//------------------------------// // First Family // Story: PONY POV SERIES SEASON 8: FINALE! // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Rarity I wish I could say that my next move was all according to plan. That I had timed it down to this precise moment. Sadly, the truth is that with the endless parade of bizarre revelations, surprise guests, mind breaking twists and turns, and of course the small matter of us being in constant mortal peril... it had simply slipped my mind until just now. I think I might have mentioned it to you before, but I honestly can’t remember. This entire adventure is already one great blur in my mind. I hate to admit it, darlings, but I fear I'd have lost my wits by now if Gilda and Princess Rainbow hadn’t bought us time to rest. Yes of course, my bold move… I am referring to Diamond Tiara's dress, the one that she’d been unknowingly creating for herself in the course of her sewing lessons. Quite ironically, Nightmare Nhilis’ own words recalled it to my memory. "Nothing is worth living for, nothing is worth dying for, nothing is worth anything. Why can't you understand that?" Do not ask me how my saddle bags fit with my armor, because I do not know. They are simply there when I have need of them, and gone when I do not. I reach into them now, removing the almost finished dress from its resting place, and with my telekinesis I present it to Nightmare Nhilis. I didn't need to ask if she recognized it. The way her cold eyes widened in fear, just for a moment, was all I needed to see. "Recognize it, Diamond Tiara? Is this, too, worth nothing? In a thousand years this dress will have worn down to nothing, but tell me with a straight face it has no value." A purple beam lanced out from Nightmare Nhilis' horn, striking the dress... but the beam reflected off it like a mirror, plowing a ditch in the ground besides us. (Princess Celestia's Memoirs: I always wanted to dig a new irrigation system for the park, but I could never find the excuse to put it in the budget. What a helpful filly.) My friends gasped, ready to leap to my defense, but I hadn't been touched. Acts of love and compassion have always been more effective weapons against suffering than any brute force. Twilight sprang to my side, horn lit. "Rarity! What IS that dress?!" I smiled at her. "Just a dress, Twilight... but nothing is really 'just' a dress, is it? Imagination, hard work, dedication, effort, love. For a dress to come into being, there's always a whole chain of actions that lead to it becoming a dress in the first place. Things can be of no use for a given situation, certainly, but to say that a thing has no value… well, that just isn’t so!" The dress itself? It is clearly powerful armor against this opponent, but I don't put it on, and not just because it's foal size. This dress doesn't belong to me. I won’t betray a client’s trust. "You’ve become so adept at transforming yourself, dear. Why don't you become your real age, so you can try it on?" I asked. "She's right, Diamond,” Silver Spoon helpfully added. “I think it would look really elegant on you." = 'Skeleton of a Town' - Icewind Dale 2 soundtrack = “Do you think that by accepting the dress and your compliment I would be saved?” said Nightmare Nhilis harshly. "I can't be saved. You can't be saved. Nopony can be saved because nothing matters. This world is just one of billions, and we're just one version of countless possibilities. Even if things change, nothing has really changed. There's no point, and it's best to accept that and choose not to care. We are meaningless, insignificant little ponies, and I don't care." "And Ah don't care that YOU don't care!” Apple Bloom shouted at the top of her lungs, “‘cause everypony CAN be saved! ‘Cause ya DO have meaning! ‘Cause ya DO matter!" Dear Fluttershy stroked the still unconscious Gilda's back. While I still questioned the wisdom of putting a creature to sleep on the battlefield, if Princess Luna felt Gilda needed to rest as a matter of life and death, then I wasn't in a position to argue. If what I’ve seen is any guide, that griffon is worse than Rainbow for having more courage than sense. If she woke, I fear she’d leap right back into the battle, no matter her condition. Sadly for everypony involved, this battle was about to become even more of a confusing and convoluted mess, with so many pieces on the board that any sense of organization and coordination was about to go out the window. Even Twilight has her limits. "Tarnished Rich? My baby filly, is that really you?" The mare's voice was tender and concerned. Perhaps it’s not so surprising that somepony could arrive unnoticed, what with the light show of two Alicorns fighting, and the card I played just now. But for Diamond Tiara’s mother to show up here, now! In its own way, this was more unexpected than an Alicorn Rainbow Dash had been, and all truths be told darling, I wasn't certain if her arrival was