//------------------------------// // Always and Forever // Story: TiM: Best of Intentions, Worst of Results // by Twidashforever //------------------------------// Outside Stalliongrad The being only known as ‘The Night’ suffered under excruciating, agonizing pain. Twilight Sparkle was livid; it had taken upon itself to up her timetable. They were in front of Stalliongrad, her forces ready to attack several days before she ever wanted them to, but it was too late to do anything about it. If she pulled back now, if they tried to retreat, they would expose themselves to the changeling infestation and be wiped out. Regardless of her carefully laid plans, it was now or never. Although, Twilight reasoned she could still have some fun with this thing. ‘So just because I fall asleep you think that puts you in charge?’ ‘Mistress, of course not.’ ‘Then what makes you think you have the right to change my plans?’ I'm sorry mistress. I meant no offence.’ ’Your meaning is immaterial. Only your screams count now.’ Scream it did, on and on for hours she tortured the creature well past the breaking point of any mortal, however, what Twilight Sparkle did not know was while she played it, it was playing her. Deep down in her subconscious, it was erasing, altering, and changing memories. Soon she forgot why she was even punishing it. Twilight Sparkle did not care; the fun was in the act, not the reason. Twilight Night looked out at the fortress walls of Stalliongrad. The city was as near impregnable as it was possible to be. Its forces well dug in, supplied, and trained. She would know; as Twilight, she designed every aspect of the defenses they are now about to assault. There was no tactical weakness. On ground, it was impossible. In the air, there were three divisions of pegasi warriors to deal with. All of that made a conventional attack impossible, no ground force could touch it, and no air force could touch it. However, no conventional attack had a mare of Twilight Night’s power. She was the trump card. All her forces had to do was get her in range with enough time. She would drop Cloudsdale on top of Stalliongrad. They had no pony that could stop her. Luna was badly hurt after their last encounter. Cadance was never a great fighter, Radiant was a fool who cared too much about the soldiers under his command, Night was wounded or dead, she did not care which. With Celestia’s head hanging over her palace, Twilight Night predicted her odds of success at eighty-seven percent, good odds. Twilight Night was still very upset about the dream event earlier. So much rode on her finally breaking the last of Twilight’s barriers, for this to work she needed to be hindered, weak, and helpless. Not only did this event set all that back, it actually cheered her up. The punishment she was dishing out should have been much more extreme. This threatened everything. There was still a way though, all Twilight Night had to do was kill someone Twilight loved and at the last possible second, pull the illusion away. Twilight Sparkle is a pure soul, such an action would scar her mind forever, and it just so happened, Twilight Night was staring at a city full of ponies that Twilight loved. For her, it was just a matter of picking the right one. In this city there would be plenty of options. “Summon the council.” Twilight Night gave the order to no one in particular. It did not matter, within minutes she knew the five strongest shadowbeings would be by her side. Ready to listen to her augmented plans for taking this city, and the complete destruction of the two biggest threats left to her, Cloudsdale, and Stalliongrad. …………………………………………….. The Remains of the Everfree Forest The General put all he had into shielding those under his immediate command. The mistress was getting stronger, the pull she gave out managed to attract a few more of his workers each and every time. He doubted that he would be able to resist much longer, however, they were close. So close to his target he could taste it. However, with every loss the work would slow down. Less workers means more time, more time means less workers. The longer it took the less likely he would achieve his goal, and it was the most critical of them all. He had to achieve this objective. Failing here is certain death. The kind he could not be revived from. ………………………………………………………….. Outside Stalliongrad “Any questions?” She knew there would be none. No shadowbeing in their right mind would dare question their mistress. ‘Do shadowbeings even have minds? Maybe I should dissect one.’ The thought both intrigued and disgusted Twilight Night. That was not the thought of a ruler, a mistress in service to her master. That was a thought from Twilight Sparkle. Somehow, that sleep had set her back more than even she believed possible. This was an issue and a big one. Twilight Night would have to do something drastic and soon. Twilight was regaining her willpower. If that occurred, it would all be lost. “Give the order. We attack.” “When mistress?” A question… Twilight Night was shocked, several seconds passed, and she had yet to execute this upstart for daring to open his mouth to her. This only had one cause; she acted quickly and flayed the thing alive. “Any more questions?” “No mistress, we will begin the attack now.” It was starting to affect more than her thoughts; it was reaching her actions and demeanor. This was not good, not good at all. Twilight Night resolved right then and there when she saw Luna again she would flay her alive and find out just how that spell had gotten to Twilight. She could not allow that to happen ever again. The damage might be too big already. No, she could not think like that, the plan was a good one. It would still work. The only thing left to decide is who to kill in front of Twilight Sparkle to do the maximum amount of psychological damage. ‘At times like this I somewhat wish Celestia was still alive.’ She laughed under her breath. ………………………………………………………... Stalliongrad “Ok, that is a buck-ton of them.” “We are not familiar with that term; we are curious young prince as to exactly how much a buck-ton is?” “It’s a little more than a shit-ton and a lot less than a fuck-ton.” Luna considered this, while she had no real frame of reference for how much any of those terms actually were she decided not to press the issue any farther and trust the prince at his word. The two of them walked the walls of Stalliongrad, eyeing the enemy that was currently amassing on the outside, one that was stubbornly just outside the effective range of their defenses. That surprised nopony, Twilight designed this city and she knew the layout, Twilight would naturally know the range of their spells; she had put some of them in place. Of course, she would know how to avoid assembling her troops in range. The knowledge of such did not make it any less infuriating to Luna though. “Shadowbeings” Luna spit the word out like a curse. To her it was a curse, with the death of Celestia and her own defeat at the hooves of this new revenant; Luna could no longer control the moon. This thing, a creature that masqueraded as a twisted version of Twilight, she had taken control of both the sun and moon. It seemed Nightmare Moon’s objective of bringing on an endless night finally came true. Just from the last pony Luna ever expected. ‘It goes to show, anypony can fall.’ A sharp pain soon interrupted Luna’s melancholy. Looking down, Radiant was poking her with his horn. He stared up at the Princess, “You ok there, it seemed like you got distracted.” “Yes young prince, We were simply lost in thought as it were.” “Can I ask what about?” “We think you already know that answer to that question.” She glanced over to the assembled army ranged against them, or more precisely, to the command bunker they had set up. There could be no doubt that is where Twilight was. “You know I can’t see as well as you in the dark.” “Oh, sorry.” She reached down and touched their horns together. Radiant’s view instantly expanded ten-fold, allowing the unicorn to take in the full view of the forces arrayed against them. “I take it back.” Luna stared at him inquisitorially, “What is it that you take back?” “That’s not a buck-ton of them, that’s a fuck-ton of them.” Luna considered this and readjusted her earlier assumed definitions of how much each of these terms was, “Indeed young prince, we face a fuck-ton of them.” Radiant’s failed attempt to hold in his giggles soon drew her attention. “We are curious, to what do you find so funny?” Radiant Star, Prince of the Crystal Empire, tried to hold it back, he bit his tongue and stomped his hoofs, trying to think about anything other than Princess Luna saying the words fuck-ton, but it did not work. Several giggles managed to escape from Radiant before he recomposed himself. The Princess of the Night was highly annoyed by this. ”Nothing Princess Luna, forgive me for that; so how shall we deal with this fuck-ton of enemies at our gates?” Luna and Radiant examined the battlefield in turn, focusing on the grouping of enemies, it was a standard formation, one designed for overwhelming threats from multiple angles, nothing the fortress city could not handle. The issue at hoof was in the center mass, in the command tent, where that creature was. All of the rest were irrelevant, mindless minions who would simply follow orders and die to buy their commander time. Twilight was all that truly mattered. “Exactly how she planned it, our military advisors cannot come up with anything better.” “I don’t like going to war with someone who wrote our playbook.” “Indeed. young prince.” Silence descended on the two as Radiant considered an idea that might have gone overlooked. “I don’t suppose you could just lower the moon and raise the sun? Then we could skip this altogether.” Luna did not fail to notice the ray of hope in his voice; sadly, she had to stomp it out. “Believe me young prince, we have tried. The moon is held in place by magic much stronger than our own. That is why we must stop Twilight here and now. When that occurs, this battle will be over.” Captain Firestar interrupted any further conversation the two could have. Flying down from Cloudsdale, she landed directly in front of the two and snapped to attention with a smart salute. “Prince, Princess, Captain Firestar reporting as ordered.” Prince Radiant was the first to reply, his hoofs on experience with the troops in the Crystal Empire made it second nature to him. “At ease.” “What do you have to report, captain?” Luna asked. “The pegasi divisions are ready to deploy on your notice, we are fully armored and ready to bring the fight to the enemy.” Something was off with Firestar’s tone, something that did not sit right with Radiant. “You have concerns, captain?” “Sir, no sir” “Captain, we cannot have you holding back useful information, speak your mind, that's an order.” “Sir… the Wonderbolts are left in reserve, I'm wondering why? “It is part of the plan, captain. While the Wonderbolts are the greatest flyers we have, they will be held in reserve until such time as the enemy Commander presents herself. Then they will see combat, we must clear the way for Rainbow Dash. If she exhausts herself before the true battle begins it will be all over.” “Are we to assist Princess Dash?” Luna took that question, “Under no circumstances are they to interfere in any way, when we awaken her, the Wonderbolts are merely to clear a path and keep everything away from them. It will be no easy task.” “I stand ready to lead them into battle.” A puzzled look crossed Radiant’s face. “Captain, I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding, you will not lead the Wonderbolts in this.” “I... I won’t” Firestar could not help it, despite the presence of two members of royalty, that news broke through her military bearing. “I'm sorry prince, I don’t understand, have I not performed my duty to your liking?” “Of course, I've never had cause to think otherwise.” “Then, why would you pull me away from my command?” “Because Firestar, we are giving you a new one. Due to the ‘unfortunate’ hospitalization of former Commander Tsunami, from this moment on you will be in charge of the Cloudsdale militia. We will take care of the formalities later. For now Commander, congratulations are in order.” In the blink of an eye, the two of them promoted Firestar to Commander of the Cloudsdale militia, effectively making her the leader of Cloudsdale. “I… this must be a mistake. There must be someone more qualified than I am? Someone better suited for it. I never sought to lead all of Cloudsdale.” “You ask if there is someone more qualified. There is quite the list, better suited? There is no one, the fact you never sought such authority makes you the perfect candidate for it. Trust us; we have been alive for thousands of years. Those who seek power should be kept far from it.” “But… But who will lead the Wonderbolts?” “Your Lieutenant, Blazing Light.” Radiant answered. “Lieutenant Light? She can’t speak.” “Oddly, we have found this to be a blessing in disguise. It seems that with this physical mark against her honor she has, how do you say? Turned her around.” Spoke Luna. Firestar considered Luna's words, her Lieutenant was definitely a hot head, very arrogant, and there was never a doubt she wanted to advance in rank. However, she was honorable, in her own way. Perhaps this would not be a bad thing. The Wonderbolts were very well trained, they would easily adapt to a commander that could not speak. Although, she did have one question. “I… You honor me. But, why now?” “We need someone to lead the pegasi into battle.” Radiant spoke. “Excuse me for saying, would not Princess Luna be more suited to that task.” Luna flexed her wings, their span easily taking up the width of the walkway, “Indeed, however, we are needed to lead the earth ponies, our strategy relies on them holding the line, the unicorns taking the flanks, and the pegasi holding the air. The Earth ponies must hold. We will ensure they do. “Understood princess, I will ensure that the pegasi do their duty.” “We know you will, Commander Firestar.” “Princess Luna, if I could ask one more question, what about Princess Dash?” “All our hopes rely on her, as such, she stays in reserve until the enemy commander commits to the battle. I will send her in after. Tell the Wonderbolts to look for my signal before you go to your new command.” “What signal?” Firestar asked. “It will