//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 
// Story: Bringing Balance 
// by Shumiry 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 14

“Eternally it doth reflect, endlessly we doth protect. Mirror mirror of them all, once possessed, all enemies fall.”	-unknown


The battle was joined! Mephistopheles' charge was interrupted by a pair of bladed wings, and a pink party pony with a problem. A sequence of swift bucks from Pinkie caused the creature to stumble, its kick having no effect when it connected with the little creature's ribs. The distraction caused it to take a slash across the eye from Rainbow's wing. Temporarily blinded while its body healed, the thing swiped its arms in front of it, trying to knock the pegasus to the ground.
It was fruitless. Dash danced around the blows like they were holding still, easily dodging the attacks, and landing stinging cuts on the demon's arms. The wounds weren't damaging, as the beast would easily heal, but the distraction was the dangerous part.
Swickt! Seeker sat astride the thing's back, and fired his Sealing Sight. The beast vanished, teleporting away from the attack, but not before a chunk of its head had been pulled into his eye. Carryion reared up behind him, claws wreathed in lightning, only to catch the full brunt of an Applejack buck to the groin. The force of the blow made the demon stumble back a step, causing it to move right into the line of fire of Rarity's violet beam.
The blast knocked the Lord from his feet, sending him sliding on his back across the ground, leaving a shallow furrow in his wake. Mephistopheles had appeared near Rarity when he'd teleported, and advanced on her, only to have the party cannon fire from a trap he triggered by stepping on a rune. The cannon ball slammed into the thing's chin, knocking it clear off the ground. The demon flew through the air, and landed on its back, coming to rest nearly thirty feet from the elegant unicorn.
The ponies cheered! The battle seemed to be going their way! But they knew nothing of war. Seeker appeared over the demon, the singularis spear in his hands. The tip now looked like a pine tree with all of its branches flattened to the trunk. He thrust it down through the demon's chest, eliciting a howl from the beast as it instinctively grabbed for the object. In the ground, the spikes moved, coming away from the shaft of the spear, and he jerked it up, causing the quills to sink into the monster's back and become lodged there.
He leapt into the air, the shaft of the spear growing, bending as he rose, and performed a front flip, swinging the shaft down over his head like a log splitter's axe. At the beginning of the swing, the shaft had become solid once more, and the demon was slung through the air, looping around Secret Seeker, and slamming back into the ground. It was clawing frantically at the spear, but to no avail, each hit only succeeding in causing the weapon to absorb another piece of it.
Seeker flipped again, the arc of the swing becoming a longer ellipse this time, the impact burying the demon in the ground. Carryion had risen to his feet, and began moving towards the combatants, but the ponies blocked his path. Dash struck first, confident in her abilities after facing Mephistopheles.
Her arrogance would nearly be her undoing. She feinted left, then rolled in a U-formation, coming up perpendicular to the creature's left wing, her intention being to zip past, hopefully severing the appendage. Carryion raised its left claws, and sent out a pulse of death. Rainbow felt her heart skip a beat, as her vision blurred for a second.
That was all it took. He swiped, knocking the pegasus to the ground. Her armor protected her from most of the damage, but the blow still dazed her, and she struggled to rise to her hooves. Before the others could react, the beast raised its foot, and stomped on the little pony.
Crack! Her armor broke, the plates at the fissure pinching her skin painfully as they were crushed together.
“DASHIE!!” Pinkie Pie cried, as she rushed towards the monster, tears forming in her eyes. The beast had raised its foot to strike again, but vanished just before the violet jet of Rarity's magic struck it. With cold dread in her heart, Applejack turned towards the white unicorn, knowing already that she'd never make it in time.
The beast's claws slammed Rarity to the ground as it leaned over her and sank its teeth into her neck.
She screamed. A blur of yellow and pink flashed past, and Carryion was thrown up against the door of the town hall. Fluttershy didn't stop. Blow after blow, each strike hitting a weak spot, crushing nerves, forcing scales apart. Her talent let her know many things intuitively about the creatures she encountered. Normally, she'd use this knowledge to release built up tension. Today, she inflicted suffering.
Seeker slammed Mephistopheles into the ground a final time, releasing the spell on the singularis spear, and dropping to land atop the demon. Bringing all his power to bear, he focused his strength on creating a faster, stronger version of the Infinigon, the understanding of the spell having been gifted to him by Twilight.
With a flash, the Lord was encased in a sphere. Then another sphere appeared within that one, razor thin, like the layers of an onion. Then another. Then another.
