Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen: The Sky Witch
~BlackRoseRaven
Cadence knew something was wrong even before they stepped into the massive throne room. There were no Husks, no Voidborn, no nothing: just the slowly decaying ruins of a ship filled with rotting, fraying technology.
The throne room was hollow, lined with old stone pillars that electric lamps flickered across, wrapped in wires and cables that fed up into the ceiling and down into the floor. A dusty carpet sprawled across the hall to the single massive throne at the back of the empty gallery, an ugly seat made of heavy, hard stone.
And in this uncomfortable throne sat Melinda the Sky Witch, her octagonal collar gleaming around her neck, a strange smile on her face as she watched the group approach. The Valkyrie started to open her mouth, but Cadence sharply threw a foreleg out, silencing her before she bowed deeply, respectfully, to Melinda. “Hello, Melinda. I'm surprised to see you here.”
“You're not quite as good at diplomacy as Thorn, dear, but I am glad to see you trying.” Melinda said kindly, and Cadence gave an awkward smile before the Sky Witch added in a gentler voice: “You have my deepest condolences about Thesis, your... knight, I shall call him. Not that you have ever needed saving, have you, darling?”
Cadence gave a fainter smile at this, and then she answered softly: “Not from other people.”
Melinda chuckled quietly, before her eyes flicked to the side as a shape suddenly burst into being, Skuld of the Norns snarling, sword already gleaming in her hand as she advanced rapidly on Luna with a growl of: “Who do you think you are to-”
Skuld froze, before Luna could even raise her head fully, and the Valkyrie's eyes widened before all eyes turned past the shocked, paralyzed Norn to Melinda, who had risen one front hoof slightly, but the malice she emanated was enough to make them all shiver, as Melinda said in a gentle but ruthless voice: “That's quite enough, dear. Now sit down, and let the adults talk.”
With a flick of her wrist, Skuld was slammed down to the ground on her ass, gasping in pain before she gritted her teeth in frustration. A moment later, Urd and Verdandi appeared on either side of the throne as well, but they gave Melinda a wide berth, neither daring to speak in her presence as the Sky Witch smiled and turned her eyes back to Cadence, asking pleasantly as if she hadn't just put a Fate in a time-out like a toddler: “How is Thorn, on that note? I haven't seen much of him, but I hear he's gotten quite adept at hex magic.”
“He's doing well.” Cadence said awkwardly, before she glanced back and added: “He's been working with Moonflower frequently. They're both exceptional at magic. I think Moonflower... you were talking about it a few days ago, right?”
“Oh, uh, yes. Uh. Hello, Melinda!” Moonflower said lamely, stepping forward and giving a little wave and smile, and Melinda chuckled but smiled back as she sat up slightly, looking with interest at the stallion. “Yes, I was just saying, talking about how... yes! We've been practicing lots, it's very such fascinating really great-”
“Why are you nervous? I don't want to harm you, dear. I truly don't.” Melinda said with a warm smile, before she added conversationally to Urd: “Oh, you can take that any way you like, of course, but I would recommend against doing anything brash, dear. Just be patient.”
“We will not interfere with you.” Urd said after a moment, lowering her head slightly in a mix of humiliation and fear, Cadence thought. They were honestly afraid of her. So they aren't entirely stupid. “My sisters and I are... eager to-”
“You are not. Do not lie to me. You are simply vengeful, petty tyrants.” Melinda said coldly, not hiding her disdain as she glanced back at the Norns, and then she waved a hoof at Urd with disgust, making the Fate cower further in furious humiliation. “Perhaps once I thought myself the same as you. But I have learned from my mistakes, Norns. What have you learned?”
“Please, Melinda. Leave them alone.” Morgan said gently, and Melinda looked in surprise at the mare, who smiled faintly as she stepped up beside Moonflower, saying softly: “They're... not worth it. And if you have grown past them, you don't need to scold them. You don't need to scold yourself. I believe you when you say... you're different than the mare you once were.”
Melinda was silent for a moment, and then she chuckled quietly before she bowed her head, closing her eyes as she murmured: “You are wiser than your years, dearest Morgan. And so I bow my head to your wisdom, and concur. I know that the excuse 'it is simply my way,' is a poor one, after all. I think Thorn Blackfeather had a hoof in teaching me that. And you, too, Moonflower.”
Melinda smiled, then she sat back as her eyes locked on the unicorn, saying softly: “How long has it been, darling? Years. It's hard to tell in the Void... and things have changed so much. You were such a brash young stallion when we first met, but you've grown exponentially since then. Now... now we must see if you and your friends have grown enough.
