all three Blades again in hope for a first attack.
The invisible blow makes Nightmare recoil.
”Such power, such potential wasted by the use of trinkets, but you wanted them so much. Who could resist playing with you?”
Wait, what?
Don’t listen to her. No matter what she says, you’re here for only one reason.
Right.
”You’re such a killjoy, Mistake.”
She knows about me… she can hear me… she can feel me… I can feel her searching...
”I am everything here.”
Alright, focus all my remaining power on her, and-
-do nothing. She doesn’t even flinch.
I grin as my tracing spell flickers and dies. She can hear Mistake “talk”, but she doesn’t know what I’m thinking. How that works is beyond me.
”Now, you didn’t think we’d just stand around, did you? You are supposed to amuse me with your final attempt. Discord was right all along, you mortals are rather fun to play with. Sadly, you break too easily.”
Suddenly, without anything changing, I’m some ten pony lengths away from both Joy and Cromach, each one of them on a different side. Cromach on the right, Joy to the left.
”Only you are ‘protected’ by the Blades. I can snuff either of them out in an instant. Who are you going to save? The griffon, or the alicorn? Ten seconds.”
“If you’re so powerful, you’ll kill them both before I get anywhere,” I scowl-
”As my deceased brother would say - where would be the fun in that? But I will do so if you DON’T choose. Five seconds.”
Blazing-
SHUT UP! THIS ISN’T YOUR CHOICE, MISTAKE.
Memories… too many memories with both of them… and still so little.
You know what I’m about to do, Mistake.
I do, and it makes perfect sense to me.
Left.
Joy raises her head, eyes wide in disbelief when she realizes I’m running towards her. However, as I throw a quick glance towards Cromach, I know with absolute certainty that nothing anyone has ever done to me or will ever do comes even close to the pain I see in his eyes.
I flash him a grin, pouncing at Joy and summoning my rapidly returning divinity into a shield around the two of us.
How can I do that?
Because Cromach knows me the best, and catches the two thrown Blades, one in each foreleg, in one fluid movement sheathes one into the sheath on his back, and then snatches the final one Mistake threw a moment later from the air.
“At this point,” I growl, “I want all or nothing, bitch.”
Nightmare’s genuine laughter comes as a shock. The god’s screechy voice carries through the vast emptiness, as if until now everything was boring and bland, and this entire situation was the perfect joke that made her day.
Suddenly, it cuts off.
”Nothing it is then.”
Once again, I find myself away from them without moving a muscle. I know what’s about to happen, and I know I have only one option if I want to stop it. The Blades are too far, so I focus as hard as I can, draw all my returning power, and rush towards the stationary god.
It’s like crawling through torso-high mud.
Black tentacles surround Cromach who slashes at them, dispersing few, then he freezes. I can feel his muscles strain uselessly against invisible grip. The tentacles disappear, respawning around Joy and grasping her legs.
A literal thunderstorm crossed with highly localized rain of fire surrounds the alicorn, completely ineffective against the binding tendrils.
I’m getting closer. I need to hurt Nightmare. Joy can’t-
*Crunch.*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Joy shrieks as the tentacles squeeze, breaking her legs in multiple places and crushing her barrel.
Her magical storm disperses, and I’m helpless to move properly no matter what I do, no matter what force I summon. All I can do is watch as the tentacles drag the crippled alicorn down into the infinite darkness which closes above her.
”One down. Two to go.”
Her head snaps back towards me. I’m sure it’s just for effect. She winks as I growl, trying to get closer, my divinity running like orange fire through my coat.
”You keep doing you.”
With a dismissive wave of a hoof towards me, she looks at Cromach never ceasing his struggling.
The Blade in his sheath slides out, floating towards Nightmare. I can see his forelegs slowly stretch, and the two other Blades begin to tremble.
He doesn’t want to let go. He knows it’s his only chance to stay alive.
No, his only chance to stay with me.
”Do you remember all those horrible nightmares in which you are too slow to stop something horrible, too weak to raise your hoof? Feeling familiar?”
Cromach whimpers, but otherwise just grits his beak when his first talon breaks.
Second. Third. Fourth.
One Blade is pried out of his grip, but he doesn’t let go of the other.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
”Tenacious. I give you that.”
A massive black tentacle wraps around his barrel and slams him hard against what constitutes for ground here.
He finally screams as even his body breaks under the impact, his voice quickly turning into gurgling from doubtlessly shredded lungs.
I. CANT. MOVE.
The same tentacles which killed Joy devour him as well.
I can’t…
All my strength leaves me.
What happened?
