//------------------------------// // Sunrise // Story: House Of The Crystal Sun // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// Twitch ran for his life, the Napoleons hot on his trail. "Shadows!" He yelled. "Protect me!" The few shadow ponies who hadn't joined the battle against the outside army flowed the cracks in the wall, and attacked the Napoleons. "Grim, you go on ahead!" Murray yelled knocking one aside. "I can't leave you!" Grimoire protested. "You can't let that slimeball get away!" Vinny told him. "Not again!" "Get after him, Grim." Salt urged. "Make him pay for what he did to Anarchy." "Will do." Grimoire nodded, racing down the corridor, looking back hesitantly as his brothers fought off the shadows. Twitch burst out onto the highest balcony looking all of the Crystal Empire. He skid to a halt when he realized he had come to a dead end. "No. N-no. No, no, no, no, no!" He walked back and forth, trying to find a way out. He turned around to find Grimoire, who shut the door to the balcony behind him, sealing it with his magic. "Nowhere to run, Twitch... this ends right here, right now!" Grimoire declared. "Oh come now, Grim... you're a honorable stallion... surely you wouldn't-" Twitch pleaded. "Are you seriously pleading for mercy?!" Grimoire's face screwed up in distaste. "You, the stallion who murdered my brother, tried to kill me and my brothers, threatened our wives, and my unborn foal!" "W-well, it s-sounds petty if you p-put it that w-w-w-w-w-" Twitch stuttered. "You idiot... the time for mercy has long since passed... now... it's finally time to end this... to put you down for the mutt you are..." Grimoire pointed his crossbow at him. Twitch stiffened up in fear. Grimoire pulled the trigger... and nothing comes out. "Yah!" Twitch yelped. "Huh. Out of bolts..." Grimoire chuckled, throwing the crossbow aside. "No matter... a quick and painless death is too good for a disgrace to his family..." Twitch paused and glared at him. "W-what d-did y-you say?" He spluttered. "You heard me, Twitch... for forty years that you could've spent trying to fight for your right to live, you spent hiding in holes and cracks of the world." Grimoire sneered. "You act like you're all that... that you're a god among insects... but when push comes to shove, when only you remain, you are no better than all the trash in this world." "No... n-no... you're w-wrong..." Twitch retorted. "Am I, Cardinal?" Grimoire glared at him. "Or should I even call you a Cardinal? More like Chicken!" Twitch stifles a snarl. "No, wait, even a chicken is braver than you... no... you're nothing more than the fecal matter of chicken... and to think that you killed Anarchy, the once true successor to Clyde's legacy!" "S-shut u-up..." Twitch snarled, shaking uncontrollably. "You want to know what you are, Twitch?" Grimoire asked. "Nothing... that's all you've ever been... nothing! And that is what you will always be... nothing... a piece of dirt on the hoof of life!" "SHUT UP!" Twitch lost it. "I'm not nothing! You're nothing, you washed-up old fool! You're a joke of a Mafioso, y'hear? A second-rate has-been. I'm the superior one here! I deserved Bitaly more than you! Anarchy, you, and your entire wretched family deserves to be annihilated!" "If that's so, Twitch... then prove it!" Grimoire urged. "You want to destroy this family? Start with me!" He pulled out a knife. "Put a knife in me, Twitch...feel the life leaving my body and my blood on your hooves! No more running... just you and me, mano e mano!" "FINE!" Twitch flicked out his butterfly knife. "I'm going to enjoy this!" The two charged each other, swinging their knives back and forth. Grimoire managed to nick Twitch's hoof, causing him to almost drop his knife. In retaliation, Twitch swung for Grimoire's neck. He narrowly missed, shearing off some of his stubble. Soon, their blades locked. "Want to know something funny, Grim?" Twitch smirked. "This knife is the same knife I used to kill Anarchy." Twitch threw Grimoire back, and the older stallion let out a growl. "In fact, I haven't gotten the chance to wash it after the deed, since I had to run, so I think Anarchy's blood might actually be on here still..." Twitch mused, glancing