Watching Twilight and Starfall dance made Starlight feel more at ease about being there than she had been so far. She was so happy to have seen the two of them sharing those moments together, and it truly was a sight to behold. Starlight wasn’t one for this kind of dancing, but it sure was a magical thing to watch.
She sighed, her smile only growing as she watched them all dance on, Starfall’s sister having stepped aside after singing her song. It had become apparent to her that several of her friends may be at the start of their first relationships, and it was because of this event that she found them out.
It was at this moment that sudden movement caught her eye, and she turned to see Emerald Night walking with haste while staying out of the general view of the ponies in the crowd. Quick to rise from her seat, she trotted over to an intersection point with the unicorn.
“Emerald, there you are, I was afraid you had left early.” Starlight told her, relieved to see her new friend back in the room.
The black unicorn managed a chuckle. “Ha, yes well, you must forgive me my absence, there was somepony I was supposed to meet and I didn’t want to make them wait.” She then glanced around, spotting the dancers. “So, what did I miss?”
Starlight smiled, looking out at the dancefloor. “Oh, I’d say you missed a few things…”
Sombra and Celestia had kept on dancing, staying mostly silent, although the princess did ask a subtle question here and there. He twirled her around one last time, spotting Starlight and her friend where they were, he slowed to a stop.
Celestia looked at him, confused. He took up her hoof, kissing it softly. “I must leave you now, enjoy the rest of your night, dearest Celestia.” Not giving her the chance to reply, the unicorn king walked off through the crowd, disappearing from sight rather swiftly. The princess was left standing alone on the floor, pausing before walking off of it, giving way to the others.
Twilight, having noticed her absence, looked to Starfall as the two kept dancing. “So… does this mean things will be changing between us?”
He looked to her, his expression softening. “They can change, if you want them to.”
She hesitated, but then gave the smallest of nods. “I-”
A sudden flash of light caused all of the dancers to stop, shielding themselves from it as the band stopped playing. Discord appeared from out of the light, his trembling body a slight shade of gray, pushed to the point of exhaustion as he fell to the floor.
Twilight was quick to react. “Discord!” She said, releasing Starfall as she galloped to him.
Holding out his talon, he shouted, “No! Don’t worry about me, we’re out of time! Stormc-” He was interrupted as the same magical hold from the summit caught him in its vice again, squeezing him as it seemed like he was being choked. He tried speaking through it. “Chr… Chrys…” He reached out as Twilight got to him, Fluttershy having done the same as she saw him suffering.
“Discord!” Fluttershy cried, grabbing at him but not knowing what to do. She looked up at the princess. “Twilight do something!”
Feeling it as dark magic, Twilight tried casting a spell to break its hold over the draconequus, but it failed, the power over him being far too strong. “I… I can’t! I don’t know what to do!”
Fluttershy began to cry as the curse on Discord continued to squeeze him, his breaths becoming less fulfilling each time. Starlight gasped, becoming paralyzed with fear at the sight of her friend in so much pain. Emerald, as this was transpiring, resumed her brisk pace towards the courtyard door.
Discord, seeing Emerald taking off while no pony was watching, growled deeply, lifting his paw up to eye level. A chaotic aura blazed across him and he then pointed at the fleeing unicorn, saying, “Chrysalis…!” Overpowering the curse for a fraction of a second, Discord bent the light around her, causing a sudden flash that shattered her disguise.
The flash turned green and Emerald Night reverted back into Queen Chrysalis. Everypony gasped when they saw, most of the ponies close by running away from her. Starlight was stunned, but being as she was closest, she was quick to overcome this stun and fired a beam of magic at the unsuspecting queen, striking her off her hooves and down onto the floor. From Chrysalis’ magic grasp, she dropped a black gemstone that closely resembled a diamond.
Celestia’s eyes widened as she immediately took flight at the queen. “Don’t let her escape with that diamond!” She yelled.
Out of impulse, Chrysalis fired a magic beam at Celestia, which was too quick to dodge or block, knocking the princess out of the air and onto the floor. With a hiss, the queen grabbed the diamond and proceeded to flee out and into the courtyard, pursued now by everypony.