I restart my tracing spell, hoping against all hope it’s some illusion, that they’re around.
My magical vision shows mist which shifts and glows. Familiar mist.
Void’s map...
Cromach, Joy.
The mist swirls, dots of souls moving in front of me. Golden souls of those marked by divinity. Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Zephyr, Magnus, more and more minor souls…
No Joy.
No Cromach.
Not even their souls.
Nothing is left.
I shut my vision off.
”Oh don’t be so down. You never stood a chance in the first place, and neither did they.”
She’s just trying to rattle you.
After what just happened… do you really think she’s lying?
”Oh Mistake, I guess demonstration is in order then.”
Nightmare’s never-ceasing smile falters only for a moment before…
...the Blades shatter into tiny pieces which float on the ground like a shiny metal rain.
”You didn’t actually think I would give mortals the power to destroy a true god, did you?”
“But… Harmony?” I breathe out, slumping down.
”Oh, the Blades were supposed to be extremely effective against our suppressed forms, don’t get me wrong. In the end, you were the judge who would choose how the world would end. Two of us would fall before your power, or anyone wielding the Blades, really. The final one, however, would care very little about mortal materials, trinkets, or you.”
“What if... you fell first?” I ask, not really interested in this anymore.
”No risk, no fun. I learned a lot from Discord over the ages before you so graciously… found and opened his hiding place for me. The only thing that remains is your final choice.”
“I have some choice?” I chuckle, “Yeah, screw you.”
”This body is poorly suited for that. Now come on, give me your best shot. Show me how much power YOU have, not the Blades, but you.”
My ears pop as reality rips in half where Nightmare is standing, darkness draining away through a purple wound.
Nightmare screams as her body is sucked through the tear, her voice growing weaker and weaker.
I breathe out, feeling the divine pressure all around me weaken a little.
Nightmare reappears, dusting herself off.
”Alright, I wasn’t expecting that. Rays of nullifying power, true death, some physical attacks, but not this. You are…far too smart for your own good.”
“So end this, once and for all. THEY are gone. Why should I care that you destroy the world now?”
”Which brings us to your choice. I like a good and amusing pet. You’ve proven to be both. I can bring them back. I mean, not exactly perfectly, but you’ll get your peaceful little spot in the world. However, the rest of existence will die under my power. Painfully, and for my amusement. Your little pets will, of course, know about this deal. How long before they start resenting you? How long before they blame you for it? How long before YOU can’t handle the pain?”
She chuckles.
”Will you really sacrifice literally everything for them, or something that looks and feels almost like them? Or will you bet everything on the off chance that I’m toying with you and their mangled bodies are lying somewhere in the burning ruins of your Silver Sun mansion, still clinging to hope that you’ll save them before they bleed out? Fake happiness, or real misery?”
“I’ll...”
I don’t think she knows I can see souls, that I know both of them are dead. Whatever constructs she might make… it will be better than being immortal and alone.
I’ll fight for whatever illusion, whatever false hope, whatever lies I can tell myself when I go to sleep, as long as it means it’s with them…
…or something close enough.
Now I finally understand what Joy did to your mind when you let her change you, and so does Nightmare, otherwise she wouldn’t offer you exactly this.
Huh? What?
She made you unable to give up your dream to be with them. The changes she made to your head simply didn’t allow you to give up, to give them up. You would unknowingly do anything to be with her and Cromach, or any other twisted and broken reflection of them you can get.
I… I felt like giving up a lot over the past months.
You never did, mostly because of the orders she planted into you. Nightmare is offering you fake peace and internal suffering. You know what Joy would want? You know what Croamch loved? YOU. You didn’t throw everyone under the cart for them. You didn’t let Twilight get killed by Harmony even if it would have made the fight easier. They loved you, because deep down you’ve grown into a responsible pony. You loved them, but not blindly anymore, and the challenge was what they wanted as well. They weren’t weak.
Nightmare growls.
”You annoying pest! Let the idiot think for himself.”
A beam of ghastly green light hits my barrel, and I feel something being taken away. I blink as daggers of pain pierce my horn. When I open my eyes, shocked Mistake is standing by Nightmare’s side in all his grey, blue-maned, pink-eyed glory, every colour dim and gloomy.
She physically slaps him so hard he drops.
“Owwww,” he clutches his muzzle, crying. We’ve been through this once already. An entity not used to physical body can’t handle pain at all.
“I will fight you until I die.”
Nightmare sighs, shaking her head.
”This could have been so much fun without this walking, talking, and most importantly meddling mental disorder. I think punishment is way overdue. You promised him he would taste your griffon friend’s tentacle dick, but alas… Cromach cured himself, and then died. Let’s not make you a liar, toy.”
