//------------------------------// // The Compass Rose // Story: Final Reign // by Lise //------------------------------// No noise came from Canterlot. The city of a thousand lights, the heart of Equestria, was now dark and lifeless as a snuffed candle. The buildings remained intact, covered with huge paintings of the Tyrant, but the windows were empty and the street lamps unlit. At the edge of the city, Starlight looked around. The train station, once bustling with ponies from all over the land, now lay abandoned. The tracks, though they had known no trains for years, glistened in the moonlight as if they had been laid down yesterday. Moving closer, Starlight slid a hoof along them. No dust, no decay, no wear, like everything else in the world lately. Ponyville, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, the Crystal Capital—all had become ghost towns preserved for eternity. So it has come to this. Starlight turned around. She could feel the extent of the Tyrant's power, just as she could feel the vast emptiness that surrounded her. Trixie hadn't exaggerated when she had spoken of the city; if anything, she had left too many details out. "Time to end this," Starlight whispered. Her horn flashed blue, changing her form into that of Twilight Sparkle. If somepony is to take the Tyrant down, it must be you, Twilight. Hoofsteps echoed as Starlight walked towards the palace. Every few streets she would pause, expecting a squad of mages or a patrol of soldiers, only to be greeted by silence. The thousands of troops she remembered seeing the last time she had ventured in the city were gone, probably sent to quash the meager pockets of resistance Starlight had created on the edges of Equestria. Looking back, it seemed like a foolish endeavor. The Tyrant had gathered all magic for himself. For the past few weeks he had even hadn't bothered raising the sun, plunging the land into darkness. In a matter of weeks, all remaining food supplies would run out. Then every living thing would be faced with one choice: submit or perish. Massive doors loomed over Starlight as she approached the entrance. No longer the ceremonial doors she remembered, they were reinforced with several layer of steel, giving no illusion as to how welcome visitors were. Starlight lit up her horn. Before she could form a spell to smash the double door in, however, it swung open. "No need to waste magic," the Tyrant's voice echoed from inside. "There are other things you need to preserve it for." Starlight felt a shiver through her body. Taking a final look at Canterlot, she stepped inside. The corridor was long and dark. If there were any colors left, she couldn't see them among the shades of grey. In the distance, the only source of light shone cold and white. "If I'd known you would arrive so soon, I'd have brushed up the place." No, you wouldn't have. Starlight continued forward. As she entered the throne room a cold chill hit her in the chest. The place was unlike what she expected—rather than embracing the austere, dead aesthetic he was known for, the Tyrant had built up the seat of his power beyond even the grandiosity of Celestia’s day. The floor and walls were freshly-laid white marble, the ceiling was now supported by magnificent columns taken from the Crystal Palace, everything was trimmed with gold, and all glowed with the radiance of the Tyrant's light spells. No guards? She narrowed her eyes, casting a quick reveal spell. Her horn flashed for an instant, filling the hall with blue sparkles. No one appeared. "Nice to know that Trixie kept her word," Blueblood said from his throne. On his right side, the greying figure of Fancy Pants stood in a black and gold uniform, taking a sip from a silver-encrusted crystal glass. On the Tyrant’s other side, looking at Starlight with a vicious smile, was the second most hated and distrusted creature in Equestria—Queen Chrysalis herself. "It must have hurt for her to betray you like that." "She didn't betray me." Starlight approached, keeping an eye on the changeling queen. "I chose to come here on my own." "Yes, that's what you would say," Chrysalis laughed. "I bet you tell yourself that each time you think of her betrayal." "Chrysalis, behave please." The Tyrant raised a hoof. "This is no way to treat the savior of Equestria." The changeling snorted. Her fangs bared, glistening for a few moments before disappearing behind a vicious smile. Starlight tensed. "Where are your guards?" Starlight asked, glancing over her shoulder. "As with the rest of Equestria, their services are no longer necessary." Blueblood stirred. "The moon suits them better." "You banished everypony to the moon?" The thought sent shivers down Starlight's spine. "All of them?!" "Just the major cities for now." The Tyrant straightened up. "Canterlot, Manehattan, a few others for sentimental reasons. Cloudsdale is in an hour, if I remember." "Jolly good." Fancy Pants hiccuped. "Marvelous city that. Did I tell you they make the best wine there? Opened a crate just yesterday. Splendid stuff. No idea how they distill it. I'll look into that. Ah, but how my Fleur loved wine. I remember she would insist on my getting the best of Cloudsdale when we had guests." He took another sip of his wine. "Good times." "Thank you, Fancy." Blueblood stared down at Starlight. "I couldn't have said it better myself." "You know you can't win, right?" Starlight's pulse hastened. "I know you need me for something and I'll kill myself before I give it to you." "She's lying," the crown on Blueblood's head said. "Sorry, sugarcube." "Applejack?" Starlight blinked. "I thought you were—" "She's alive in a manner of speaking." Blueblood tapped the side of his crown with a hoof. "And even if she wasn't, I still know you wouldn't harm yourself. If you wanted to, you wouldn't have come all this way to see me." Beside him, Chrysalis hissed. "You're curious, very much like the pony whose shape you wear. You're clever enough to see that I have a plan, and as much as you've convinced yourself that it's evil or impossible, you still want to hear it." Mind games. Throughout the decades the Tyrant had become increasingly good at that. Even with her shielding spells, Starlight was sure he knew everything there was about her. And he was right—she did want to know what his plan was, if only to laugh in his face. "I was like you once," Blueblood went on. "Determined and misguided. Dreadful combination. You know the difference between us? I was lucky to see through things early on." "Just get on with