The City of Man floated into a field of stars. It quickly recalled all individuals who needed air to breathe - for suddenly there wasn’t any. They were now in space for all intents and purposes, and it looked beautiful.
<There> The Earth Crystal announced. <You can see the core now. It appears as a blue star now, but it is in reality our goal.>
“How far away is that?” Twilight asked, peering into the distance at the light blue shimmer in the distance.
<Several dozen light years. It will take us many hours to arrive even at top speed. And I doubt we will be allowed to continue at top speed the whole way.>
Twilight sighed. “Well, everypony, we better buckle up. Got ourselves an Exdeath to defeat…”
The City of Man enveloped itself in a sphere of golden light and entered warp speeds.
Behind it, unseen, a four-limbed metallic shape followed…
—
“The stars are mesmerizing….” Rarity said, looking at them streak past the window. “Beautiful…”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh, I’ve seen better.”
Spike glared. “No you haven’t.”
“Floating rock tendrils buddy! FLOATING ROCK TENDRILS! That place was awesome!”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “I personally liked the Everfree Forest…”
“Okay we’re doing this.” Rainbow Dash flew up into the air. “Coolest place we’ve been on this adventures! I claimed the start of this place, Rarity likes it here and now, and Fluttershy likes it here. The rest of you?”
“City of Man.” Twilight said. “Still best place.” Lyra whooped in the background.
Applejack frowned. “…Ah liked that big bridge the best. Ah’m not sure why Ah did.”
Rainbow Dash turned to some of their other companions. “What about the rest of you? Come on!”
“Most of us didn’t go on big adventures.” Limestone reminded them. “We weren’t the big Warriors of Light. We didn’t get to travel everywhere on your little journey.”
Fluttershy sighed. “Pinkie would have loved Starswirl’s Temple…”
The ponies all looked down at the floor, saddened by the thought. Twilight put a wing around Fluttershy. “Yeah. Yeah she would have.”
“How about you-“ Rarity began, only for the entire City to go on red alert. The Earth Crystal started screaming at them. <CRYSTALLINE ONES DETECTED. CRYSTALLINE ONES INCOMING>
The Warriors of Light and Limestone teleported to the bridge, where Chrysalis and Ember already were. The Earth Crystal’s voice seemed to be in a panic. <Energy reading is off the charts, matches that of a Crystal. A live crystal. Coming right for us and powering up.>
“Bad.” Rainbow Dash said. “How do we kick that thing’s butt?”
Twilight frowned. “Exdeath destroyed Crystals by draining power from them for extended periods of time… We don’t have that option…”
“He destroyed the Life Crystal with a powerful attack.” Fluttershy said.
“Only after we spent all our energy weakening it…” Twilight said. “And I don’t think we can fight effectively in space. At least not all of us.”
<Decide quickly It’ll be here in seventeen seconds.>
Twilight started to panic. “Uh… Uh… Try talking to it? Earth Crystal, can you make it understand that you are one of its kind?”
<I will try. It may not care.>
“Okay… Any other ideas?” Twilight said.
Chrysalis frowned. “Perhaps we could fool it with a large changeling illusion…”
”Do that.” Twilight said. “Best idea we’ve got so far.”
Chrysalis vanished in a puff of green light - and less than a second later a tremendous object appeared within their sights. Almost the size of the City of Man, it lurched into existence and forced the City out of warp. The ‘ship’ was created of dark purple metal with scattered Crystalline structures along the rounded edges, with seven tails trailing off its back.
<I AM THE FAL’CIE ANIMA> The voice boomed - Twilight knew the Earth Crystal was translating for them, since it was coming through their speakers.
<I am the Crystalline One Tochi Chikyu Setchi Essensu, and I seek passage to the Core of the Void>
<YOU DO NOT FEEL LIKE A PUREBREED>
<My physical form was destroyed, my intelligence is housed in this matrix. Much like your own, I can sense. Your essence has been distributed throughout your structure.>
<KNOWLEDGEABLE. PERHAPS YOU ARE ONE OF THE LESSER>
<Lesser?>
<YOU NEVER AUGMENTED YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOT FAL’CIE. YOU ARE NATURE.>
<Is nature not holy?>
<FOOLISH. YOU STILL CARE FOR THOSE LOWER. AND YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THE SAME. I DO NOT CARE. I JUST FOUND YOU INTERESTING.>
<Then why are you here?>
<THE TANTABUS SUGGESTED IT. YOU HOUSE HEROES. IT IS TIME FOR THEM TO FALL. YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT TO THE CORE.>
Anima began charging a magical blast.