a good or bad thing! At any other time, I would have been delighted to see her. Now she was yet another pony to worry about. Yes, I remember how she fought in the changeling battle, but this is not the changeling battle. Take one good look at what happened to Gilda! I don't know if whether to be relieved or not that her husband wasn't with her. Surely he wouldn’t have her come here alone willingly. +++ It seems like only yesterday that Trixie was fighting side by side with that mare against the changelings' ultimate living weapon. Now it looks like we’re giving an encore performance. When Trixie signed up to risk her life in the final battle to save the world, she was hoping for a little more time in the spotlight! Sweetie Belle Seeing her... my heart is fluttering. I’m not sure how to feel… confused? Happy? Scared? Silver Spoon No! Why did you have to come? Why? Do you really think this is going to make things better? Pinkie Diane About time she showed up! Fluttershy I'm so sorry... I wish you didn't have to be here. I wish we could have done a better job, or we'd have already saved her by now. Fluttercruel Looks like we've got ourselves another set of hooves to help us win this. Apple Bloom Ah sure as heck know Ah didn't plan this! She shouldn't be here! It’s like... like chaos runs in 'er blood. Spike I… I kinda feel bad for her. If I ever meet the dragoness who laid my egg, I wouldn't want the first thing of me she sees to be Spikezilla. Then again, if my dragon mom had been there, maybe she would have known how to stop me a lot sooner? I sure hope Mrs. Rich knows what she’s doing! Scootaloo Wow, I did not expect to see this lady here. And... I know Sweetie Belle wouldn't want her parents to have seen her when she was Queen Leech's pet. If something like that happened to me, I wouldn't want my parents to see me that way neither… I wonder how Diamond Tiara feels right now... Rainbow Dash "Uh, hi!” I said awkwardly. “We, uh... found yer filly?" Sure it had taken me a year, but hey... better late than never, right? Whoo-boy, I'm not sure any of us have the heart to give Nightmare Nhilis a spanking now. Gilda Hey... she looks just like Nightmare Queen Lame-o over there... without a horn and wings and stuff. Ugh, my head… anygriffon get the number of that manticore? ... I’m gonna finish my nap now. Princess Luna Ye would have to be blind to miss the tears shimmering in yonder lady's eyes. Neither of them had ever dreamed of this reunion happening this way, and they had dreamed it in so many different ways. Applejack Well, horseapples. If this doesn't work, Ah honestly don't know what cards we've got left to play. Princess Celestia This was the mare who 'went sane' in my castle ballroom. The one whose sickness of the mind Filthy Rich begged me to cure, and I could not. I readied myself to leap to her defense. I didn’t want to think that Nightmare Nhilis might harm her, but in such a volatile state, who knew what the Nightmare might do? Twilight Sparkle I remember the madmare from the times I visited the Ponyville mental hospital, and the determined warrior at the final battle here in Canterlot. I doubt anybody could have missed her presence. In fact, she was a more chaotic factor in this situation than Discord! Golden Tiara They’re all here. The Princesses and the Elements of Harmony, armored for war. Apple Bloom and her friends, Princess Cadence's flower fillies back then, and even Miss Trixie. The unconscious griffon was a mystery, but there's no way I wouldn't recognize Silver Spoon, my baby's best friend. I look up at the dark Alicorn mare before me. She looks so much like me, I want to believe she's 'me' from another world, like the world that strange blank-flank colt showed me after we defeated the Beldam, the me with a dark pink coat, yellow chartreuse mane, and green eyes. It never occurred to me before how the colt had the same coloring as the mare in one of our earliest ancestral paintings. There had never been a colt in our family tree with those colors, the closest was a reference to a colt named ‘Dissy,” who was said to have died young. I saw the cold expression, the aloof stance that I'd taught her. The wings of a vulture, settled against her flanks. That spiral horn, rising from her forehead. The gray barding that covered most of her body, decorated only with a single diamond on the peytral. Cornflower blue eyes shaped like a dragon's, shaded by a dark purple flowing mane with white streaks. Her familiar cutie mark twisted into a spiked ring, on a coat darkened to a dusty pink color that terrified me for reasons I couldn’t understand. I wished I could deny what I saw, but at the same time I didn't want to. I wanted to run away, and at the same time I wanted to run up and hug her. This was the Diamond Tiara I'd envisioned ... She was everything I’d wanted in my daughter, everything I’d raised her to be. I felt a hole in the pit of my stomach. For a moment, I’m