The silence was deafening. Even with the roaring winds of the snow storm and the still crackling fires reaching into the air from explosive magic. Not a creature, fiend or pony, dared speak or utter a single sound. For every last pony in the valley, a horrible weight pressed on their shoulders. Their hearts sank and they felt their courage and will to fight leaving them.
Then, the fiends began to howl together in unison, a victorious, blood-thirsty chorus of monstrous voices echoing all across the valley. Shining Armor looked around in confusion, his ears falling flat against his head. “I don’t get it… what’s happening?” he asked distantly, the weight just as firm on his shoulders as it was on everypony else.
Drifter was silent. She felt the weight, but even moreso she felt why the fiends were suddenly so happy, why they shouted together in victory despite the battle looking to have only briefly paused. Her blood tingled as the image of Horizon standing victorious over a petrified Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna entered her mind.
“We… we lost…” she mumbled, stepping back and then falling to her haunches in shock and horror.
“What?” Shining asked, looking to her in confusion. “What are you talking about? There are still plenty of soldiers here! We can still do this!”
“No, we can’t!” Drifter replied, pulling herself back to her hooves and looking around in near-desperation. “And if you want those soldiers to be alive by tomorrow, then sound the retreat. NOW!” she barked at him before turning to look over the valley with disdain. Already the fiends had resumed their violent struggle with the ponies, only now, the ponies were seemingly unable to defend themselves. Shining felt his heart fall into the pit of his stomach as ponies died by the scores every second.
“But… but Twilight-” he started, but went quiet from the sorrowful look Drifter gave him.
“...We lost, Shining Armor. She… she and Princess Luna are gone.”
“Gone?!” Shining echoed, his legs going weak at the thought. “What the hay do you mean gone?!”
“I mean they lost! I’ll explain more later! For now, we have to move!”
“How can you be so sure?! HOW DO YOU KNOW?!” Shining Armor snapped, reaching out with his magic and pulling her up to look him in the eyes. “You’d best have a good explenation for why I should abandon my little sister here!”
Drifter grimaced and looked away, unable to meet his gaze. “...I’m half fiend, Shining Armor. Luminous Horizon is revealing his victory to every fiend here. They can all see what he has done and... I do, too.” Drifter sighed before tensing up. “Now put me down! We have to go, NOW!”
Shining Armor narrowed his eyes before slowly setting her down. “...Guh, EVERYPONY! RETREAT TO THE CHARIOTS! I REPEAT, FALL BACK TO THE CHARIOTS!” he shouted out, breaking into a sprint for the southern end of the valley.
Drifter fell into stride next to him, trying not to look away from her path. Ponies all around them were dying horribly, trying and failing to defend themselves against the onslaught. The screams in the air were haunting... Drifter looked over her shoulder and up to the top of the mountain where a sickly blue glow softly pulsed, a symbol of Horizon’s victory. She closed her eyes tightly and let her head fall without stopping in her retreat. “I’m sorry, Twilight… I’m sorry, aunt Luna. I swear… I’ll come back for you.” A tear leaked out of her eye and to the snow below, lost and buried among rivers of blood. But I have a promise to keep, first…
Horizon stood at the summit of his mountain, a blank expression adorning his face as he gazed over the slaughtering ground that had become the foot of his mountain. Ponies died everywhere, torn apart by his army of hungry fiends. It was something he never got tired of looking at. What he did get tired of looking at, however, was the visage of Princess Celestia, who once more stood next to him, her eyes boring into him pleadingly.
He turned his gaze to look at her, finally acknowledging her presence. She looked weak and miserable, all of her efforts had failed. All she could do was beg. Without a word, Horizon plucked her skull from it’s place with Luna and Twilight’s flesh and brought it over to hover in front of him. Celestia saw her skull and her eyes wilted, as did her entire posture.
Horizon lifted a hoof up to trace the jawline of the skull, remembering quite fondly how it had felt back when it had still been covered in skin. Then his claws extended and wrapped around the skull. With one squeeze, he crushed the skull in his claws, sending shards and splinters of it flying away in the wind and letting rest crumble into the snow before him. As he did so, the image of Celestia dissolved and swirled away, lost in the snowstorm around them.
With his mind set and his goals clear, Horizon turned and took step after step to his throne. His horn lit up and enveloped the stone seat with his aura. Bit by bit, the same fleshy substance that was used in the gardens began to grow from the stone like mold. It swelled and molded, forming a long set of stairs. Horizon’s hooves squelched softly on the steps of his ascension before, at last, he came to the peak where a new throne awaited him.
He turned and sat himself down in the seat, looking contentedly out over Equestria. He could smell the massacre already. The coming years would be immensely entertaining, of that he was certain.
Flanking the base of Luminous Horizon’s throne of corpses, standing frozen in their moments of horror were the petrified forms of Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and Luna, the Princess of Dreams and the Night.
From his seat, the Father of Fiends heard the victorious howls of his children. He let a proud smile split his face and let the hunt begin.
