Sun Never Sets

by CrownofDissonance

21- The Sister of Light

A thousand years ago, two sisters dueled to determine the fate of the world in the castle they once shared. One was cast to the demon realm, and the other sealed the rift between worlds closed.

A thousand years later and those same sisters were now dueling again in the throne room of the very same castle. Where four others failed to stop her, Celestia once again stood as the only thing between the Sister of Darkness and the end of the world.

Her ancient broadsword barred against the equally ancient sword fragment attached to the end of the Dark Sister's long rifle, and as they pressed into each other a radiant array of sparks burst from between the weapons, casting light all around them. The Elements of Harmony still hung in their places at each point of the star drawn in the floor, around the controls to the demon realm's gate that took up the entire middle of the throne room.

Luna laid on her attacks relentlessly, refusing to falter against her older sister's defense. The Elements, the gate, the Devil Sword, they were all miles from her mind, in this moment she was zeroed in on one thing and one thing only: bringing Celestia down.

The look in her eyes starkly contrasted Nightmare Moon's. There was no hatred on her face, only an empty look of conviction. No hatred in her attacks either, her strikes were fueled by that same empty motivation. It was for that reason Celestia's blocks were so perfect- Luna wasn't behaving as expected. She wasn't trying to read Celestia, she wasn't even making proper eye contact with her. All she did was fill every possible moment with a stab, a swipe, or a cut, occasionally drawing one of her pistols to fire or spinning into a kick, every step, every movement, every breath Luna dedicated to defeating her sister.

It was unlike her sister to fight this predictably, Celestia noted, especially when Nightmare Moon had made relatively short work of her. It felt very, very wrong.

Luna's blade came around high, and Celestia made a quick inward cut, striking the rifle's barrel and keeping the stabbing end at bay. As weapon binds did, the two sisters were brought very close together, and the forced eye contact seemed to weaken Luna's already questionable resolve.

No words were exchanged, but their glances spoke volumes. Celestia's still soft and concerned expression melted away at whatever Luna was hiding behind the mask she was so desperately trying to keep together. Her lips curled down, her nose scrunched up slightly. It took Celestia off guard. An agitated grunt passed through her lips as she pressed harder against Celestia's guard.

"Luna..." Celestia tried to speak gently, as she would if they were not fighting at all. "Please, stop."

The grunt turned into a frustrated cry as Luna pulled her blade back and thrust low on her other side, tapping her blade against Celestia's before reaching out and catching her sister's sword arm. Celestia bent her elbow and shoved Luna back, but as the younger sister pulled her rifle away Celestia caught it by the end of the barrel, gouging her forearm in the process. Lifting her leg, Celestia kicked out and spun away, taking Luna's rifle at the cost of losing her own sword.

Rather than brandish her sister's weapon, Celestia tossed it on the ground behind her, bringing out her pistols and using them to parry strikes from the Devil Sword now carried by Luna.

With a pleading tone, Celestia called out to her sister again as they exchanged equal blows. "I don't want to do this, please!"

There was no reply.

Their dance continued, but Luna's internal unrest now began to show a bit more. She fired off her bootguns in conjunction with swinging Celestia's sword about, showing more irritation at her inability to hit her target. Their feet carried them around the controls of the demon realm's gate, and Luna made it a point to move closer to her fallen weapon. She kicked it up with her foot while bringing her sword down at Celestia, then rolled onto her back as it arced above her, using her legs to spin it over her body while steadily advancing, driving her sister back and back.

Celestia's pistols clashed against the twirling rifle, but with every contact made the inverted Luna swung the Devil Sword around at her ankles, forcing her to also parry with her bootguns. This felt more like the Luna she knew, attacking in wildly unorthodox methods, but the concern for her sister was still present. She was beginning to make the extent of her anger known. She was starting to shake and her breathing was getting heavier and more erratic. With perfect timing, Celestia simultaneously stopped the momentum of both of her sister's weapons, one of her handguns striking the rifle in one direction and a bootgun shoving the Devil Sword in the other, cutting her momentum off completely. In response, Luna pushed herself up off the ground and popped both weapons into the air.

