//------------------------------//
// Ch25 The Darkness Within 
// Story: The Third Commander 
// by Priceless911 
//------------------------------//

Cirrus opened his eyes and found himself standing in an endless white abyss without his armor as he looked around in confusion, “What? Where am I? w-”
“Commander!”
Cirrus turned around to see Gem Stone trotting up also without her armor as she spoke, “Where are we- wait… your wounds are gone.”
Cirrus placed his hoof on his neck then his face as he confirmed that both the cut, and the burn weren’t there, “Yea… I guess so, looks like the bandage on your wing is gone too.”
Gem Stone looked at her once dislocated wing as she opened it up to confirm that there was no pain, “You’re right, and it’s healed too… that’s strange.” She proceeded to look around in confusion, “What is this place?”
Cirrus looked around as he replied, “I… have no idea.”

Gem Stone gave him an annoyed look as she asked, “Is this the result of that potion you drank?”
Cirrus nodded, “probably, yea.”
“And Zine gave you that potion didn’t he?”
“Yea… he did.”
“And… did he happen to mention what that potion did?”
Cirrus sighed, “To quote him, it is supposed to transport us to a battlefield unlike anything that we or Thundaga could possibly imagine.”
Gem Stone nodded her head, but wasn’t amused as she asked, “Okay vague, anything else?”
Cirrus shook his head, “not really no.”
Gem Stone sighed, “Great, so there’s no telling where we are then… is there?”
Continuing to look around, Cirrus replied, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

All of a sudden a strange sound was heard as the two looked around in confusion as Gem spoke, “um… Cirrus?... do you hear that?”
Cirrus nodded, “yea… it sounds like… crying.”
As the two looked around, they couldn’t identify where the sound was coming from as they looked into the endless empty abyss. As they continued looking around, Gem Stone spoke, “this is… a little creepy.”
Cirrus replied, “Is it one of Zine’s tricks?”

All of a sudden Gem looked behind Cirrus as she shook her head, “No… it’s a little too dynamic even for him… unless… you can tell me who that is.”
Curious, Cirrus turned around to see a young crying filly sitting on the ground with her back to them as he replied, “Wait… is that?”
Slowly Cirrus started to approach the young filly as he studied the way she looked. The filly was light grey with a short but extremely dark navy mane with a yellow and blue stripe. As he started to approach her, Cirrus spoke, “Princess Umbra?”
As soon as she heard his voice, the timid filly quickly turned towards him as she backed away in worry, “Wh-who are you?...”

Cirrus held out his hoof to calm her as he replied with an unthreatening tone, “it’s alright… I’m here to help. My name is Cirrus Cloud… I’m a friend of you father.”
The mare gave him a curious but cautious look, “you… you knew my daddy? But… he died a long time ago.”
Cirrus nodded his head, “he did… but he sent me a message through my dreams… he wanted me to find, and protect you, if you come with me I can lead you to sa-”
The filly shook her head, “I can’t… I mean… prove to me that I can trust you.”
Cirrus sighed as he shook his head, “in all honesty… I can’t. But, I know somepony who can.”

Cirrus turned to Gem as he spoke, “Captain Stone? Can you come here please, I have somepony I want you to meet.”
Although she heard the entire conversation, Gem Stone still approached cautiously as the filly was surprised, "Captain Stone… you mean Captain Gem Stone of the Nightmare Legion?”
Cirrus nodded, “The same.” He looked at Gem Stone, “Captain Stone, may I introduce Princess Umbra of Equestria. Daughter to Princess Luna, and Commander Bolt.”
Gem Stone gave the young princess a surprised look, but before she could say anything Princess Umbra spoke first, “You’re… Captain Stone of the Nightmare Legion… you knew my daddy… didn’t you?”