at the knife. "Why did you kill him?" Grimoire snarled. "Why Anarchy, of all ponies?" "Well, aside from revenge, I had a plan." Twitch revealed, as he and Grimm circled each other, "I knew that Anarchy was going to change the way your family did things, and that he was well-beloved by everypony, so if I were to kill him, I would disrupt the balance of things in the family. With the proper heir to the family gone, and you, the poor traumatized son who was next in line, would more than likely listen to Anarchy's 'best friend', and I could destroy your family from within and then take my rightful place as the mafia kingpin of Bitaly... however... I should've checked to make sure he was dead before I left him there that night..." "I don't believe you... Anarchy trusted you... he was your friend..." Grimoire spat. "Friend?!" Twitch laughed maniacally. "He and the lot of you murdered my family! You actually thought I would be okay with that?! No! I may be a coward... but even if it takes the rest of my life, I will see to it that the Napoleons are run into the ground, starting with you!" Twitch charged at Grimoire, swinging his knife. Grimoire blocked it with his own, then pushed it away, following up with a swing of his own. Twitch barely dodged it, and counter-attacked. Their blades clashed, scraping loudly as they struggled. Suddenly, Twitch's knife caught Grimoire's (via Twitch flipping it's handle back over it) and flung it aside. Twitch swung his, cutting Grimoire's side. As Grimoire yelped with pain, Twitch headbutted him, knocking his opponent to the ground. Twitch raised his knife, ready to kill Grimoire. "This is it for you, Grim... just like it was for poor Archie... all alone..." Twitch jeered. "But he's not alone." Twitch perked up as the door to the balcony was blasted open, and the six brothers came in, a bit disheveled. They blasted Twitch off of Grimoire, and Murray helped the don up. "Because he's family." Salt added. "And this family sticks together." "Through good times and bad." Lars smiled. "No matter what happens." Sonny added. "And if somepony hurts one of us, the rest of us will come down on him like a ton of bricks." Vinny sneered. The brothers approached Twitch menacingly. Twitch then hopped onto the railing. "Don't come any closer or I'll jump!" He glances down, and realized that it was a very large drop. "Wait, that can't be right. "Your choice, Twitch... come with us or jump to your death... either way, you're finished." Grimoire declared. "Don't worry, if you come quietly with us, we can promise that your death will not be as painful as we originally intended." Slot smirked. "It might not even be that long." Murray added. "It'll be quick and easy." Vinny grinned. "Whattaya say?" Silence ensued. "...To buck with that!" Twitch stepped off the balcony. "Oh no you don't!" Slot grabbed one of Murray's crossbows. "Give me that!" Slot opened fire on the falling Twitch, hitting him constantly. "Ah! Ooh! Eeh! Argh! Ugh!" Twitch yelled in agony. Then he hit the ground hard. Somehow he was still alive. "BUCK YOU, DUDE!" Slot charged a blast from his horn and fired it down. "Aw... f-" Before Twitch could finish, the blast hit, leaving him blackened and burned to a crisp, but still alive. "Now, for the coup de grace!" Slot climbed onto the railing and on his hindlegs, ready to perform the ultimate desecration... before being stopped by his brothers. "Whoa!" Murray yelled. "Too far, Slot! Too far!" Salt agreed. "Seriously?" Slot snorted. "He tried to cheat us outta payback! He deserves this an' more!" "I doubt there's any point to doing more." Lars shrugged. "We'd better make sure, though." Sonny added. "Just in case." The brothers teleported down to Twitch's crater. "Arrrr..." Twitch groaned, clearly in tremendous pain. "Still alive, huh?" Salt frowned. "Somepony's a tough nut to crack..." "So let's finish him!" Slot urged. "Later." Grimoire said firmly. "For now, let's give our guys a hoof with the shadow ponies." "But Twitch..." Slot frowned. "Relax, Slot." Murray told him. "It's not like he's going anyway. Besides, we'd be leaving him in total agony..." "Ohhh... fine." Slot pouted. Up in the throne room, Shine was confronting Black Knight alongside