As she spun into a stand, she fired twice from each of her pistols, and as Celestia weaved around the bullets Luna caught her rifle and slashed down, grazing Celestia's shoulder and drawing blood from a second spot. Celestia backed away, clutching her new wound as Luna caught the Devil Sword, wielding her rifle in a single handed spear grip in her off hand. When Celestia recovered, she just watched her sister, holding her pistols ready but not firing.This elicited further frustration in Luna, so much that her jaw began to vibrate from clenching too hard. She was anticipating something, and whatever she was expecting never came.

"Why, sister?!" Luna finally shouted, projecting her frustration through her voice. "Why will you not fight back?"

"Because I want this to end." Celestia spoke firmly now, speaking in declaration rather than a request. "I will not fight you, Luna."

Her feigned detachment was breaking away. Her eyes grew damp and she fought to suppress her emotions through gritted teeth.

"Then die!"

For a moment, Celestia was overtaken with emotion as well. Not from the threat itself, but from the way Luna cried it out. It was a cry of pain. Words that others spoke with anger or disgust, she spoke with such palpable suffering. It was almost too much to bear witness to.

And in that moment of stunned silence Luna dove straight into her. Celestia tried to move out of the way, but the burning blue blade cut across the soft fabric of her bodysuit, tinting more of it red as her side was split open. The Devil Sword tore across her back as Luna passed, but Celestia twisted her torso, reaching out with a hand as she pushed out in the opposite direction.

Her hand tightened around one of the amulets hanging from Luna's neck and she yanked it away, turning her sister back towards her as she fell. Feeling the tightness around her throat, Luna lowered her head and slid to a stop to avoid the chain from choking her, and as Celestia fell into a roll she pulled a small bit of power from the amulet. The boost of magic quickly healed both the deep cuts on her body as well as repaired the tears in her bodysuit, but she only took what she needed, no more.

She stood to face her sister. They were each on opposite ends of the room now, equidistant from the centerpoint of the portal's controls.

Luna's voice calmed a bit, but she was just barely keeping her storm of emotions at bay. "Why, why will you not attack me? Do you want me to unleash the underworld on this mortal realm?!"

"You had everything you needed moments ago," Celestia said, holding up the sun amulet. In the movement of taking it she stripped her sister of the ability to open the gate. "Why didn't you do it then?"

Looking down at her chest in disbelief, Luna saw only the moon amulet hanging there. She wrapped her fingers around it tightly, growling as Celestia continued to pick apart her emotions.

"It isn't about the portal..." Celestia eyebrows raised as she made a small connection. "You're afraid."

Luna's expression darkened, and she didn't respond. Celestia drawing such a conclusion made her very uncomfortable, but she snuffed that out and let her anger pour forth again.

"Afraid you might be wrong."

"Silence!" She took up her weapons and called on her amulet's energy, but unlike Celestia, she didn't just take in a small bit, instead she absorbed its power in full, causing a swirl of silvery energy to form up around her. In a brief flash of light, her physical appearance shifted, transforming into a form that closely resembled Nightmare Moon's. Her stature didn't change, but her skin became rougher, gaining a tint of pale blue to it, and the veins beneath them ran black. Around her chest and shoulders, pieces of dark armor materialized, and her hair became ethereal once more. Her teeth became razor sharp, her irises became slitted, and two blue feathered wings sprouted from her back.

The ground shook as Luna pressed a foot into it and launched into a run at her sister. Rather than stand still, Celestia also charged forward, holding empty hands close to the floor as she did. Mid run, she scooped up the handles of two fallen weapons, the weapons of Sunset and Twilight: Redemption, the claymore, and Equinox, the katana. Both were weapons she forged long ago, having since mastered each of them before passing them on to her students. It had been a long time since she wielded either, but they still felt comfortable in her hands. Using them both together would be of no issue.

With the katana held forward, Celestia aimed her swing for Luna's rifle, pushing it to the side as they collided at the center of the room. Bringing the claymore up, Celestia stopped the Devil Sword from taking another bite out of her, and then the katana joined it, both weapons pressing it away. Luna's demon form moved faster, attacked more ferociously, and hit harder, but Celestia still kept pace, keeping her eyes resolutely locked with her sister.