Gem Stone didn’t know what to say as she looked into the filly’s hopeful eyes. Trying to think, Gem Stone looked at Cirrus who was smiling at her with a peaceful expression, then decided to play along as she looked back and replied, “Yes, I knew him all too well. He… wanted me and Commander Halo here to come help you. He wanted us, to protect you.”
The filly smiled as she replied, “He… he did? From what?”
Gem Stone didn’t know how to answer as Cirrus butted in, “From the darkness. He wanted us to protect his little princess since… he isn’t here to do it himself.”
The princess looked at Cirrus in curiosity, “You’re… a commander too? Are… are you The Third Commander?”
Cirrus held out his hoof as he replied, “Yes… and if you will come with me, we can take you to safety... Your majesty.”

Although the little filly was unsure, she only hesitated slightly before reaching out and taking Cirrus’s hoof as she smiled as she spoke with an official tone, “then… I'll leave my safety in your hooves, commander.”
As Cirrus took her hoof, the two soldiers and their filly companion smiled for a brief moment until a dark and evil voice spoke, “Aww… how sweet… and yet… pathetic.”
Confused the three looked around as a dark shadow quickly swept between all their hooves before building up in an area about ten feet behind them as the shadow came together to make up a dark figure that resembled the form of a tall alicorn with a dark purple coat, a mane that was slightly darker then her coat, and eyes that were dark blue. As the alicorn took her form, she started to give an evil smile as Princess Umbra quickly hid behind Cirrus as Gem Stone spoke, “And who are you supposed to be?”

The evil mare smiled as she replied, “Captain Gem Stone, I’m appalled… you stand before me and yet you don’t recognize your former princess? I suppose it was a very long time ago… and perhaps… I was a little different when I appeared to you back then.”
Gem Stone stared in curiosity at the mare but didn’t say anything as the evil alicorn replied, “Well… then perhaps you may recognize this form better.”
Slowly the midnight purple coat of the evil mare turned to a jet black, as her mane slowly went from dark purple to a midnight blue as stars started appearing in her mane and tail leaving her eyes to stay the same blue color, but to change into nocturnal eyes that resembled a bat pony’s. As the mare finished her full transformation, Gem Stone stepped back in shock, “What?... it’s… you’re… Nightmare Moon?...”
The wicked Alicorn smiled, “yes… that was me way back when… but then again, times have changed, and so… appearances have followed. For example, Cirrus… you remember this one.”

Acting casual, the mare began pacing as her appearance started to change yet again. First the stars in her mane didn’t change but the midnight blue slowly turned to an extremely dark navy that was so dark, it seemed closer to black. Then two striped appeared in her mane, a yellow and a blue one that weren’t centered, but ran along the upper half of the dark mane. Next her jet black body slowly changed into a dark purple, as her eyes which were Midnight blue remained nocturnal but changed in color, one to a lighter blue, and the other to a faded green. After seeing her second transformation, Gem Stone continued staring in anger as she replied, “Thundaga…”

The evil princes laughed as she spoke, “yes… not the most flattering of my appearances but I can only work with the host’s limits. In this case…” she looked at Princess Umbra as the young filly hid even further behind Cirrus as the evil mare continued, “That little weakling behind you.”
Cirrus spoke in anger, “so it’s true… you were acting in her place. Princess Umbra didn’t have control over anything! Instead it was ALL you! The war, the murders, everything!”
The evil alicorn shook her head, “In a sense yes… however, it’s not all as it seems. You see, I didn’t start the war with the griffin kingdoms… that was all Umbra. And the forced peace… that too was the actions of her own doing. All I did, was give her the power to take control. She did the rest all on her own. Until recently… when she started losing her nerve.”