Tentacles sprout from the ground, twisting together and forming a pole half the thickness of Mistake’s barrel. The unicorn flies upwards, lining up with it.
“Wait, no. He can’t-”
”Handle pain due to being incorporeal all this time? That’s kind of the point, really.”
She impales sobbing Mistake onto the spike os hard its bloody tip comes out of his mouth.
It… stops the short-lived screaming.
The gurgling isn’t better.
”Good job, me. That’ll take a while. Now for the poor helpless you, all alone. Let’s make it interesting.”
I… can’t even say anything. I’ve been unable to move, unable to harm her, unable to do anything. All the power I’ve gained, artefacts I shed blood for, friends I gathered.
It all meant nothing.
A mortal against a god.
But… Joy wanted me to fight. Cro would want me to fight.
If there’s an afterlife, I’ll at least meet them soon.
“All or nothing.”
”HAHAHAHA! YES, EXACTLY. Let’s finish what we started in the old Griffon Empire. I throw everything at you this time. Can you hold it? Can you use it against me? No Cromach there to save you this time. It won’t be a trickle of my power now, but I’m sure you’ve learned much as well.”
“Go for it, I don’t ca-”
The torrent of freezing dark energy hits me, breaking against my divine shield.
It’s absurd, but less than I expected.
I let some power through, taking it for myself and augmenting my own.
More and more and more.
I feel so full, yet I can still take more.
I can-
”Good job, but this is less fun than I expected. Too long.”
The torrent is now a crushing tidal wave.
Everything is freezing.
I’m down on the invisible ground.
All I can see are my forelegs. My charred forelegs, more bones and burned flesh than any real form.
I’m not breathing. I don’t feel much anything anymore.
”Torch of false hope… snuffed out.”
I can’t close my eyes, but everything is hazy anyway.
For one bright, shining moment I thought there was a future for me. I must have really gone insane near the end.
EPILOGUE
Zeph’s...
Three alicorns sat in the dim light of a dusty old diner, lines of sunlight barely getting through the blinds on the windows.
One was the bartender Zephyr, the orange and brown one with mane like flowing wind, cleaning a levitating mug. One was an alicorn who barely visited this place, but had been spending more time here recently - the purple princess herself, the alicorn of Magic, Twilight Sparkle currently staring into a glass of something sticky and doubtlessly strong enough to strip paint. The final one looked somewhat shabby compared to the others. His white coat didn’t glisten nor did his golden mane look any ethereal whatsoever. He was sitting alone in the corner with a glass of blueberry juice.
The bell above the door rang as a newcomer entered. She looked like a villain - red mane, red eyes with slit pupils, and even the damn bat wings on top of all that. However, there was no insanity or evil in her features, only grim determination.
Joy walked up to the white alicorn, ignoring Twilight’s surprised stare and Zephyr narrowing his eyebrows in suspicion.
“Magnus?” she asked.
“Who’s asking?” the alicorn
“Joy, the alicorn of Lust.”
“Oh, you took over after Scream died.”
“Something along those lines, yes.”
Magnus looks around, clearly nervous.
“Umm, what do you need? Don’t get me wrong, I know I must be unreasonably attractive even to an alicorn of Lust, but most mares don’t… see that on the first glance.”
Joy’s expression stayed locked.
“I want the final spell.”
Magnus’ eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know who told you what, but alicorns learn that one on their own when they’re ready.”
“I am ready.”
“Clearly you aren’t.”
“Name your price. You are the only alicorn ever who lost his divinity and retained his power and immortality purely through his knowledge of magic.”
“Look, lady, I already told you-”
“ANY price.”
“Look, throw yourself into the sun if you want to die that much.”
“I want it to work. No chance of coming back,” Joy bit her lower lip, “I will do anything you want, just help me stop this nightmare. Anything… please...”
Magnus suddenly smiled.
“Alright, I want you to be my complete sex slave. You will do anything, transform into anything, and perform any deed I want. And I’m into really weird stuff, you know, like ripping your cutie mark off, replacing it with ones you’ll need to satisfy me the best-”
“Deal,” said Joy flatly, the empty look in her eyes not changing for a second.
“Maggie,” Zephyr facehoofed, of course listening to the conversation, “Ah know ye barely know yer way around mares, ye shy sod. Miss Joy, he’s kiddin’, he’s always had a meltdown whenever Scream as much as whispered in his ear.”
“The spell,” repeated Joy.