Over the clashing of steel on steel, Celestia continued her verbal assault on Luna's assertions. "Such big talk of absolute power and you're not even sure if you're worthy of wielding it, are you?"

"I said SILENCE!" That was all it took to make Luna lose her cool. Seeing the disappointed eyes of her sister filled her further with that uncomfortable feeling, which in turn pushed her anger past its tolerable limit. She beat away at Celestia's blades, but was still unable to get past them. In her rage she poured berations onto her sister, trying to escape this new, creeping feeling of inferiority her sister's words stirred. "You fool, you think you can protect this world! The one who is not worthy of her power is you!"

Luna's magic built up around her, forming into the familiar shape of glowing blue light swords. These ones were different from Nightmare Moon's, they were slim and sharp, more like daggers than rather proper swords. They formed into a protective ring around Luna, pointing away as they all orbited around her. Celestia's focus then split, she guided the katana to her side and sliced at the light sword protecting Luna, while the claymore focused on deflecting attacks from both of Luna's weapons.

"You absolute failure!" Luna shouted, accentuating the end of her sentence with a jumping kick into Celestia's block, shoving her back a few feet. "Sharing blood with someone so weak is embarrassing!"

Leaping forward, Luna pulled her rifle back building tension in her upper arm as she prepared to thrust it down, but before she did she summoned two columns of light blades behind her, eight of them pointing down at Celestia and holding position as Luna's wings began to push her forward. Celestia looked up in anticipation.

"YOU should've been the one banished to the underworld!" Luna's voice cracked, and a bright blue streak of magic trailed behind her as she shot down towards the floor with her rifle held out, honed in on Celestia's position. She crashed into her, but Celestia swung her claymore around right before the rifle's blade hit her, knocking it from her grip and launching her back into the air. She caught herself in a flip, firing off the summoned swords as she landed and immediately dashing into Celestia again with another powerful flap of her wings. "YOU are the one who deserves to be alone!"

Celestia caught the Devil Sword with both of her own swords crossed together as Luna came in, the impact straining on her arms and legs. Luna's attacks became stronger and stronger as her emotions came out, but also sloppier and easier to predict.

"I do not cower at the sight of myself like you!" Luna continued, bashing her weapon repeatedly against Celestia's guard. "Do not QUESTION my CONTROL of my POWER when YOU. HAVE. NONE!"

On the last swing, Celestia leaned back and sandwiched Luna's blade between her own, redirecting her strike into the floor, where it smashed the stone apart and bit into it a good few inches. Celestia then kept both of her swords pressed down on Luna's, locking her weapon there and bringing them face to face again. Luna's demonic, slitted eyes were red with rage, twitching, her razor sharp teeth and on full display and jittering about with each painful breath, and the empty, detached expression she held long since destroyed. Luna's entire being was wrapped in fury, and being forced to look into those disappointed eyes once more only stoked her fire.

"Tell me..." Celestia kept her tone flat, her focus directed, and her emotions composed. "Do you honestly believe you're in control of anything, Luna?"

"SHUT UP!" Luna screamed, leaping over her sword and drawing her pistols, firing away as she punched and kicked them as close to her sister's face as she could. Again, Celestia backed away, this time doing nothing but evading her attacks. She didn't even use either of her swords, she just leaned, rolled, and weaved out of the way of everything Luna did. Her voice cracked again as her screams grew louder and more violent. "SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME!"

More light swords appeared around them, shooting off at varied intervals as Luna continued her attacks, each one getting faster and more powerful than the last. Celestia gracefully brought the swords of her students up around her, cutting apart the light swords as they streaked in and simply avoiding her sister's gun attacks.

"You are just so much better than I, aren't you?!" Luna's volume dropped, as she took more hurried breaths, but Celestia had no problem hearing her as she kept as close as physically possible. "I am not worth your time to fight, is that it?"

"Luna, I respect your strength, but-" Celestia paused to lean past a bullet. She hooked the claymore along Luna's pistol sight, swiftly redirecting it before it could fire again. "I've defeated you once before, and you clearly haven't recovered."