it," Chrysalis snarled. "She's here, why waste time?" "Nice to know you haven't changed." Starlight took a step forward. "The plan," Blueblood said, raising his voice, "is simple. I want you to cast a spell for me, the spell you perfected decades ago." "That's it?" Starlight flicked her ears. "You’ve been hunting me for years throughout Equestria, you cursed my best friend just to send me a message, and all you wanted was a spell? You're insane!" "It takes a bit of insanity to go through what I've planned. And it isn't any spell. It's a spell that cuts to the quick of magic itself, something that is capable of unleashing the greatest power there is." No! Starlight froze. Even you can't be this insane! "I've managed to gathered all the magic in the world." Blueblood stood up. His wings spun open, shining with cold incandescent beauty. "Dream magic, sun magic, star magic, chaos, love, even the final spell of your mentor. It's still not enough. For what I have planned, I'll need more." Starlight shivered. "Yes, I'll need the power of every cutie mark in Equestria, and you're going to give it to me." "That's why you left me alive?" Starlight would have laughed if the irony wasn't so painful. She had spent decades hidden, doing everything possible to confront him…which was the one thing she shouldn't have done. All this time, she had believed Blueblood hadn't killed her because he couldn't. The truth was he never wanted to. The only thing he wanted was to capture her unharmed, and she had given herself to him on a silver platter. Now she couldn't even kill herself to prevent it; any attempt and she'd end up like Trixie. “If I could have duplicated your talent, I would have.” His cold gaze fell on her. “Sadly, changeling magic proved a poor replacement.” The Tyran looked over at Chrysalis. With a low hiss the changeling queen glared back, then flashed into the shape of Starlight as it had been decades before. Was I so young? Starlight thought. Her doppelgänger laughed then teleported in front of her. The action caught Starlight off guard, making her lose focus of her own shapeshifting spell. The alicorn wings fell off her back, consumed by green flames that went on to consume their rest of her false image. “Just a cheap mask,” the fake Starlight laughed. “No match for real changeling magic.” “And yet you fail to match her spell,” Blueblood noted. “Nothing a few weeks in a cocoon wouldn't fix.” “No,” the Tyrant said sharply, making Chrysalis briskly move back. “She will do it for me.” "You wish!” Starlight said through her teeth. “You're drained Equestria of everything else, now you want to drain everypony’s very selves? Why not just kill them?!" "Because that was never my intention." Blueblood’s words were calm, devoid of any anger or hate, just as they lacked any empathy or feeling. "There is no way to stop the decay of Equestria, but with enough magic I can bring about the birth of a new one and transport my little ponies there. You will give me that when you remove everypony’s cutie marks." “Yes, you're right.” A blue glow surrounded Starlight’s horn. “I am the only pony with this power, and I intend to use it!” A beam of blue light shot forward. Chrysalis yelled, leaping forward, but it was already too late. Before the queen could touch the flow of aether, the spell would have done its work—Blueblood’s cutie mark would be no more, and along with it his alicorn powers. Checkmate. Starlight smiled as she pulled the compass rose off the Tyrant’s rump. She knew that if she took it on her days would be numbered. The plague that had taken the Princesses would claim her as well, but not before she put an end to his dreaded reign. “Can you see me, Twilight?” Starlight whispered while the cutie mark was burned onto her skin. “I finally got my own wings.” Ignoring the waves of pain from the searing of Blueblood’s cutie mark into her flesh, she took a step forward. The Tyrant stood before her, motionless as a statue. His wings were still attached, but his flank was bare. “And now to—” Starlight stopped. She could feel the essence of the cutie mark merging with her consciousness, yet she could feel no wings. “Remarkable.” The Tyrant looked at the empty whiteness of his side. “You’ll do splendidly.” “Why?” Starlight shouted. Her mind felt as if it were on fire, full of concepts she couldn't understand. “I have your cutie mark! Why do you still have your powers?” She slammed her head against the floor in an attempt to stop the pain. “My alicorn powers never came from my cutie mark.” Blueblood moved closer to the twisting unicorn. “They were a gift from my aunts. Do you know what my mark stands for?” Starlight’s screams filled the hall. Her mark and Blueblood’s clashed, striving for dominance over her, neither willing to conform to the principles of the other. “The compass rose,” Blueblood said, calm and smooth as marble. “It was my ability to chart a way to the destination no matter the challenges, no matter the cost. And just to show you how serious I am..." He turned towards Chrysalis. The changeling queen arched a brow in confusion. She raised her forehoof, perhaps to speak or to shield herself. White flames engulfed her entire body. "Why?" the queen screamed, her cries mixing with Starlight’s as she flailed in vain to put out the sorcerous fire. "You have no place in my new Equestria," the Tyrant replied as his spell siphoned her magic and burned her husk to a crisp. Once it was over the screaming ended, replaced by Starlight’s quiet sobbing. "Fancy?" Blueblood turned to his only remaining companion. "Please fetch Philomena for me. And something to eat. I'm sure our savior could use a bite before we go." "Good thinking, old boy!" Fancy Pants nodded, levitating his glass on the floor. "We have some premium cherries in the cellar. My wife loved cherries, couldn't get enough of them." He passed by Starlight, nodding, and trotted out of the hall. Blueblood looked at the spot where Chrysalis had been, then sat on his throne. "Now that that's over, what is your answer?" the Tyrant asked. "Will you help me?" Help you... Starlight thought. Her head was still heavy from the experience as she stood up and looked around. The hall was the same as it had been moments ago, yet she could see things so clearly now. The plague, the decay destroying Equestria, the death of her friends—all pieces in a giant labyrinth she could never have conceived of, but now she could also see a path forward. "Yes," she whispered, eyes blankly staring into the distance. "I will save Equestria."