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// Omnipotence 
// Story: Disappear 
// by ShimmeringStallion 
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Omnipotence





Having seen her sister defeated in a battle of pure magical ability, Luna became enraged, prompting her to use all the magic she had within her, in her attempt to defeat Vanish. The stallion knew he couldn’t win this way, but he couldn’t allow himself to lose, either. He had only one trick left: Using Gather’s magic, his coat changed to that of Fluttershy, as her wings appeared on his body. “Hah! You chose poorly, ignorant foal! Now pay the price!” Princess Luna stepped closer to Vanish, who had become critically weak. The Princess of the Night had him where she wanted him, until she noticed something. He wasn’t trying to focus his magic any more than he had already been doing. She focused her own, redirecting it as the stallion flew higher and higher, until he found himself on the ceiling of the Wedding Hall, using the chandelier to obscure himself.

“You’ll pay for your actions against Princess Celestia of Equestria! No cheap trick such as hiding yourself could ever…!” Princess Luna stopped using her magic, gasping upon noticing that she had been hitting the chandelier without anypony falling from it, for longer than she cared to realize. Awaiting his presence, Princess Luna looked around cautiously, darting her eyes around the room. She knew that Vanish could conceal himself, but remembered hearing the stallion when she had been taken hostage by him earlier, realizing that Vanish could not hide the sound of himself using unicorn magic. Becoming scared that he might get the drop on her, she backed herself into the corner by the door that was unoccupied by Gather, before noticing that she made the most careless mistake of all: She stopped attacking.

A beam of magic shot from the side of one of the pillars to the sides of the hall; Vanish had used the chandelier to conceal his presence, cloaking in order to move behind a pillar, but didn’t approach Princess Luna as she thought he would. Taken by surprise at an attack from the ground, Luna quickly tried to defend herself, but it was too late. Vanish had used the seemingly unlimited power of Gather’s horn to overtake the princess, as the force of impact from the beam of magic propelled her against the wall she had backed herself into, knocking her into an unmoving sitting position against the wall. Vanish gently hovered over to her, knowing his rear hooves needed to recover, and pulled her by her horn with his front hooves, pivoting around her until he was in position to remove her wings. Hearing her wince in pain, Vanish took the wings from the prone body of Princess Luna, gently propping her back up against the wall before hobbling over to Princess Celestia.

He didn't know what to say, trying to calmly praise her efforts against him as a form of consolation. “You performed better than I had believed you were capable of performing. This is nothing personal, but this is what I must do in order to fulfill the conditions of the contract. I am sorry, princess. Please forgive me for this.” Princess Celestia looked up at Vanish, weakly. She put all her effort into rolling onto her back while Luna fought against him, as her wings were limp, but extended. He could have easily stepped on them to keep her in place, but he had too much honor to do so. All she could do is warn the stallion of the consequences. “… Y… You’ll pay… by the order… of Eques…tria…” She could hardly speak, though she was practically immobilized by pain. Vanish used his magic to lift her up, flipping her over easily while she was levitated in the air, before laying her back down gently. Finally ready, he used Gather's horn in order for him to acquire her wings by placing the horn on her back, hearing a groan of sorrow and defeat escape the mouth of the Equestrian Monarch.

And just like that, it was over. Fluttershy had thought that despite her not doing anything, Vanish wouldn’t be capable of defeating all three princesses, especially with Shining Armor providing his assistance. But he proved the superiority of the powers that Gather had. More importantly, he achieved his goals; he had acquired the wings of all of the Pegasi in Cloudsdale, the two members of the Spirits of the Elements of Harmony, all the members of the Wonderbolts, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess Luna, and last but not least, Princess Celestia of Equestria. Vanish was exhausted and pained, but walked over to his client in the corner of the room, who highly enjoyed the carnage that was displayed in the Royal Wedding Hall, as could easily be determined by his booming, hysterical laugh, which had rung loud through the hall, as his hired mercenary approached him.

Calming himself down, Gather stood up, and walked over to Vanish. “Heh… Ha hah… You’re worth the wait, even if you’re a tad too naïve for my own personal tastes.” The turquoise stallion lowered his head in anxious anticipation of what he had been waiting for. “The horn, if you please.” Everything went as Gather had planned, and now the end of the plan was approaching with haste. As Vanish used his hoof to grab Gather’s horn from his own head, he placed it back with Gather, bowing respectively to his now ‘former’ client.