"Quit STALLING!" Luna jumped into a forward butterfly kick, firing both of her bootguns while launching summoned swords from behind Celestia. Celestia spun backwards, slicing the line of light swords with her katana and deflecting the bullets off her claymore.

"But I've hurt you-" She dodged a light sword, parried a punch off of her blade, and spun between three bullets. None of Luna's attacks were landing. "And after all this time... Here you are, still so hurt."

"No! You are not ALLOWED to pity ME!" Luna howled, bracing herself on both legs and firing both of her handguns straight forward, creating a stream of bullets that Celestia simply twirled her katana to deflect. Luna kept the triggers held down and added in more summoned swords to smash against Celestia's defense. She kept them going, summoning even more to surround her sister, but she had her claymore at the ready to guard all other directions.

"Have you not learned anything, Luna?!" Celestia glared into her sister's eyes, raising her voice for the first time. Though Luna was determined to keep this constant assault on her sister, having to look her in the eye while doing so still ate away at her. "After all of this time you've had to think, after losing your humanity and then regaining it, after conquering your worst self imaginable, you still insist on acting like a child?!"

A growl formed in the back of Luna's throat. Her magic flared around her. Her assault did not let up. Celestia would falter eventually. She had to.

"Would it even make you feel better if you did kill me?" Celestia's own anger began to spark as she put the pieces together. Not at Luna, but at what she was going through. Her tone became bitter as she pinpointed the root of her sister's pain and yanked it from its place. "Would you feel strong and powerful then? Because that's what this is about, isn't it? Despite all the power you've gathered you're still so weak!"

"ShutupshutupSHUTUP!" Luna screeched at the top of her lungs, kicking off the ground and launching herself forward with her wings, diving right into Celestia's guard with just one of her handguns held forward. The katana swung down, striking the gun from her hand and knocking it to the floor, but Luna put her foot down to catch herself and snapped her momentum into her other hand the moment the first punch missed.

The second punch connected with Celestia's arm, and the bullet struck her shoulder, causing her to drop the katana. Gripping her amulet, she called on its power and healed through the damage, only one hand on her claymore as she aimed another swing at Luna's gun.

"How dare you suggest something so... so..." Luna didn't even finish her sentence, she just threw her gun barrel first into her the target of her anger.

"So true?" Again, Celestia knocked the gun away with a brisk and effortless twist of her blade. "Look at yourself, threatening to destroy the world because you've convinced yourself you're inferior to me!"

"No! 'TIS A LIE!" Her voice began to tremble as she raised it again. They'd come all the way back to where Luna first dropped the Devil Sword, and she pulled it from the floor as she came at Celestia, bashing it against her sister's claymore and producing bright sparks with every strike.

The hits were powerful, each one staggered Celestia a little bit more, but they were coming quicker and quicker, she didn't have time to shift out of the way. She still wouldn't strike her sister, but the only way to keep herself alive was to hold her guard and keep talking.

"Is it?" Celestia asked. "Is it really? Not once have you landed a true strike on me! You're not holding back, are you?"

"SHUT UP!" Luna cried, and again Celestia felt the pain in her voice. Her anger was slowly becoming desperation. "DO NOT! MOCK ME!"

Celestia winced slightly under the repeated blows, but she kept her feet planted and refused to strike back.

"You COWARD!"

Another blow.

"You FOOL!"

Another blow.

"I HATE you!"

Another blow, but it felt weaker.

"I ALWAYS HAVE!"

This time, Celestia pressed back against Luna's blade, trading deep burning in her arms for a moment to reply.

"Do you really hate me, Luna? Enough to kill me?"

"Verily!" Luna broke away from the bind, bringing her sword back as she responded. Her eyes didn't convey hatred, she looked more desperate than anything. "So fight me, or DIE!"

One more blow, and Celestia dropped to her knees. Another came in, but she still held her claymore up with one hand to block. Another came in, and another, and another. Luna was just blindly smashing it against her now.

"SISTER!"

Another blow. Celestia refused.