Sleight and Caboose. "Well, if it isn't lil' Shine..." Black wiped some blood from his chin. "Just a little too late, as usual..." He stepped towards Shine, pulling out a cigar with his magic. "Gosh, this horn is so useful." "Black Knight... you were in control before, but your plans end here!" Shine declared. Black laughed. "Idiot." He snorted. "You're not ending my plan. You're only about to pay witness to it." He glanced back at Miracle, who was still bound. "Look likes 'daddy' want to see his 'little sunbeam' die after all." "What is your end-game, Knight?!" Sleight stepped forward. "If not the death of the Changelings, and not the subjugation of Equestria, then what?!" "Yeah." Caboose chipped in. "I mean, Twitch seems to think you're out to rule this country, but you don't seem to care that we are winning..." "Hmph, my reasons are known to me alone." Black sneered. "Ponies like you lack the capability to comprehend matters far beyond your mental capacity. A simple-minded mafia crony? A cruddy magician-made-king? A farmer chicken, son of the biggest fool I ever knew? And a naïve Alicorn? As far as I can see, you are all fools!" "Well, I for one can care less what you have planned." Sleight glared. "Your army is being destroyed as we speak... your plan is ruined!" "The Tartarus it is!" Black spat. "All I need is a bit of juice from the Sun, and I'll have just enough power to raze this land of all inferior beings! When all is said and done, I will be the most powerful being in all of ponydom! And once I take care of everypony here in the Empire, no pony in Equestria will question my power! My word will be the law!" "So grease the gears with some innocent blood, is that it?" Shine growled. "Oh relax, Shine." Black rolled his eyes. "I'm out for the inferior species, not for innocent civilians. Griffins, Minotaurs, Changelings!" Shine, Caboose and Sleight glared at him. "Of course, that will have to include you." Black puffed some smoke. "Can't have inferior species lovin' cretins mucking up my dreams and complicating the message!" "Well, we're not about to let you take over Equestria!" Sleight declared. "Yeah, three of us versus one of you!" Caboose added. "Way I see it, you'll be the one to fall!" "He's right... and your army will fall right with you!" Shine agreed. "It's best that you surrender now, lest be faced with dire consequences!" The three of them approached Black. "Look at you, nephew... trying to be like your old stallion, huh?" Black glowered at Shine. "You certainly take after him in terms of ticking me off!" He flung his cigar away. The three took positions, as Shine spread his glowing wings, Sleight levitated his cards, and Caboose... simply tried to imitate a kung fu master. "As much as I would love to kick all three of your flanks at once, I think I'll settle for evening the odds a little..." Black smirked, his horn glowing. Back outside, Twitch's body immediately began 'twitching', much to the brother's shock. "What is going on here?" Lars gasped. "What the buck's happening to him?!" Vinny asked. "I don't know, but he's pretty energetic for a stallion that just got beat half to death..." Sonny declared. Then, Twitch's body began to mutate, and grow into a very grotesque beast, with an overly-large left front hoof, green eyes, and a grinding jaw that oozed spittle, much to Grimoire and the others' horror. "Lauren... Bucking... Faust..." Grimoire gaped. "NAPOLEON!" Twitch roared, in a garbled, twisted version of his normal voice. "How come every time we let somepony live, it bites us in the butt?!" Slot sighed. Back in the throne room, Caboose hard Twitch's roar, and put two and two together. "Oh no, bros!" Caboose gasped. "Don't worry, you can join them!" Black cackled. An aura wrapped around Sleight and Caboose and blasted them out the doors. "SLEIGHT! CABOOSE!" Shine ran to aid them, but then black crystals rose up and blocked him in. "You aren't going anywhere, boy!" Black roared. "You have something that I want, and dang it all, I will get it, even if I have to squeeze it out of your freakin' corpse!" "Fine!" Shine growled. Back outside, Caboose and Sleight landed just in time to find the newly deformed Twitch dominating the Napoleons with his