<The City will not survive that blast.> The Earth Crystal stated. <I will load you onto the Vlerryn and send you to the Core on your own. It is the best I can do.>
“What about Chrysalis’ plan?” Twilight asked.
<What about->
Suddenly, another City of Man appeared in the void, rushing Anima.
<WHERE THE STARS DID YOU COME FROM?>
The other City of Man rammed Anima, driving him away.
“RUN!” Chrysalis yelled telepathically to Twilight. “THIS ILLUSION CANNOT BE HELD LONG!”
“Step on it!” Twilight yelled. The City of Man encased itself in the gold warp and fled.
Anima roared. It knew it wasn’t faster than the City of Man… It was too late. They would make it to the core now. Anima roared, blasting the illusion with a laser - dissipating it into the several changeling-occupied ships that made it up.
Chrysalis bit her lip. “…I love you Minuette.”
Then Anima launched the attack - vaporizing them all.
Already a light year away, Minuette cried out. “NO! WE CAN’T LEAVE HER…”
“She left herself.” Ember said, frowning.
“Have some tact!” Rarity hissed at Ember, putting a hoof around Minuette. “Look at me Minuette. Look at me.” The blue unicorn obliged. “It is going to be hard. It is going to hurt. It will never stop hurting. But you can’t let it beat you. You must face the world, not run away from it.”
Rarity hugged Minuette tight. “I am so sorry. All this killing needs to end.”
Minuette just nodded and cried over Rarity’s shoulder.
—
Anima was angry. It had failed. It would not be freed from the Interdimensional Rift. Why even bother chasing them, they would arrive, and that would be the end of it.
Anima really needed something to explode - oh what was this? A little robot flying through space?
<SCORE.>
Anima fired - and missed.
<THE HECK?>
Omega charged right into Anima and punched a hole through the Fal’cie’s body. Right through one of the cores of Anima’s being.
While not dead, Anima was now adrift.
Anima watched in rage as Omega flew off without so much as a glance back.
—
The Crystal core was… tranquil. A series of hundreds, if not thousands, of floating islands made entirely of Crystal. The City of Man dropped out of warp less than a mile from the gigantic structure of crystals loosely collected together, the City dwarfed by the conglomeration’s immense size.
There was no army to attack them.
No beasts to face off against them.
Just a field of eternal crystal spreading out in a circular pattern, surrounding a bright spot in the center.
<We’re here.> The Earth Crystal said. <Exdeath will be in the center.>
Twilight nodded. “That we are.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “I still can’t get over the fact that you have a NAME.”
The Earth Crystal let out a sigh. <I don’t. I had to think of something on the fly that carried some weight.>
“Oh.” Rainbow Dash said. “Ever consider actually taking it as your name? It is a little awkward to call you ‘Earth Crystal’ all the time.”
<…Tochi is an appropriate name. Never really needed one before. I’ve said more words to mortals in the last week than I have in the last millennia.>
“You need to get out more.” Twilight said. “Make some more friends.”
<Perhaps… We all need to survive this first, however.>
The Warriors of Light looked around themselves, fixing each other with glances. Some were eager, some were nervous, some were unsure. “…Can we do this?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight looked ahead at their goal, her face covered in its light. “I think so Fluttershy. We are not fighting alone. We have everyone at our backs. The world will not fall to just us - it falls to everyone here. All of us.” She smiled, raising her voice. “All of you! All of you! What you do here today will decide the fate of the world! Not us, not the Earth Crystal, not your leaders, you! You are the power behind us all! If we fall, keep going. Do what needs to be done. We shall not stand for this any longer!”
The entire City cheered at the sound of Twilight Sparkle’s voice.
“How amusing.” A voice that sounded a lot like Twilight’s said. Floating before them was a humanoid with dark lavender skin, menacing purple horn, and dark angular wings. Her eyes were highlighted with an unsettling light, and her clothing was dark and menacing. “You think you fight together.”