"STOP THIS!"

Another blow. Celestia refused.

"WHY WON'T YOU FIGHT BACK?!"

Another blow. It didn't matter now.

"Do I not deserve it? Why, why, WHY?!..."

Blow after blow after blow came in, and Celestia finally lost her grip on her weapon, falling to one knee.

Luna hastily yanked the sun amulet away from her sister, standing over her not with triumph, but with even more frustrated desperation. She didn't strike her, instead she only kept her blade level her sister's neck as she continued to scream in her face.

"Answer me! Answer me, now!"

Celestia was suddenly made aware of her own weighted breaths as she looked up into her sister's eyes. She closed her eyes for a moment to recover herself, then faced her again, this time keeping their eyes locked. Exhausted from both combat and her emotional outburst, Luna only showed so much pause as a slight tremble in her arms as she waited impatiently for her sister to respond.

"Luna..." Celestia sighed. "I don't hate you enough to fight you."

Luna gave a more angry exhale to that, her eyes narrowing.

"In fact, I don't hate you at all." Celestia's expression shifted as she thought about everything her sister had been through, and how much of it was because of her own inaction. Playing the blame game wasn't going to get them anywhere, but she had accepted that she'd at least played a part in Luna's corruption. How, though she only wanted what was best for her sister, she might not have always known what was best for her.

"I love you, Luna, with all of my heart," Celestia said, looking through her sister's scowl and smiling briefly. "And I always will."

Luna's eyes twitched, her fists shook around the handle of the Devil Sword, and her lips trembled.

"And after coming to realize just how much I've hurt you..." She continued, "I can't bring myself to hurt you again."

Luna took a shaky breath in, still not replying.

"I told myself I had strength," she said, her head momentarily lowering, "But in my moment of weakness I chose to sacrifice you rather than consider myself wrong. How wrong I was..."

Luna remained silent.

"So if you think that you can be a better guardian of this world, if you really believe that killing me will make things right..."

She looked back up, speaking with the same unwavering certainty she always had.

"Then do it."

Immediately, Luna raised the Devil Sword high over her head, lining it up with her fallen sister. She looked down on her with the same scowl, but her hands still shook, her eyes still twitched, and her lips still trembled as Celestia kept her gaze strong, waiting for the blade to strike.

"I won't stop you. I can't stop you, because even now I still love you."

"'Tia..." Luna breathed, every muscle in her body tightening as she prepared to bring the sword down. Taking a deep breath, she thought about what her last words to her should be. She didn't feel like she'd won, even with Celestia admitting to being wrong, she felt that if she'd beat her in a proper duel it wouldn't have mattered. She knew she had to feel something, but she only felt empty.

Luna noticed a different look about her sister now. She looked strangely calm, accepting of her fate. Not filled with despair, but with some manner of bitter contentment. Most notably, Luna sensed nothing directed towards herself. She wondered why. She wondered why she herself wasn't feeling a rush of pleasure from seeing her sister defeated. She wondered why she wasn't driving a sword through her heart right now.

"I-" Luna began. She felt a lump form in her throat that demanded it be choked back down. Luna wondered why Celestia didn't hate her. Was she lying? Foolish? Was it even worth considering? Celestia still loved her? After everything she'd done? After inflicting so much pain onto everything around her, Celestia still loved her? Amidst all of these questions filling her mind, one preposterous thought shined through them all, tempting Luna to think it as the illogical conclusion to her behavior. She ignored it.

"I-" The thought cut off her attempts to speak, and she saw Celestia's expression shift again. Luna knew the look, it was a look her sister made when something surprised her enough to make her think. It wasn't a look she made often, as very little surprised her, but seeing it sparked more questions in her mind. What did Celestia see?

"I..." Nothing cut her off this time, but she still couldn't think of what to say. She blinked. Luna realised she had been just holding the sword up this whole time, she was hesitating for some reason. She needed to just do it without thinking but... No, she couldn't. She hated her sister, she wanted her dead. Drop the blade. End her. Take your revenge. But she didn't. That thought called out to her again.