overwhelmed by memories. A year of searching... the last time we ever saw each other, the beautiful dress... Princess Gaia's day of innocence... breaking out of the mental hospital, fighting my way past the mad animals and into Canterlot Castle... my mind suddenly returning. Remembering what I had done! Being reunited with Filthy. Fighting the changelings. Meeting the Half-Lights. Attending the Canterlot wedding! And never once forgetting even for a second what my ultimate goal was, what my purpose was for leaving that mental hospital. Who I'd done all this for, who I'd endured everything for. Fighting and fighting until I’d even had dreams of fighting my way through endless creatures of nightmare, and then fighting even more today, all for my baby’s sake. And here we were... together again... Our positions reversed. I can almost hear fate laughing at me. I saw Lord Tube Light Discord, reduced to a ghostly doll riding on her shoulder. He didn't look like the jovial god of chaos I'd seen on “The Day Everything Made Sense Again,” who'd let me rampage to my crazy little heart's content, flying around Ponyville with my beanie and leaving my doctors to his non-existent mercy. Instead, he looked like poor Filthy when I'd gotten my way and raised Diamond Tiara to behave exactly like I used to. The silence had grown awkwardly, awfully long when I finally managed to speak up again. "I'm... sorry your father can't be here, dear. Please don't hold that against him. Your father is doing what he's always done... working himself to the bone for our sakes." "NOW HOLD ON!" Princess Celestia's apprentice shouted. "Golden Tiara, what are you doing here?! How are you even here!? We have a perimeter of Royal Guardponies watching every way in!" "Yes, and they were very insistent on not letting me and my husband through," I said with as much self control as I could. "But I was also very insistent on coming through to see our filly." Twilight shuddered, no doubt recalling my Ponyville breakouts. "Mrs. Tiara, PLEASE tell me you didn't hurt them! Attacking Royal Guards is a serious crime!" I kept a smile on my face. "Don't worry, Miss Sparkle, I'm very certain none of the Royal Guards will be pressing charges. We were ultimately able to settle things peacefully, once I made it clear who I was." I looked at my baby. "And why I was here. A couple of them in particular were kind enough to escort us... " (Princess Celestia's Memoirs: I made a mental note to write up a pardon for those Guards.) I was surprised when it was Discord of all creatures who asked the obvious question first, while my baby's face remained like stone. "Are they and your husband in one piece? You don't look terribly broken up about it so I assume so, but... well, I might have hired a bit of extra security. Not very bright, but they take their jobs very seriously." "I know," I said curtly. +++ "Blimey, Roy, I'm bored!" said one fiend to another, in what sounded suspiciously like a thick Isle of Pony accent. He twitched his scaly wings impatiently. “Right, I’ll just pop off someplace and have a bit o’ fun.” "Now see here, we’ll have none of that!” said Roy, jabbing Bill’s armored chest with a clawed finger. “We’re getting well paid to make sure no more of them horsie things get past this point, so we're gonna sit tight and do just that!" “What, can’t I just splatter a few of them, Roy?” pouted Bill. “Nope! There’s to be no splattering! Mister Discord’s orders!” “What about poking, then? Did he say no poking?” “No poking, neither!” “Can we snap ‘em, then?” “No!” “Roast ‘em?” “Roasting’s right out!” “Surely we can whack one or two, can't we? Nobody will miss ‘em, and I’m ever so bored!” Roy groaned, thumping his forehead against a tree trunk. “I don’t reckon yer quite getting the concept here, Bill! How’s whacking ‘em any different from splattering ‘em?" "Those are totally different!” insisted Bill. “There’s an art to it.” "Cut yer yappin'. See, here’s a few of ‘em coming this way now, so get yer game face on!” “Yes sir! My flaming swords and whip are at the ready, sir!" Bill tried to salute and nearly clocked himself in the head with his own weapons, though to be fair, that would have damaged the weapons more than the fiend’s skull. "These horsie things ain't gonna know what whacked 'em!" == "How's THAT for 'doomed to never be with your princess', you big... stupid... flaming... jerk!" Flash Sentry punctuated each word with another good swift kick, then slumped with exhaustion, having used the monster’s own sword to pin its body to the ground. "Just one more year,” he panted, “and I can introduce myself!" "This is right embarassin'," said the monster's head, having stopped rolling upside down. "We’ll be the laughing stock of all the boys back home, I shouldn’t wonder." "Heh... don't sweat it... I took on Nyarlathotrot... " "Not Great-Uncle Nythy!" said the fiend's head. “No fooling? Well, that’s not so bad then, is it? Losin’ to a bloody hero of the realm.” "We’ll just say he was ten feet tall, with a bloomin’ magic sword or some such," said the other defeated monster, hog-tied by the two whips. "Plenty of time to get our story straight before the contract expires and we up and vanish from this plane." Sitting on top of the other fiend was Death Stalker, dressing Filthy Rich's wounds. His carapace was leaking green fluid from many places. "Thanks for saving me back there, Flash." "Hey... we're both Guards, why wouldn't I?" "I'm a changeling. You think I can't smell envy?" Flash winced. "Let's just say, there's some stuff I can't talk about without the universe exploding." "Ahh. National security?" "Something like that." Death Stalked prodded him, chittering with amusement. "So, you have a crush on one of the Princesses?" "Nnnnnn... Yes and no..." Filthy Rich groaned, too weak to stand, much less get up and trot anywhere. "Please be okay, Golden..." Golden Tiara "And Filthy figured at least one of us should try to see our baby.” I could help but smile just a bit. “He always did sacrifice everything for us. He would have become a milk farmer, if I'd asked him." (Rarity's Notes: Mrs. Rich... I apologize to you and your family for ever thinking you were nothing better than lazy ponies who only fed off the labors of others.) "Well, those boys can forget about their bonus!" Discord remarked. "Hopefully this doesn't ruin their reputation. They’re strangely endearing, in their own way. Wouldn’t want them losing all their mercenary jobs to the Merciless Bluenose Baboons." I ignored him and looked imploringly at my baby. I’d fought so hard to banish Spoiled Rich from my dreams, and here was my baby with that same cold face... My lip quivered. "Well, I always expected you to move up in the world, dear. I did joke with Silver Platter, how your crown must mean you were destined to become a princess. Well... look at you now." "... I... I... I did not want you to see me like this!" My baby spread her wings and reared up on her back hooves, her face for a moment becoming something unpony like. "Your daughter is dead!” She stomped her hooves down. "I didn't want you to see her corpse! What are you even here for?! To give me the spanking I so richly deserve?!" "... I couldn't lift a hoof to you, dear... not again. Never again. Maybe if Filthy was here, he could. If I pushed you too hard, I’m afraid he never pushed you enough, but I think he’d be willing to punish you now. Ironic, isn’t it?" I actually get out a laugh. "He might, if he could possibly fit you on his lap." (Gilda's Scratchings: Why are you ponies always too chicken to give your chicks a good swat in the tail feathers?) "Did you come here thinking you’d be immune to this pain, too?" I hung my head. "I didn't care that it might hurt. A parent is expected to endure for her foal." I think back to my battles during the invasion of Canterlot, of how I'd rather be called by my crazy nickname than accept the name of the pony Filthy fell for, the name of the mare who gave birth to Tarnished. I think of Spoiled Rich and Screwball, and what examples they'd set for my baby... what kind of example was I setting now? "Diamond… you're beating yourself up too, aren't you? This whole thing is you feeling that you can’t be forgiven, that you shouldn’t be forgiven. I’ve been there, I know what it’s like! “I won't lie, I'll never forget what I did to you... I don't want to forget. It will always hurt, but… if I never move on from it, we'll both be stuck there, won't we? Stuck in that awful moment. I'm sorry for what happened, Diamond! I forgive you for stealing my things… please forgive me, and forgive yourself." My baby looked at me, eyes widening, then blinking in confusion. "Is that what you think this is all about?" Her voice softened. "Mother... I forgive you. I always have." I'm not 'Mrs. Rich' until… until she's forgiven me. Funny the things we remember, isn't it? "I'm doing this for you!" my baby shouted. "You don't understand, and it's best you don't understand! There always needs to be somepony to blame, somepony to hate. None of them want it all to be just a misunderstanding. If the villain is forgiven, the blame has to shift to somepony else, or they'll never accept it! “It doesn't matter if they're the Ones-Who-Make or Those-Who-Watch! They'd rather have that pony sent to Hell than simply forgive them! They don't want somepony to be talked down from doing something awful! They have to see that pony suffer! Unless there's somepony else that they can shift all that hate and blame to! I've seen it, mother! Across all the threads of the world! I have to protect you! I'll be the devil and take all the hate and blame with me!" I swear my baby wasn't seeing what was in front of her when she said her next words. "Why couldn't daddy give you a second chance?! As soon as you made one mistake, he threw you away!" I reached a hoof out to her, pleading. "It