“I leave this challenge to you, my darlings, and not to Valkyrie Brynhild and her kindred, because for all the good they have done, they have always fought for themselves first. And now, even in their redemption, the task that falls upon them is not to protect these worlds, but the Otherworld below.” Melinda said gently, nodding respectfully to Morgan, who smiled faintly, with no argument. Then the Sky Witch returned her eyes to Cadence and Moonflower, saying softly: “But you... you have all chosen to be protectors of this entire universe. You have taken a great burden upon yourselves. And because I love this world, because I love all of you, I must test you and ensure that you are ready and capable of handling even the fiercest of threats. “
She stopped, then said softly: “Yes. I know you have many questions. Many fears, many concerns, many worries and woes. But let me assure you, my friends... all of this is for the greater good.”
“How is threatening the existence of the entire universe for the greater good?” Cadence asked disbelievingly, but she forced herself to calm down, taking a slow breath as she added quickly: “With all due respect-”
“It's fine, darling. It's fine. I know you mean well and this is all very sudden. And there's a difference between impoliteness and rudeness.” Melinda said kindly, before she continued rationally in spite of the insanity of her words: “You see, it doesn't matter to me in the slightest whether this universe falls into the Void or not. Everything has to move on sometime, and for all Loki thinks he is, what he really happens to be is nothing more than a harbinger of natural order.
“One day, the universe will have grown too weak, too old to protect itself from all the many monsters that infest it. What point is there in living, after all, if that life is dictated by the whims of monsters and tyrants?” Melinda smiled, kind, terrible. “Better to die, is it not? Better to sleep.
“You look at me as if some madness has taken over me, but no. You know the truth, don't you? But you're afraid, and that's perfectly understandable. I was terrified, too, when I first arrived in the Void.” Melinda smiled, soft and gentle. “But I will make the transition easy. And I am here, now, to test you, to make sure you have a fighting chance to survive. Because if you truly have the power to stand up to the worst of tyrants...to stop Loki, and all our good intentions... then you are ready to break free of the monsters. Then the universe is still yours, and not ours. But if you cannot... then we shall take whatever steps are necessary to deal with the universe as we see fit.”
Cadence looked silently at Melinda as Brynhild growled: “We will never simply hand over the universe to the likes of thee and Loki, and we shall not-”
“That is not your endgame. You lie, deceive. You are not very good at it.” Danzsöngr said with a strange politeness from Cadence's mouth, and Melinda quirked an eyebrow in surprise. “Your Astra is deep and profound, infinite within, stretching forever without... and your motives are buried deep. We cannot see them. But you are lying. We can see that, in the beat of your energy. What is your purpose?”
“Now I see why Loki fears you, Swan. Illusionists have always despised those who can see through their tricks.” Melinda said softly, before she tilted her head and asked: “Am I lying, or am I only telling half the truth?”
Cadence narrowed her eyes slightly as Melinda met her gaze evenly, and Melinda smiled at her before she said softly: “No matter what the end, though, dear, the means remain the same. If you cannot stop me, you are not powerful enough to stop Loki. This is your world, is it not? This universe is under your protection, yes? Then prove you can protect it. Prove you can stop me.”
Melinda calmly straightened in her throne, and Cadence studied the Sky Witch silently as the Valkyrie narrowed her eyes, before they flicked to Verdandi as the Norn growled: “And we'll deal with the broken threads. We'll make things the way they should be. Ragnarok-”
“The only voice of Ragnarok came from Loki, and all he did was whisper your own old prophecies back to you. Arrogance.” Melinda said contemptibly with a dismissive flick of her hoof, and then she turned her eyes back towards Cadence. “Do you accept my challenge, Swan Maiden?”
“The Norns and mine have unfinished business. And whether a legend or not, we made legends, did we not, Danzsöngr?” Luna Brynhild grinned, turning her eyes forwards as her mane blazed, bursting into blue hellfire that wreathed around her body as she glared in the direction of the Fates.
Skuld snarled at this, opening her mouth, but then she flinched when Melinda only glanced in her direction, quickly dropping her head with a flush as Urd and Verdandi both shifted slowly. Cadence shifted slowly on the spot, studying Melinda intently, refusing to be distracted.
But she couldn't see through Melinda, especially now that Melinda was aware she could be seen into: the Sky Witch had cloaked her motives, pushed her own thoughts deeper, made herself believe... yeah. She's not lying to me. She's repeating it to herself. I can almost hear it, like a chant, a mantra... “Believe in me, believe in me.”
Melinda smiled slightly at this, and then she said softly: “When I am angry, I sometimes sound like an authority. But ultimately, I am more of a persuader than a demander. Even when it comes to myself.”
Cadence smiled wryly, and then she glanced to the side in surprise as Moonflower suddenly stepped forwards, raising his head and saying quietly: “If... I know you weren't speaking to me, but I'll stand up, Melinda. I'll prove myself to you. I know... that's what you want, anyway, isn't it?”