The creature's eyes widened as it realized what was happening, and it marshaled its strength to break free, but by the time it released its strike, the Infinisphere had created almost sixty layers, and the attack only shattered half. He struck again, and failed. His attacks grew more panicked, and he was soon struggling just to avoid being obliterated by the spell.
“Carryion!” The Lord bellowed, fear in its voice. The other Lord vanished, appearing beside Seeker, but the human had already turned to look in that direction. Pckow! Carryion coalesced already in the swirling vortex of Sealing Sight. With an angry roar, the Lord disappeared again, reappearing on the other side of the Infinisphere, preparing to fire a blast in concert with Mephistopheles.
The thrown singularis spear smashed into him, bursting apart on impact, the last thousand shards of stone winking out of existence as they sapped power from the Lord, removing the energy he had been gathering.
“CARRYION!” Mephistopheles' voice was suffused with panic as the other Lord struggled to bring his power to bear. The shards of the singularis stone had severed his leylines, and, as they reconnected, he was nearly helpless. The Lord of Death gave a shrug, and vanished once more, leaving Deceit to his fate. With an anguished roar, the demon was crushed by the layering spheres, destroying him, weaving the last vestiges of his power into Seeker's soul.
Seeker turned to the ponies, a triumphant grin on his face. Applejack cried out. Carryion stood over Twilight, a lavender image of the unicorn impaled on the end of his blade. Time stopped as her gaze turned to his. She whispered,
“Help me.”
It sounded as though the words were spoken directly into his ear. Power shot through his feet, propelling him forward. A pulse of energy began flowing through the weapon that pierced her. His hand formed a lightning blade, black as the void with only hints of green beneath. The pulse hit the mare's soul. He was so close...
Help me. He was too late. He knew it, yet still he pushed on, willing himself to go faster. He saw the taint spread. Saw it start splitting her soul apart. His blade reached out to sever the demon's arm. It connected, tearing through the thing's soul, as his left hand came up, smashing the monster with a bomb of whirling netherblades.
Carryion flew backwards, howling in pain as the weapons sliced his spirit. Still, even through the agony, he smiled.
Seeker stood over the empty vessel that had once been Twilight Sparkle. The others had been running towards the fight, in a vain attempt to save their friend. Now, they slowly gathered, tears flowing free.
“No no no no no no no...” Pinkie Pie whispered over and over. Rainbow wrapped a wing around the devastated mare, tears of her own leaking into the cotton candy mane. Fluttershy stood, stone-faced, her eyes empty. This was more than death. This was more than she could bear right now. Seeker fell to his knees, and heaved a sigh, as tears fell onto the purple coat.
“Not this. Not like this.” Applejack sobbed.
They heard laughter.
Slowly, all heads turned to regard the rising Lord, who had thrown his own back and was roaring with dark joy. The ponies stared in horror, which turned into rage, but before they could make a move, they felt waves of hate wash over them. The potency of the feeling was staggering. Turning back to Seeker, they saw why.
Black horns had sprouted from his head, and his dual-wings had merged into a single pair of black leathery ones. His skin looked harder, like it was covered in scales, and when his head rose, his yellow eyes burned with anger. Seeker moved, shattering the boundaries of space-time, a teleport with no delay.
Carryion deflected the strike, but another followed. Then another. The Lord was losing ground swiftly, while Seeker's face showed no strain. He landed a hit, swiping a chunk of energy from the demon. Seeker landed another, then another. The ponies looked on in terror, as they watched the metamorphosis taking place.
Which each hit, Seeker's flesh blackened. He grew scales, and his body shifted, changing into a mirror of the Lord he fought. Finally, he landed a swipe on Carryion's chest that knocked the monster to the ground. Raising his claws, he prepared to strike the finishing blow.
Please stop... Carryion was smiling up at him, egging him on. Again he reared his arm, ready to kill.
No Seeker. Do not do this. He reeled from the warmth in the voice, stumbling backwards as he raised a clawed hand to his face. His consciousness collapsed into himself.
Floating in the subspace of his mind, a shimmering image of Twilight stood before him. When he finished coalescing, she smiled, light twinkling in her eyes. He stood as his old self. Human.
“There must be another way...” she said, trailing off thoughtfully. Seeker walked up to her, and fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around her in a tender hug. She looked at him, startled. A blush started to spread as the hug continued.
“Uh, Seek, this is kind of a long hug-” She stopped as his shoulders shook with sobs.
“I thought you were gone....” he whispered, his hold tightening affectionately. Her jaw dropped as realization dawned on her. The anger, the pain, all the anguish she had felt through him... it had all been because he'd thought he'd lost her. The warmth in her chest burned, stronger than ever before.