Gem Stone became enraged, “so it was the same thing with Princess Luna back then wasn’t it! You forced her to start a war that blotted out the sun didn’t you!?!”
The mare smiled as her appearance went back to the dark purple alicorn, “And what if I did… that too was a war started entirely on the desires of the princess… it’s not my fault that Luna and her daughter share such dark desires.”
Although she was unarmed, Gem Stone readied herself for a fight as she replied, “So Princess Luna truly isn’t Nightmare Moon at all is she?… it was you!”
The wicked mare smiled, “Yes… it was me… but then again Nightmare moon wasn’t even my true name either. In fact my true name is-”
“Tantibus…”

Everypony including the dark mare looked at Cirrus in confusion as the dark mare replied to his comment, “well, well, it would seem that I’m better known then I anticipated. You are the first pony in six centuries to refer to me as my true name. Bravo commander, I’m truly impressed.”
Cirrus explained, “Commander Bolt told me what you are. An evil entity that dwells within the bloodline of the royal alicorn. First you manipulated Princess Luna into bringing eternal night, then when Luna proved too strong for you to control, you decided to pass into her daughter like a common parasite.”
The evil mare smiled, “yes… but like a parasite, I’m ever searching for a new and stronger host. I was going to wait until Umbra and her beloved Prince Silver Armor were married and blessed with a suitable offspring, but alas, he was killed before his time, and now I can only wait… that is… until you two decided to interfere… and so foolishly… enter, Umbra’s mind.”

All of a sudden, Cirrus and Gem Stone understood what she had meant as the Tantibus continued, “For five hundred years I assumed I had control of the most powerful mare this kingdom has ever had… But do you know what I discovered thanks to Captain Stone’s little Everstone trick?...” She shifted her glance to the little filly as she replied in disgust, “I discovered that the power I held… was nothing more than a fraud. I’ve always known that Umbra was weak, but to find that the Lightning Orb, the very power that made her stand out was nothing more than a cheap trick. It disgust me to a point that I even considered having her take her own life in the near future. But then… to know that there was another who held the true power… well, it kept me optimistic. So much… that I no longer need the little weakling around. So… make yourself ready commander… because you will be my next host.”

That said the evil mare started trotting towards the group as Gem Stone stepped between her and Cirrus, “Over my dead body!”
The Tantibus smiled, “Careful the words you choose captain, I just might make them truth. Unless… you think you can do anything about it, feel free to try.”
Gem Stone glared at her foe, as she opened her wings and darted towards her foe as fast as she could, “I THOUGH YOU’D NEVER ASK!!!”

Seeing her incoming enemy, the Tantibus smiled as she held out her hoof, “Return your real wounds.”
All of a sudden, Gem’s wing which was recovering from being dislocated before, returned to its pain riddled condition as Gem cringed at the unexpected pain before crashing to the ground and rolling with her gathered momentum like a rag doll towards her foe. Timing it right, the Tantibus stopped and waited till Gem Stone was close enough before moving her front left hoof across her body and swinging it back as the back of her hoof bashed against Gem Stone’s face with enough force to toss the wounded pegasus a number of feet away as she hit the ground and rolled to a complete stop. 

Too weak to stand, Gem laid on the ground in a complete daze as the Tantibus smiled, “What’s wrong Captain? Did you forget you were wounded before you came here? Or was this setting not acceptable enough for you?” She looked around, “I wouldn’t blame you, this endless nothingness seems… unfitting for a soldier like you to die in… perhaps I should change that.”
Just then the wicked mare stomped her hoof on the ground as the never ending white abyss quickly transformed into a vast desert landscape as Cirrus looked around and immediately recognized it from another one of his dreams. Shortly after seeing the change in the environment, Cirrus started feeling something rolling down his shoulder as he placed his hoof on his neck to find that his previous wounds had returned and what was rolling down his shoulder was blood. As he looked at his own blood on his hoof, the Tantibus looked at Cirrus and smiled, “You understand it now don’t you… we aren’t in the real world anymore commander. Whatever means brought you here only delved you deeper into Thundaga’s inner being. In other words… you’re in my domain.”