“Yes, it is. Your friends cannot stand very well against me. Only you have that potential, dear, sweet Moonflower.” Melinda said gently, before she smiled softly and sat back, murmuring: “But it will of course, be all for naught if your friends aren't strong enough to survive. One pony alone cannot do the work of many, but... there have been many tests. Each of you, tried in the fire in your own way. Now it is your turn.”
“What about Stronghold?” Moonflower asked, and it didn't sound like he was trying to make up some rationalization or an excuse: if anything, he sounded worried, as he questioned: “Wasn't she my test? Did I fail? She was from my past-”
“As you have all faced, together, many horrors from one-another's pasts. But this is what makes you strongest, my darlings. You fight together, even when you must align behind one. That is why you have not failed, sweet, handsome Moonflower.” Melinda soothed, before she chuckled softly and said: “I accept your challenge, dear Moonflower. Norns, do try and occupy the Valkyrie's attention.”
With that, Melinda simply raised a hoof and flicked it calmly, and Brynhild squawked as she, her partners, and the Norns all began to sink down through the floor as it rippled like water. Morgan remained unfettered, and Scrivener only glanced back once at the violet mare to reassure himself.
They disappeared into the rippling floor, leaving Cadence and her friends alone with Melinda, who calmly stepped down from her throne as she said softly: “Let me know when you are ready to begin.”
Moonflower bit his lip as he stepped nervously forward, before he blinked in surprise as Cadence joined him, saying quietly: “I'll help you.”
“As will I.” Sombra said calmly as he stepped up beside his daughter, and La Croix joined them as well with a wry grin after a moment, grimacing slightly as his body thrummed with eerie green energy.
Moonflower began to open his mouth, but then he simply smiled faintly before he nodded and turned his eyes ahead. “I suppose true strength... it's in never fighting alone, isn't it? Never being alone. It took me so long to learn that...”
“And yet you have, and I congratulate you for it. Now, let us see you prove your worth.” Melinda said calmly, before she smiled as she rose her head high, her horn gleaming as the air around her crackled with power, the Mother of Witchcraft thrumming with such strength that Cadence felt like her legs were going to give out beneath the weight of it. “Now stand before me, or break beneath me!”
Cadence, La Croix, and Sombra twitched, forced back a pace by Melinda's power, before even the Swan looked up in surprise as Moonflower stomped forward, anchoring himself as his horn glowed and his armor seemed to glow with radiance, emitting a tremendous energy that didn't clash with Melinda's so much as it counterbalanced it.
The two glared at each other, and then Melinda's eyes flashed, streaks of magic cutting through the air towards the ponies. But Moonflower canceled out each and every one of these blasts with short bursts of his own magic before he snapped his horn out with a sharp 'ha!'
Melinda blinked in surprise as a missile of magic bounced off her body, before she flicked her horn on instinct more than anything else, smashing Moonflower into the air with an eruption of magic before she almost disdainfully flicked a hoof out to send him rocketing backwards, head-over-heels. But she seemed impressed even as the other ponies leapt forward to take over for the unicorn.
Cadence drove straight at Melinda, but she was repelled by a massive wall of black flames that erupted out of the earth in front of her: she snapped her head forwards, her Third Eye flashing and punching a hole through the dark energy with white flames, but a deadly beam of energy ripped through the gap she had punched before she could advance, Cadence flinching as she dodged to the side-
A wall of black crystal erupted from the ground beside Cadence, the laser of energy bouncing harmlessly off this before the wall twisted as several more black pillars of crystal ripped free from the earth, redirecting the ray of magic between them and back towards Melinda. But the magic dissolved before it could reach the Mother of Witchcraft, before Sombra grimaced in surprise as the stanchions of crystal exploded one after the other into dark dust that clogged the air.
Sombra flicked his horn, dispelling the black mist before he winced as tentacles of magic erupted out of the floor and seized around him, hauling him into the air. Energy crackled across his body and tore across his purifier, but Sombra only gritted his teeth as Melinda smiled slightly, remarking: “Insulated. You're-”
A bottle came sailing towards her, but Melinda froze it in midair with only a glance before time seemed to violently reverse, the bottle shooting back towards La Croix. The Loa turned ethereal before it could hit, however, leaping forwards before he flinched when Melinda's eyes narrowed and he was forced back into the physical plane by a burst of energy, but even as he stagger-fell, he threw a second bottle.
Melinda's eyes flicked again towards the bottle, but this time it flickered with green light in midair, repelling her powers, and her eyes widened before she created a shield of magic with a curse. The bottle shattered against this, exploding in a cloud of noxious gas that made the Sky Witch flinch away with a short hiss, her senses muddled-
Something slammed into her chest, Melinda's eyes widening in shock before she was pummeled up into the air by a volley of powerful blows, her whole body shaking with the impact of each jackhammer punch before a hoof crashed up under her muzzle, half-flipping her backwards before a vicious strike slammed into her spine and launched her across the room.