Twilight and Starlight were the first ones out after her, both of them firing continuous beams of magic at her. Chrysalis was able to dodge and deflect some, but one soon clipped her leg, causing her to spiral out of control, dropping the diamond as she skidded over up against the stone fountain.
Using her levitation spell, Twilight swiftly picked up the diamond, holding it close to protect it from the queen.
The moment everypony else cleared the doorway and moved towards the two of them, Stormclaw came sweeping in from the night sky, breathing an inferno of a fire breath onto the ground in a line before them, halting their advance. Simultaneously, Sombra appeared out from the flames, casting a dark magic spell while they were all unprepared. The spell caused crystals to jut out from the ground around each of them, locking them into place.
“What the hay!” Rainbow exclaimed. “How is he here!? We blasted him to pieces at the Crystal Empire!”
Celestia struggled to free herself, but it would seem Sombra had made sure she couldn’t move. “He’s come as Stormclaw’s ally, all three of them have banded against us!”
Applejack tried to move her legs around in the hopes of bucking the crystal from inside, but her range of motion had been frozen in place. “Ah can’t get free!”
Everypony struggled to get free, but the spell was too powerful. Garble managed to break through rather quickly, but Sombra used a different spell, locking him up against the crystal wall with even stronger chains of diamond. He growled and roared in anger as he struggled to free himself, but couldn’t break it this time. Starfall, having managed to keep one leg from being locked into place, began stomping at the crystal as hard as he could non-stop.
When Twilight and Starlight turned to look upon this in shock, Chrysalis quickly turned her head and fired a beam at Starlight, sending her over near everyone who was just imprisoned, where Sombra cast the same spell on her, locking the unicorn into place.
Twilight deflected the second spell the queen cast, backing up as Stormclaw descended down from the sky. “Oh I’m sorry, did we interrupt your evening?” He chuckled, landing only a few yards away from her.
“You’re not going to get away with this!” Twilight shouted at him, her magical aura brightening as she prepared to cast another attack spell.
The black dragon tilted his head, amused. “I’m not? But you’ve made it so easy,” As he said this, Sombra stepped up from behind Twilight, making her jump forward and turn around. “How can you possibly hope to face us all alone?”
Shadow rose up from Twilight’s shadow, his horn appearing in a flash of red, surprising Stormclaw with a magic beam, which struck and pushed him backwards. “Who says she’s alone?”
Chrysalis, recovering from the impact, used her magic to hold the crystals in place around everypony that was trapped. Stromclaw squinted at the shadow pony. “Oh great, you think you can act all tough now?”
Sombra lurked around in front of Twilight, keeping her from turning to help her friend. “We’ll have to face them alone,” She said, sounding a bit worried, but her brimming confidence building back up as she knew Shadow had her back. “Think you can handle him?”
Eyes narrowing, Shadow glared down the black dragon. “I know I can.”
Despite the numerous ponies calling out to them from the crystal wall, there was an eerie silence between the four of them. Twilight and Shadow stood back to back, with the dragon and unicorn king opposite of one another, facing them. This was a showdown Shadow always believed had to happen, Stormclaw had caused he and his friends too much pain. Twilight, on the other hoof, had never actually faced Sombra before, and so to say she was afraid would be an understatement.
After another few moments, Shadow and Twilight both began casting offensive spells, causing both villains to either dodge or block them as they moved closer. Sombra absorbed all of Twilight’s attacks into a shadowy veil as he walked leisurely towards her, eyes dark and serious. Stormclaw, however, back-clawed the spells and moved swiftly to evade, gradually approaching.
Almost like they had rehearsed this kind of scenario, Twilight and Shadow both charged up powerful beams, but then turned past one another, shooting them at opposite villains this time. Sombra was recoiled back, his shadowy shield having broken from the attack. Stormclaw moved to evade, but had strayed too close and was blasted backwards, landing hard on the ground. Shadow glanced over his shoulder to be sure the dragon was nowhere near Twilight.