“You didn't remember,” she said, struggling to hold back tears, “that I'd stored a piece of my memories within you?” He shook his head, burying his face in her mane. She could feel the cool wetness of his tears, having now soaked through her coat. Somehow, he knew Carryion was rising, and remembered that the fight was not over.
“How will you defeat him? If you win the battle, his consciousness will transfer, and you'll become Apocalypse.” He smiled at the lavender unicorn, and returned to the mortal realm.
With a snap, Seeker was back to his normal, dual-winged self. He moved again, standing beside Twilight's corpse and the others. Carryion appeared next to him, but, once again, the demon appeared in the vortex of Sealing Sight. He vanished, but reappeared in the same place.
Seeker wasn't fooled. He raised his hand, and cast the Infinigon, ensnaring the Lord. Turning, he knelt beside the body. Black lightning crackled to life around his right hand, and he reached into his chest, grabbing hold of something. As the ponies stared in awe, he withdrew a small, lavender sphere, and gently inserted it back into the unicorn.
With a jolt, she gasped, life returning to her. Before she recovered, he leaned down and planted a kiss at the base of her horn.
“You know I love you, right?” He choked out, tears welling in his eyes as he struggled for control. Twilight tried to speak, but the process of returning from the dead was jarring, and her soul was still reforging its connections to her body. He stood, as the Infinigon burst, and turned to face the demon. Again Twilight tried to cry out, to tell him that there must be another way. Moving once more, he stood before the monster as magical chains erupted from his chest, ensnaring Carryion.
“Colcorion Ospheldi.” Secret Seeker's face turned towards the sky as a giant artifact appeared above him. It looked like a mirror, the frame made of millions of carefully crafted eyes. Pckow! Instead of the vortex funneling into his eye, it formed funneling into the mirror.
Pckowpckowpckowpckow! Each of the eyes surrounding the mirror began firing, turning black as they were expended. A white shield formed, dropping down from the frame, and Seeker released the chains binding Carryion. The Lord screamed in anger,
“You fool! You'll be destroyed!”
“Yeah.” With a snarl, the demon turned and threw all its might against the barrier, to no avail. Seeker walked up to the ward, and looked out at the ponies, who had begun gathering on the other side. Twilight looked into his eyes, and whispered,
“I don't want to lose you.” His heart broke. Falling to his knees, Seeker wept bitter tears, unable to maintain any sort of facade in the face of annihilation.
“I know...” he scarcely more than whispered, his voice raw with anguish. “but if I win, you all lose. This is the only way to ensure the Lord of Desolation doesn't manifest.” Applejack had her hat held over her heart, while the others stood crying. Wisps of his being began drifting upwards as the spell gained power, stripping away his essence. Slowly, he placed his hand on the barrier, and Twilight raised her hoof, setting it on the other side.
“I... I think I love you too...” she managed, fighting to hold back tears of her own. Seeker smiled, despite the pain of the spell ripping him apart. As far as ways to die go, seeing those words on her lips was a pretty good one. With a final pckow! the mirror itself fired, turning black, and the demon and the man, and a good sixty feet of the earth, were pulled into oblivion.
The shield vanished with the mirror, and the last vestiges of the Lords' spell were broken. Across Equestria, the griffins returned to their senses, as the bodies of the risen dead crumbled to dust. Shocked and horrified, it took some time for everyone to calm down enough to begin helping each other.
Remarkably, very few had died. Many had stories of a heavenly voice guiding them to safety, or of blinding light throwing off their pursuers. Celestia returned to the land, her deassimilation spell having succeeded in allowing her to escape her would-be assassins. Luna, with Twilight's assistance, was able to provide a base form for the Princess to return to, enabling her to bring her essence back together.
Within a month, Luna went into labor, giving birth to a healthy alicorn colt. She and Celestia were both amazed by the young thing's vivacity, having feared the worst when Luna recounted the attack in the archives. It seemed, however, that whatever portion had been destroyed, had been replaced as the baby finished forming.
“He is beautiful, sister,” Celestia said when they were alone. Luna lay in her bed, holding the colt, a tender expression on her face.
“Has his name come to you?” Luna nodded softly, her eyes closing in remembrance.
“Singularis.” Celestia nodded, unsurprised. If it hadn't been for Seeker's intervention, the colt would never have made it into the world. A shudder ran through her, and it would have been a far different world even if he had...
“In honor of his father.” Celestia's heart skipped a beat. She turned, slowly, until her magenta eyes met her sister's aquamarine gaze. Luna's face was the picture of mischief, laughter sparkling in her eyes. The white alicorn blanched at the revelation.
“F-f-father?!” she sputtered.