Melinda smashed into her throne face-first, landing in an awkward sprawl with a gasp as her mouth worked uselessly, hind hooves high in the air and twitching dumbly as her mouth worked slowly.
Cadence set herself, Sombra and La Croix falling in on either side of her, and Melinda gave a thin smile as she pulled herself out of her throne, her collar sparking as she said in a cooler voice: “Yes, you have all been learning, I see... but it is rude to put your hooves on a lady, Cadence.”
Cadence opened her mouth, before her eyes bulged and she grasped at her throat as she began to choke. There was no explanation for it: no pressure, no pain, and strangely, no panic, even as she struggled to breathe against the invisible force that she couldn't deny-
And then she gasped and coughed as she felt something wash through her, something that told her to breathe again, and she wheezed for breath as Moonflower stepped up behind them, at their backs and yet not hiding as he said in a voice that wavered only a little: “You asked for this. You're not allowed to get mad at us after you said you were testing us.”
Melinda studied them intently for a few moments, and then she gave a dry smile before she said softly: “I must confess, my temper has always been terrible. And I suppose I expect a certain amount of grace and decorum... I thought the 'saviors' of the universe would be heroes, elegant, refined... not brutes.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.” Cadence grumbled, before her eyes narrowed slightly as she focused on Melinda, watching as Danzsöngr silently approached the mare from behind. “I can be more elegant, though, if you-”
Melinda's horn thrummed, and Danzsöngr whiffed out of existence, Cadence's eyes bulging as she felt like her guts had just been wrenched out of her body. Her legs quavered under her, and Melinda smiled before she said softly: “Your eyes gave you away, dear. You're not a very good assassin. Let's hope that stays the same.”
Cadence gritted her teeth as Danzsöngr said disbelievingly in her mind: I... I do not know what happened. It did not feel like a command. And yet now I am... somewhere else.
“She made you step somewhere. So far away that it took the wind out of me.” Cadence muttered, before she shivered a little. Was that a hex of some kind? Could Melinda's hexes...
“No matter what or where you are, if you are intelligent enough to listen, then you can be affected by the power of the hex.” Melinda said calmly, before her eyes glowed as she leaned forward, and her voice echoed painfully through their minds as she spoke
(requested, how could they deny the sad girl's pleas?)
without speaking: Please stay still.
They were immobilized, bodies completely frozen, and it hurt in a way Cadence had rarely experienced as her heart struggled to beat without moving, only her eyes able to shift, and those few millimeters took a monumental effort.
They trembled as Melinda surveyed them coldly, her horn beginning to glow with deadly light, and then she narrowed her eyes as Moonflower shoved himself to the front of the group, standing in front of the trio of frozen ponies as he shouted: “I won't! And I won't let you just... hex them away, either!”
“But can you stop me?” asked Melinda gently, before she smiled before her eyes flashed, her body emanating malice as she
(a helpless little filly, with begging eyes, how you can you deny her, how can you deny what she)
requested: Please surrender your lives.
Cadence struggled not to draw a dagger, as La Croix began to reach a trembling hoof back towards his satchel, and Sombra slowly closed his eyes, crystal beginning to form beneath him. Moonflower shouted a denial as he spun around, but then he was blasted off his hooves by Melinda before a volley of magic missiles hammered into him, tearing his armor apart as streaks of energy leapt back and forth over his body, peeling metal from flesh as Melinda said calmly: “I applaud you for learning how hex magic works, Moonflower, but don't think that makes you my equal. You will never be my equal.”
Moonflower cursed as he was slammed to the ground, gasping as energy arced back and forth over him, metal plates continuing to pop loose from his body like corn as the magic-absorbing crystal insulation beneath burnt out. He gasped as he forced himself up, then howled in agony when a cage of lightning erupted around him, zapping him painfully from every angle as Melinda said gently: “It will all be over soon. Just...”
She frowned slightly as her eyes were drawn back to the trio, before she scowled slightly as she saw La Croix's prosthetic was glowing eerily, some kind of spiritual presence emanating out of it and helping the Loa resist her hex. She flicked her horn with disdain, cracking the prosthetic, but then her eyes widened in surprise as she felt both the familiarity of the presence as well as a refusal: “You're serving him willingly?”
La Croix dropped the bottle he had dug out with a gasp as the spirit of Mganga shook him violently, and then he blinked before wincing and stepping away from the puddle of spreading acid beside him. Before he could get very far, however, a massive pressure punched against his body, and the Loa had enough time to squawk before he whiffed out of existence in a burst of green sparks, clothing, wooden leg, and bag falling uselessly to the ground in a clatter.
