Sunset opened the door of the library , walking on shaky hooves until she was at the staircase.
Closing her eyes she concentrated her energy into her horn, willing herself to the top of the stairs.
She disappeared with a pop, but when she opened her eyes she saw she had only gone a few feet forward. She wobbled, the cost of the spell taking its toll on her weary body. She began to fall forward, ready to pass out. When she was halfway there she regained her senses, putting her hooves out to keep herself up.
She was panting hard now. “No!” She couldn’t afford to fail here. If she couldn’t use magic she would have to rely on her own hooves. She didn’t like the prospect of climbing stairs in her condition, but there wasn’t any time to waste.
‘One step at a time,’ she thought to herself, lifting a hoof onto the first step. ‘One hoof, one hoof, one hoof, and then another hoof.’ She made it a process, slowly lifting each hoof, trying to focus entirely on the task of climbing, throwing away useless thoughts and the protests of her body.
It worked. She managed to get halfway there before she almost collapsed again, her face drenched with sweat. She was having trouble getting oxygen into her body. She was lightheaded. ‘No. I can’t stop here. I… I… can’t… sto-”
Her eyes rolled up into her head, and she fell to the ground, still but for her breathing.
***
Cadance was panting, her face weary with her increasing exhaustion. “He… he’s too powerful. I… I can’t hold him.”
As he reached the front of her shield Cadance turned her face, saying tearfully, “Twilight!”
“Cadance!” Twilight replied, hopping up, but it was too late.
There was a sound like breaking glass as her spell shattered and she went flying into the air, crashing hard into the ground some ten feet away.
He knocked everyone else out of the way, heading straight for Twilight.
There was quiet for a few moments in time. Everyone turned to her.
Twilight blinked, wondering what had just occurred. She looked at her hooves. “I don’t understand. What happ-AAHH!”
Twilight let out a yell as her horn began to glow a bright red, lighting shooting out of her body as she was lifted off the ground in a big black sphere of magic.
She continued to scream as the sphere shrunk until it fit around her body, covering her in shadows. “At last!” came the voice of Stardust. There was no mixture of voices like before. “I finally have a body again! A true body, with all the powers of an alicorn!” He let out a booming laugh as everyone else looked on in horror.
***
“AH!” Sunset jerked awake, sweat coming down her face. She shook her head hard. “No! That won’t happen. I refuse! I will save Twilight, no matter what it takes.”
Her nightmare had awakened her adrenaline, and she felt some strength return to her. She finished climbing the stairs, heading to the blanket hammock where she had slept the night before. Sunset grabbed a book from the shelf, throwing it upward.
She hit it on the first try. It inverted, and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw the Element of Magic pop out of it. It had seemed the simplest place to leave it. She hadn’t been expecting Twilight to come back, after all.
She made the effort to catch the book as well as the Element. Twilight loved her books dearly, and she didn’t want to harm anything else Twilight loved.
“Got it,” she said with a weary laugh. “Safe and sound. Now to get you to Twilight.” Too tired for her magic to last levitating it and wanting her hooves free to walk she went to put the Element on her head. She stopped, a freezing storm passing through her. She envisioned herself as a demon. After all she had done that day she had no doubt the same thing would happen if she put it on again. If that happened then they really would all be doomed.
Straining, she climbed the stairs to the loft where Twilight slept. After a quick search she found Twilight’s saddle bag, and placed the Element inside. She felt a little more nervous about going down the stairs than up in her condition. If she fell going up then she’d just be stuck on the step. If she was going down she’d fall all the way to the floor. It wasn’t an exciting prospect.
She turned around, about to grab Spike’s basket, but guilt made her stop. She didn’t want to risk breaking one of the things Spike had left behind. Twilight had already suffered enough. She went to Twilight’s bed, grabbing a pillow and placing it over her head. She grabbed a blanket, tying the pillow to her head. Straining again she pushed the much heavier mattress off of Twilight’s bed. If she had been in peak condition it would have been nothing, but in the state she was in it felt like pushing a gigantic boulder. It would only move a little at a time, and her hooves ached, but she pressed on until it tipped over.
Sweat poured down her face as she pushed the mattress toward the stairs. It took every ounce of her determination to keep going, but she persisted. As it reached the edge of the stairs she quickly hopped on, letting the momentum propel it downward. She wasn’t able to get a good hold on the mattress as she went down, and when it hit the bottom she was launched off it, landing on her head and rolling some more before coming to a stop.