Twilight glared at her, enveloping herself in her Finisher. “What are you?”
“Me?” She cackled. “Let me put this in a way you’ll understand… the five of you are essences of the crystals. Life, Kindness. Earth, Honesty. Wind, Laughter. Oh wait, last one’s not here.” She giggled. “Me? I’m the Spirit of Void, Decay.” She laughed. “But you can call me Midnight. Midnight Sparkle.”
Twilight blinked. “Sparkle? What does that even mean?”
“Oh and by the way, you won’t have backup for this fight.” She clapped her hands, and suddenly the Warriors of Light were standing with her on a crystal island, the City of Man nowhere in sight. “No backup. No Queens to pull you out of your predicament, no Deus Ex Machina to save you here. Just me.”
The Warriors of Light readied their weapons. “Like that matters!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“Oh you see, it does.” Midnight laughed, increasing her size tenfold. “For you see, I AM one of you Chosen. I breathe the essence of an Element. I was chosen as a hero long ago. Your status does not affect me.”
Fluttershy summoned Odin, who dropped his spear in fear. “No…”
“Ah Odin!” Midnight clapped. “Long time no see! Did you miss me?”
“We destroyed you!” Odin yelled.
“Please, a transdimensional being such as myself cares not for being killed merely once. Honestly I’m ashamed you didn’t figure out I was still around by the mere existence of that purple alicorn behind you.”
“What the buck are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash said.
“Ah, the pegasus wants to know.” Midnight grinned. “Tell her Odin. Try and explain.”
“Carbuncle would do a better job-“
Midnight pointed a finger and Fluttershy knew that she wouldn’t be making any more summons for the rest of the encounter.
“…Damn you Midnight.”
“Yes yes…” Midnight giggled. “Go on now. Tell them.”
“…Me and my allies, we helped the Crystals seal the Void away long ago. What you don’t know is that, somehow, the Void itself produced a champion of it’s own to counteract us. She… She was our Exdeath. She was the one fighting to keep her source of power alive. We killed her-“
“Oh Odiiiin!” She yelled. “That’s not it! You’re not telling the whole story!”
“Why would I torture them with that?”
“BECAUSE I’M A SADIST.” Midnight yelled. “TELL THEM WHERE I CAME FROM. WHO I WAS.”
Odin gulped, looking at Twilight. “She… She was from some other world. Not any of the two we created, something else. Somewhere else - somewhere even my Crystal could not tell me about. But we discovered that there were many of these other worlds… And… And…”
“She was me wasn’t she.” Twilight said. it wasn’t a question.
“Guess who answered the million dollar question!” Midnight pointed. “You! You Twilight Sparkle! I’ll have all the reward transferred to me because A) I am you and B) you’re about to be killed anyway so at the very least I qualify as your next of kin.”
Twilight looked down at the ground. Could she really become this thing standing before them?
“Twi, don’t listen to her.” Applejack said. “She’s right, she was you, or somethin’, Ah don’t really understand. But you have a choice. You don’t have to be her. You can be better than her. Become a true champion.”
Twilight smiled. “Midnight, you’re rather sure of this aren’t you? Think you can tear us down? Think you can attack me? Well then… Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
Midnight snorted. “Well, I was going to enjoy tormenting your psyche but apparently ‘Friendship is Magic’ and all that crap. Hate all that.” She clapped her hands, sending out a wave of pure Aether energy that sent all five of the heroes flying, all of them barely staying on the island.
Fluttershy retaliated with the exact same move, tossing Midnight into the sky. Midnight glared. “Alright, you’re the one with weird powers. Let me see..” She pointed at Twilight. “Smart one…” She pointed at Applejack. “Strong one…” She pointed at Rarity. “Plucky and fashionable healer…” And then she pointed at Rainbow Dash. “…comic relief.”
“HEY!” Rainbow Dash yelled, casting biotin on Midnight and then unleashing a sonic rainboom on her. “I am not the comic relief.” She drove Midnight into the ground with a sickening crack. “PINKIE WAS THE COMIC RELIEF!”