Cadence blinked, and the shock of what had happened let her shrug off... no, realize that she didn't have to kill herself, almost flinging her dagger down before she felt Melinda's eyes lock on her again. Her Third Eye released a bright flash almost out of panic as she felt that horrible power gathering again, and Melinda snarled and flinched away as she was blinded for a moment-
Cadence swept up her dagger and flung it out, and it slammed into Melinda's chest and knocked her back a step with a gasp of pain. Then she reached out and grasped her father's shoulder, and that touch was all it took to snap him out of the trance he had gone into, the unicorn smoothly stepping back from the spike of crystal that had been growing out of the ground towards his throat and instead slamming a hoof into the ground to launch the blade of black stone into the air.
Cadence leapt up and twisted to slam a hoof into the base of the spike as it flipped slowly, and it rocketed through the air to slam through Melinda's face, the Mother of Witchcraft staggering back against her throne, staring, horrified, past the spike of crystal through her head before she simply burst apart into ashes. And for a moment, there was silence as the four... no. “La Croix? La Croix!”
He was gone, completely gone, and Sombra shook his head slowly as Moonflower groaned and picked himself up, blinking a few times before he muttered: “I can't be sure, but... it felt like an exorcism. A powerful one.”
“Goddammit. Where did he go, if Darkwater...” No, Cadence didn't want to think about that, the mare shaking her head before she almost absently reached up and grasped her Third Eye, then she simply ripped it off.
She gasped at the excruciating pain it sent through her body, staggering as the others stared at her in disbelief before the crystal simply exploded in her hoof, knocking her crashing backwards and leaving her laying prone as Moonflower and Sombra were both knocked stumbling. Her body, which felt too heavy to move beneath armor that felt like a constricting python, crushing her even as she struggled to raise her head enough to look up when a hoof calmly pressed down on her side.
Melinda looked down at her, displeasure written across the mare's features before she said coldly, without looking up: “The turtle knows best that its shell is not always a benefit, dear.”
Sombra froze in place, before he gasped in pain as white flames burst to life over his body, shaking himself violently before he looked up in horror as he began to wither away, skin cracking and tightening as muscle and flesh both rotted away. He gasped and staggered, coughing ash and dust as Melinda said softly: “To your benefit, at least, the machine is still working.”
Cadence uselessly tried to reach for her father, but her body was too heavy, the world was too heavy, and Melinda smiled thinly before she grimaced in surprise when a blast of magic uselessly bounced off her body.
She looked moodily at Moonflower, who had recovered and was glaring at her gamely in spite of the fact that all he had left on his body was a tattered suit of burnt-out gemstones, his features tight and determined as he whispered: “I won't let them die. I won't fail again.”
“You will.” Melinda said, and her voice was strangely kind and reassuring as her features lightened with a smile for a moment, then darkened as she narrowed her eyes, saying softly: “You are not strong enough.”
“I'm as strong as I have to be.” Moonflower answered, shaking his head before he rubbed at his eyes with his wrist, then he rose his head high even as he trembled. “And it's not all about strength alone. I... I won't let you win.”
Melinda smiled at this, before she looked intrigued as Moonflower blurted out: “I... I challenge you to a duel! In um... the words of... by the laws of the... the Truthspeaker, the Sage, and the... um...”
“The Vanquisher. I abide to your request in the name of the Sovereign of Stars and Her Mother Sun.” Melinda answered politely, before she smiled as she stepped back, her body thrumming with energy as she said softly: “Your dear friend Thorn Blackfeather must have great faith in you to have taught you such words. Words have great power, Moonflower, when they are spoken in ceremony. Now prepare yourself...”
Melinda smiled, then she arched her back, her front hooves slowly leaving the ground as she emitted such power that it made reality around her shake and distort, Cadence gritting her teeth as she and her father were pushed slowly backwards by it, and Moonflower did all he could to brace himself against that force.
Melinda's eyes closed as she floated into the air, and when they snapped open, her collar exploded into shards that floated eerily in the air around her before disintegrating, her mane writhing around her with a life of its own, her whole body glowing with power as she spread her forelegs, speaking in a voice that vibrated through them like thunder, yet made no sound: Let us begin.
Moonflower skidded backwards from the pulse of force that hammered across him, gritting his teeth before his eyes widened in shock as reality tore away around him like flimsy paper, the floor beneath his hooves vibrating violently before it cracked apart as it floated up into the air, leaving him stranded on a jagged platform of rock, alone. Bright colors and fractals swirled and burst through the air around him as Melinda only surveyed him calmly, asking contemptibly: “How can you fight me when you cannot even stop me from trapping you inside a parallax? When you cannot even handle the hollow vehemence of the rift?”
