The lower cavern echoed with the tortured scream of metal and souls. Death stared in shock at the filly beneath him who had raised one hoof to protect her neck.
The shock deepened as he met her burning eyes.
The colt shook his head. The charcoal filly had put up a respectable fight, never surrendering or trying to run. She should be proud. It was just a good thing she hadn’t had more skill or power; he might not have been able to simply leave her unconscious then, and as much as it pained him to admit it, Black Diamond was right: He would have to save all of Nightmare Moon’s friends as well.
His regeneration was starting to kick in; he could feel the bones in his broken wing shifting. It would take longer now; the unicorn had deliberately aggravated the injury. Not that he could blame her, it was a weakness she couldn’t afford to not exploit.
He entered the cavern intent on reporting the situation to Demon and trying to find a way to get Nightmare Moon out. He never even noticed his momentum fading as he gaped at what he found.
Magic had declared war on Tartarus.
That was the only description that fit what was before him. Twilight had seven spells going at once, conjuring a new attack as each of the old ones faded. Demon Blood was clearly on his back hoof, it was all he could do to keep up with the mare.
Said stallion brightened slightly as he noticed the colt. “Starless Night, get over here and help me!”
With a sigh, the colt launched himself, taking advantage of the few moments he now had before Twilight targeted him. He ran up and along a wall, curving behind Twilight’s current position as he did. He slid to a stop next to Demon – a flanking maneuver would leave them too prone to potentially shooting each other.
The colt focused on getting a stable shield up while Demon began returning fire, forcing Twilight to split her focus between attack and defense.
Death absently checked his scythe as he leaned it against his shoulder. Yep, right there, the filly’s blade had put a notch in his. Of course, hers had been marked in turn, about a third of the way up on her left forward blade.
His attention returned to the situation at hoof. “Kiddo… it’s time to go.”
“No.”
“Look, I get that it’s scary, but I can’t let you stay. Trust me, lingering won’t be good for you, especially with the amount of necromantic energy you absorbed. I think the split nature of your soul is the only thing keeping you in your body right now.”
“I can’t die yet.”
“We all have to go sometime Little Lady. Even I will die one day.”
“No, I get that, but…” Black Diamond turned her gaze up towards the sounds of battle raging on the floor above them. “It’s not over yet. I’m not finished.”
The cloaked filly was moving through the tunnel cautiously. She had dragged her former counterpart back after his transformation collapsed, but the obvious signs of combat she’d seen early on had made her decide to leave him to allow herself freedom of movement.
She had started hearing the sounds of battle a little ways back, and had slowed her progress then, being sure she retained the element of surprise in case she needed it. She was glad she had.
She fired off a quick blast before teleporting to her master’s side. From within the protections there, she continued to attack the mare that dared assault her master, freeing Demon up to balance his own magic between helping her attack and shoring up the colt’s defenses.
Twilight Sparkle found that she was being slowly but steadily overwhelmed.
Death sighed again. It wasn’t often, but occasionally he had to walk an individual through the stages of grief as they mourned themselves before he could claim them. He just wasn’t sure if the filly was in bargaining or denial right now. “Look, I know that it’s not fair and that you had a whole life ahead of you, but–”
“Oh no, I get that.”
What?
“What?”
“I’m a Shadow Ranger. Dying is an occupational hazard. I accept that. You can take me when this is done. But not until then. I’ll go with you just as soon as the fight is finished.”
Dark laughter echoed around them. “Twilight darling, you still haven’t learned, have you?” There was a green flash and suddenly the walls were gold plated and covered with gems. “You need to put some sparkle in situations like this!”
Rarity entered, eyes a brilliant emerald color and an unfoal gripped in her green telekinesis. “I would have been here sooner darling, but it just takes so much inspiration to get anything out of these dear little things, and then I spent hours searching these caves looking for my darling little Sweetie Bell. In any case, I’m here now; shall we annihilate our enemies together?”
Twilight gave an absolutely feral smile, the faintest hint of green and purple fire coming from the corners of her eyes. “Let’s.”
“I understand that you don’t want to go, but it is your time.”
“I’m not asking for much, not even a chance to say goodbye. But I have to finish things. I can’t just abandon them like this. The moment it’s over, you can take me, but I have to end this first.”
“…There will be a price.”
“So be it.”
“Black Diamond, please reconsider. I know you can sense the powers being unleashed. The Trio is only a few moments away, with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie not long behind them. Applejack won’t be much longer. They will win this.”
“And will anypony else die?”
“…I …It doesn’t work that way. I don’t know when an individual’s time is until it is come.”
“Then I can’t go. I have to get up there. Are you going to stand in my way?”
Death hung his head. “His in every way... I beg you to reconsider, but no; I will not stop you.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I will come to collect when the battle is done.”
“I’ll be waiting.” The filly slipped into shadows for what she was sure would be the last time.
Rarity was using he telekinesis to launch gems at her enemies from every direction. This light but constant and omnidirectional physical attack combined with Twilight’s high powered energy based attacks meant that they were currently stalemated.
It was a situation that could not last long, either the mares’ powers would burn out or reinforcements would arrive to overwhelm the colt and his allies as their endurance flagged.