powerful sweeps and tremor causing steps. "You don't scare me, freakshow!" Murray fired some crossbow bolts. The bolts hit their target... and Twitch nonchalantly reached down and pulled them out. "Is that the best you've got?" Twitch sneered. "Yaaah!" Slot charged with his knives. "Oh, please!" Twitch swatted him aside. Salt and Vinny attacked with their brass hooves and baseball bat. It had no effect, and the bat broke against him. "Hah!" Twitch kicked them away. Those at the head of the army noticed the hulking brute Twitch had become. The powerless Alicorns, not to mention Cherry and the pregnant Mist, had been encased in a magical forcefield, protecting them from the battle. "What is that thing?" Shining frowned. "Another of Black Knight's freaks, no doubt." Flash grimaced. "You got that right." Sleight declared, racing to the head of the Changeling. "It's our old friend, Twitch." "Whoa, really?" Sazh gasped. "Really." Sleight nodded. "Some makeover, huh?" "That's putting it mildly." Wizel declared. "Then what are we waiting for?" Blue Blazes declared. "let's get 'im!" The army charged at Twitch. "Okay then." He sneered. "I'll take you all on!" What ensued was a massive fight, the Changelings and many others helping the Napoleons. The Changelings swarmed him, aided by Blue Blazes… "Zzztrike fazzzt and hard!" Char urged. "Zzzhow him what Changeling zzztrength is!" "As much as I can't stand that guy, I'm glad he's on our side." Blue declared, as he prepared a divebomb. "For now." Sazh frowned. "You know what they say: Every little bit helps." Wizel smiled. Then Big Mac and Big Red two of the strongest ponies in all of Equestria jumped on his back, trying to "break" him. "Yee-haaaah!" Big Red yelled. "Let's corral this dawgie!" "Eeyup." Big McIntosh agreed. Shining, Gothic, Flash, Luxury, Blueblood, Sleight, and the Napoleons attacked directly, striking Twitch as hard as they could. "That's the way!" Murray smiled, as they struck Twitch's over-sized hoof. "So, who are you guys again?" Flash asked. "Just some good Samaritans." Grimoire declared. "Nice suits." Shining noted. "Just like those guys over there." "Of course." Slot nodded. "Can't be the mafia without nice suits- Ooops..." "You're mafia?!" Luxury gasped. "Unbelievable!" "I actually already knew." Blueblood admitted. "Way to share with the group there, Blue." Flash deadpanned. "Does that really matter right now?" Salt growled. "We're fighting our lives here!" "He makes a good point." Luxury admitted. However no matter how hard, or how many times they hit him, Twitch remained standing. The attacking forces soon gave in to exhaustion. "Never thought I'd get tired of beatin' somepony up." Slot wheezed. "Anypony wanna tag in?" Salt gasped. "Even Wonderbolts training never made me this exhausted..." Blue groaned, his wings struggling to hold him up. "My turn." Twitch grinned. He started swatting Changelings out of the air. "No." Sleight gasped. "This can't be happening..." On one swing, he caught Blue's wings, sending him crashing down. "Blue!" Mist cried. With one thrust of his head, he threw Big McIntosh and Big Red into the air, then slammed them into the ground with one hoof. "Oh mah gawrsh!" Applejack yelled. "Big Mac!" "Red, no!" Cherry cried. Then Twitch slammed the oversized hoof on the ground, creating a shockwave that sent the others flying. "This new bod may not be much to look at, but it makes up for it in pure power..." He declared. He then spotted Grimoire, struggling to get up. "Payback time..." He grinned. Twitch raised his giant hoof over Grimoire, and was about to slam it down... "Oh, buck!" Grimm gasped, as he tries to get away. "DIE, GRIM!" Twitch roared. Suddenly, he was blasted in the face by a cannonball. "Gah!" He cringed. "HEY!" Twitch and everypony turned to see Caboose, toting a cannon. "Get away from my brother, you TWITCH!" Caboose yelled, pelting him with cannonballs. "Dude, where did you get the cannon?" Slot asked. "I!" Caboose fired the cannon. "DUNNO!" He fired again. "PLOT!" And again. "ELEMENT?!" And again. The cannon blasts hurt Twitch, but they didn't stop him. "Done yet?" He jeered. "Not quite." Caboose pulled out a crossbow with rope attached to the bolt. He fired the bolt