It was midnight, but the stars shone in vain, hidden by clouds of noxious, hissing gas. The world beneath them trembled, wrenching haphazardly as a low rumble filled the air. A field of scorched, shattered stone stretched for a mile in all directions, where it met the near-vertical walls of the caldera. In its center, a broken-edged pool of lava spat and boiled. Upon the lava floated a hexagonal raft of black stone.
The movements of the slick basalt made any purchase rare and tenuous, but the pony who stood in its center was unhindered: four silver-clad hooves made constant contact against the convulsing block of stone. Her wings were kept folded about her, unnecessary for balance so long as she maintained her stance. Around her blue-grey countenance flowed a shimmering aura of sparkling purples, blues and white. Her eyes and mane glowed with the eldritch force she controlled, and her horn emitted coruscating sparks of silver and blue.
Approaching her, struggling to keep his step, a small, almost nondescript unicorn staggered and slid across the treacherous surface. Blood caked his black mane, and open wounds lay ragged across his dun coat. He sighed, channeled his power once more, and spoke into the spell.
“Listen. I can help you,” he pleaded, his voice amplified against the din. “Celestia can help you. We just want you back. How you we-” His plea was interrupted by an explosion of stone at his feet, knocking him to the edge of the raft.
The alicorn roared, “BACK? You mean MEEK! Do THIS!” Sweeping her horn through the air, she threw him to the other edge of the raft. “Do THAT!” She picked him up again, and spun him like a top. “You’re such a good FILLY!” She reared back on her hind legs, and spread her wings. A sphere of sparking energy formed far above the snared stallion. He hurried to cast a counter-spell. “I. WON’T. BE. IGNORED!” She dropped to all fours, and the blow fell. A pale shield flickered into existence, only to be annihilated by the blast.
The raft rocked violently, groaning in protestation as the assault rippled through the stone, and it began to crack. The stallion lay motionless, his nostrils running with blood, frothing as his lungs labored for breath. Several shards of stone pierced him, holding him fast. She strode towards his prison, and stood over him. A smile crept across her face, then, unmatched by her vacant, glowing eyes. Her voice grew cold. “You always did say the best way to learn was by doing, didn’t you, Chancellor?”
“What?” He could not move to see her. “Yes, I did, your Highness, but-”
“Then it’s time to learn,” she interrupted. With barely an effort, the alicorn spun his head around, a tearing noise accompanying her work. “That’s better,” she said into the lifeless eyes that stared through her. “After all, you should look at the person with whom you speak.”
She felt a change overtake her. A purpose. She shimmered a moment, and then was gone. Only the chancellor’s body remained, adrift atop a molten sea.