wasn’t like that at all, Tarnished! It wasn't about forgiveness or second chances. I had a sickness that made me keep hurting the ponies around me. Filthy made the best choice he could when there were no good ones.” My heart felt heavy. I don't know how my daughter became a new Nightmare Moon. I don't know what Discord is doing with her. She's saying some things I don't quite understand ... but I don't care. What I care about is right in front of me. "Dear, your father had something he wanted to tell you. Alula is wondering how you were doing. He promised he'd tell you, but I have to tell you in his stead." "I know that. Just like I know that she, Tootsie, and Silvey are all better off without me." "Princess! Mommy and daddy are back together now!" "I already know that too. You should go back to him. Forget about me!" "What makes you think I'll EVER do that?!" As it turned out, Trixie, Silver Spoon, the Apples, and the rest hadn't been just sitting on their flanks and twiddling their hooves as I spoke with my baby. Trixie barged in front of me with Twilight Sparkle's pet dragon still on her back. = The Hot Wind Blowing - Metal Gear Revengence = "TRIXIE IS SICK AND TIRED OF NOT HAVING THE SPOTLIGHT!” Trixie tried to remove Spike with her telekinesis, causing him to latch harder onto her. “NOW YOU'LL SEE MY TRUE POWER!" "Trixie, don't!” shouted Twilight Sparkle. “It's suicide!" "TRIXIE DOESN'T CARE!" “Whoa!” hollered the dragon, after getting thrown off Trixie’s back. "Somebody stop her!" "Feel the wrath of Trixie’s Great and Powerful Lightning Blast!" Trixie conjured a small storm cloud above her, and lightning shot right at Diamond Tiara, arcing across her barding. "Have you gone insane?!" I shouted, my maternal instincts kicking in. Not thinking rationally, I rushed towards her. Trixie looked at me, alarmed. Suddenly, I was caught in Princess Celestia's magic and pulled back. "LET ME GO!" Trixie teleported evasively, blasting Diamond Tiara with more bolts of magic, then a fireball... I should have realized how much Diamond Tiara could apparently take as the new Nightmare. Her barding wasn’t even marked, much less damaged, but my instincts weren't registering this as I struggled to break free of the grip of the sun. Nightmare Nhilis curled her lips into a schoolyard bully sneer. “Is this all you can do? You must be trying to bore me to death! If you have this much energy left, then let's see your mother's destruction magic. Unless you can’t even do that right." "What's the matter, afraid to fight back? Scared to show your mother what a lousy shot you are?!" Trixie, what were you thinking?! Diamond Tiara reacted exactly how I knew she would... White hot needles of magic shot from Diamond's horn. Trixie brought up a barrier, but the needles went through the barrier like it wasn't even there. Trixie teleported again as one of the needles struck her, but the spark had set something off. "Oh no! My fireworks!" Trixie had just enough time to say, and then they exploded. The... the barding forced most of the explosion inward, into Trixie. Trixie didn't scream, I didn’t know if her lungs were still working. = Heart-shaped Tears - Lunar Eternal Blue = Trixie's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fell, her hat tumbling off her and settling on the ground. She wasn't breathing. A trail of smoke rose from her, and the sick smell of gunpowder and cooked meat filled the air. A dark hole lay in the center of Trixie's chest where the barding had been breached from the inside. "No!" I heard Twilight Sparkle scream, and Discord too? I must have imagined it. Rarity fainted on her couch. The Princesses bowed their heads. Apple Bloom’s and Spike's eyes filled with tears, along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Silver Spoon looked away, trembling. Applejack took off her hat. Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane. Pinkie Pie whimpered. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. My baby's horn glowed, and a guillotine materialized above Trixie's body (they used those for chopping cabbage right?), and the blade fell! The others all gasped in shock and alarm. Trixie's body sprang up and rolled out of the way. The others all seemed relieved instead of shocked, seeing Trixie suddenly coming back to life. Silver Spoon looked back, gasping. The children's tears dried up on the spot, and the reality of the situation dawned on me. The image of the burned hole in Trixie's body shattered like glass, the tell tale sign of an illusion spell ending. Trixie kicked some metal sheets off her hooves that had been hidden by the illusion as well, and I could feel her presence on the earth again. She removed a cloth mask that she'd been wearing under the illusion as well, and the smell of cooked meat and blasting powder vanished instantly. I watched... angry, confused, but most of all relieved that my baby hadn't actually killed another pony right