The pillow had absorbed most of the impact, but it had still hurt a little. She didn’t have time to dwell on it. She had one more staircase to go. She had no idea how much time she had before Stardust would overtake Cadance, but she knew time was against her.
There was no one else. She was the only one that could do what needed to be done now.
She huffed and puffed and inwardly cursed everything as she pulled the mattress toward the second set of stairs. This one was longer, and she didn’t relish going down like this. She grabbed her own pillow and blanket, tying them around her stomach for a little extra cushioning.
She closed her eyes as she pushed off the stairs, her heart racing as she zoomed down them, coming to a hard stop at the end, once more being launched a few feet into the air before landing face down.
She whimpered in pain. Her snout was now throbbing in addition to all her other aches and pains. She was thankful that she had added that extra pillow or her stomach would be sore as well. Tears were forced out of her as she held onto her nose and turned on her side. She could feel a little blood but she didn’t think anything was broken.
She gave herself a minute to recover, then forced herself to rise up again. She couldn’t stay there forever. Twilight’s life was hanging in the balance.
As she stood up fully she had to close her eyes as a wave of dizziness passed over her. It would be so easy to just collapse where she stood and let everything fade away, but her desire to take the easy route was exactly what had gotten her into this trouble in the first place.
As Stardust had said she had been trying to win over Celestia with a good deed instead of just opening her heart and apologizing for what she had done before. She had let fear overcome her good senses. He had laid every secret thing in her heart bare before her, and made her realize how far she still had to go as a person.
How could she have been won over so easily? He had been manipulating her towards his will from the beginning. He had never been her friend. Even if she was being controlled to lead her down a specific route she had been the one to willingly walk that road. A life was lost because of her, and she had to take responsibility for that.
There was no time for proper grieving. All she could do now was give Twilight what she needed to prevail. After that she’d have to face punishment. She might be locked up in Tartarus, or banished to the moon like Luna. She’d accept any punishment, but only after she saved Twilight and Celestia and Rainbow and all the rest. She didn’t expect to receive any praise, as the threat wouldn’t have been there if not for her, so it only made sense for her to be the one to clean it up.
Whatever awaited her she wanted to spare Twilight any more suffering.
She wanted to bash herself over and over, but every second that passed was one that Cadance might lose. ‘No,’ Sunset thought grimly. ‘There is no might about it. She is definitely going to lose. It’s only a matter of how long it will take.’
She had heard all his words, and seen Twilight taken in as well. Stardust, whatever his faults, was skilled at finding the darkness in someone’s heart and exploiting it, making it grow bigger and heavier. No matter how skilled they were every pony had a few things in their past that could cause a seed of darkness to be planted, only waiting for the right impetus to cause it to blossom. Cadance was no different. All he needed to do was find that one weakness and Cadance was done for, along with Twilight.
Steadying herself she set her face in a determined glare. She trotted to the door, ignoring the throbbing in her legs telling her to stop and rest. With every step she moved two of her legs, then the other two. She chanted a mantra in her mind, focusing on it to the exclusion of all else. ‘Two hooves, four hooves, two hooves, four hooves, two hooves, four hooves.’ Over and over she thought it to keep her mind off her injuries. She could collapse later.
“Hang in there, Twilight! I’m coming!”
***
Cadance stood firm, her protective magic keeping Twilight and the rest safe behind her.
Stardust was a little annoyed. He couldn’t make any significant progress against her shield. Had he underestimated her?
Cadance noticed his frustration. “Something wrong?” she asked with a hint of smugness. She was content she had the strength to protect her sister-in-law from a creep like him. With everything he had been responsible for she felt he deserved to be humbled a bit before she defeated him.
“Hmm?” Stardust replied.
“Earlier you dismissed me when you were chatting with Celestia. I believe you called me an inferior alicorn. Yet right now I’m the only one that can shield the others from you. Unless you’re holding back something I have to say I’m not impressed.”
“Grrrr!” His shadowy eyes narrowed. “How dare you?”
“Give it all you’ve got, hmm? Or maybe you already are. In which case I have to say you’re a sorry excuse for an enemy. It seems to me that when forced out into the open you’re incapable of anything significant.”
The shadowy blackness that surrounded him turned a reddish color as his rage peaked.