“I… I… you’re not kidding,” Magnus finally looked into her eyes before hanging his head, staring into his glass, “Alright, I’ll teach you… honestly. I’m not into all what I said, I mean. Mmm… can I just, umm, get a kiss?”
“Yes,” she leaned in, and kissed Magnus on the lips, his ears drooping and blush growing on his face. Joy’s dead expression, on the other hoof, didn’t change.
“Umm, thank you,” mumbled Magnus.
“I will find you soon, and we’ll begin,” said Joy before disappearing.
***
Cromach saluted, facing Bucket in his temporary seaside office in Manehattan. The Silver Sun mansion along with a quarter of the city had been devastated, and living creatures entering the dead zone found themselves weakening in a matter of hours.
“Good luck, sir Bucket,” he gave the robot a small smile, “Silver Sun is yours. Whether or not it means anything I don’t know. Nightmare is out there, and the only reason anypony is still alive is that it’s more fun to watch us suffer and tremble. The world might end in an hour, who knows? All I know is that I’m done.”
“Thank you for everything, Cromach,” Bucket bowed deeply, “I… can’t imagine how you must feel. I can forget, or archive memories. I can distance myself from pain, or override my needs. I am not you. Just know that everyone in the world… there is no one who doesn’t owe their life to you. You should be proud… of everything.”
Cromach wiped his eyes, and his voice cracked.
“That’s the thing, Bucket… I simply don’t care.”
With that, the griffon left. Bucket knew that stopping him would be impossible.
***
Joy stood in the center of her cavern, divine energy swirling around her. Then her horn flashed, and a simple white doorway appeared mid-air.
Her freedom. The pinnacle of alicorn magic, the power to end her divine existence without a chance for rebirth. Through the gate, and then the pain would finally stop.
”Taking the easy way out? I don’t think so.”
“Go away or kill me. There’s nothing you can steal from me anymore, nothing that matters anyway,” Joy didn’t even turn around.
”Completely broken? Let’s see if I can squeeze a little bit of rage from you.”
Joy suddenly found herself in the middle of a forest, black Corrupted figures circling around her.
“You want to see me get boned? Go watch some clop or something.”
”Something much better. How about… I make them corrupt you? You’ll lose the ability to think, to use your little escape tool. No proper brain, only unleashed lust given physical form, and in the middle of it… the hint of knowledge of what you lost, the single memory, all the pain you’ll never get rid off, because corruption will keep you alive. FOREVER.”
Joy growled, but knew full well that there was no way out of this. She didn’t have the power to stop Nightmare.
She sat down, hanging her head.
Maybe, maybe she deserved that for letting her lover down. Maybe eternity of deep mental torture was exactly what she earned for her failure.
”Now unleash your real lust, alicorn. Lust, and never forget!”
Joy’s brain melted as the horn rot set in, ecstasy burning through every fiber of her being, wiping away Joy and Choking Darkness. Without the important part of course - the agony of her loss, the dull, hollow pain that crushed her completely in the end.
Nightmare made sure the broken creature would remember that.
***
Equestrian wilderness was no place for travellers these days, at least if they had a place to get to. Thankfully, Cromach had no such goal in mind. Day after day he fought wild Corrupted with his bare talons, surviving on whatever tainted food he could find, sometimes even on fresh Corrupted flesh.
Yet, time after time, corruption failed to end his misery, failed to wipe his mind, and failed to stop the nightly repeating nightmares of loss and failure.
Maybe today was the day? At least that’s what he thought when a pack of eight Hunters surrounded him in a forest clearing, teeth bared.
He cracked his talons.
“Alright, boys. If you get my flesh or my mind, all of us win.”
The Corrupted took one look at him as he advanced towards them…
...and fled.
Cromach sighed.
”Did you think I was done with you?”
“Think? No. Give a damn? Neither.”
Every cell of Cromach’s body boiled with crippling agony in an instant, as if filled to bursting with raw burning energy.
“Screw… you...” he groaned as his beak cracked under his spasms, “This is still… nothing… compared to...”
Finally.
Darkness.
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Why did you end it like that?
8818400
Because no matter what I do it can never be enough, and I'm just too tired to keep trying.
Hmmm... not bad, not bad ). The Discord chapters have questionable ... episodes..., but overall it's a decent evil finish for the story. ^_=
8823833
The entirety of this thing is questionable. :/
I'm sad to see it end this way, but the cycle has to end somehow.
Surprise another resurrection?
I'm going to go read Dawn and Shine of the Silver Sun now, stalled them for a long time.
8826657
Surprise resurrection by whom? Who is left? Even if Blaze had the strength to keep going, what would be the point? There isn't much left driving me forward.