“Ow…” Midnight said, encasing Rainbow Dash in a crystal prison and electrocuting it. “That actually hurt me…”
Fluttershy rammed Midnight with a sonic rainboom - that sent butterflies everywhere. “Okay you are going to get-“ Midnight was then encased in a crystal prison that was instantly electrocuted. She roared in anger, energy exploding out of her.
“Okay, you.” She pointed at Fluttershy. “You are the most annoying because of that ability of yours. But I can’t get rid of you first, because…” She pointed at Rarity. “…White mage.”
“Bother.” Rarity said, accelerating her speed so she could doge the incoming flurry of beams. She leapt into the air and cast Holy, which Fluttershy mimicked, only to have the white spheres deflected by a swipe of Midnight’s hand. “Heh. Legendary spell spamming won’t work on me, ponies.”
“Then what about this?” Twilight yelled, barreling into Midnight with Finisher, driving the deadly spired of energy through the humanoid - Twilight’s horn piercing her right where her heart should be. Twilight quickly teleported away before Midnight could retaliate.
Midnight floated there, in the air, dripping dark purple blood. She roared. “That’s it, time for some fun. Any of you ever heard of a spell called Roulette? No? Well alright then! Here’s the rules - I cast it and somebody dies! It might even be me - but being severely outnumbered here, I like my odds.”
She snapped her fingers - Applejack fell to the ground lifeless. Rarity tried to summon up the energy for an arise, but Midnight was too fast. “Hi there.” She said, punching the white unicorn in the face.
Fluttershy cast roulette - only to have her own life sucked out of her.
“HA!” Midnight began to laugh. “Oh that’s priceless! Killed herself! Absolutely-“ Twilight shot Midnight with double plasma cannons. “Okay. Die already.” Midnight teleported, appearing with her claws inside Twilight, clawing at her organs. Twilight gagged, unable to scream. Midnight tossed her to the side, an intestine in her claws. “That’s how you do it.”
Then there was a flash of yellow light, and Fluttershy’s wing appeared inside Midnight’s chest. “What? You were dead!”
“You were distracted.” Rarity said. Fluttershy winced and ripped out Midnight’s insides. “Ew… Ew…. Ew…”
“Why I oughta-“
“Oughta what?” Carbuncle asked.
Midnight twitched. “Wait. I silenced her. You can’t-“
“She was revived.” Ramuh said. “So she’s back to normal.”
“Yeah!” Shiva yelled. “Time to give you the beat down AGAIN miss nasty!”
“FACE PUNCHING TIME!” Titan yelled.
Odin raised his lance, readying it. “You will not win. You never will.”
Ifrit appeared last, riding the white chocobo - with Phoenix on his back. “FEEL THE HELLFIRE!!!!” He roared.
Midnight paled. “Not again…”
She exploded, all the Crystal’s Warriors fighting at once, and to top it all off, Spike appearing on top of them. He chuckled. “Being a summon is fun.”
Then all the summons vanished and Fluttershy smirked. This had been the plan since she cast roulette - seeing the future came in handy.
Rarity revived Applejack and all the Warriors of Light stood, ready to face their almost gone enemy. Midnight managed to stand, breathing heavily. “No… This can’t be… I was the strongest Chosen! I was-“
>ENCIRCLE.EXE
Midnight’s eyes widened. “OMEGA NO-“ She felt some´˜•§ √•¢∑¶ √´µ∑øˆ˜…
Rainbow Dash blinked in confused. “Why the buck are we here? Why does everything look destroyed? What is that thing standing right there?”
>OMEGA.
Twilight blinked, confused by the sudden change in… Everything.
Rarity pointed a hoof at the robot. “You! You’re what’s messing things… up… what things am I talking about?”
“I have no idea.” Applejack said. “But this thing’s going down.” She drew Excalibur and charged, driving it into Omega - only to have it bounce off the hard exterior with a clank sound.
“What? Excalibur cuts through anything!”
“Not that apparently!” Rainbow Dash said, lighting her wings with a yellow light. “Time to zap you!” She sent out the bolt of electricity - only for it to reflect back onto her.
“Well that’s not fair…” Fluttershy said, summoning Carbuncle. “How do we defeat a reflecting enemy?”