Cadance grinned, shaking her head as he increased his assault. Near effortlessly she matched his power.”I suppose that is all you can manage. I guess I’d better just beat you then.”
Stardust’s essence turned back to black, and he started chuckling. “Defeat me? I wonder… if you can.”
“If this is all you can put out then this match is already over.”
Celestia didn’t want to distract Cadance, as Stardust was surely searching for a moment of weakness or inattention, but she wished Cadance would stop taunting him. There was no telling what he might do if enraged.
Stardust smirked. “You know, it was only for a short time but I was bonded to Twilight a little while ago. As her ‘partner’ I had access to all her memories. Quite impressive stuff. Things haven’t changed much from before, have they? You really do basically only see Twilight when the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.”
Cadance didn’t respond to him.
“I see how you’re so strong. You could create a city-wide shield to keep King Sombra out of the Crystal Empire, so by shortening the range of the spell to just the area around you then you don’t expend nearly as much energy, and can make it stronger to boot.
“You know, this wasn’t the first time the two of you showed off impressive shield spell work. As Shining Armor said he was able to keep his shield active even while the Changeling Queen fed off his energy and was brainwashing him.”
“What’s your point?”
“Oh, nothing. Just making an observation.
“How was that, by the way? Taken by surprise and locked in the Canterlot Caves?”
“Hmph. Are you expecting a cheap taunt like that to work?”
Ignoring her he continued on, “And all the while your husband had no idea you were being impersonated. How must that feel, to know that no one could tell it wasn’t the real you, even though your personality had changed?”
She knew what he was trying to do, trying to distract her. She just had to ignore him.
“Even your future husband couldn’t tell? How shameful.”
“He was being brainwashed. I can’t fault him for not being in control of his faculties.”
“True, true. He was being brainwashed, wasn’t he? She’d make him blank out for a while to feed on him, feed on his love that should have gone to you.”
Stardust felt the tiniest shift in her emotions, her spell weakening for a moment. He had found her weakness. Now he would exploit it for all it was worth. “Oh, my!” he said in a scandalous voice. “Without proper consciousness who knows what he and Chrysalis got up to?”
He didn’t just feel it this time. He could see her expression change and her shield weaken a bit before she caught herself and refocused.
“You and Shining have a daughter now, but maybe... maybe Chrysalis got to him first, if you know what I mean? Who knows what they did in the bed before you were rescued. It was probably crazy!”
A tear came down her cheek. It was one of the things she had wondered about sometimes after their marriage, but didn’t want to bring up. The only one who knew for sure was Chrysalis.
He had put a nick in her armor. That was all he needed, to plant a seed of doubt in her mind. She would not be able to put her full mind to protecting Twilight if somewhere inside she was doubting herself or her husband.
“Hey!” Shining shouted, taking a few steps forward. “Cut that out! You said this was going to be a fair contest, so stop trying to cheat.”
Stardust looked over at Shining. “I did say that, but I think you need to blame Cadance for this. After all, she began taunting me first. I thought it was only fair I get to respond in kind.”
He didn’t need to keep pushing the point anyway. Those feelings he had awoken would only continue to drain her strength. She’d be distracted by them, then feel guilty for thinking about something so personal and selfish while Twilight was in danger, and try to focus again, that guilt draining her and causing her to think about her doubts once more. The cycle would repeat over and over until he eventually won.
“Cadance!” Shining continued. “My memories back then are a little fuzzy because of her influence, but I swear there was nothing more than a kiss on the cheek that went on between us.”
Cadance couldn’t resist the relief that flowed through her at those words. Given that Chrysalis didn’t actually care about Shining and only wanted him as a trophy it made sense. Still, even if the two of them had gone all the way was that even the important thing here? Her personal issues could wait until she was alone with him. She was the only thing standing between Twilight and possession. How could she even be thinking of such a thing right now?
Stardust gently chuckled to himself. He could see the inner struggle happening in Cadance’s mind, going on just as he said. Her spell was gradually weakening. Soon she would begin to panic, further breaking her concentration. The moment he had gotten into her head was the moment she had lost. At this point it was all a matter of time.