Why? Why was she feeling this way after fighting so hard? Was she always this conflicted? It wasn't about Celestia at all, was it? It was about herself. As she became aware of wetness on her face, she realised why Celestia looked so surprised. She was crying. Crying, because she finally realised what the problem was and didn't want to face it, that she still was too weak to wield her own power, and that even if she couldn't understand it, she appreciated her sister's love. And Celestia might be the last person in the world who could ever genuinely love her again.

She couldn't ignore herself any longer, that suppressed thought broke into her mind.

It's me I hate, not her.

A soft whimper escaped her lips, followed by a whispery breath. Her vision became blurry, and her fingers slipped, the Devil Sword clattering to the ground beside her.

And after a thousand years of feeling nothing but grief and heartache and the suffocating desire for vengeance, all of Luna's anger faded in a single, gentle pulse of swirling silver magic. Reverted to her human form, she dropped to her knees, only able to muster two words to her older sister before her voice failed her.

"I... can't..."

-----

Flash rolled himself over, feeling a dull pain on his forehead where Luna's boot struck him. His weapons were scattered around him, one still strapped to him, tugging him down as he shifted, and the others were decidedly out of his reach. He heard something unusual as his senses came back to him, the last thing he remembered was a heel in his face before his senses were completely rocked and he hit the ground. Someone was crying.

Turning his head, Flash saw who it was. The glow of the Elements of Harmony illuminated the image: The once powerful and terrifying Dark Sister, still with both of the ancient amulets around her neck, was crumpled up in the arms of the Sister of Light and in the throes of an emotional breakdown, sobbing uncontrollably into her sister's shoulder as faint moonlight came in through the tall window at the end of the throne room. Her older sister held her tightly, sincerely, eyes closed and focused on being as comforting as possible. Flash wasn't sure what to think. These affairs were beyond his concern, but apparently this reunion was a thousand years coming. It didn't surprise him that it ended in tears.

"Why?" Luna asked through her cries, hanging tightly to her sister as she completely unraveled. "Why do you still care?"

"Because I'm your big sister," Celestia calmly replied, gently stroking down her sister's back, recalling a line of a poem she wrote for her long ago. "I will take all your sorrow to keep."

"'Tia..." Luna said, steadying her breath and staring down at the floor. "I don't deserve you."

Celestia shook her head. "That's not true."

"I've destroyed so much, I've hurt so many people, I..." Luna's eyes screwed shut again, and she pressed her face back into her sister's shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry... I was just... so... so scared... and angry... angry, because..."

"Shh... Luna."

"I'm a pathetic, miserable creature!" Luna's crying renewed, her fists tightening as she took in a shivering breath. Celestia only held her close again, willing to stay there as long as she needed.

"Luna." Celestia spoke softly. "Things will be okay."

Celestia continued to console her sister, but somewhere beside him, Flash heard Sunset let out a weak laugh. She was rolled onto her side, watching the scene play out from her edge of the room.

"So all the big bad demon queen needed was a hug, huh?" She said quietly, more to herself than anyone else. She let out a sigh, an exhausted smile of disbelief on her face. "And they said devils never cry..."

Was it over, then? Flash gathered his strength and sat himself up, gathering up his weapons and looking to see if Starlight and Twilight were any more recovered than himself. Twilight knelt in the corner of the room, watching Celestia comforting Luna with a confused look, and Starlight had both hands pressing down on the floor, gradually bringing herself upright. Twilight's head shook, but she didn't have the energy to object to the events unfolding.

"Sister..." Luna said, calming herself just enough to speak again. "I thought... I thought forgiving myself would be enough. That accepting what I'd done would make things easier but... when Nightmare Moon became a part of me again..."

Celestia pulled away from the embrace for a moment, looking into her sister's eyes intently as she waited for her to finish her thought.

"I took in all of her hatred, felt it so vividly it was painful, and I thought the only way to make it stop was to take it out on you..." More tears poured from her eyes again, and she held Celestia tighter as her entire body shuddered. "I still can feel it, it's crushing me... I want this nightmare to end!"

After a long moment, Celestia slowly rose, supporting her sister and helping her to stand with her. She took another moment to choose her next words, wanting to form her thoughts completely.