be on the moon, trust us, you will not miss it.” “Will we be able to see the moon when this starts?” Radiant commented. Luna thought about this for a minute, the darkness was a hindrance for many of the ponies, and there was no doubt their enemy would have no such issues. A solution came to mind. “While we can no longer raise or lower the moon, perhaps we can do something else.” Luna concentrated on the moon, an object so far away. This was her birthright, she was the master of this object, nopony else had that right. It irritated Luna to see the dark power surrounding it, preventing her from lowering it. However, while that power would stop her from lowering the moon, it might not stop her from bringing it closer. She struggled, every fiber of her being focusing on this one task. Slowly at first, the moon came towards the battlefield. A task that became easier the closer it got, the moon being her element, the closer it was the more powerful Luna became. Until, at last the moon filled the night sky. “I didn't know you could do that.” Firestar said, with a shocked look on her face. “It’s cute to see someone so surprised by the power of an alicorn. Don’t you think so Luna?” “Indeed Prince.” Firestar turned away before they noticed the blush on her face. A blush caused by a rather dashing prince calling her cute. “With this, we shall be able to effectively counter this fuck-ton of enemies.” Luna spoke matter-of-factly. The blush went away. Firestar turned back to Luna with a shocked impression on her face. “Come again, princess?” “We said, with the moon in its current position our forces should be able to deal with this fuck-ton of enemies.” “Would you look at the time, well I better make sure the unicorns are ready to go.” In a flash of magic, Radiant teleported out before Firestar explained to her what she just said. Despite being on the other side of the city, Luna’s shouting still managed to reach his ears. Fortunately for Radiant, that was when the enemy horn blew, signaling the start of the battle. …………………………………… Outside Stalliongrad As the battle began in earnest, every set of eyes focused on the horde of enemies approaching. Twilight Night’s plan was a comprehensive dual attack strategy, with half of her forces flying overhead and the other half taking the ground. This would ensure total saturation of targets in the area. No commander would ever consider such a strategy; as it was a wasteful expenditure of the lives of their troops and would quickly fall apart when morale broke at the constant loss of life. However, few commanders ever attacked a fortress that they had built. Twilight Night had no such concerns over moral; these shadowbeings lived in fear of one thing, failure. To that end, even their deaths mattered not. As such, she sought to overwhelm the fortress city’s defenses until she could play her trump card, herself. She knew these defenses; they were effective and lethal. It did not help she had a quarter of the troops she had wanted for this. It was a simple strategy, but an effective one. Give them too many targets; make them divide their firepower in too many ways. Use her troops as a shield, and crush the defenses when she was in range. After all, the most effective tactics were the ones with the least amount of variables. The fortress itself was a marvel of ingenuity; it took the form of a pentagon. At each angle and spaced in the middle of each wall were three magic batteries. Each battery held an ‘area denial’ spell, one that could be set to incapacitate their enemy or worse. These batteries can target ground or air foes without difficulty or need to be manually aimed. There were three batteries in each set to compensate for the forty five second recharged, when activated they would fire in sequence every fifteen seconds. This allowed for a steady rate of fire that would see any attacker turn back after a few minutes of combat. Underground attacks would be repulsed by carefully placed freeze spells throughout the field, each timed to go off when they would do the most amount of damage. The spells were tripled up as to deny the enemy any semblance of when a danger has passed. These spells could be directed upwards too, if no enemy was coming from the ground, in this scenario, that is exactly how they were set. It truly was a formidable fortress. She would know, she built it. Twilight Night watched in grim fascination as her forces were decimated to the last. Each wave failed to achieve a single hoof of progress. As each wave of troops was sent forth they would do so to simply replace those who were just annihilated. For a moment, for just one moment, she lamented the loss of her troops. That concerned her greatly. She should not care about the lives of these creatures; they were nothing more than chaff. Designed by her master to live and die at his whim. Their lives were meaningless. This feeling, this came from Twilight Sparkle. She had to hurry. The corruption was too far. ‘Damn you Luna.’ “Send in the flyers.” “Ma’am?” Twilight Night turned and looked at the creature that had spoken. “Send in the flyers.” “Yes ma’am.” The next wave of troops was sent in; this was the critical game changer. She knew Luna would bring the moon closer, casting its light over the battlefield. The flyers had a role to play, played too soon and she would lose. If she played them too late she would lose. Twilight Night watched as the flyers flew into the battle, as expected, the plan went off without a hitch. However, something was bothering her. “Did that creature question my order? And did I not kill it?” As the waves of ground troops proceeded forward, they were quickly covered in the shadow of the flyers. This was the focus of Twilight Night’s plan. As expected, the batteries unleashed the deadly energy at the ground forces to no avail. Hidden in the shadows, the energy was unable to do any real damage. The system quickly adjusted, the next firing targeting those that were flying. Then the next shot hit the ground forces. However the damage was done. As the batteries now divided their firepower between the two forces. The shadowbeings were making progress across the field of battle. Slowly, ever so slowly her forces were closing the gap. “Your move Princess Luna, when will you commit the pegasus?” …………………………………………. Cloudsdale Infirmary They had given him all the drugs they could. Yet, Commander Tsunami refused to be unconscious. The pain, it was unbearable. Only the latest round of pain meds prevented him from crying in agony. Regardless, he refused to sleep through this battle. Despite the hatred most had for him, he would not sleep through the greatest military conflict Equestria had seen in a thousand years. There was just one problem with his plan. One small detail he overlooked. He could not participate in the battle either. The pain would not let him up. Unfortunately, it also refocused his mind, allowing his thoughts to venture to places he would rather they not go. “Curse you Rainbow Dash. Curse you till the day you die.” ‘This isn’t her fault.’ “YES IT IS!” ‘No it isn’t, you know that.’ He had been having this argument with himself for over an hour now. It seemed that with nothing but time to think, he found himself beginning to question many of his own actions. Much to his loathing, after all, it is hard to win an argument against yourself. “She maimed me!” ‘Why?’ “Why what?” ‘Why did she do that to you?’ “You were there, you know!” ‘Say it.’ “Commander, are you ok?” He turned up and looked at the nurse that had just walked in. ‘Maybe screaming at yourself is a bad idea?’ he thought. “Yes nurse, forgive me, just having an intelligent conversation. I'll be sure to keep it down.” With a look that came from a pony that was both concerned and insulted at the same time the nurse turned to leave. “If you need anything, please hit the call button.” He smiled as she left the room and shut the door. ‘She's kind of cute; too bad she'd never want a freak like you.’ “Shut up.” ‘Then stop dodging the question.’ “She maimed me because of what I called her wife.” ‘And why did you call Twilight Sparkle that?’ “It’s what she is.” ‘Ha, ha. Lying to yourself now? Come on, I am you.’ “Then why are you asking these questions, if you already know?” ‘Because, you won't admit it to yourself.” “…” ‘Say the truth.’ “…” ‘Say the truth!’ “…” ‘SAY THE TRUTH!’ “All right, no, she was not any of those things. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Ok.” ‘Why?’ “Why what?” ‘Why did you want that opportunity?’ “I have to advance, I have to seek status, and it’s the only way.” ‘Only way for what?’ “To keep my promise…” ‘You are the COMMANDER of the Cloudsdale militia. You are the military ruler of Cloudsdale; I have news for you, there is no higher rank for you. I think you know that. Well, of course you do, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to say that, would I?’ “Your point?” ‘YOUR point is this, you forgot the reason why, you forgot YOUR PROMISE. You dedicated your life to keep it, an admirable trait, but somewhere along the line, you lost sight of that. Obtaining such status was the means to the end. Yet it became the end.’ “…” This time his refusal to answer came not from stubbornness, but from contemplation of the truth. A truth he could no longer deny. ‘Let me ask, do you still want to fulfill that promise from all those years ago?’ Tears fell from his eyes. “Of course I do…” ‘You can’t do it here, get up. Now is the time.” “But, it hurts…” ‘Did you think it would be easy? Get your ass up out of that bed and be the stallion you always claimed to be! Will you let this stop you? Is your promise worth that little?’ “It’s worth everything to me.” Bedside Smile was grateful that the noises from the commander’s room had stopped; That stallion was the bane of her existence. She had never met a more stubborn pony in all her life. However, after an hour, a sinking feeling overcame her gut. The feeling a parent gets after her children have been too quiet for too long. Therefore, despite her better judgment, Bedside’s medical training took over and she went to check on the former commander. Opening the door she stepped inside, eyes shut preparing for the verbal lashing she was about to receive. “Commander? Commander Tsunami?” When no response came, she opened her eyes to see an empty bed with a small trail of blood leading to the window. “COMMANDER!” she yelled out the window, it was already too late, Commander Tsunami was gone. ……………………………………… Stalliongrad Infirmary “Auntie, you don't need to be here.” “Where else would you rather I am, Night?” “I don’t know, out there… with your son?” “I'm afraid I would simply be a distraction to him right now.” “I don’t think Radiant would ever find you a distraction.” “You don’t know Radiant all that well, do you?” Shimmering Night looked down at her sister sleeping in her bed. She did not want to look Princess Cadance in the face at this point. It was true, she had not spent much time with her cousin, not as much as she would have liked anyway. “No. I don’t.” she said, busying herself with running a hoof through Aurora’s mane. “I'm sorry about that. He was always the most stubborn foal.” “It’s not like we made all that much effort to come see you either.” “The realities of ruling, I'm afraid…” Cadance looked down at her hooves, she did not want it to happen, yet, somehow, being the Princess of the Crystal Empire had come between her family. It was simply an unpleasant fact. One she lamented. “We shall do better.” “Don’t tell me you are starting to pick up Princess Luna’s speech patterns.” Shimmering Night laughed. “No, nothing like that, I meant we, as in me and Radiant. It's time I teach him another aspect of ruling, delegating.” Night laughed at that, however when Aurora was in danger of waking up she quickly silenced the laughter. “We've got to keep it down.” “I would say the same thing, there is a war going on and I can barely hear it over your laughter.” Night and Cadance both glanced over to Ataxia, who was currently staring out the window and watching the batteries unleash wave upon wave of destruction at their enemies. Rarity sat next to her daughter, the confusing emotions of worry and relief plastered on her face. Worry for her husband, whom was still in the hospital bed. Relief that for the first time in her life, Ataxia refused to go where she could cause the most destruction and opted instead to stay with her mom. Unfortunately neither of the two ponies could do much in regards to defense; it seemed having a building fall on them had exhausted both of their magics. “Sorry Ataxia, Rarity, we'll keep it down.” “Besides, I don’t want you waking up Spike.” They all turned and looked at the pony in the next bed. Luna turned Spike back into a Pony after he dragged them out of the debris of Manehattan General Hospital. The dragon pushed himself far beyond his own limits. In many ways, Spike was lucky to be alive. “Yeah, I'll get dad to eat you if you don’t keep quiet.” Cadance smiled at their playful bickering; there was a reason she was in this room and not out there. It was these ponies right here. Her talents never lent themselves to war, only love. She could be dangerous when somepony threatened her family, however, it was reactionary. On the front line, she would simply be in the way. As such, when Luna and Radiant suggested she stay with the others. Cadance did not complain. It was where she could do the most good after all. Love was always at is strongest when looking after your own family, even if it was not your direct family. Unfortunately, nopony noticed that the batteries ceased operation, a sign of two possibilities. First was that the enemies destroyed the batteries. Alternatively, the risk of hitting friendly forces was too great. In this case, it was the latter. The battle began in earnest. ……………………… Walls of Stalliongrad Luna cursed the Gods themselves. She was left without options and had to deactivate the batteries. The forces arrayed against them were seemingly without number. Despite finding out the meaning of the word she could not help but see the truth in it, this was indeed a fuck-ton of enemies. When Twilight’s plan was finally revealed, using her own troop as bait to drive her forces ever so closer to the walls, Luna had all but laughed. She was not laughing now, now she saw it for the true heartless terror that it was. The creature that took over Twilight’s body, it