As if in defiance to that the rest of them began to throw in their encouragement to her. They saw her struggling, wanting to share in her burden and lighten her load. He could have complained, but there was no need to. So long as there was a trace of doubt in her heart that was all that was necessary to even the playing field. Had Cadance not been cocky and given it all she had got she might have defeated him, but she blew that the moment she decided to talk trash instead of simply going for the kill.
“Come on, Cadance!”
“You can win!”
“We believe in you!”
Cadance closed her eyes. ‘Twilight needs me. I can’t lose focus of that.’ She glanced behind her to look at her sister-in-law. The two of them met eyes, and Cadance felt an outpouring of affection for Twilight. She wasn’t going to allow Twilight to become corrupted again. Once was enough.
Stardust felt her strength increase, pushing him back. ‘Hmm. She’s regained her heart… but for how long?’
‘That’s right. Twilight is precious to me. She has been since she was a little filly.’ Memories flowed through her mind, of pushing Twilight on a swing, or having a tea party or styling each other’s manes. So many happy memories. And it was through that that she was able to meet Shining. They had begun dating, and so many joyful times had come from it. When Shining had proposed to her it had been the happiest moment of her life.
Her journey up to the peak of her best memories suddenly led her to crash down the other side as a new thought came to mind, one not grounded in reality but her own fears: Shining, with a blank expression on his face, being pushed onto a bed as Chrysalis, disguised as her, did unspeakable things to him, stealing intimate times that were reserved for her alone.
Her heart burned, and the fire of passion slowly went out. She couldn’t be thinking about this. It was not the time for it. Twilight! Twilight was what she had to focus on.
‘I can feel her weakening,’ thought Stardust. ‘Her attention is divided. As I expected I just have to wait this out. When her strength weakens enough I’ll brush right past her defenses and take Twilight for my own.’
“Twilight!” came a voice in the distance.
“Hmm?” Stardust turned to the side to look, along with Cadance and most of the rest of them. He sighed in exasperation. Sunset had returned.
Sunset’s legs felt like lead, an overwhelming exhaustion making her want to sleep. Sweat was pouring down her face as she panted. She was here, so close. It had taken every last scrap of willpower she had left, but things would end now.
Stardust didn’t know what she had returned for, but it mattered little to him. She had no place in this contest. She had already served her purpose. He supposed he could take over her body again to boost his power, but it was hardly necessary. With the jewel cracked he also was unsure if he would be able to leave Sunset’s body any time he wanted.
“What a pain. You’re ruining my fun.” He shot a beam in her direction. A red shield appeared around Sunset, deflecting the blow.
“Thank you, Shining,” said Twilight gratefully.
“No problem, Twily,” he said warmly.
“Hmph!” Stardust was irritated again. “Who asked for you to interfere?” His frown turned to a smirk as he lifted his hoof and his horn flashed.
“Whoa!” Shining called out as the ground beneath him rose up until he hit the top of the shield. He let out a gasp of pain, but the pressure stopped there.
“Shining!” called out Twilight, straining to rise. “Are you alright?”
Stardust chuckled. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. He’s just trapped. It’s such a shame that your shield isn’t covering the ground beneath you. Very shoddy construction. I shouldn’t have been able to do that.”
Cadance growled. “You monster!”
“Do you hate me, Cadance?” he asked smugly. “I bet you do. Your love magic isn’t going to mix well with the anger and hatred blossoming in your heart.” He began to push harder against her shield. “Can you even still resist me?”
A touch of fear entered into her.
Celestia blasted through some of the earth to try and let gravity free Shining, but it still held him up despite that.
“If you want to free your husband all you have to do is drop your shield. Of course if you do that you’ll just open Twilight to me. What a dilemma.”
Shining wheezed a bit. “C-Cadance, don’t… worry about me. Protect… Twilight. I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t have much of a choice. Even if she expanded the shield to give Shining more room to breathe it wouldn’t change anything as Stardust would just press upward with his spell. It would be a waste of energy. And cancelling her spell entirely was also out of the question. She had to trust that Shining would endure. Stardust at least wasn’t trying to crush or suffocate him with his spell.
There were too many distractions weighing on her mind. She knew it was exactly what he was after, but even so she couldn’t shut her emotions off completely.
Stardust turned to Sunset. Now that Shining was out of the way he could get back to business. Sunset had halved the distance between them, about fifty feet away now. She had come to a stop now, sitting down as she lifted something out of her saddle bag with magic.