"I understand why you would hate me, and it's okay if you still do. But please know, your worth is not measured by your strength, because you're worth more than all of the strength in the world. You are my strength, Luna, my reason for fighting."

Luna closed her eyes, a smile just gently crossing her face as she stepped away, her body at least calming itself. Her hands wiped the tears off of her cheeks, her breathing became slowed and more purposeful.

Over their conversation, Flash thought he heard a pair of footsteps from behind him, but when he looked towards the entrance, nothing was there.

"All I want—all I've ever wanted, is for you to be okay." Celestia said. Her breathing became more pronounced as well, and her emotions finally began to spill over. She too began to cry softly. "And after all I've done to push you away, I'll do whatever it takes to help rebuild what we've destroyed. I know things may never be the same, but... I just want my sister back."

"Celestia, I-"

Her older sister suddenly let out a pained, choked gasp, face contorting into shocked agony as the tip of an ancient broadsword burst from her chest, bloodied red after being shoved through her back. Luna watched in horror as Celestia fell to her knees, the Devil Sword left to stick out of her body as she gushed crimson onto the floor.

Flash was just as horrified, for behind Celestia was a tall woman wearing a black trench coat, with streamlined sunglasses that glistened in the soft arcane light surrounding them. A woman that, by her smug smile and voluminous curls of orange hair, Flash recognized immediately.

Adagio Dazzle.

"Excellent work, everyone..." She said, cruelly clapping her hands together in satisfaction of the scene currently playing out. "Well done!"

"Adagio!" Flash started, picking himself up and raising his weapon to fire, but as she always did Adagio became a blur, blinking out of the way and easily throwing him back to the ground. Sunset stood, bringing up her guns and rapidly firing them both off as she approached, but couldn't quite get a hit on her as she again became a dancing blur. Leaning past her bullets, Adagio jumped directly above her and then stomped her to the ground with both feet.

"Sunset, is it? The Legendary Demon Hunter?" Adagio teased, tilting her head upon seeing Sunset too weak to fight back. "Big fan."

Adagio turned and quickly brought her hands together, catching Starlight's chainsaber by its sides as the cyborg swung it around from her side, fingers clear of its teeth. "Ah-ah, I've learned from last time..."

Warping behind her, Adagio threw a spinning kick in the back of Starlight's head, knocking her to the floor next to Sunset. Twilight was the last to jump to her feet and face her down, scooping her katana up off the ground and pointing it towards her.

"You! We had a deal!" Twilight said.

"Mmh, but it wouldn't last..." Adagio said, warping out of the way of Twilight's initial katana swing. Her strikes were weary, much too telegraphed to land a hit on the siren. "You see, me and Nightmare Moon here also had a deal. I never intended to uphold ours..."

With one hand, Adagio caught Twilight's blade, giving her a bored look as Twilight pushed with all her remaining strength and hissed her reply. "Damn you..."

"Oh, don't feel too bad about it, now. Really, the plan was to make you all wear yourself out so that Nightmare Moon could fulfill her end of our bargain," Adagio pushed on Twilight's blade, then hopelessly beat her to the floor with a single punch. "Perhaps any one of you could've cut me down had you not worn yourselves down fighting! But lucky for me, I'm a good planner..."

She turned to Luna, who still only stood mortified in seeing her sister on the ground dying. Putting her boot down on Celestia, she gripped the Devil Sword in both hands and pulled it from her with little respect for the body it was just impaling. Then, she smiled, giving Luna an expectant look.

"Now then," she said, gesturing to the orbs of magic around them. "I've brought you the Elements of Harmony, now I believe your amulets are mine."

Luna shuddered again, this time in terror, but bravely shook her head. "You... You killed her..."

"What's the matter, having a sudden change of heart?"

In a flash, Luna transformed again, back into her demon form, and went straight for Adagio with her anger now rekindled, but found that she too was impaled on the Devil Sword before she could strike. Her fist was moments to striking the siren, knocking that wicked grin off of her face, but the sword proved to be an painful obstacle.