near Twitch's eye, and it embedded itself in his cheek. "Yeow!" Twitch roared. Caboose grabbed the rope and pulled, only for his hooves to get tangled it. "Uh-oh." He gulped. Twitch began shaking his head rapidly, trying to shake Caboose off, while Caboose himself tried to break free of the rope. "Help!" He cried. "Hang on, pardner!" Big Red said, as he and Grimoire jumps onto Caboose, grabbing him tightly. "We've got youuuu!" Grimoire yelped, as he and Big Red were along for the ride. "Dig in yer heels!" Big Red groaned. The three strained, as Twitch struggled to pull free. Eventually, with a flick upwards, Grimoire and Big Red were shaken off, and Caboose went up and landed on Twitch's face. "Get off me!" Twitch roared, trying to dislodge Caboose. "Not on your life!" Caboose held on tightly to Twitch's mane. "I happen to hate heights!" "Then I'll make you get off." Twitch snarled. He turned and starting charging around the battlefield… Back in the throne room, Shine and Red were equally matched as they hit blow for blow, as Shine then shoved Black back. "Slippery little gnat..." Black snarled, sweeping off his hoof, "I have no time for this!" Suddenly, he raised one half of his legs up high and stomped the ground hard, letting out a guttural roar, as aura steamed off him. "Gah..." Shine flapped his wings, as they were burning from the aura. "Oh... you've gotta be kidding me!" Red's body became slightly bulkier, but not grotesquely so, as the dark magic had made him stronger. After a few seconds, his horn unleashes a small shockwave, blowing Shine back a bit and shattering some of the crystals around them. As soon as the dust settled, the red stallion laughed menacingly. "Let's go..." He chuckled. "The Tartarus are you thinking-" Shine started. "RAARGH!" Red roared as he charged and bashed Shine back, much to Celestia's shock. Shine was knocked to the ground. He tried to get back up, but Red grabbed him by his helmet. "Played high school hoofball, ya know." Red grinned. "Built up the muscle!" "Oh really? I'm not seeing it..." Shine growled in pain. Black smashed his head into the helm, cracking it in half, then ripped it off, dazing Shine, and punched him hard in the face. Black tries following up with an uppercut, but Shine dodged it. Shine punched back while walking back, but Red blocked them. Eventually, Black caught Shine's left hoof, and put it in an arm lock, and tried punching him with his free left hoof. Shine dodged the first couple ones. Black then grabbed him by the throat and held him up. "Hmph, as if!" He sneered. "I'll have you know, your old stallion and I came a long way from being nothing more than filthy hicks in a dead-end town! Could've gone pro had I not joined the Royal Guard with him! I'm not your typical patriotic block-head!" He turned around, while still holding Shine. "If I wanted, I could break every single one of those royal weaklings in two... with my bare hooves!" He threw Shine straight up in the air. "Don't buck with this GENERAL!" As Shine approach the ground, Eclipse bucked him with his legs into the wall, next to the Crystal Sun, as cheers are heard in the background for some odd reason. "Daddy!" Miracle yelled. "SHINE!" Celestia cried. Shine fell to the ground weakly, and tried shaking it off. "Gah..." He groaned. Black gave a small sneer of superiority… "What have you become?" Shine growled softly. "Why don't you stick around and find out?!" Black chuckled. Black charged Shine, striking him in the chest. Winded, Shine was barely able to dodge his next attack, but he managed it... barely. "Come on, Shine!" Black taunted, "Is this the best you got?!" Shine stifled a growl. After dodging a few more blows, Shine went on the offensive. He used kicks, sweeps, judo flips... but none of it seemed to phase Black. "Stallion-to-stallion, I can't be beat. C'mon!" Black boasted some more. Having enough of his jeers, Shine threw a punch at Red Eclipse, only for him to catch it. "What?!" Shine gaped. "Nice hoof..." Black remarked, before crushing it. "AAAH!" Shine yelled. Shine gripped his hurt hoof, and Black tried an uppercut, with Shine barely dodging it. Before Shine could sigh in relief, Black then sucker-punched him, sending his sliding