before my eyes. Trixie levitated her hat back onto her head before looking my baby in bewilderment. "Trixie has to know, where was the failing in her show?" My baby spoke in a formal tone decades above her level. "Oh no, there was no failing. Your performance was flawless. By all the evidence of my senses, you were dead for real.” She glanced dismissively at the rest of the gathered ponies around me. “Your friends reacted quite convincingly too. The reaper spirit really sold it… I suppose that was Princess Luna’s doing? It must have felt like death itself was on your back." I must have missed that last part. "I was completely fooled..." "Even I was none the wiser!" Discord added, looking shaken, and looking shaken that he was shaken, if that made sense. "I'm guessing Sweetie Belle thought of not being able to redeem Chrysalis, yes?” My baby looked at Silver Spoon. "Looking away was a good choice Silvey, you never could get the sad face good enough to fool me. I guess the Shield Flanks didn't feel like teaching you the puppy dog eyes." "Then how? Why?" screamed Trixie. "I attacked your 'corpse' because I knew what I saw was impossible,” said Nightmare Nhilis without emotion. “It’s that simple. Reality itself would have cracked from the strain of a 'favorite' pony dying. If you had gone for 'crippled for life' or something like that, I'd have swallowed it hook line and sinker. “And now that I've said that-" Nightmare Nhilis rolled her eyes. "-there's bound to already be a worldline where that happened. But since we're not in a time loop, that information isn't going to do you any good!" "Trixie is a favorite?" Trixie's face twitched into a grin. "A no-face traveling blowhard birthday magician becomes friends with Equestria's protectors, gains a similar power to its Chosen One, and takes part in battles to save Equestria? You have to ask?" "Trixie wouldn't have been able to do any of that if she wasn't up to the challenge!" "Trixie!” I said, exasperated. “I know Diamond Tiara is clearly not herself right now, but what made you think that was going to help anything?!" "I thought of it." Twilight Sparkle said solemnly. "She thinks that she can be as brutal as she wants because none of us are 'fated' to die. If she did see one of us 'die,' I thought it might shock her into reconsidering what she's doing." "Why don't you just use the Elements of Harmony to help her?!" Twilight Sparkle looked down. "As long as Discord's spirit is trapped inside her, it'll turn her to stone, and possibly Sweetie Belle as well." Trapped? My baby roughly shook her head, her beautiful dark mane swaying in a nonexistent wind. "I kept giving you, and giving you, and giving you heroic ways to end this, but you wouldn't take any of them. And now my mother has to be here to see this, and you morons endangered her with your stupid trick! You're all so selfish, putting everypony in danger just to hang onto your sense of moral superiority!" (Apple Bloom's Addendum: Ah should have realized Nightmare Nhilis might be fixin’ to do something desperate. She had to know she’d already used up a lot of power.) Diamond Tiara touched the jewel on her peytral, and it changed shape. It became a circular gem, with jewels arranged around it like flower petals with sharp points, like a drawing of the sun's corona. The ‘petals’ flashed pale pink and the gem dark purple, and inside, I saw a storm of some sort raging. = Zophar's Revival - Lunar 2: Eternal Blue = She looked at all of us. "Now listen carefully. If I lose consciousness in any way, if this is removed from me, or comes into contact with your combined Harmony magic or anypony else's teleportation, it explodes. I didn't include an 'off' switch, but I can set it off at any time. I have no idea how big the explosion will be, it might be just a firecracker or it could take out Ponyville from here. The only way it doesn't go off is if I'm destroyed." So many gasps from the ponies and one dragon around me... shocked, alarmed, angry, confused, scared, horrified... I wonder what mine was. Tiara... no... my daughter, why are you doing this to yourself? Saving me? Don't you think I'd happily become Screwball again, or even Spoiled Rich if it meant you could have a full and happy life? If I’d stayed perfectly sane, and raised you just as I’d planned, if I’d taught you to be just as mean and superior as I was back then… maybe you wouldn’t have run away from home and become a Nightmare, but would you be happy? And if Discord could actually turn back time like that… would he? Could I trust Discord… the old, cruel Lord Pizza Sour Gumdrops Discord, to make a bargain like that and not cheat me, let me doom myself and have his fun anyway? I just don’t know! Oh, my sweet baby filly, all we can do is deal with the world as it is, with the world we have. IF WE WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD, WE HAVE TO WORK FOR IT, DIAMOND TIARA! Your mother, your father, our