simply did not care how costly the victory was. It would see every soul here dead; including its own troops if that were the cost of victory. In a way, Luna actually respected that. To pay any price for victory, It was an admirable trait, sick and twisted, but admirable. She made the enemy troops suffer for it. Waiting until the last possible minute to turn off the batteries. It was a masterful piece of planning. In their last shot, Luna commanded all the batteries to fire at once. Eliminating the last ten minutes of gains the enemy made, but that was the end of them. By the time they recharged, her forces would be engaged with the enemy. There was no way of firing again without risking friendly fire against her troops. Of course, now would be the fun part. At Luna’s signal, two whole divisions of pegasi flew down, right on top of the flyers. Completely annihilating their next wave. Her troops, the earth pony guard, held spears at the ready. “Hold.” Luna spoke, her own weapons held against her back until the last possible minute. In front of them was a small army of shadowbeings. The only real detail Luna could make out of them was their claws and teeth. It was the definition of terror; she knew what such a sight could cause to the common pony. “Hold.” Luna repeated the command. Not because she need to. Luna was the Princess of the night. Regardless of the threat before them, she has seen far worse in the past. Nothing could match the terror in a pony’s dreams. Luna knew the truth in the old saying. Reality can never be as terrifying as your imagination. “Hold.” Each time Luna spoke, she imbued the words with a magic touch, the same magic she would use in dreams to dispel the horrors that walked the nightmares of the youngest and the oldest. Unfortunately, in the waking world, she could not dispel these nightmares as easy; however, she could remove the fear that was building up in the minds of her troops. The shadowbeings were closing the gap fast. One hundred hooves away, seventy-five, fifty, twenty, the time was quickly coming. Luna’s forces held ready. They knew their jobs; they knew they had to hold the line here and now. “Steady…” “NOW!!!” At her command, one hundred spears fell forward. Each held in the hoof of an earth pony. Those selected for this front line duty where the strongest ponies in the guard. Each one was able to bench-press his or her weight several times over. With the deadly and last minute defense, these creatures had no choice. The weight from those behind them pushed those in front forward onto the spears of the awaiting ponies. The shadowbeings found themselves impaled on the spears several deep. Unable to arrest their forward momentum, hundreds died in those few seconds. In one fluid motion, every earth pony dropped their spear and readied a shield. The next wave of enemies was already inbound. Their trap was sprung. It was time for the unicorns to have their day. ………………………………………… Prince Radiant watched and waited for his moment. He was the hammer to Luna’s anvil. Their plan was simple; let the enemies exhaust themselves on the shields of the earth ponies. When they were committed, when they could no longer pull back. He would strike at both sides of the enemy flanks. Crush them between a rock and a hard place. He waited... he waited for the enemy to commit themselves. They slammed into the wall of shields with bone crushing force. The earth ponies held, but only just. When the final forces reached the line, when the shadowbeing at the back had nowhere left to go other than to push forward. Radiant gave the order. Two waves of unicorns teleported to either side of the forces. They attacked at once, disorientating the enemy. That momentary distraction bought enough time for the earth ponies to draw their blades. Between the unicorn’s magic and the earth pony’s blades, the ending was never in doubt. It was not long before Luna and Radiant were walking amongst the corpses of their enemies. “A good fight, Princess Luna.” “Dear Prince, the fight has yet to begin.” She gestured with her hoof to the enemy forces still arrayed against them. Despite all they had killed, despite the wave upon wave of forces that were wiped out to the last. There were still countless numbers of enemies left. “The next wave will be upon us soon.” “Is it time?” “Yes, we think it is.” With a mental command, Luna activated the ground defenses. The freeze spells went off without issue. Preventing several hundred of the shadowbeings from taking a single step forward. With their momentum arrested, the battle quickly swung back in favor of the defenders. “Huzzah!” Went up from every pony that could see it. With this small victory, Luna was free to turn the batteries back on. That creature that infected Twilight Sparkle would be back to square one now. Forced to retake all the ground her forces had died fighting for. However, in the next moment, the closest three sets of batteries exploded in a hellfire. Killing the ponies nearest to them. Every set of eyes turned to the direction the shots had appeared from. They all lead back to the same sight. A midnight black alicorn trotted forward. This pony was cloaked in darkness, Radiant gasped. Luna told him about this pony, the one who took Celestia from this world. The one who wore the corrupted form of his aunt. For her part, Luna cursed this creature. She knew of its impact all too well. Her life as Nightmare Moon was still a frightening memory the Princess of the Night was unable to conquer. “She's committed to the battle.” Radiant could only slightly nod at Luna’s comment. This was their enemy, this dark alicorn. How could they possibility hope to win against such overwhelming power? It was madness itself. “We should flee…” He whispered between gasps for breath. “No. We put our faith in Rainbow Dash. Nopony else can stand before her.” Luna punctuated this by casting a spell on the moon. Luna’s power magnified several times with the moon this close. Once more, after almost fifty years of being absent, the Mare in the Moon was once again visible on the night sky. This time, instead of representing fear, it was a mark of hope. Hope for the future. The moon magnified her normal influence over fear and directed it too all the ponies on the line. Eliminating their doubts over the possibility of victory verses this opponent. It had two more functions as well. In addition to boosting morale over this terrifying new threat. It alerted the Wonderbolts that their time was here. The last thing it did was awaken their trump card. It woke up the only mare in all of Equestria that had a hope of defeating this revenant. Rainbow Dash was now awake. …………………… Twilight Night smiled as the batteries came crashing down. It was too easy at this point. Her forces would soon overwhelm the defenders with sheer numbers. It was a shame; over seventy-five percent of her forces were lost. In the end, it did not matter. Yes, she had suffered more casualties than she ever intended too. However, now, now she could finish this. The outcome was no longer in doubt, as Twilight Night predicted ninety-eight percent odds of victory. Soon the defenders would be far too busy saving their own flanks to worry about her. When