After hearing this Cirrus glared at the Tantibus in anger as the little alicorn hiding behind him thought to herself before putting her hoof against his shoulder and whispered, “I’ll help too.”
Feeling her hoof, Cirrus then slowly felt the pain from his wounds vanish as the cut on his neck and the burn on his face vanished again as the Tantibus saw this from a distance and became angry. As he felt his pain vanish, Cirrus placed his hoof against his wounds and looked back at the little princess as he smiled, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Pleased she could help, the young princess smiled as she looked back at him, however before she could reply, her expression changed from pleased to scared as Cirrus quickly turned back to see that the Tantibus was now less than a foot in front of him. As the Tantibus stood over him glaring with an angry stare, she spoke with a displeased tone, “Step aside…”
without letting him reply, the Tantibus brought her right hoof across her body before bringing it back in a powerful swing as she bashed the back of her hoof against Cirrus’s face tossing the surprised pegasus almost fifteen feet into the air as he hit the ground a number of feet away.

Worried for her protector, Princess Umbra rushed to Cirrus’s side as the Tantibus smiled, “you can make the wounds disappear… but that won’t prevent me from making more.”
As Princess Umbra tried to help Cirrus up, she spoke, “Commander… are you okay?”
Cirrus nodded as he wiped the blood from his face, “yea… I’m okay… Princess Umbra… I need you to run to safety. Get as far away from here as possible.”
Princess Umbra gave him a concerned look, “but… what about you? You’re unarmed.”
Cirrus stood up as he stepped in front of the young filly, “it doesn’t matter… I came here to this place because it was the only way I could save you, and that’s what I intend to do, but I can’t if you remain in her line of sight. You need to run away now while you still can.”

The little princess was surprised, although she had faint memories of being Thundaga before this place, she couldn’t remember exactly who Cirrus was until this very moment. In fact as Cirrus picked himself up and started trotting towards the Tantibus, Princess Umbra started having numerous flashbacks. She could see Cirrus when she first met him in Ponyville. She could see the day he was found unconscious at the Thunder Grounds. She could see his multiple reactions to the stories of the past, the memorial garden in Canterlot, and when he played with Allium at the Melody Estate. All her memories came flooding back including the very words that woke her from her relinquished control as she stood up and said them aloud, “All are willing to give for the princess… So why shouldn’t the princess be willing to give for all?”
Hearing the words, Cirrus turned back to Princess Umbra as she stood up and glared at the Tantibus in anger, “no… this is my fight… I can’t hid behind others any longer… As princess of this kingdom… I must face my problems alone.”

Thinking she heard her wrong, the Tantibus smiled, “Excuse me?... did you say what I think you said?... exactly what could a weakling like you possibly accomplish. You couldn’t even stand up to your mother without my assistance.”
Princess Umbra started trotting passed Cirrus as she slowly started aging as her young filly voice started to change to an adult mare, “Cirrus is right, I’m not weak… I was strong long before I allowed you to take control. I trained under the most powerful ponies, griffin, and zebra the world had to offer. I learned Magic beyond my own comprehension, Fighting beyond my own strength, and skills beyond my own control. I joined the royal guard and fought beside them without handicap all in the name of my father. And through it all, you know the only weakness I ever showed.” She stopped aging to hold the appearance of a full grown alicorn, “It was when I allowed you to take control, and defile my crown!”

The Tantibus smiled as she looked upon the fully grown Thundaga as she replied, “I see… so the little filly is finally ready to face me, is she?”
Princess Umbra replied in anger, “you imprisoned my kingdom… you tortured indiscriminately, you disgrace my father’s legacy and stained his blade with the blood of the innocent… it’s time that I take my place as this kingdom’s princess. And to do that…” She held out her hoof as her father’s sword materialized in it allowing her to turn it sideways to reveal the cutiemarks painted on the blade, “I MUST DESTROY YOU!!!”
With that, Princess Umbra opened her wings and used them as a speed boost as she darted towards the Tantibus in rage. The dark mare stood calmly with an evil smirk as the princess approached her and thrusted the blade forward with the intent to stab the evil mare in her heart. However as Umbra thrusted her blade, a loud clash was heard as the evil creature materialized an identical sword with a black blade and held it sideways as she used the blades flat side to stop Princess Umbra’s attack with an almost impossible precision and accuracy.