across the ground. Shine groaned as he rubbed his scraped chin. Fortunately, he used the Alicorn magic to restore his crushed hoof. Shine turned to face Eclipse, and charged him, swinging left and right. Black tried to retaliate, but Shine caught his right hook. "How typical of you... big ideals, but all talk!" Shine growled. "What?!" Black snapped. "'Purifying Equestria'?" Shine repeated. "That's the biggest load of bull-crud! All you care about is making yourself powerful!" Black freed himself, and the two exchanged blows. "That, and being a prick!" Shine pushed him back. "You got no principles, just like the rest of the villains Equestria had faced! Nightmare Moon! Discord! Chrysalis! Sombra! Tirek!" He punctuated each name with a punch, eventually knocking Black to the ground. "If Equestria, as you say, has gone to Tartarus, you're just one of the monsters making it worse!" He spat on the ground. Black slowly got up, chuckling. "All right... the truth then." He wiped his snout. "You're right, I might seem like a prick... and I might seem like your typical bad guy, out of a cruddy fanfiction. Purification of Equestria? You're right, I don't care... wanna know why?" He held up his hoof. "I have a dream!" "...What?" Shine stopped. "What?" Celestia gaped. "Look at us, Shine... since our ancestor, Aurora Paragon Paladin, we have been nothing but servants, forced to serve those who would become great, while the ones who had made it that way were left forgotten in the dust!" Black roared. "Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, Starswirl the Bearded... For millenia, ponies like Celestia had made it to where we had to follow a certain destiny, destinies reserved for whom they had chosen! Does the name Sunset Shimmer ring a bell? She wasn't good enough for Celestia, so Celestia tossed her aside like garbage and chose a 'better' model!" "That's not true!" Celestia shot back. "You know nothing of what I did!" "Please, you alicorns and royals are all the same... you toy with our lives, decide what goes in this world, who is great, and who are left suffering in the undertow!" Black ranted. "But no more! A day is coming, when every pony in this nation will control their OWN destiny! The land of the TRULY free, dangit!" Black charged at Shine. "A nation of ACTION, not words! Ruled by STRENGTH, not committee!" He punched Shine and grabbed him. "Friendship?! Magic?! They won't matter!" Shine tried grabbing his neck. "I will bring power back where it belongs... in the hooves of the PONIES!" Black grabbed Shine's hooves and held them apart. He then reared back his head, and brought it against Shine, who did the same. "Where every pony is free to think... to act... for himself!" Black continued. His hooves pushed Shine down to his knees. Then he bashed his head against Shine's left hoof. "Buck all these high and mighty Unicorns and their power of magic!" He punched Shine hard in the face. "And the head-in-the clouds Pegasi and their power of the weather!" He punched him again, then slammed his face into the ground. "Buck the meaningless Earth Ponies, who Faust had screwed over from the very beginning!" He brought Shine up and pushed him away, leaving him dazed. "Buck Equestria... buck the Alicorns..." He swung his front hoof around and punched Shine hard. "...buck all of it!" He turned and bucked Shine away. Shine groaned, as the Alicorn magic within him worked to keep him in ship-shape. "Equestria is diseased!" Black sneered. "Rotten to the core! There's no saving it... we need to pull it out by the roots... wipe the slate... BURN IT DOWN!" He punched Shine down again. "...And from the ashes, a new Equestria will be born!" He stomped on Shine. "Evolved, but untamed!" He grinned evilly, grinding his hoof into Shine's back. "The weak will be purged, and the strongest will thrive... free to live as they see fit! They will make Equestria great again!" "Hnngh... what are you talking about?" Shine struggled to get back up. "You still don't get it!" Black sniggered. "I'm using all those idiots out there as a means to an end!" He kicked Shine over. "So I could rid this world of them! In my new Equestria, ponies will die and kill for what they BELIEVE!" He stomped on