8827051
So, no more motives to drive Blaze or you forward. The cycle ends here and I assume along with it, the series. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
8827158
It lasted for almost 5 years. It's time for a break.
Anyway, I'll finish off the changeling story, and then we'll see.
9415169
There will be enough time to rest when we are dea- oh wait...
9415170
I'm just writing down what happens. Don't look at me as if I'm somehow responsible.
9415213
You've read enough Imbalanced to know that whenever something good happens, it's bait. Wait, which part is supposed to be the good part?
9547563
There are a lot of misconceptions there. The three gods are the ultimate beings of the plane of reality (in theory, a Discord from another plane could come visit, but would have no local divine power to draw from). However, they aren't omnipotent, because each of them is naturally suppressed by the power of the other two, otherwise their element would go haywire. At this point of the story it's not clear what would happen if one or two of the gods were destroyed. As to why the gods are fighting more directly on Equus, it's more about sentimental value, because their most successful creations (alicorns) got made there to mess with each other originally, and after the Pact of Harmony they were limited in effect so they chose the planet as a battleground.
TLDR: There is nothing more powerful within the multiverse than the three gods, so the reality hopping conqueror was a doomed idea from the start, but I didn't want to spoil that too much.
9547654
You know... I never really thought about that. I kinda considered Bucket being immune to corruption, but considering to what degree he is biological, that wouldn't be completely true.
9556858
Out of all of them, old Dickrod has been the most helpful.
9547959
One more book down!
Now for a few more questions. If the ultimate trio can't drift from their reality without taking a drastic power hit being away from the cosmic forces of their plane which they embody/draw strength from, would other divine beings have the same limitation? Drawing power from a force like lust or love or hope, but only on their native reality's manifestations of that force, and being relatively impotent in another reality?
Will the two gods killed have successors, or was their divinity nullified (absorbed in Discord's case and possibly destroyed in Harmony's case)? I can see that being spoilery though.
Is Blazing Light dead for real? (
Nah, just kidding)I'm sure I'll learn more about the Silversmiths and how and why the gods tried and failed to wipe them out in good time.
I actually can't think of anything else off the top of my head. The cosmic order seems to be fairly clear now with your explanations, with the most primal forces on top and growing consciousness followed by progressively less powerful forces as differentiation and emersion occur until you have just ponies, with power representing one pony. (
9558630
Oh god... are you a masochist?
Well, it'll take a looooong time for me to chew through Legacy of Light, so... see you after MLP G4 has ended.
I don't think so, because while let's say Cadance is the alicorn of love, she's not powerful enough to "be" love if it makes sense, so CandyMILF from another reality would have enough power even in here to work with. The 3 gods embody/ied their aspects completely. I think of it like this - alicorns are like x% ponies with 100-x% added divine power depending on their connection. Gods are 99% divinity and 1% the physical body. I see it in this way - the more powerful the divine entity is in its reality, the weaker would the intruding version be. Of course, alicorns like Scream or Luna don't really care if their divinity is taken away, since their power is the result of magic, and they would be pretty much as strong elsewhere as they are at home, but without the resurrection and natural durability potential.
Huh, I was hoping this was clear - with their death, Nightmare got full reign of the power of creation and will, and is now a complete god omnipotent within this reality. Considering some limitations, she's likely not omniscient, but not by far.
May he finally rest in potatoes.
Or in a completely different book. (Shameless Halls of the Changeling King plug.)
That was kinda Void's plan. Even the alicorns can be defeated by mortal alliances and stuff, but gods "can't" in a normal way, so very long time ago he started making a plan, and recently believed Blaze would be the one to finish it so much that he set him up for success.
Well, almost...
9608662
I actually spilled my drink when I read that
9608714
Unless something horrible happens.
9608754
That's how my cat tries to eat me when she gets too loving.
9609874
He will find out, eventually.
9609925
You know, you just get resurrected by a suicide pact necromantic ritual, and they send you bills already.
9610004
- Blaze was actually training the Royal Guard while he was part of the Nightguard if I recall correctly. He couldn't see well enough at night to train batponies.
- Female yes, male no, those guys are assholes.
- Don't let the font fool you.
9610033
- Sleep is a precious resource to be tresured.
9610080
- Right now, his power is fluctuating, and his eyeless vision had been getting better and more detailed over time. I can't remember!
- No time for screwing around.
9610124
- Life is just a set of changes and transformations, mental and physical.
- Certainly not this way.
9610168
- Corruptors are alrady more liquid than solid, but I wouldn't drink those.
9610230
- There must always be the line!
- vine, whine, wine... there are always all three in my stories.