Although she was surprised that her evil foe blocked her high speed attack, she didn’t show it as she looked at the Tantibus with anger in her eyes. Still blocking the attack, the evil creature smiled, “you may have had the training of a true soldier under your belt, but guess what?... So do I!!!”
With that the Tantibus parried Umbra’s sword away as she brought it back and tried to attack Umbra with a horizontal swing. Luckily Princess Umbra was quick enough to jump back and dodge her attack as Umbra landed and readied her stance as the evil mare smiled, “I see that this isn’t going to go as easily as I expected… no matter, I'll kill you first then continue with taking the commander’s power. You’ve outlived your usefulness anyways.” She readied her sword, “Prepare to die!”

With that both alicorns charged at each other as they both clashed in a storm of attacks and blocks that sent sparks flying from their blades with ease. As the two fought each other on the ground, it wasn’t long before they both jumped into the air and continued their one on one battle in the sky above. With the two mares distracted, Cirrus took this time to rush to Gem’s side as he helped her on her hooves “Gem, you alright?”
Gem Stone tried to stand as she replied, “Yea… I’m fine co-”
As she stood straight up, Gem Stone suddenly cringed in pain as she dropped back down to a knee. After seeing this Cirrus became concerned, “Gem, what’s wrong?”
Gem Stone shook her head, “I’m fine… probably just a broken rib. Who knows maybe I had it before coming here but was too caught up in the fight to notice.”

Cirrus nodded, “are you alright?”
Gem Stone smiled, “I'll live… but what about her? Princess… Umbra was it? Will she be alright alone?” Gem Stone looked at the fight in the sky, “looks like she is holding her own pretty well.”
Cirrus looked up as he shook his head, “No… she looks fine from here, but I’ve already seen how this battle ends. If we don’t do something soon… she’ll die.”
Gem Stone looked around for something to help, “but… there is nothing we can do. I’m practically out of commition and neither of us have any weapons.”
Cirrus nodded, “I can try something… but I’m not sure if it will work.”

Cirrus took a few steps away from Gem Stone and tried to focus on the battle that was taking place above. As he focused, he tried to gather the energy to use the Lightning Orb, however as he tried to use his power, nothing happened. Confused, Cirrus tried to think as Gem Stone saw his distress, “Cirrus what’s wrong?”
Cirrus replied with an unhappy tone, “I can’t use the Lightning Orb.”
Gem Stone thought to herself as she replied, “This isn’t the real world. So it’s no surprise your power doesn’t work here.”
Cirrus replied as he watched the two fight above, “But that means… we are fighting with nothing.”

Up above, the two alicorns continued their intense fight as the sound of the clashing blades echoed into the distance. As they fought, Princess Umbra and the Tantibus eventually locked blades as the Tantibus replied in anger, “Try all you want Umbra… but you are nothing without me.”
The angry princess glared back as she replied, “Without you… I am a true Princess!”
With her anger built up, Princess Umbra kicked the back of her sword as the force pushed them apart leaving them both to stop in the air and stare each other down as Princess Umbra used her rage to engulf her sword in electricity before darting towards her foe with a sword that now glowed with power. Noticing what Umbra was up to, The Tantibus did the same as she too coated her blade in lightning before charging at her enemy at high speeds.