Vanish turned around, opening the large door with his magic only a crack with which to make his departure from the Wedding Hall, as Gather watched him do just that, as Vanish gave nothing but a simple, heartless glance towards the terrified, disappointed group of mares staring at him from the other side of the hall, before the mercenary hobbled in pain, out of view of the ponies who had tried everything they could to befriend him and earn his trust, with nothing to show for it now, but scars from a battle they had promised Fluttershy that they would not take part in, themselves.

With Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both down, and the other mares in the room focusing intently on Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, Gather simply walked over to the fallen ‘Rulers of Night and Day’. Gently trotting to Princess Luna, Gather used his magic to lift her up, slamming her against the wall viciously. The sharp, painful exhalation from Princess Luna could be heard by everypony in the Wedding Hall, quickly getting their attention. Gather stood behind her, pulling her mane back with his hooves, forcing her neck to bend dangerously far as she cried out in pain, before he finally took her horn from her, and with it, her power. He wasted no chance at humiliating the defeated princess, casting her towards the wall where Shining Armor had left a crater. Thankfully, Twilight was able to stop her from crashing head-first into the wall, by using her magic to grab the former alicorn out of the air.

Princess Celestia had struggled to right her stance as Gather approached. She tried standing, but doubled over in pain, landing on her knees once more. Seeing this, Gather couldn't help but taunt the princess. “Well, well, well. I’m not even in charge yet, and you’re already bowing to me like a good little ‘follower’; how precious.” She looked up, gritting her teeth in furious anger while visibly fighting back the pain coursing through her body. “I’ll never let Canterlot… fall into the hooves… of such a… sadistic monster!” Gather chuckled to himself, brandishing Princess Celestia’s wings before responding. “Know your place, worm.” Gather flew up briefly, before using his rear hooves to land a heavy, painful kick to the side of Princess Celestia's head. She spun slightly on the floor from the impact before coming to a halt. Dizzy, pained, and tired, she still struggled to stand up, not wanting her kingdom to fall into the hooves of Gather, shouting at him angrily. “… You… You are nothing but a… bottom-feeding… cowardly, p-… power-hungry scoundrel… you’ll never take Equestria. I know I-!” Gather harshly kicked her with his front hoof, right in her underbelly, knocking her over.

“‘Power Hungry’, you say? You truly know nothing, princess. I am not keeping this power to myself. Well, not all of it anyways.” Gather used his magic to move the badly beaten princess over to the side of the room, sliding her along the floor in front of him slowly, kicking her whenever he chose to whilst doing so, each kick producing a cough from the former alicorn princess. “See, I’m not in this for ‘me’. I’m a business-oriented pony: just like you, just like the white mare with the purple mane, and just like Vanish. You wouldn’t believe the demand for wings, by unicorns and Earth ponies alike!” Gather crossed his forelegs, before turning and kicking the downed princess again, in the chest, with his rear hoof, causing her to cough fiercely as he leaned down to speak to her again. “Power can be bought, and I’ve got it for sale in bulk. These ponies are content with who they are; unicorns are self-entitled, ignorant creatures. Yes, I know the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve. It’s as dumb as the ponies who believe in such garbage.”

Gather scowled angrily. “The theory of ponies being able to work together for maintaining ‘Harmony’ is utter rubbish!” The turquoise stallion lifted Celestia up with his magic, before solely focusing on her neck, allowing gravity to hang the rest of her body in the air as her front hooves desperately flailed at her throat, unable to release the magically-induced grip though willpower or physical means as Gather continued. “You… you alone, define the traits of the unicorns. To bring in the night, and day; a duty I intend to make my own, showing that only the superior shall rule Equestria. Discord was content with his chaotic state of affairs, but I… Oh ho hoh… I’m going to take this far beyond the reaches of Equestria. Of course, I’ll keep some things for myself, like the wings of Rainbow Dash, for instance, and some magic.”

Gather turned Princess Celestia around, clasping her head, trying to crush her skull with his bare hooves, before settling with simply craning her neck down, obtaining her horn, and throwing her crumpled mess of a body off to the side as he finally finished tormenting the defeated mare, at least physically. “Yours, that of your sister, and of course…” Gather pointed to the ponies who were tending to Princess Luna, as they all focused at the sadistic stallion who had suddenly given them his own absolute focus, as he made his last claim, “… The magic of Twilight Sparkle!”