The stallion gritted his teeth as he fought to steady himself, then he forced himself to straighten even as the floor shook beneath him and the world stuttered around him. He looked up at Melinda as she floated, and she surveyed him intently for a few moments before a cold smile spread down her muzzle as her glowing eyes narrowed, and dozens of cackling, skeletal Nightmares appeared on either side of her, eagerly pacing through the swirling skies of the rift before Melinda simply clicked her tongue.
A stampede of Nightmares tore down from the crowd, cackling and screaming as they drove straight at Moonflower, and the stallion winced before his horn glowed before he created a barrier of energy. The first few Nightmares hammered into this, exploding in tremendous blasts of smoke and fire, while the others twisted around and rammed behind the shield with howling laughs even as they exploded one after the other.
Melinda frowned slightly as the island of stone cracked in half, then crumbled away into rubble and dust that spilled out of the billowing smoke into the swirling void below. She flicked a hoof to dissipate the smog, and she saw nothing at all-
Melinda flicked her horn, a multicolored barrier encircling her and absorbing the blast of gravity Moonflower had fired at her. She spun around to face him, before she couldn't help but let her muzzle quirk in a pleased smile at the sight of the stallion unevenly hovering in the air.
But with only a wave of a hoof, she sent another herd of Nightmares storming towards him, more monsters appearing, eager to replace their kamikaze companions as they cackled and stampeded towards the floating stallion.
Moonflower swept his horn back and forth, pounding through the ranks of the Nightmares with blades of gravity. Several went up in tremendous explosions, but several more ripped through the clouds of dark magic and smoke and zigzagged wildly towards the stallion, who flinched backwards before he teleported-
Melinda shoved a hoof out, and Moonflower gasped in pain as he was punched back into reality, spinning wildly several times before he caught himself, grasping at a shoulder that looked almost skinned as blood dripped from his nose, looking up with incredulity at Melinda and then bracing himself when he saw her raise her hoof again.
He was slammed backwards by a massive wave of telekinetic force before several Nightmares appeared in midair behind him, slamming into his back one after the other before they exploded in a massive bang that sent him flipping wildly through the rift. He left a rooster tail of smoke behind himself as he fell towards the swirling colors below, and Melinda watched with contempt as he fell before her eyes widened in surprise as the stallion suddenly dropped his head forward.
He fell through a black rift, and a moment later Melinda felt something smash into the barrier protecting her, looking up in surprise to see Moonflower half-laying on top of her barrier, his horn glowing brightly before he simply released the pent-up energy in a tremendous blast, knocking the mare spinning wildly backwards as her barrier exploded in a tremendous shockwave.
Moonflower went flying straight up from the recoil of his blast, and Nightmares screamed in shock and pain as the entire crowd went up in a series of explosions, the stallion snarling as he twisted his body around and then grabbed at the air with magic, hauling himself hurriedly away from the storm of monsters. But he knew he didn't have long as he felt Melinda recover herself, even before her voice echoed coldly through his mind: I won't let that happen again.
Moonflower spun around as the cloud of smoke was cut apart by several powerful psychokinetic blasts, steadying himself against them before a ray of magic streaked towards him. He blocked it with a shield of energy, then winced as Nightmares lunged into reality on either side of him.
He lunged to the side as he let the barrier drop, and the ray of energy cut through the air where he had been a moment before and sliced one of the Nightmares in half as Moonflower caught the other in bonds of telekinesis to fling it like a living missile at Melinda. But the mare only snorted in contempt and detonated the Nightmare with a glare before her horn flashed, half a dozen orbs of dark energy appearing in the air around her before these shot themselves at Moonflower one after the other.
The stallion tried to blast one of the orbs away, but it simply twisted itself back towards him as the others homed in on him from all sides. Moonflower lurched backwards, keeping the orbs at bay as much as he could with telekinesis as he lunged through the wild fractals of the rift, before he yelped as the chaos became hostile, streaks of colorful energy ripping through the air around him.
Melinda pressed him, and Moonflower howled in agony as living light seared across his body, and then a black orb slammed into his stomach like a cannonball before it exploded, ripping apart his remaining armor and leaving an awful wound in his chest. He flipped wildly backwards as the other orbs swirled upwards, then shot down to try and finish him off, and Moonflower concentrated-
(Please hold still.)
Moonflower gasped as the hex locked up his body, and his eyes widened as jaws of light opened beneath him and orbs of energy spun in on all sides of him, struggling against the magic-
(I said, stop moving!)