In the split second he took his eyes off Sombra, the unicorn king melded into the shadows beneath him. When Shadow turned back, he was gone, but didn’t much time to look around as Twilight shoved him aside, Sombra rising up from the darkness in between them on top of a crystal pillar. Stormclaw came flying in and tackled Shadow, but the shadow pony vanished in a cloud of smoke, reappearing over the dragon’s head to blast him with another magic beam, spiking him to the ground.
Twilight turned on Sombra and began casting spells at rapid fire, but the king cast a deflection spell, moving his horn to intercept the beams and dissipating them upon impact. Once he found an opening, he deflected a spell up, reeling back on his hind legs and slamming both hooves down onto the ground. A shockwave rippled through the ground and dozens of crystal spikes shot up from the ground in her direction. Twilight used a light casting spell that Celestia had taught her, which shattered the crystals that got too close to her.
Pushing himself up from the ground, Stormclaw looked around for Shadow. Hearing a sudden swish in the air, he vaulted himself in a flip away from another beam Shadow fired at him from above. Landing firm, he inhaled and breathed an inferno up at the shadow pony, who in turn cast a protection spell, staving off the flames. Stormclaw emerged through the fire and broke through the spell, slamming into Shadow. He clawed at him, but Shadow moved through the attack and pelted the dragon in the head with his hind hoof, moving in at point blank and blasting him back down to the ground with a red explosion from his horn.
Stormclaw groaned a bit, shaking his head. Just as Shadow plummeted down towards him, Chrysalis fired a spell at him, striking him in unawares, and sending him down to the ground as well. The others were forced to watch helplessly as this fight took place, with Starfall being the only one bashing away at the crystal holding him. Starlight tried casting a spell on the crystals, but the dark magic within the crystal holding her just absorbed it.
Looking upon Twilight with an impressed expression, Sombra grimaced, his horn lighting up. Twilight’s horn lit up as well and the two shot magic beams at one another, the forces colliding in between them. Twilight cried out, beating her wings as she rose higher into the air, her attack increasing in power. Sombra, canceling his spell, disappeared in shadows as Twilight’s attack struck the crystals behind him, creating a cloud of debris and smoke. She stood, waiting for him to emerge, but at first, nothing happened. Then all at once the dusty cloud turned into black mist and expanded past Twilight, who shielded herself with her wings. Within the darkness, there was a flash of purple.
Shadow and Stormclaw circled one another slowly. Shadow cast a spell, but the dragon deflected it. He then cast another aiming low, Stormclaw moved to deflect, but the beam hit the ground, spraying dust up into his face as he reeled back, rubbing at his eyes. Shadow then emerged through the dust and rammed the dragon in the chest with his head, once again sending him crashing down to the ground.
When the dust cleared around Twilight, she readied herself to keep fighting, but Sombra was no longer there. She quickly eyed her surroundings, but then froze when she realized she was no longer in Canterlot. She was standing in a field, the sky overcast and dark, a crimson glow on the distant horizon, almost like the glow from a fire.
“Sombra! Where are you!?” She yelled out, thinking the king had teleported them somewhere. This thought was cast aside when she finally noticed the stones sticking up from the ground, six of them, scattered on the hilltop where she stood. She hesitated, but then walked up to one, the text on it was faded. She squinted, able to read it slowly. Her eyes widened, and her heart sank. “…no.” She said quietly, peering over at the others, she shook her head. “…no, it… it can’t be…”
Applejack
Fallen in protection of her family.
Spike
Executed after the fall of the Crystal Empire.
Fluttershy
Her broken heart became too much to bear.
Rainbow Dash
Fallen during the siege of Canterlot.
Rarity
Caught in her boutique during the Ponyville fire.
Pinkie Pie
Lost the will to live after having lost her friends.
Twilight felt like she was drowning, her tears clouding her vision as she collapsed to the ground. “My friends… Pinkie… Rainb-” Lowering her head to the ground, she covered it with her arms, crying without an end in sight. The entire world fell to darkness around her, the light dwindling as this new reality truly sank in.