"Is that love? For a sibling?" Adagio laughed. "Ridiculous... The only thing needed is absolute power!"

The blade twisted through Luna's body, but she gritted her teeth and refused to let it impede her. Both amulets beginning to glow, Luna took a step against the blade, feeling it pierce her deeper but also feeling her regeneration burning against it. She took another step, fighting through the pain as she neared Adagio.

Concern creeping onto her face, Adagio shoved the sword forward further, but was only met with Luna's hand taking her by the throat. She expected the concern to shift to fear, but Adagio only smiled as she was lifted up, looking deep into Luna's eyes and taking a breath in.

"I have no further wish to harm others..." Luna growled, the echoing demonic distortion on her voice making it low and scratchy. "But for you, I'll make an exception!"

"I think you'll find yourself more than happy to hand them over..." Adagio said, lowering her sunglasses and revealing two glowing red eyes. The moment she met them, Luna froze, and her hostility faded, releasing Adagio as this trance overtook her.

And then, Adagio began to sing.

Not with any words, but proudly, she vocalized a melody of mid ranged notes in a devilishly smooth arrangement, one that made Luna quickly change her aggressive tune.

On the ground, too far away to do anything, Flash felt a wave of horror course through him. He knew what this was, Sparrowhawk tried to do the same thing to him, but this... this was far worse. Luna relaxed fully, and Adagio looked surprised for just a moment before letting out a short, villainous laugh. The Sister of Darkness was under Adagio's spell, her mind bending to the siren's will.

"Now..." Smiling, she extended her hand, pleased to see Luna unable to resist even after she pulled the Devil Sword from her. "The amulets, dear?"

Luna, unable to do any differently, obliged, handing both of the amulets over and reverting back to her human form.

Both amulets began to glow as Adagio brought them closer to the Devil Sword.

"Two amulets, a sword, and the purest forces of Harmony..." She brought them into place, and the sword began to float over the centerpoint of the glowing star, sparkling and glowing as the energies of both the Light and Dark Sisters flowed through it. Now energized, Adagio sunk the blade through the plate at the center of the circle, and the entire castle rumbled as some internal mechanism deep within it shifted. The circle glowed brighter, shifting and rotating in place like a giant cylindrical tumbler lock, bursts of dark energy erupting around it as its reaction seemed to tear through the universe itself.

"To unleash the greatest power this world has ever seen!"

Her master plan was now seeing completion. The gate to the demon realm was opening, and Adagio was holding its key.

Comments

[Raistlin]

"So all the big bad demon queen needed was a hug, huh?"

To think how much of this horror could have been avoided if Lulu and Tia have done the mature thing and took therapy sessions.

Mmmm...I cannot help but draw similarities between Adagio and Arkham.

[CrownofDissonance]

10446474
It turns out having incredible demonic power makes everything more overblown and dramatic than it would be otherwise..

And among the many characters Adagio draws influence from, yes, Arkham and his masterminding is indeed one of the primary ones.

[Raistlin]

10446509

Hope she ends like him, bitting more than she can chew and with her demonic form (Siren?) obtained from stolen power making her drop I.Q.

[Edguy0009]

Ah, the ol' double cross, I forgot about Adagio. Fierce Diety Link anyone?

[Spellflame]

...

[redsopine]

reading chapter20 and i have angel of darkness playing in my head

[JMP]

... Well then. That was unfortunate. I really didn't see Adagio as a Jester equivalent, but I suppose I probably should have. She's a third party interested in demonic power with an agenda separate from both the main protagonists and antagonist

[zachary12]

nice work.

[Pinklestia]

[Her master plan was now seeing completion. The gate to the demon realm was opening, and Adagio was holding its key.]

"Ah but the powers is not yours. Be the Elements of Harmony, the sword or the power of the two sisters... ever wondered why us true demons not just steal all the power we can? You are about to find out!"

[CrownofDissonance]

10446766
She may not be wearing the clown suit, but she's definitely playing his role.

[Pinklestia]

10447123
I wonder who is gonna be made a fool? The ones that just learned a lesson about friendship and love or the one who betrayed everyone and stole their power instead of earning it?