Moonflower's eyes glowed and his body flexed and time seemed to slow, painfully aware of every beat of his
-still moving-
heart, every pulse of blood
-still moving-
in his veins, every thought, every breath, every action of his
-still moving-
body, as Melinda's magic
-still moving-
homed in on him from all directions-
( ! I ORDER YOU TO STOP ! )
Moonflower's eyes flashed, and he shouted a furious denial as he shoved his forelegs out and shielded himself inside a black orb, dark magic and Nightmares smashing violently into this from all sides and exploding in a tremendous, useless gout of magic that made Melinda grimace.
She shoved both hooves out, and living light snared around the sphere of energy from all sides, merging with and breaking off from other fractals before they all crushed down at once, shattering the shield into useless shards that floated eerily in the empty air-
Moonflower appeared behind her, tackling the mare from behind, and Melinda shouted in frustration as she lost her concentration before she was driven down through the air, crashing face-first into a floating platform below. They rolled together over the broken floor before Melinda blasted him off with a shockwave of force, then she immediately tried to fling herself into the air-
Gravity washed over her and drove her back down to the ground, and Melinda was shocked by her inability to control the rift completely before she spun around and right into a hard hook from Moonflower. She staggered backwards, gaping in shock at the fact that a stallion, that this stallion, had just punched her, and then she looked up with a snarl of fury-
Moonflower's hoof glowed with magic as he slammed it into her face, unleashing a shockwave of gravitational force at the same time, and Melinda was blown to the edge of the platform before a second blast of gravity caught her in midair and crushed her down against the broken floor. She snarled as Moonflower pinned her under the magic that she couldn't withstand, couldn't dispel... why? Why? “Why, damn you?”
Melinda's body thrummed with malevolent power as she shoved herself up to her hooves, Nightmares ripping into reality around her and charging straight at Moonflower, no longer laughing but screaming and howling with their mistress' fury. Moonflower blasted one away, and it exploded in a narrow, hideous cone of black shrapnel that ripped apart one of its allies before the stallion winced and leapt backwards as two others crashed down into the ground.
They both went up in deadly, but thankfully very small explosions of living, hating shrapnel, and Moonflower lost concentration for long enough that Melinda was able to teleport herself away, floating quickly into the swirling sky as she threw her forelegs out to either side, gathering her powers as she roared: Shatter!
The ground beneath Moonflower exploded, and the stallion leapt shakily back into the air with a wince, propelling himself upwards with hastily-learned magic as the ground collapsed away to nothing. Melinda snarled, her eyes glowing with hate before she snarled:
DIE
Moonflower gasped as he grasped at his chest, his eyes bulging, his body steaming, his heart hammering against his ribs before it stopped as all the air whooshed out of his lungs. Every nerve lit up with agony as his thoughts scrambled, and he felt himself fall.
He didn't see the Nightmares coursing down after him, with their hideous jaws outstretched and black spears spinning around them, eager to pierce his flesh; he didn't see the way the very colors of the rift around them began to strain apart, dissolving into the hell-nothing of the Void. All he saw was Cadence, and La Croix, and Sombra; Throna, Toad; Neato Burrito and Antecedes, and his family, his parents.
Thorn, smiling.
Moonflower's eyes snapped open, before he gasped as a cage of magic snapped around him, Melinda whispering coldly in his mind as he felt agony rip across his form and block his magic: Not this time.
The Nightmares roared as they descended on the cage, smashing into it from all sides and ripping it apart with their explosions, and Melinda watched it like a hawk. This time, there wasn't so much as a hint of a spell being used, and she had made sure that there was nothing Moonflower could do, anyway...
And yet all the same, she felt his energy, and she snarled as she used magic to sweep away the smoke, staring in disbelief at the sight of the unicorn, wheezing painfully as he floated in the air, glaring up at her with defiance as he hovered in the rift. She stared at him for a moment, then snarled as she pointed at him, a Nightmare appearing on either side of her before they lunged down with matching snarls.
Moonflower watched as they drew close, before he felt Melinda's focus intensify, felt her hex stretch out towards him. But this time, he didn't allow her voice to get inside him, to touch his soul: he denied her, and reflected the hex back.
Both Nightmares suddenly twisted back on themselves, screaming, and then they simply vanished from sight, Melinda's eyes widening in surprise for a moment before she snorted in contempt. “Too little, too late.”
Melinda's horn flashed, and swords of black metal appeared in a circle around Moonflower. But to Melinda's shock, the stallion suddenly lunged skyward, and she snarled in frustration as the swords shot like missiles after him, but each and every one of them uselessly cut past, never managing to land more than a scratch against him even as they twisted themselves into new positions to launch at him again as he lunged and twisted through the air.
A sword shot straight at Moonflower's face, and to Melinda's disbelief, he somehow caught it with his own magic, yanking it around in a circle before flinging it back at her. Melinda flinched out of the way with a curse, then snarled as she pointed at him, shouting: “Destroy him!”