she was in range, Cloudsdale would fall. Only somepony with extreme magical power could cause such an event. Fortunately, she was one such pony. Twilight Night smiled as her forces crossed the battlefield; in a show of utter superiority, she walked the last few steps to get in range of Cloudsdale. As such, she never noticed when the Mare in the Moon returned to the sky. However, she did notice when a rainbow streak shot straight up from the middle of Stalliongrad. Her smile turned to a frown, as in the moonlight; she was easily able to make out the two golden wings connected to that pony. Only one pony in all of Equestria had golden wings. A pony that should be dead. “Rainbow Dash.” Her odds of victory just dropped to fifty percent. ……………………… Rainbow flew towards the center of the mass of enemies. Her objective was clear, in the center of that mass, was her wife, her love, Twilight Sparkle. She recognized Twilight from a mile away. Luna fed her all the information she needed in her dreams. She knew what was required and what was happening. Rainbow felt a sense of debt to Luna for the slight time Luna gave her with her wife. She owed her that much at least. Rainbow sped forward, soon accompanied by the Wonderbolts themselves. A very pissed Blazing Light led them. Any concern Rainbow might have had about her escort disappeared when Blazing Light saluted. Whatever else anypony could say about her, she followed orders, and her orders were clear as day: Protect Rainbow Dash and ensure she reaches the battlefield without incident. Their formation was a V attack pattern. Years passed since Rainbow was last in the Wonderbolts. However, Rainbow quickly fell back into the pack. She flew in the center of the formation, flanked on either side by members of the elite flying team. They would intercept any threat sent her way. Three of their flyers flew next to the mare, acting as a personal guard. It was a good thing they were there too, as a swarm of creatures broke away from Cloudsdale’s main forces to engage the group before they reached their target. The Wonderbolts showed once again why they were the best flyers in all of Equestria. Some of the right and left wings sped off in front of them. They crossed in a X pattern before the swarm. Their cloud trails momentarily disoriented the shadowbeings. That small distraction was enough. The spear tip flew straight through the center. Each member of the formation struck out at their enemies with blades and kicks. Striking at their enemies most vulnerable spots, their wings. The effect was both instantaneous and devastating. Hundreds of the creatures fell to their deaths, as they were unable to stay in the air any longer. Rainbow and her three guards flew unmolested through the hole the others created. Their objective was within range, the leader of this force. The one that had to be defeated before this could truly be over. She had to defeat the creature responsible for all of this, Twilight Sparkle. Seconds before Rainbow put forth a final burst of speed her three escorts nodded and veered away. Their task complete, if they stayed any longer, they would simply get in the way. Rainbow nodded back and in a flash, was gone. Her objective was clear. The speed of the pegasus was never beyond doubt. Rainbow was always fast, however, now she was pissed. Twilight Night never saw the first blow struck. The first she knew of the attack was picking herself off the ground with a cyan blue pegasus hovering above her. “You should be dead!” the voice was so similar to Twilight’s, yet to Rainbow, its imitation of her wife voice only infuriated the mare farther. Somehow, those small differences highlighted that this was not Twilight more than her new look. “Then this shouldn’t hurt.” Even with the advance warning, even with access to more power than anypony before her. Rainbow was too fast. Twilight Night would raise shield after shield in the smallest effort to delay the cyan pegasus enough to get the upper hand. None of it worked, Rainbow was simply too quick. Every shield she raised, every blow she tried to land, was futile. Rainbow never struck from the same angle twice. She was using her speed to change position in the blink of an eye. Rainbow would attack from several angles all at once. Landing blows from different locations at the same spot at almost the same time. Rainbow timed her shots to allow her wing blasts to hit one after another. For every additional shield Twilight Night raised, Rainbow destroyed two and would score another hit. Desperate, Twilight Night summoned her soldiers to aid her, she need to rob the momentum of this mare. Rainbow was a dangerous foe to say the least. When none came, she used a few precious seconds to look around. The annoying pegasi in the blue uniforms were surrounding them. Somehow, the Wonderbolts set up a corroder, preventing any of her creatures from assisting. While she could take them out, doing so would cause an opening for Rainbow to attack, something she could ill afford to do. Those few seconds cost Twilight Night. Rainbow attacked her flank four times from each side, as she bounced back and forth, each blow caused Twilight Night to fall into the next. Their impacts canceled each other out and Twilight Night had only one direction she could go, down. She fell onto her stomach, her legs no longer able to support her weight. ‘You’re losing.’ ‘She is too fast mistress. There is no doubt; this is the one true queen of the hives.’ ‘…’ ‘Mistress?’ ‘So, we finally found the one responsible for all of this, well then, take this power, but do not fail me.’ A surge of energy coursed through Twilight Night’s body. The power Twilight Sparkle held, it continued to surprise even the revenant. To Rainbow’s surprise, Twilight Night took flight. Rainbow attacked again; however, her wing blasts were unable to down the shield. Whatever had occurred, this creature’s power just increased several fold. However, Twilight Night’s attacks failed to land as well, her shots were laughing easy to avoid for the pegasus. Say what you will about power, enough speed and it is irreverent. “Well dear Rainbow, it seems we've reached an impasse. I can’t hit you and you can’t touch me anymore.” “Is that so?” Twilight Night spun around to face that voice. Rainbow took the bait and gave away her true position. If she struck now, it would be over. Too late did she realize that while a trap was sprung, it was not hers. This was Rainbow’s doing. Rainbow struck at her rear shields ten times in less than a second. Shattering the shield at its weakest point and cutting the tendons in Twilight Night’s wings. The creature screamed and fell. She bounced twice as she landed with a thud on the ground. Rainbow flew around the being masquerading as her wife, unwilling to present a stationary target for whatever it would try to do next. “Rainbow… Why would you hurt me like this? Please, help me…” The voice was that of Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow paused, the shock of hearing her wife’s voice, her true voice from this creature. It caused her to stop. “You fool.” The blast landed directly on Rainbow stomach, blowing a hole right through the mare in a sickening parody of forty years