9610566
- It doesn't matter. I use the griffon speliing, but gryphon, griffin, it's all the same, really.
- Damn Harkonnen bombed them.
9610268
- Flurry is the alicorn of Not Being In Any Of My Stories Yet.
- Poor Guidie.
- Oh yes, the dreamling hive flourished eventually. Then shrooms happened.
9610443
Sooo many voices in one's head. It's like a radio.
9610490
- Hell yes.
- Come on. Cro would never do it.
9610634
- Nah, mind control. Possibly both. I recall being on a huge Code Geass kick where a very similar scene on much smaller scale plays out.
- Yeah, he should be seeing Void's memories do to the tranferred divine power. Blaze was purified by Harmony so he lost his and wouldn't have been able to return without it.
- Taking over the mantle of Death.
- What does this... h a p p y thing mean?
9610650
- This certainly does sound like Void's memory.
9610660
- It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's an orbital ion cannon!
9610860
It's not only font, he should be the new alicorn of death, so his power is from Nightmare. But yeah, who knows.
Ok, I will not say anything about battle for Crystal Empire.
Yes, it is, but... the situation... That thing a tough, and I just don't know what say about that.
Oh, no, I know - who was the third?
9619625
Well, he can't know.
9619704
- I reall don't remember any particular dr. Who reference.
- The game reference is very old and cryptic.
9619778
- I always take the worst part of everything to joke about.
- Indeed!
9619819
- Well, yes, but it was all under Cromach/Blaze at the time.
- Becoming a mushroom, a fate worse than death.
9619856
- Waaaaaaiting...
9619897
It wasn't, but I can see it being one.
9619939
The similarity between Void and Blaze is not a secret, really.
9620833
I know it wasn't, but there is opportunity that shouldn't be missed
9621338
Oh god...
9621457
- The couriers come from a long bloodline of the best delivery ponies starting with Derpy.
- Yep, symbolism.
- The willpower of the dreamlings, considering what they have gone through including the destruction of a planet, is legendary. No other character in my canon is even remotely close to Guiding.
9621706
Blaze slips back into old habits when nervous. I mean, who doesn't relapse?
9621735
Laugh whenever you want. Being happy, even for a second, is important.
9621770
It'S just what Blaze feels whenever magic is involved, only given words now.
9621786
Love hurts. Broken love hurts even more. Not everyone can handle pain well.
9621842
Life and death are just series of transformations. Or you can just be happy Blaze has someone smart by his side again.
9621941
I'd have to re-read the story, but from what I faintly remember, the transformations in New Age go like this: Alicorn of Hope(resurrection) -> tainted(fight with Nightshade) -> Corrupted(Legius' trap) -> Alicorn of Death (explosion in the desert)
However, with Blaze being partly divine, he's in a similar state as Celestia. It would be difficult for him to become corrupted enough so that it would completely drown out his real divine personality.
9621944
Dreamlings are tainted, not fully corrupted. Guiding has enough willpower not to have succumbed to corruption even after so long, and she's recovering.
9622052
He is unicorn now. And I still don't get it how and why he became this after he came in Darky's place.
Ok, I think I know why he is Unicorn, but still...
Oh, and yeah, changes here start to happening more quickly than ever before.
9623086
Unrelated.
9623204
Trannies are notoriously good at navigation.
9623379
Think happy thoughs, think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts.
9623470
Emptiness. Incompleteness. Sadness. Anger.
...it begins...
9626118
The beginning of the end! (I'm allowed to use cheap tropes and sayings from time to time.)
9626140
Just wait if I ever finish Legacy of Light, then you see the true power of the expression "CYCLIC AS FUCK".
9626144
Necromancy is weird sometimes.
9626146
[Revolving coffin lids for sale]
9626148
Life is here to break us, so why no have some fun along the way, right?
9626156
I count the "active" years, but considering the changes in attitude which is a little similar to having a ling time to think, it's questionable.
9626185
Well, Void picked his potential heir well, too bad it didn't work as planned. Or did it? Dun dun duuuun!
9626246
Whatee havee ye gottee?
9626250
A victim of an evil entity manipulating everything from the shadows. Spooookyyyy.
9626296
That's how I work. I just ruin everyone's day.
9626330
The question is... does it ever end?
Perhaps... true for the entire series, more or less, in fact. Yet we keep riding this never-ending wheel, never knowing really why we do so...
Probably one of the weirder magics out there...
A hit with the vampires, I'm sure! Vampires, Blazing light, and other assholes you can't keep dead, like Jason Brody or Deadpool.