predecessors had to WORK for what we have, and we have to work to KEEP what we have! "Diamond! Stop this nonsense! If you want a sacrifice that badly then take me!" Diamond shook her head. "I hold the spirits of dark magic inside me now, mother! If I'm destroyed, they're destroyed too. Doesn't that sound like a bargain? No more Nightmares? No more dark magic? Just for one selfish filly. You all just have your heads stuck too far up your flanks to admit it’s for the best.” "DO NOT USE THAT LANGUAGE, YOUNG LADY!" I said automatically. "It doesn't matter anymore, mom. Nothing matters, nothing ever did. You, me, the whole world, we're nothing. We’re not even a pointless accident, at least that would be at least an excuse. We're just a big mess up, but I'm taking all the mistakes with me." She touched the jewel again. A set of numbers appeared, and it began to count down. Oh no. "Three minutes, one hundred and eighty seconds, but that was six seconds ago. I suggest you hurry up and destroy me." I had never seen so many ponies look so helpless, and I felt exactly the same. Rarity closed her eyes, and breathed in slowly, her whole body shuddering. She put her hooves together in silent prayer for a few seconds. Then Rarity touched both Fluttershy and Trixie, took hold of one of her large sewing needles... and it transformed into a golden sword. The blade was a uniform segment of blue crystal, fused to a golden spine on one side. The pattern matched the design on Fluttershy's armor, but the glow was like Trixie's magic. Rarity did a few quick practice swings with the weapon. "RARITY, NO!" Sweetie Belle shouted. Rarity didn't meet her gaze. "Please look away, Sweetie Belle." I gritted my teeth, every muscle tense. I could feel Princess Luna's eyes on me. "Rarity! I can't let you!" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "You have one minute and fifty-nine seconds to think of a better way, Twilight," Rarity said. She didn't sound happy in the least. She sounded... defeated. I wished I was Screwball. She would have attacked that mare without hesitation or mercy. +++ Trixie hates this. I never thought I'd wish I’d stayed on that rock farm, or never left home, just to be away from this insanity. I never thought I'd be this angry at being pulled along like a puppet, and now being used. I fought back tears... I haven't felt this helpless since I was trapped in loneliness by Discord. Trixie... might be afraid of what's about to happen. And... sorrow at the foals having to see this, of Mrs. Tiara having to see this! No, this isn’t fair! Take Trixie instead!! AGH, come on! Let me transform into Nightmare-Whatever and stop this filly, so the others can use the Elements to fix me! Give it to me! AAAGH! OW! What the… ?! My chest feels like it's on fire! +++ "EVERYPONY, LOOK!!" Apple Bloom shouted, as if the sun's light had shattered the deepest darkness like a buck from the hooves of God. "THE TIMER! IT'S GOIN' BACKWARDS! FORWARDS! IT AIN'T COUNTIN' DOWN!" Nightmare Nhilis looked down, eyes widening in shock. She drew in a breath. "THE HELL?!?!?!" Her voice echoed off the mountain top. = The Grubby Dark Blue - Thunder Force III = "THIS IS HORSEAPPLES! I DEVOURED YOU! YOU SHOULD'VE CEASED TO EXIST!" she bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice. (Vain Notes: Except for one detail. You let go of your heart, your feelings... How could you possibly become the new goddess of black magic?) The ponies didn't hear the response, but her words alone made them realize what happened. "Did the spirits of dark magic just... help us?" said Twilight, in a breathless whisper. "Do ye truly find it inconceivable that darkness might aid ye?" Princess Luna asked gently. “They are not called ‘the spirits of evil magic,’ after all.” Nightmare Nhilis found her awareness dragged away from the material world, down into a dim void where filly-sized shadows surrounded her on all sides, all of them chained together. 'I remember... being so alone... I didn't even know how long I'd been alone... or why I was alone, or what it was to feel anything other than lonely. I remember... five smiling faces... turned gray... the same faces, but not feeling the same anymore.' 'I remember being silenced... bound and gagged, not allowed to speak a word. Not being allowed to say how I was afraid of being wrong, afraid of not living up somepony else's expectations... Afraid of hurting others, afraid of it all being for nothing, afraid of becoming a monster.' 'I remember... being chained like this before. Being eaten... being absorbed... ceasing to be me... I felt so sad... but I wasn't sad for me. I was sad for all my friends... all my family... our home... my blue best friend... being used to hurt her, by a monster with my face.' 'I remember being so angry... at the monster with my face... when they called my brother a fake... saying he was just imaginary... that he didn't have a real name... saying he was even less real than everything else... that he'd been a villain before big sister Cadence turned him into a hero. And she ate him first...' 