“Reflect on yourself.” Carbuncle said. “The spell will bounce back and forth for a long time - the target’s shield will wear out first.” Carbuncle quickly cast reflect on the party. Fluttershy smiled - and then her eyes went white.
“No!” She said, leaping into the air and out of the way. “That’s-“
>ENCIRCLE.EXE
Fluttershy blinked. “It’s erasing me from-“ Fluttershy felt some¥˝ˆˇÁ‰˚†¨ˆ˙¶•••ª
The four Warriors of Light stood, facing the robotic enemy.
“Where did this thing come from?” Applejack yelled.
“No idea!” Twilight said, putting on Finisher and charging into it - to little effect. “But it’s going down!” Twilight unleashed a spell she didn’t know she had - a series of black explosions that tossed Omega back a few meters. Applejack followed up by slamming her hooves into the ground and impaling Omega with a crystal spire from the ground.
“Ha!” She said. “You’re stuck now!”
>ENCIRCLE.EXE
Applejack gulped. “What in tarnation-“ Applejack felt some§£ª•¶∞ª™¶¢•0
The three Warriors of Light stood, facing off against Omega. It was unharmed.
“You know…” Rarity said. “I feel like we damaged it a minute ago… But now it’s unharmed…”
“It may have time related powers!” Twilight said, trying to trap it in a magic crystal - and failing miserably. “Be on the lookout!”
Rarity focused her horn, unleashing a scanning spell while barraging the robot with Holy. That was… Weird. Why did the space and time inside it feel so familiar?
Twilight roared, spreading her wings wide and making her eyes go white. “OMEGA, YOU WILL BE JUDGED!” She reached deep within herself, trying to put all her power out at once. She glowed white for a moment, engulfing the entire area in some cataclysmic power-
>ENCIRCLE.EXE
Twilight gagged mid spell. “Rarity he’s trying to erase-“ Twilight felt some„Åø´˜˝Ó´Ò˜´ª¢¶ª
The two sisters faced off against Omega, neither looking to good.
“You know, this guy is really, really, really strong.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m going to rainboom him.”
“You… Do that…” Rarity said, the back of her mind screaming that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
The rainboom made contact with Omega, and was followed up by a powerful kick, which managed to blow off a few of Omega’s legs. “Ha!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Gotcha!”
>ENCIRCLE.EXE.
“The heck is-“ Rainbow Dash felt some•™¢º¶¨˜Ô°›‚ÔÏ
Rarity screamed. Why was she screaming? What was going on? Oh right. Angry robot attacking her, the sole hero of all…
All alone… No friends… No allies…. Just her against everything. She whimpered in fear. What was the meaning of it all? Just nothing? Nothing at all?
…That didn’t make any sense! It couldn’t have been just her all this time… Pinkie? No… Pinkie left a long time ago with… With… She shook her head, looking at the robot. “You did something. What did you do?”
Omega walked forward, completely unharmed.
“No…” Rarity said, racking her mind. “No I was not alone! I had friends! Other heroes! What have you done with them?”
Omega took another step forward.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SISTER?!” Rarity yelled. Then something inside her snapped - the time magic swirling around her mind. “You… You removed her!”
>ENCIRCLE.EXE
Rarity growled. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” She pushe¨´¬∆ …∆øˆ¨rejˆ˜ø´∑˜…√¨¨ˆπ ˜ø¨ß√ƒ´∑ ԈشÚUrewi ؇;ˆ¨ˆÓÚÒÔ REWIND!”
The golden circle vanished and Rarity reestablished herself in reality, her horn glowing with an intense light. She latch onto Omega, screaming. “REWIND! REWIND! REWIND!”
Omega began to stagger backwards… The core began to shift in reverse, spitting out Rainbow Dash first. Omega’s legs blew off at that. Then Twilight appeared once more, and several of Omega’s circuits overloaded. As Applejack appeared the crystal spire returned, driving Omega right through the core.
>ENC-
“No!” Rarity yelled, pushing time backwards further. “You will not!” She pushed harder, taking Fluttershy back out. The yellow pegasus looked terrified.
Rarity continued pushing - the beaten form of Midnight Sparkle appearing… Then Trixie… Then Discord…
It was at that moment that Rarity’s magic failed and she passed out.