They were all gone… all of them. The six individuals who gave her purpose, her six friends that had been through everything with her… they were all of them… gone forever.
As she sobbed, she could hear them still, crying out to her for help or to run away. This was her true fear… the one thing that she could never overcome should it ever happen. The hole left by their disappearance from Twilight’s life was all encompassing, there was no end to it. As the light left her eyes, all of her hope died, becoming nothing but…
Sitting with her wings tucked in, Twilight’s eyes were green with red irises. She sat still, tears in her eyes as she mumbled to herself how there was nothing left for her. Sombra stood before her, a smirk planted firmly on his face.
“Sweet dreams, princess.” He said lowly, watching her fear become a reality to her.
On the ground beside her, the black diamond slowly lifted into the air, its faded hue of black darkening, becoming a black much like the night sky, dazzling and luminous under the light of stars.
Stormclaw and Shadow clashed, hooves meeting claws as they struggled against one another. Realizing he hadn’t been watching Twilight, he quickly looked over at her, only to see as the unicorn king had her under some kind of spell. It upon seeing the diamond, however, that Shadow felt a familiar feeling in his body, only this time, it was far more powerful. Cringing away, Stormclaw glanced over at Sombra and Twilight, chuckling as he released the shadow pony.
Fluttershy watched in horror as Shadow slowly began to collapse to the ground. “Shadow! Shadow, no!”
The black dragon walked up to him, his vision going blurry. “N-no…” he whispered quietly, struggling to see as his opponent looked like a silhouette.
Stormclaw stopped, kneeling down to eye level with him. “Time for you to see the truth, and remember why you’re really here.” With the smallest push, Shadow fell to his back, all of his senses dimming out as the sharp pain continued to grow, rattling his mind and tensing his muscles. He lost consciousness to the muffled sound of his friends calling out his name.
All he saw was red, but it soon faded to black. Engulfed in the darkness, Shadow tried to make sense of what this was. It wasn’t a memory… it was something else. The darkness lasted only a moment, immediately flashing away.
He was lying down in the grass just outside of Ponyville. The townsfolk dotted the area, all of them looking up, but Shadow didn’t notice them at first. His ears weren’t ringing, his vision wasn’t blurred along the edges, and twitching eye told him that unlike before, he had full control of his body. It felt too real… wait, was it real?
Slowly standing, he lifted his hoof to his head, it ached but it wasn’t too bad. The pain was there, he could physically feel it, this couldn’t be a dream. But if it wasn’t a memory… and it wasn’t a dream… could it truly be…
Glancing up, he spotted the girls, all standing still and looking up into the sky. He started with a walk, but then trotted over to them, unable to focus on anything else at the moment. “Fluttershy…? What’s… what is this? What is happe-” He froze when he finally noticed.
The sky around them, all across to the horizon, was a deep, blazing red color. All the land was draped in a veil of ruby-like light, dark and ominous, with everypony within sight looking up above.
After having looked around at the horizon and seen all of the ponies, Shadow turned back to his friends. He paused, very slowly lifting his gaze to the sky like everypony else.
The red star from his numerous, horrifying visions once again shined its light all over Equestria. It was bigger now, having grown in intensity with flares bursting into the air around it. The sun and the moon were halted, as they had been before, both cast into stillness up above as the star had taken full command over them. It was impossible to tell if it was day or night, for neither the sun nor the moon shined brightly, they were just there, dimmed and motionless.
Why was this so important? What was this moment compared to the fear and despair of his previous visions? Why did they always end with this scene? Shadow was soon to realize, however, that he had not yet seen it all.
The voices began as mere hums, low and barely noticeable. They came out of nowhere, and yet echoed across the land, steadily growing louder. Shadow looked up and around, trying to find the origin of the humming, but there was nothing, everypony stood silently, all clearly able to hear the sound as well. The humming broke into a kind of choral note, not understandable words, more just a combination of deep voices creating a hymn, of sorts.
As these voices continued to sing their cryptic, still rather quiet note, the star rippled the sky with a sonic boom, creating a pulse of wind that everyone felt. It was difficult to tell at first, but soon it became apparent that the star had begun descending.