As the two mare’s met in the center of their rage fueled attack, the two swung their swords at the same time, leaving both electrified blades to clash as the unexpected reaction to both blades created a bright glowing orb of electricity around the two as their blade’s locked and held both mare’s stationary inside. As they both glared at their foe on the opposite side of their weapons, they both suddenly had the same idea as they both used their wings to propel them both further into the sky as they vanished into the faintness of their high altitude flight. Knowing what would happen next, Cirrus grabbed Gem’s hoof and put it over his shoulder so he could help her, as she looked at him with confusion, “What are you doing?”
Cirrus turned her around as he tried to carry her away as he spoke, “we need to move! We got to get out of the way.”
Gem Stone was confused, “out of the way of what?”
Cirrus replied without looking back, “They are coming back… right on top of us!”

Although she was unsure as to how he knew this, Gem Stone looked to the sky to see that he was right as the barely visible yellow orb in the sky quickly reappeared and was on a collision course with the very ground they were standing on. With haste, the two pegasi were able to vacate the area just in time as the bright yellow orb of light hit the ground creating a massive shockwave and crater as the force of the impact tossed the two a few feet from the site. After they stopped rolling, Cirrus wasted no time as he rushed to Gem Stone and helped her up as he spoke, “you alright?”
Gem Stone nodded, “Yea… I’m fine, but what abo-”
Before she could finish a bright light emitted from the center of the crater as both alicorns fighting inside were tossed out as they regained control and landed on opposite sides of the crater in a sliding stop.

As soon as they stopped sliding, the two mare’s glared at each other as the Tantibus smiled sinisterly before pointing her sword at Umbra and speaking, “You claim to be of the same blood… and yet you’re nothing like your father. You’re weak!... it’s no wonder your po-”
“Shut up… you have no right, nor honor to speak of him… This is my kingdom! And as its princess… I will not allow further harm to come to my subjects.”
Smiling at the Umbra’s threat, the Tantibus replied, “And you’re going to stop me?”
Princess Umbra opened her wings as she gave a bracing stance, “I will… or I'll die trying!”
With those words, Princess Umbra used her wings to push off the ground as she darted towards her enemy at an almost unimaginable speed. Seeing this the Tantibus held her smile, “So be it!”

As Princess Umbra rushed the Tantibus, the evil mare held her ground as she readied her sword for defense and waited as Princess Umbra Crossed the creator and charged her enemy. As they met, so too did their blades as Princess Umbra swung her sword with all her strength as the clashing sound caused both Cirrus and Gem Stone to cringe as the sound echoed through the area. As the sound echoed, there was a brief pause before the two began mercilessly swinging their swords at each other in a hail of attacks and blocks similar to how the fight began, but identical to the fight that Cirrus had witnessed in his dream. 

After a few more seconds of the unknown number of attacks from both sides, Princess Umbra and the Tantibus’s swords eventually became deadlocked once again as the two started putting all their strength in holding the other at bay. As the two held each other in submission, the Tantibus could see Princess Umbra getting tired out as she smiled, “You’re stronger than I expected… however, it’s time we end this. RIGHT NOW!”
With that, the evil mare, stepped to the side and parried her swords as the shift in weight caused Princess Umbra to lose her footing and fall forward.

Using this opportunity, the Tantibus swung around Princess Umbra’s side to attack while her guard was down. Although her balance was off, Princess Umbra was able to roll over on her side and block the blade as her evil opponent had her pinned on the ground. Preventing the princess from getting back up, the Tantibus started attacking with powerful vertical swing as Princess Umbra did everything she could to block each attack. Although she was putting a lot of power into her attacks, the Tantibus spoke between each swing as the echoing sound of the blade’s drowned out her voice in the distance, “You claim to be stronger!... But I’ve been with you since birth!... All your training!... I have also had!... But at the same time!... I also hold!... Your mother’s experience!... Everything she has lived through!... I have also faced!... The escape from Eden!... The battle with Discord!... The fall of King Sombra!... The Nightmare Crusade!... Facing the Elements of Harmony!... More than once!... One thousand years of imprisonment!... Even Eden’s Kiss!... So compared to me!… YOU ARE NOTHING!!!”