Shine again. "Not for money! Not for status!" Another stomp. "Not for what they're told is right! Every pony will be free to fight his own wars! He stomped Shine repeatedly, ending with a major stomp with four hooves, and one last stomp. Shine let out a weak sigh, as Celestia and Miracle watched on in horror. Black pulled out another cigar and smoked it, while his hoof was on Shine. "So... what do you think?" Black asked nonchalantly. "How the heck did you get into the army with these ideas in your head?" Shine glared up at him. "Simple. They had cruddy background checks." Black smirked. He took his hoof off Shine and turned to the Crystal Sun. "You should try fighting for what you believe in sometimes, Shine... not for a kingdom, or a country, or for anypony else." Shine struggled to get up, the magic restoring him to somewhat good health. "You know... I was wrong about you..." He admitted. "Can it be?" Black ran up to Shine and helped him up. "Is my nephew finally coming around?" He dusted Shine off. "I'll rid this world of pointless fighting, Shine... much better than your father or your worthless wife ever could..." "I was wrong..." Shine smirked at Black. "You're not power-hungry..." Celestia looked on in confusion as Black held out his hoof. Shine, pausing a bit to catch his breath, simply took his hoof and shook it as Black held him close... then let out a snarl. "You are bat-crud insane!" Black gasped, as Shine blasted him back with his wings. Black caught himself, letting out a growl, as he punched the ground. "Making a mother of all omelets here, Shine!" He roared. "Can't fret over every egg!" "Not when 'you're purging the weak', right?!" Shine jeered. "What do you know about the weak?! You've never been poor... you've never been hungry... you don't know what it's like to fight, and steal to survive!" "But you, Shine, did survive!" Black pointed out. "You rose above your parent's death! You became a ruler of Equestria, through sheer force of will... with your own four hooves, you took back your life, without anypony's help!" "You're wrong... my family made me the pony I was today... my father... my mother... Big Red... Cherry... my sister... my wife... my daughter... and everypony else I came to know!" Shine declared. "They gave me the will to go on! And now... they will give me the will to defeat you, Black Knight Paladin!" "...Grr... just like your father... blind and foolish to the very end!" Black snarled. "We'll see..." Shine snarled. The two charged each other. Black thrust his hoof at Shine, who blocked up by crossing his own. Shine then grabbed Black around the waist, flew him up, then slammed him into the ground. As Black got up, Shine bucked him hard, sending him flying across the room. "Big mistake..." Black spat. They once again charged at each other. Many punches were thrown, both sides connecting with devastating blows. But Shine, driven by more noble goals, struck harder. Once again, Black found himself backed up against a wall. "It's over." Shine declared, putting his hoof against Black's neck. "You're right." Black smirked, his horn glowing. "It is." Suddenly, the Crystal Sun started glowing. Miracle, ensnared in reams of white energy, started floating upwards, her bonds coming loose. "Dad, help!" Miracle yelled. "No!" Celestia gasped. "Stop this now!" Shine pressed his hoof harder against Black's neck. "It won't be long now." Black chuckled. "Soon, her lifeforce will be extracted, and she'll be dead. And all that power will be at my command. Nopony will be able to stop me." "You filthy..." Shine spat. "Of course, if you kill me right now, I won't receive the power." Black remarked. "You'll save Equestria, but your daughter will be dead. On the other hoof, if you take the time to save her, I'll just come back stronger!" Shine's eyes widened in shock. "You only have enough time to kill me, or save her." Black revealed. "What's it gonna be, Shine?" Shine glanced at Miracle, then back at Black. "You wanted to be like your old man? Here's your chance... the fate of your country... or the fate of your daughter? What do you do, Shine?!" Black taunted. Shine stifled a curse... he had a choice... and he had to make it fast... but what would it cost?