I just feel bad for him when he realizes the entire world is a giant, advanced species of mushroom... or at least the land which it is made of. He was right, all that time back, traveling in the desert. Mushrooms truly are a pony's natural predator. He tried to warn us all back then... and noone listened.
But what about the days? If he is dead for a day, does that mean he'd turn a year older a day after he normally would? Not to mention time-travel, alternate universe shennanigans...
But why would the evil achieve with bringing Blaze, an (arguable) hero that would be more inclined to thwart its plans than assist in them...
Hmm...
9626333
The hit must be unexpected, even when it's expected!
9626337
There shall be something even more huggy than Three in HoCK. I've written it this week. It's pure hugginess.
9626371
This is what I get for trying to originally make story a standalone with extended recap.
9632142
What, the inevitable fact that he'll have to kill his own daughter corrupted almost beyond recognition?
9632143
Get it, mushrooms all over Equestria - one hell of a trip? Hehehe!
I'll see my self out with a hammer.
9632222
Everything is FIIIIIINE!
9632223
Nameless Janitor uses Confusion. It's super effective.
9632252
It's even worse than you can imaaaaaagineeee!
I mean my writing skills, not the truth about the voice. No, seriously. Blaze got tentacled up the ass before blowing up in horrible agony. Now he's in a world of shrooms. It can't get much worse.
9632263
It's good I don't have more exposure, otherwise I'd have a mob with torches and pitchforks outside the window. Wait, there's tram track on one side and train on the other. That would soon be one big gelatinous mob.
9632301
Technically, tentacles are noodles.
9634369
I know... Every time then it seems to be a small, little hope, things become worse, and I can hate him again, even more then before.
9634321
See? Someone remembers it better than I do.
9634369
9634393
Still nowhere close to headless_rainbow. Seriously, I chewed through the entirety of Celestia's Relaxing Vacation, and I think it left scars I won't forget. But that author is good at what he does at least.
Someone once called my stuff "Systematic destruction of hope". Does it help that all that horrible stuff is aimed at me? Probably not.
9634432
THAT STOPPED BEING FUNNY 3 STORIES AGO!
9634437
I'm pretty sure it's the only one I can still recall.
9634321
I know how it works, I just not quite understand when and why he use this in this fic
9636191
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! Answers...
9636229
Oh yes, Corrupted quite often understand speech on some level, and Corruptors easily connect to minds in order to influence their targets more easily.
9636264
Void's full name. Hasn't is been used before? Endless Void and Ecstatic Scream. Just like Sun Butt and Moon Pie. And no, Zeph isn't Zephyr Breeze.
9636278
When have I ever lied to any reader ever?
9636314
Can we pretend it's a third hind leg instead of me screwing up the expression?
9636402
Yes, this is a prime example where Blaze not only shot himself in the hoof, but also basically nuked the world.
9636414
Who would have guessed? There ARE secret tunnels!
Probably. I don't remember, and I'm not going to read ahead to look smart.
9637088
That's how life is.
9637119
Deep in his heart, he knows.
9637172
Screwed up, as usual.
9637901
Scars change us. Some for better, some for worse, but all change us.
Des said it best when she said "I learned to stay away when gods are involved." or something along those lines.
Tentacles are always a clue.
Because all gods are basically IT, but Harmony used a female voice long time before to make Blaze do his bidding.
9637968
A bit of fun never hurt anyone.
9638000
Maybe she wants just a baked Blazing.
9638005
It's a standard procedure, already seen in Diplomatic Relations.
9638079
That feeling when the problem isn't something horrible, but something really dumb.
9638152
- Blaze kinda managed to avoid too much attention, and I think he asked Mana Burn to keep it quiet.
-
- B-b-but then you'd stop reading
9639203
It's a standard procedure, already seen in most of your fics. Especially with Blaze.
I think I remember he asked to say he forgive her.
Nah, i'm not. The only thing is stopping me is like with Halls of the Changeling King - Incompleteness.
But frequent killing of characters to bring them back later can stop others.
9639297
There's always the ability to decline, only you often won't like the result.
9639344
Des is Des.
Na naaa na na na!
9639407
Blaze green! Blaaargh!
9639417
I just woke up so I'm not smart enough to answer this, and yet, knowing myself, I'll forget about this as soon as I go to work.
Conundrum about how to proceed.
9639427
- Blaze never had someone take his shape to give him time to escape. That would be directly against everything he stands for.
- Well, I haven't read this in years, so you're probably right.
- A different star with different brightness.
9639635
- I think I haven't seen a single Dr. Who episode at the time, otherwise I would have put it there.