With one final power filled swing, the Tantibus’s blade struck Princess Umbra’s as her father’s sword shattered leaving the black blade to continue on its path toward the Princess Umbra. Seeing the incoming threat, Princess Umbra quickly flapped her wings to slide along the ground and away from the evil mare as the black blade left a cut on Umbra’s side before digging into the ground. Free of her foe’s attack, Princess Umbra quickly shuffled to her hooves and checked the wound she received as she sighed with relief when she saw that it was merely a flesh wound. Seeing the incident from across the area, Gem asked, “She’s hit… is she okay?”
Cirrus nodded, “she is fine… but not for long.”
Gem Stone gave Cirrus a confused look, but before she could say anything the Tantibus spoke as they all directed their attention towards the evil mare, “Very clever Princess… but it would seem that this fight has come to an end.”

After hearing her the Tantibus’s comment, Princess Umbra looked at her father’s shattered blade as she paused in disbelief when memories of what had happened in the real world also filled her mind. This sword which was once a symbol of courage, was no longer usable, and the cutiemarks on the blade seemed just as existent at the ponies who held this same marks. Feeling that she had lost the only thing she had left of her father’s legacy filled Princess Umbra with a deep sadness. However, she knew that even the mention of his legacy was of no help as she sighed in disappointment before tossing the sword away and replying, “It’s not over yet… there is still one more thing I can do.”
Princess Umbra braced her hooves and started to focus as lightning started arcing from the ground onto her hooves while a small cloud appeared. Seeing this, the Tantibus smiled, “Ah yes… the fabled Lightning Orb. The very power that you and your father carried so… proudly. However, as a witness to both… I know all too well that there is a strong difference between yours and his.”

Without warning, the evil creature darted at Umbra as she grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the ground on her back as the lightning cloud vanished before anything could happen. With Princess Umbra pinned to the ground, the dark mare smiled, “Your power isn’t real. You never knew it… but it was all a pointless ploy to pass yourself off as a false hero… while in actuality. You were nothing more… then a f-”
Before she could finish her sentence, Cirrus charged in and used his entire body to push the dark mare away as the surprised mare was thrown a few feet before hitting the ground and rolling back onto her hooves. As soon as she realized what happened, the Tantibus glared at Cirrus as he spoke, “You’re not going to hurt her! As The Third Commander… I won’t allow it!”

Surprised that he made the effort to save her, Princess Umbra could only stare at Cirrus in shock as the Tantibus started laughing out loud at what she was seeing. The evil mare laughed for a few second before slowing her laughter to a chuckle as she replied, “really?... you of all ponies won’t allow me to finish what I started?... now that’s is funny, exactly what can a pathetic stallion like you do to stop me? You can’t fight, you can barely use the Lightning Orb, and I don’t think you’ve notice, but you have no weapon to defend yourself with.”
Cirrus replied with a confident stare, “I may not have an advantage in this fight… but it doesn’t matter. I vowed to save Princess Umbra from the darkness inside her… so if it means making you go inside me… then so be it.”
Princess Umbra was shocked, “no… you can’t!”
Cirrus shook his head, “I have no choice… it was fated to happen anyways… so…” He sat down in an accepting manner, “I'll let it happen now.”

Everypony in the area was speechless as they looked at the surrendering pegasus as the Tantibus smiled, “Very well…”
Wasting no time, the dark purple mare’s body melted into a dark shadow before rising into the air and flying at Cirrus with the intent on hitting him. Accepting what was next, Cirrus closed his eyes and waited for the stream to hit and possess him, however at the very last second, he felt somepony tackle him from the side, as he opened his eyes just in time to see Gem’s body hitting him in the same way that he had hit the Tantibus mere moments ago. Still airborne from the tackle, Cirrus looked at Gem Stone as he could see the dark purple stream hit her body as it reacted in a white flash of light that overshadowed everything and caused the environment to disappear around them.