ago. The kinetic energy knocked the mare out of the sky. She flew back several yards before landing on the ground with a sickening thump. Rainbow lay unmoving on the earth, still, and motionless. Her wings began slowly wrapping around her, trying their best to heal the damage. “Tisk-tisk, and to think how close you were to victory. What’s that? Are you trying to heal? I don’t think so. It’s time to finish this, Rainbow Dash. After all, the dead should stay dead. So long Rainbow Dash, and just think, this will be the last memory Twilight Sparkle will ever have of you. I truly could not have asked for a better way to finish her corruption.” Twilight Night readied her strongest blast, aimed it at Rainbow, and fired. ………………………………… Twilight Night watched as the blast flew true, it was a good shot, one that would lead to a direct hit. Regardless how effective those wings were in healing, nothing could bring back the dead. Her smile turned to ashes as the energy was deflected straight up into the air. Radiant Star stood over Rainbow’s body, his panting served as evidence at just how fast he ran over here. The two swords he conjured glowing from the energy they had just deflected. “No more, creature.” “No more the child prince says? As you command, your majesty.” She bowed before him in a mock gesture of subservience. In a way of response, Radiant conjured two more blades and charged her with all four of his swords. Twilight Night simply smiled as she conjured the blade that took Celestia’s head and met his charge dead on. ‘The only thing better than one headless member of royalty, is two.’ Their swords clashed in the middle. Each flew at speeds no normal pony could ever hope of watching. The sparks only lasting an instant, but serving as a tell-tale sign of where they met. While there was no doubt Twilight Night’s blade was stronger but the four swords of Radiant Star more than made up for it. Radiant scored hit after hit on the monster, his four swords allowing him to parry her attacks and thrust forward with his own. After years of combat training, it was truly starting to pay off. Blood spilt on the ground, none of it his. “You fight well, young prince.” “Well enough to send you back to Tartarus, monster.” “Now, I'm not ready to go home just yet.” She laughed at that last comment. In her mind, the comments similarities to an earlier retort were more than striking. “Tell me, you know who you fight against, what do you fight for?” “I made a promise to look after Rainbow, I intend to fulfill it. I will beat you.” As they traded swords blows, Radiant scored several more hits, all of them caused Twilight Night’s blood to spill. “Well, you are the superior one with a blade, of that I cannot deny. In a fair fight you would win.” “Then why are you smiling, monster.” “Because, I don’t fight fair.” Twilight Night blasted at the ground blow Radiant’s hooves. He stumbled forward into her front hoof. She kicked the stallion with all her might. The force of her blow sent him crashing to the ground several yards away. “Time for death young prince, I would ask for your last words to your mom, but she'll be joining you soon enough.” Twilight Night flung her sword directly at Radiant Star’s chest. He watched in horror as it flew straight and true, impaling itself in a pony’s chest. However, it was not his own. Commander Tsunami landed directly in front of the prince and took the blow for him. “Well, the surprises keep coming today, don’t they?” “You don’t know that half of it, monster.” Twilight Night’s face turned to shock as Rainbow bowled over the mare, causing them both to go tumbling into the night. ………………………… Radiant ran to the stricken commander, with his magic he pulled the sword out and pressed a hoof on the chest wound. The sudden pressure on the wound caused Tsunami to cry out in pain. Despite it all, Radiant only had one question in his mind. “Why?” Tsunami coughed up blood as he started to laugh. “Why what?” “Why did you save me? That’s not like you.” “It used to be, I… I lost track of that, somewhere.” Radiant’s face turned to one of shock, after the last time he saw the commander, he spoke to many ponies who knew him None of them had a kind opinion of Tsunami. “Don’t look at me like that.” Tsunami spoke, coughing up more blood as he did. “I had a promise to keep is all.” “A promise? To who.” “To the one who saved my life, your father, Shining Armor.” “You don’t deserve to speak his name.” “You're right, I don’t.” tears began falling from Tsunami's eyes. Radiant looked on in shock, despite everything that had happened to the Commander, despite all the pain he had seen Tsunami in. He never saw the stallion cry before. “He saved me, you know. We were completely surrounded, cut off by the snow golems. They had us pinned behind enemy lines. I didn't want to go; I didn't want to leave him alone. However, his survival was never an option. The only question was who would die with him. He told me, he told me to go, to save myself. I refused; I told him he could court-martial me later.” The body heat from Tsunami was fading quickly. Radiant was unable to respond to any of this, this version of events, it was not recorded anywhere. “He told me to go, he told me to look after you. He told me that is how I could return the favor, since I cannot save him, I was to save you. He made me promise damnit, some bucking pinkie promise I never heard of before… So I left, it went against everything I stood for, everything I used to stand for, but I left. It was the hardest decision I ever made.” More blood was leaking out of his wound. “You were a prince, protected by the royal guard. How could I look after you? How could I return the favor? I was just a lowly lieutenant at the time, so I resolved to gain status. At first, I went about it the normal way. But, after a while, I figured out an easier way.” He started laughing at that. “There are two ways to make rank in the military, be the best, or stab those who are in the back. One is significantly easier than the other.” “What happened then? You were already the Commander of Cloudsdale. Why didn’t you stop?” “It became second nature by then. I lost track of the reason why I was doing it… It went from a means to the end to the end itself. I'm glad though, in the end, I was able to remember, I found my purpose again, and I was able to fulfil my promise.” Commander Tsunami closed his eyes for the last time. His last thoughts did not sound like his own, yet it left a smile on his face all the same. ‘Thank you for keeping your promise, for saving my son.’ Radiant stood up over the fallen body of Tsunami, he sharply saluted the former commander. While it was not a hero’s death, as he was anything but. He could still honor how the commander had died. Few ponies died knowing they had fulfilled their promises. Radiant turned and looked around. Wherever Rainbow and Twilight where, they were not around here. However, there were still a lot of enemies to fight. Luna would be missing him on the front line. ……………………………………………… Rainbow let loose on this creature posing as her wife. The trick she played only served to infuriate the mare more than anything else did. This creature had a chance to kill her. She missed it; there would not be another if Rainbow had anything to say about it. Their battle quickly became extreme. Energy blasts lashed out from Twilight Night’s horn, however, none of them struck their target. Due to Rainbow's speed, she quickly figured out how to turn that energy towards a more ‘deserving’ foe. As such, Twilight Night was annihilating huge sections of her own forces with each ill-conceived attempt on Rainbow’s life. Rainbow reflected on the terms she had given Luna. She was actually worried back then; somepony might get in the way and try to help during an event like this. She should not have worried about anypony interfering; this amount of damage would cause most sane ponies to stay away, only the truly insane would come close to this. Speaking of insane, she did owe Radiant a big bucking thanks. A debt she hoped to repay later. The frustration of Twilight Night did not go unnoticed, rage was beginning to build in her, so much so that it was obvious to Rainbow. She added extra speed, the battle between her and Thanus earlier taught her much about rage. Rainbow circled the mare a hundred times in less than a second. She struck with her wings during each pass at a different limb, they left small cuts but ones that bled. It was too much for Twilight Night. She soon collapsed on the ground, weak from blood loss and out of breath. “Please, don’t hurt me anymore, Rainbow… I love you.” Twilight’s voice spoke in a pleading matter. “How dumb do you think I am?” “You really want me to answer that?” Anger took hold of Rainbow and she flew at the creature. She bucked her several hundred hooves in the air. Rainbow followed the creature up. She easily outpaced the slow speed Twilight Night flew up at. Twilight Night spun in the air, frantically trying to right herself. For Rainbow, this presented a unique opportunity. There, for a split second, the creature’s neck was open to attack. It was quick, faster than the blink of an eye, but for a mare like Rainbow, it was all the opening she would need. Deep down, she knew, this was the only opening she may ever have. “Sorry…” Rainbow attacked with both wings. She sent the primary feathers straight and true to their target. Twilight Night did not have the reflexes to respond with anywhere near enough speed. As such, they landed exactly where Rainbow was aiming for and broke the crown on top of her head in two. The black stone flew off to Celestia knows what fate. The golden inlay shattered on her head. Twilight Night just smiled back as she released an attack of her own, “You missed.” Unfortunately for Rainbow, Twilight Night did not. ………………………………… Rainbow woke up after hitting the ground. The hole in her lower back sent her spiraling out of the sky. Her wings were already trying their best to repair the damage. While they would protect that portion of her from any further attack, the rest of her body was wide open. Twilight Night landed next to her with a smile on her face. “I have to give you credit, Rainbow Dash, I thought you were going to win there. It's a pity, tell me before you die, why did you waste your shot?” “Why should I tell you anything, monster.” Rainbow spit on the creature's face. “Oh, don’t give me that, if you want I will simply kill you now, however, color me curious. Tell me, is it because you couldn’t bring yourself to do it?” Rainbow’s expression confirmed the reason why she missed her chance. “It is! This is too precious, the great Rainbow Dash, the last hope of the defenders of Stalliongrad, she threw away their only hope of victory.” The laughter in her voice chilled Rainbow to the core. “It’s because that crown looked awful on her…” Twilight Night walked over the pegasus until she was standing directly over her face. “That may be, but you miscalculated. I don’t need it anymore. I have, how do you say, moved in. Twilight is in here by the way, I will let her replay this memory over and over, unaltered. Tell me, is there any last words you would like to say to her before she kills you.” Rainbow thought about it, she did have one thing she wanted to do. “There is one thing I would like her to know.” Twilight Night reached down and whispered seductively to Rainbow in Twilight’s own voice. “What’s that, my beloved?” Rainbow reached up and kissed her. ………………………………………… Twilight Sparkle watched in horror as they stood over the changeling queen and it kissed her. She could not believe such a creature would dare do something like that. Her anger and rage built to the forefront of her mind. It was repulsive, disgusting, gross, repugnant, and... and familiar. Too familiar… That feeling, she felt it before. Too many times, only one mare in Equestria kissed like that. Only one, no changeling could ever hope to duplicate that, somethings carried too much emotion to ever fake… ‘Mistress, it’s a trick.’ The walls came crumbling down. All the lies, all the illusions, none of them could hope to fool her of that kiss. It could only be one pony. She looked again and for the first time in two months. Twilight Sparkle saw herself kissing her wife, Rainbow Dash. ‘You tricked me…’ The creature that only referred to itself as The Night tried to flee, it tried to anyway. Twilight grabbed it in her magic and began crushing; smashing every fiber of its being together into an orb. She quickly found the side pieces of it in her mind and added those to the ball. Twilight Sparkle squeezed the creature into the size of an atom and beyond. Nothing remained of the revenant that corrupted her mind. With the loss of the secondary consciousness in her body, Twilight Night’s form quickly regressed to a smaller vessel. One recognized the world over as Twilight Sparkle. As Rainbow held the kiss, she soon found it reciprocated several times over. Rainbow refused to open her eyes in case her doom was soon upon her. It was not until the weight landed on her stomach that Rainbow finally opened them. The mare laying on her caused a smile to form on Rainbow's face. To Rainbow, It was a proven fact; her kiss could snap Twilight out of anything. “You still with me, egghead?” “Always and forever.” Rainbow wrapped them both in her wings, as the magic lock on the moon vanished; Luna was able to perform her birthright. Luna was finally able to lower the moon and raise the sun. In the light of the sun, the shadowbeings died to the last, ending the battle. ………………………………………. The Remains of the Everfree Forest The General smiled at the sight before him. It had taken countless hours, but he was here. They had finally reached the necessary container for their master’s vessel. “Sir, we don’t have the numbers to take the tree.” “Fool, we don’t need the tree, just the stones.” A noise behind him alerted the General to the coming of another soldier, this one darted side to side. His skin torched by the newly rising sun. “Did you bring it?” Its mouth was too far-gone, no long able to speak it simply handed the general a black stone in the shape of a six-pointed star. He smiled as he took the dark stone from the creature and dismissed it with a casual wave of his claw. “With this, and the Elements from Gaia’s Occulous, we shall at last return the master to this world. The Titan Cronus will once more walk on this world.”