>ENCIR-
“OH NO YOU DON’T” Midnight and Discord yelled at the same time, completely annihilating Omega with their powers. The explosion was one of the most powerful any present had ever seen.
Midnight wasted no time - she quickly grabbed Discord by the neck and drained his magic into herself. “Thank you for the boost, spirit.”
“Gah…” Discord said. “I just come back into existence and this is my wake up call?”
“Yes.” Midnight said, cackling. Then she turned back to the six mares present. “Who’s ready to die?”
Trixie screamed and ran - only for Midnight to teleport her into her claws. “Well well well. Alicorn amulet? I’ll just take that…”
“TAKE IT TAKE IT JUST LET ME LIVE!” Trixie said.
“Sure.” Midnight said, taking the amulet now that she had permission and putting it on. Then dropping Trixie to the ground. Midnight’s eyes flashed red. “One can never get too many power boosts!”
“THROW YOUR SWORD UP APPLEJACK!” A familiar voice said.
Applejack blinked for a second before doing exactly that. A fiery bacon-like mane flashed over her head and grabbed the sword, driving it into Midnight’s head.
Sunset grinned. “I have wanted this sword for so long. And never did I imagine a scene this epic to get it. All we’re missing is a planet exploding in the background.”
Starlight appeared with a bright blue explosion.
“Close enough.” Sunset said.
Midnight roared. “What are you?”
“How are you alive?” Twilight asked.
“We are Sunset and Starlight.” Sunset offered.
“And it’s amazing what sheer determination can do to supposed vaporization.” Starlight grinned. “Just ended up sealed away in the Rift, not dead.”
“We’re just that good.”
Midnight roared. “You think this changes anything? I have the power to destroy you all with a thought-“
Starlight and Sunset fused - a fiery halberd in one of the centaur’s hands, Excalibur in the other.
“And we have the power to take you down.”
They tackled Midnight off the island, taking her downwards, out of the core, and into the interstellar rift. The Warriors of Light, Discord, and Trixie filed to the edge of the island, looking down just in time to see the combatants engulfed in a burst of black light… And both vanish from existence.
“…The HECK?” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Ah dunno…” Applejack said, looking closely. “…I do believe my sword is still down there though. Right there. See it?”
Twilight teleported it back up and handed it to Applejack. “…They seem to sacrifice themselves a lot…” She said. “…I wonder if they’ll be back.”
“They will.” Fluttershy said. “I can feel it.”
Twilight smiled. “Then no mourning - let’s just wait for them to show up again. Maybe it won’t be in the heat of battle this time.”
“I, for some reason, really doubt that.” Rarity observed.
“Yeah…” Twilight said.
At that moment the City of Man appeared above them.
<There you are!> The Crystal now known as Tochi said. <We were unable to scan for your presence for some reason.>
“We won!” Twilight said. “It was… pretty intense.”
<We are close to the true center. We must advance and… Who is that?>
“This is Trixie.” Twilight said, smiling. “A friend.”
Rainbow Dash facehooved. “Oh my really?”
“Really.”
Trixie blinked. “What the heck just happened?”
Discord shrugged. “I have no idea. And that’s unusual, let me say.”
The mares and spirit of chaos all had a good laugh.
—
The City of Man approached the center - a singular crystal platform floating amongst nothing. The other crystal islands could all be seen in the distance, seemingly eons away.
Everyone glanced at each other. “Ready the armies.” Limestone said. “This one guy is going to have tricks up his sleeve, and we need to beat him down.”
The City of Man began to ready itself before the final assault began. It would be multiple armies against one. Single. Man.
Twilight bit her lip. “…I wonder. …I think the Void is more than any of us know - even Starswirl.”
“How so?” Rarity asked.
“Midnight was from somewhere else. Yet she was me. And she was chosen by the Void somehow… A thing we thought impersonal. A thing that should be impersonal. I think it’s more than we ever knew…”
Fluttershy nodded. “It does appear to be that way…”
“This changes nothing.” Rainbow Dash said. “We still have to win.”
“That we do.” Applejack said. “Let’s answer these questions afterwards.”
<We are ready> Tochi said. <The assault begins… NOW.>
The Warriors of Light entered the Vlerryn and blasted off - leading the charge. The time had come…