Nightmares erupted out of the air around her, streaking towards Moonflower from all sides, many of them trailing nets and deadly, thorny vines behind them to try and snare the stallion even if they missed making contact. But Moonflower blinked through the crowd of monsters, and Melinda's eyes widened in shock as black swords tore apart black coursers, her servants destroyed by her own magic.
She snarled as she dispelled the swords even as her herd of Nightmares broke up, before her horn thrummed, fractals of light and power exploding through the air around Moonflower. But he dodged back and forth through the chaos, responding at the same time with several blasts of gravitational force that Melinda was forced to dodge away from, unable to believe that he was somehow still fighting.
Moonflower gasped as a blast of chaotic magic ripped across his body, sending him spinning out of control, and Melinda snarled as she saw her chance, summoning a horde of Nightmares that rushed down towards him. But she felt it, even as he fell, the gathering power: and her eyes widened before a massive blast of gravitational force erupted from the stallion, swirling through the air as it transformed into a black hole that her Nightmares were helplessly yanked into until their magic overloaded the singularity, causing it to explode in a tremendous blast.
They were both knocked flying away from the shockwave, and Melinda caught herself at the last moment, rasping for breath, shaking her head in denial before she looked up as she saw Moonflower catch himself, then throw himself once more towards her. Her eyes blazed with fury and her body glowed with magic as she threw everything she had at him.
But her hexes couldn't find purchase, and he dodged back and forth, evading every spell she was able to summon up. Her Nightmares ripped past or were shrugged aside as she felt him gathering power as he charged at her through the air, hooves slamming against the broken sky with enough force to leave sparks of magic behind as he ran at her, fearless.
Melinda's eyes glowed before she focused all her power into her horn, reality quaking around her before she snapped her head forwards and unleashed a massive, pale beam of death. But Moonflower only gritted his teeth before he yelled wordlessly as he snapped his own horn forward, matching her blinding magic with his dark power.
Beams of energy clashed, purple and black grinding into toxic white, and Melinda snarled before her eyes flashed, Nightmares ripping into reality around Moonflower. They cackled and screamed as they leapt at him from all sides, but the stallion only gritted his teeth as he created a barrier of energy around himself.
GIVE UP.
Melinda's voice tore through his mind, and he felt himself quaver. Nightmares slammed into him from all sides, cracking his shield, and his beam was slowly being devoured and bulled back by the raw power of Melinda as she leaned into her magic, a ferocious grin on her face as her eyes glowed with power, her body flexed as she roared:
SURRENDER.
Moonflower gritted his teeth: he was too weak. Too weak to stop her attack, too weak to survive under the onslaught of Nightmares, too stupid and too broken, and what could he do that Melinda couldn't? He couldn't concentrate on everything at once, she was pressuring him from all sides with powers that he didn't have or could barely keep up with, and what could he do?
He trembled as his magic was steadily beaten back: as a wave of immense power tore towards him. His barrier began to shudder with every explosion as Nightmares smashed themselves against it, and his whole body shook with pain as he floated, without wings...
He was flying. He had no wings, and he was flying.
He had sacrificed his wings, and thought that he'd given up the ability to fly, that he'd given up his oldest dreams. But in one wild lunge, he had taken to the air.
When he was a child, he had done the impossible. He had moved the moon, for want of a little light.
Moonflower trembled, and he felt Melinda's rage and exhilaration and disappointment, and strangest of all, a little, tiny voice encouraging him, screaming at him, trying to lift him up. And through it, he felt the pulse of her power, and in that pulse, he realized that he could never win by fighting her.
But he could understand her.
The unicorn gritted his teeth as he faced into the harrow of her magic, and then instead of fighting, he weaved his magic with hers. And, slowly, their beams of magic began to twist, Melinda's eyes widening in disbelief as threads of Moonflower's magic rolled across her beam as her own were drawn towards his horn-
They connected, for the briefest moment, and Melinda lashed out in shock with a hex. A hex that Moonflower somehow caught, and wondered over, before he offered it back to her, like a bashful colt returning a filly's toy.
Melinda had no choice but to accept.
Her eyes widened in shock as her whole body went rigid, the magic whiffing out between the two of them as she floated backwards, slack-jawed and stupid, her spiritual energy rushing out of her body and into Moonflower. Moonflower gasped in shock, staggering back through the air as the Nightmares around him suddenly wailed and twisted away from him, fleeing in what seemed almost like terror as Moonflower's eyes and horn glowed...
He snapped his head forward, and a beam of purest, darkest magic erupted from it, smashing into Melinda and battering her backwards before the ray expanded until it covered her completely. And as the dark beam grew larger, a sliver, a purest core of light appeared in its center, and then expanded until it filled the entire world with light.
And then there was no more.