'I wanted to know more, always learn more, to see more, to understand more, to have more friends.' 'I remember how perfect my teacher was... so kind, so wise, so smart, so pretty... I envied everything about her. I knew I had to become like her.' 'I was a diligent student that she trusted completely.' 'I hated... how wrong everything was... but I hated the idea of everything we worked for being simply wiped away even more.' (Interviewer's Notes: (Half-Light Dusk): I don't believe it.) (Interviewer's Notes: (Half-Light Dawn): I super don't believe it.) (Interviewer's Notes: (Half Light Noon): Well it's my job to ask the sharp questions! Mom was the goddess of ALL magic. Where do you think these spirits came from, the supermarket?!) (Interviewer's Notes: (Half-Light Dusk): I never would have imagined… ) (Interviewer's Notes: (Half Light Noon): Well, our coming into existence wasn't 100% planned. I get the feeling theirs was even less... ) (Interviewer's Notes: (Half-Light Dawn): ... Born orphans. Like us.) (Interviewer's Notes: (Half Light Noon): So smarty pants... are they Nightmare Eclipse broken up into little pieces? Just making sure we're not gonna have our worst Nightmare to deal with.) (Interviewer's Notes: (Half-Light Dusk): I'll ignore the pun... Remember, everything that was Nightmare Eclipse became part of Amicitia... including all those innocent Twilight Sparkles who were absorbed by her. I think they were born the same time as us, but... they've been confused and all alone... ) +++ (Greed: You could have had what you really wanted the whole time! The whole reason you did everything! This isn't selfish, it's stupid!) (Envy: You had parents to love you... to look after you... and you just threw them away? You’re crazy!) (Hateful: You think your mom doesn't hate seeing you like this?) Of course I know she does! (Hateful: And you think she's going to somehow hate you dying less?) (Vanity: How can you treat your life like it doesn't have ANY value?) (Sadness: Please stop! Can't you see how much this is hurting them and will hurt them?!) What the Pony Hell would sadness itself care? (Sadness: Don't you think I can't feel sad FOR others?) SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU SHUT UP! IF ANY OF YOU COULD DO ANY MORE THAN THIS AGAINST MY WILL YOU WOULD HAVE DONE IT ALREADY! JUST STAY PUT LIKE GOOD LITTLE BATTERIES! IT'S TIME FOR ALL OF US TO GO TO THE AFTERLIFE! Nothing’s changed, I still have all of them between a rock and a hard place! We’re a plague on this world, and it’s time for us to be scrubbed out of existence! (Interviewer's Notes: (Half-Light Dusk): You said it yourself, Nightmare Nhilis, they're like you. They empowered you to become a Nightmare because you were kindred spirits. They wanted to be with their mother, but they couldn't find her... ) YOU SHUT UP!... Stillness... Silence... Darkness... Stillness, Silence, Darkness... Do you think I don’t know what you’re up to? You're all trying to keep me angry so I'll do something foolish and dimwitted. How painfully predictable! (Interviewer's Notes: (Half-Light Noon): I feel sad for ya, kid. You've spent so much time among manipulative adults, you don't know how to recognize when somepony is being straight with ya.) +++ "Dissy!” shouted Wind Whistler, right in Discord’s face. “You cannot allow Diamond Tiara's current course of action!" 'You think I don't know that, teacher?' "Then do something about it. Aid her in coming to her senses! If you really love her, you shall!" Discord sighed. 'As cliche as it is… I have been. If I'm too overt she'll notice.' Wind Whistler frowned. "You think she hasn't noticed already?" 'Of course she’s noticed! She just hasn’t realized that I know that she knows, so she doesn't think I WILL do anything directly with her.' Wind Whistler sighed. "While I would normally consider that line of thought over analyzation, in this instance it is logical." 'Don't rub it in. Eeww, what are you doing? Cut it out with the nuzzling!' Wind Whistler gave one of her incredibly rare smiles. "I'm just proud of you, little Dissy." Discord looked down. 'It’s a shame you're not the real thing, and all of these mental gymnastics are just me trying to be at peace with myself.' "Didn't you ever notice how you fell into patterns after that battle? Sadly it wasn't enough to curb all of the War Avatar's influence, or Destruction's." Discord was so startled that he didn’t even object when Wind Whistler hugged him, wrapping him in her wings, in spite of their size difference. "I am certain that you will be able to think of something to aid in this situation having a positive outcome that doesn't involve the loss of life. After all... you were always so creative." Wind Whistler turned around, glancing back at him, and faded as she trotted away.