Sunset couldn’t walk anymore. She was close enough now. After all, she herself didn’t need to be there. All they needed was the Element. If she got it close enough Celestia could teleport it in. She looked at it for a moment as it floated in front of her. ‘Away you go, little Element. Back to your wielder where you belong.’
Stardust used a spell to enhance his vision, curious what useless thing Sunset was trying. “HUH?” His eyes widened as he recognized the object Sunset was carrying. A churning fear went through him. ‘That darn Sunset!’ He mentally cursed. He absolutely could not let Sunset get that to Twilight.
As the Element began floating Stardust raised his other front hoof, lifting the earth and hitting the Element into the air. He gathered up power and fired a large blast at it.
Cadance saw his distraction, gathering up her energy as well and pushing hard against his shield.
Stardust returned his attention to the battle, equalizing his power with hers. He had just used up a lot of power, but he knew his blast would strike true. All he needed to do was get into her head again and the last threat to his ascension would be gone.
Sunset had been surprised when the Element had gone flying. As she saw it start falling and the energy blast headed right toward it she felt a sense of dread. Their very last hope was about to be destroyed. She couldn’t let that happen. She wouldn't let it happen.
A tear came down her eye. A decisive moment was upon her. It wasn’t even a matter of choice here. There was just one thing to do. Gathering up her courage and determination she forced herself up, adrenaline wiping her fatigue away for a brief moment. She ran forward, jumping into the air and grabbing the Element. She spun around, hugging the Element close to her protectively. She could feel the energy blast right behind her, and she braced herself. So long as the Element was safe that was all that really mattered.
Sunset’s body went flying, propelled along by the energy, before falling out of it a few seconds later. She fell about ten feet, landing hard on her right back leg. The Element went flying out of her hooves a short distance away.
“Sunset!” Twilight yelled as she saw the mare engulfed in the attack. “Nooooo!” She clenched her eyes tight, tears coming down her face. Another loss to add to the pile. She slammed her hoof into the ground. “No! Why? Why? WHY?”
Stardust began laughing uproariously. “Well, that’s it for her. That’s one traitor taken care of, huh? You must be so relieved.”
Twilight was breathing heavily, her eyes narrowing. “You… how dare you… how dare you talk about her that way!”
“Are you angry, Twilight? Going to use dark magic again?”
“Mmm!” She didn’t want to use that, but she felt like she had been unconsciously reaching for it again.
“You know something? It doesn’t matter anymore whether I get your body.”
Twilight stared at him, angry and sad, but also confused.
“After all, even if I fail here you’ll never recover from all this. Two dead on your watch. What a horrible, miserable failure of a princess you are! You were unable to protect either one of them.”
Twilight gasped, feeling like she had been struck in the gut.
“Leave her alone!” Cadance cried out, pushing against him.
Stardust allowed himself to be pushed back a bit. “Is that really all you can muster now, Cadance? I guess it really is all over.” Near-effortlessly he pushed against her shield, making it grow smaller and smaller.
“No! Stay back!” she cried out, her voice cracking.
Again he allowed her to shove him away. Her spirit was nearly broken. Soon Twilight would be his. Once he took care of the other three alicorns that might stand in his way and hid the Elements of Harmony there would be absolutely nothing he needed to fear.
Sunset groaned. Somehow, she was still alive, but something was wrong. His spell hadn’t hurt. She couldn’t write it off as her body shutting down her pain receptors because it was too great. Her crash had hurt well enough, the leg she had fallen on throbbing hard.
Her whole body ached. She felt dizzy, and her limbs wouldn’t respond to her will. She had to do something, but she felt so powerless, her spirit too heavy.
How had things turned into such a disaster? All she had wanted was to protect her friends, but once again she failed at everything.
‘Is this really how it’s going to end?’ she thought miserably. ‘That evil thing conquering Equestria? I… I can’t let it end this way!’
She could see the Element of Magic about ten feet in front of her, but it might as well have been ten miles. The best she could manage was a small squirm. It hurt too much to move. She was too exhausted.
“It’s all my fault!” she sobbed, her voice cracking. “If I hadn’t been so stupid this never would have happened! And now, when it matters the most and they’re in danger, I can’t do anything!”
“Well, of course not!” said an angry voice.
Sunset couldn’t believe her eyes. “Rainbow Dash?” she said, blinking. The human one was standing in front of her, her arms crossed.