- They like big and cuddly guys who don't go squish instantly.
- Correct on BOTH counts. Wow. Well done.
9639956
No, but he very often died and then back. How many times do we thinking Three is dead before he actually died... to back later.
*puts their gasmask on*
Hurray! What did I won? An artifact? To whom I should sell my cans?
9639417
- Alright, I took a quick look at it in the end, and it turns out I DID screw up. It was supposed to be betrayal and loyalty of course, so there'S a quick fix.
- A single, powerful being who represents more of the values of the Elements can use more of them, but with less effect and not for too long. Hence older Sunbutt.
- Using two contradicting Elements would eventually degrade the user's psyche, causing schizophrenia.
- The Twelfth Element doesn't exist. It's a mistake on Magnus' part stemming from lack of time for a proper research. I mean, where would be the fun if everyone knew everythng and was right immediately?
9640064
That answers most of my questions, but I still wonder what would happen in one of the alternate universes where the elements were left alone by Sunnylestia, and not with some of them switched out with the mirror world's... it could easily really exist given the multiverse being a thing in Blazing's reality.
Who would end up as bearers of which elements? What would happen to them? How would the two sides work together with eachother without a definitive good and bad side anymore? It could be an entirely different story...
9641614
Certainly. Everything would be so completely different that speculating is kinda pointless.
9643563
Alicorn of diarrheas.
9643576
I doubt you could dig deep enough. Or you probably could, but it would take forever. Plus, getting enough salt water to the heartland which would keep seeping into the ground would be a nightmare. And lastly, who says the sea is a final barrier? (By which I mean it damn well isn't, but it's a good one.)
9643587
Well, I think this question just might answer itself.
9643594
Our world is a shithole.
9643604
Well...
9643608
5 minutes.
9643610
Or that.
9643611
Everything will be fiiiiiiiine.
9644905
- Dunno, Twilight?
- As many as tentacles allow.
9645123
- Celestia is proud of her alabaster booty. It took the valiant sacrifice of many cakes to achieve that.
9645241
- Dafuq?
Actually, a Discworld reference. Namely one of Rincewind's stories.
The best system.
9645306
Because you are based on the guy writing this nonsense.
But unlike him, you did grow a lot, and changed. And got laid by various funny creatures. And grew tentacles.
I could use some tentacles.
9645311
Considering that I believe death is a victory, it kinda makes sense.
9645326
Oblivion sucks. Well, no. The main storyline of Oblivion is complete repetitive trash, everything else is really good… other than level scaling of monsters.
9645363
Isn't that what Sunset Shimmer saw when she touched Pinkie after getting the geodes in one of the movies?
9645381
Yeah, the general gist is that Atlantis legend repeats in pretty much all cultures in some way. Of course, this was before I knew there really IS something called the Abyssians or Abyssinians in MLP. Honestly, I don't regret keeping them as a mention. It wasn't relevant to anything other than uderline that the primal alicorns have really seen some sh*t in their time.
9645432
Interesting. Still say there's so much missed and hidden potential throughout the entire story. The Abyssians, the fate of the original reality, corrupted Three...
9645432
And you never answered what I said...
If telekinesis isn't magic... what is it?
9645406
It was in the show. Zecora's potion.
You know, for kids.
9645408
I had goat milk, and after that I'm more than fine with the classic cow kind,
9645415
I've kinda felt it to be separate from spells, more an innate ability than magic (something like Earthpony ability to grow stuff and Pegasus ability to walk on clouds), but I agree it's highly debatable.
9645420
There's reason why cliches become cliches.
9645514
You don't like him, but he gets under your skin and changes your view, maybe only a little, and it's a permanent mark.
9645521
Can't get sidetracked with lore for every branch, otherwise I'd end up like Tolkien.
9645522
See above. Fimfiction sometimes shows notifications a bit too late, so I answered posts which I saw.
9645432
When she became Corrupted or have knowledge and possibility how to work with hivemind?
Why will Joy have tentacles ?
Now that's a good princess
Tremors. The creatures in this film was really similar to what you write. And in second or third movie appears new type of creatures which doesn't look like worms and can fly on it's farts.
Movies in my childhood was strange.
Didn't read it, sorry.
But saw several movies, that univerce must be good.
Indeed.
Not everything. You can't make a good looking Khajiit in here. At least I can't
Didn't saw any of it.
Oh, there was the book about that. Really good one.
9645543
Goats milk are shitty
I didn't have it at all in last time for some reason. So, I'm checking comments on stories to see if it's anything new.
Huh? Already?
Um... Wat happened?
9645543
Would that be such a bad thing..?