And then it happened. Shadows began rising from a shattered portion of floor, coalescing into Black Diamond, who showed signs of having been in multiple fights. It was her eyes that did it though. Every time he’d seem them before there was fire, but now…
Now there was a different blaze altogether, a burning calm that honestly terrified him more than the roiling fury coming from Magic and Generosity. He felt Demon seize as he noticed the filly, noticing the same thing the colt did if the almost imperceptible shaking was anything to go by.
Diamond reared up with a whinny, forehooves waving before she brought them down with a crash that launched a tendril, composed of the signature combination of Dream and Shadow magic unique to Luna, Midnight, and the Rangers. The tendril was also a focused blast and it struck their shields with all the force thereof. Fighting on four planes of magic at this level…
It was too much, and as the colt recognized the voices echoing into the cavern, just barely discernable over the din of combat, he realized that Chaos, Alchemy, Shamanism, and Storm magic were likely to join the mix. Oh well, he would just have to rescue his sister and her friends another day.
He closed his eyes and let his defenses drop, turning all of his magic to reinforce his body.
His supposed allies turned to him in shock even as the blast overtook them all.
Death waited patiently for the smoke to clear. The deal was that she could finish it and he wasn’t going to take her prematurely because he’d gotten overconfident.
The nearly astral form of Demon Blood was the first one to come into focus, followed swiftly by the foals who had been fighting alongside him. He was also the first one to pick himself up, sweeping his gaze across the three ponies who had just hurt him, the three fillies who had just arrived, and Death himself standing otherwise unnoticed in the corner.
“Right, I can maintain no longer. We must retreat.”
The filly made a cursory sweep of her own and nodded. “I shall escape and await your instruction my master.”
The stallion faded out as the filly sank into a puddle of darkness that then raced away.
The alicorn colt picked himself up as well, before giving a pained and shaky smirk to his audience. “Yeah, not sticking around either.” With a flash, he was gone.
Death nodded, satisfied that he’d kept the deal. He started forward only to stop short as the three fillies pony-piled his target. “Thanks girls, but I–” She cut off suddenly, apparently picking up on the strangled noise that had slipped from his throat when they made contact.
She nodded to him, then turned to her friends with a sad smile. “I need to take care of something real quick, okay?”
She walked away from the confused trio towards him. “Alright, I’m keeping my end of the bargain. You can take me now.”
Instantly, the Crusaders were in front of her. “Hey! One foalnapping at a time!”
The other two looked at Scootaloo. “I mean… We won’t let you take her!”
Rarity was a bit less reactive, trying to place the stallion she felt she should know. Twilight on the other hoof had recognized him instantly. The flames wrapping her went out, her voice soft and almost quavering. “Girls… Come here girls… She has to go with him…”
Sweetie spun on her heels. “Come on Twilight, you guys beat threats all the time. Sure we’re a bit tired,” (More than they would ever admit, although they had started recovering more quickly once they’d gotten into the Everfree) “but we can take him can’t we?”
“No.” Pinkie’s statement was not intended to be a response to the preceding question, but that was how it played out as the pink pony paused mid-pronk while paling. “No, it can’t…” Her lip quivered as she looked at the stallion. “Who?”
“It’s okay Pinkie Pie.” Diamond reinserted herself in the conversation, her umbrakinesis reaching out to pick up the other three fillies and physically move them aside. “All of you, it’s okay. I accept this. I’m not running from it. He gave me more than he should’ve just letting me finish the fight. It’s time for Death to take me, and you need to let him.”
“Vambrace,” She turned to the recovering filly who had managed to hold her transformation through unconsciousness by way of trained instinct, “You’ll be the Captain when I’m gone. Take care of them, especially Midnight. Luna’s gonna need help keeping his head on straight.
“All of you thank you, I… I can’t… Ah buck it, I’m dying. You’ll know soon enough anyway.” She let the shadows part, revealing pink fur, purple and white mane and tail, and tiara cutie mark to the surprise of many. “I’m going to die as Black Diamond… I feel like I was better as her. But I just wanted to say, as Diamond Tiara too… Thank you all. For everything. Tell the others I said that too, will you?” The shadows wrapped her in their comforting cloak and she was Black Diamond again.
She walked the last few paces to Death with a smile on her face, sitting down at his hooves. “I Submit to Death. I am ready. You may take me now.” She wanted to meet his eyes, to face her end, but… She decided that in this one, final, private, nearly sacred moment, she could set the warrior aside and allow herself an instant of being a scared little filly. So she turned her face to her hooves and closed her eyes to wait for the reaper’s blade.
After an agonizingly long moment that she was sure was shorter than it felt, she heard him raise his scythe. She waited for another heartbeat before she heard the sound of his weapon drawing across skin. Odd, she would have expected to feel the blade cleave her soul from her body… And for her to not feel her body anymore after dying…
She forced herself not to be annoyed with the ponies who were obviously only trying to help. Apparently she would have to die a warrior after all. She opened her eyes, ready to turn to her inconsiderate protectors and deliver the words already flying to her lips only to have them die unspoken in her place.
Death was staring at her, his scythe stowed on his back. “It is no longer your time, I cannot take you now. The necromantic energy has been purged from your body and your time is passed. You do not belong to me Black Diamond. We will meet when your time comes again.”
The stallion made sure to fade from mortal sight completely before he let his composure break and ran. He had known there would be a price, even warned her. Had he known it would cost her so much he would have never made the deal. As he raced through the tunnels, one idea consumed his thoughts:
Midnight was not going to be happy with him.