The initial reaction in the bystanders was confusion, none of them looking like they understood what was happening. But as the star continued to fall, confusion turned to panic. Ponies screamed and fled, galloping as fast as their legs could carry them. The voices carried through their shouts and screams, still very much there.
Shadow looked around frantically as he saw them all fleeing, trying to make sense of it all. He turned back to his friends, who were backing away as this fear-inducing event unfolded. The spiraling clouds gave way to the massive star, which was now even larger than Ponyville as it fell towards the plains just east of the town.
Standing behind his friends, Shadow watched from the hills west of town, able to see it all unfold with a view of Ponyville, Canterlot, and the many miles beyond. Unlike the others, his friends seemed to understand, as they did not run, standing their ground.
Shadow squinted at them, shaking his head. “Wha… what are you doing?! Run!” He yelled, but they couldn’t hear him. He looked back up at the star, which had reached its max speed, still falling rather slowly, but now easily halfway to the surface. He looked back down at his friends. “Run! Don’t just stand there! Run!”
It was Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Starlight. They moved closer together, huddling into a group hug, each of them with tears in their eyes. “I love you all…” Twilight said softly, earning an even more emotional response from them as they held each other tight.
Now in pure panic, Shadow ran to them, trying to pull them away, but they didn’t budge, they didn’t even seem to notice him. “No…!” He cried out, pulling back a few steps, then running around in between them and Ponyville, watching in horror as the star drew closer and closer. Everypony else in sight took off, flying or galloping as fast as they could in hopes to escape.
The rush of fear caused a silence in Shadow’s ears, everything numbing out. He felt the pulse of the air in the wake of the celestial form, he felt the grass below him, swaying in the breeze, and he felt all of the world falling still, even as thousands fled in sheer terror. His eyes widened as the choral note in the air faded.
Colliding with the surface, the ground buckled and became shattered underneath the star, sending massive pieces of land soaring up into the air as the light continued to crush down into Equestria. With a bursting flare, the star imploded, creating a wave of red that swept over the land, wiping away everything it touched. Trees disappeared instantly, offering no resistance, entire mountains were left bare, stripped of green and replaced with ash and fire. The wave reached the Mountain of Equestria, soon to strike the great capitol, Canterlot. Immediately upon impact, the suspended castle city was annihilated, blowing apart like leaves to the wind.
Shadow gasped for air, unable to comprehend this level of destruction. His eyes were lost in the light of the blast wave, which expanded in all directions across Equestria.
Cloudsdale was next, disappearing from existence as the star’s wrath left it as nothing but small clouds, dispersed by the gale winds. In the distance, the red wave could be seen destroying everything it touched, not stopping or slowing as it expanded further. Reaching the Everfree Forest, the once feared place became nothing, vanishing from the world.
Turning back around, Shadow tried with all his might to push his friends away. His hooves dug into the ground as he budded shoulders with them, drawing back and slamming his head into them. “Please! Run!” He cried out, his voice broken and his body trembling. He looked back at the blazing light, losing his balance as he spent sprawling out onto the ground.
Down below, the wave reached Ponyville, sweeping through it without mercy. Ponies disappeared in the dozens… in the hundreds… as the wave engulfed them all. Buildings shattered and wailing cries were silenced, the destruction so close now that he could hear it coming.
In a final effort, Shadow rose and ran at them, only this time he went through them, stumbling back down to the ground. He turned over onto his back, looking up at them as the red could now be seen, even at this angle. In that last moment, Fluttershy turned her head while hugging the others, looking at him, so afraid and heart-broken. His eyes grew bright as the wave appeared, engulfing all eight of them, their bodies breaking away and vanishing into ashes.
“NOOO!!!” The light reached him and all turned to red.
Shadow lied there on the ground, his eyes completely red, mouth left partly open as he mumbled to himself in an inaudible language. His mane and tail flowed gently, and the ghostly aura that appeared when he flew or used magic appeared, his horn and wings slowly fading back into reality.
The Etherus Diamond hovered in the air, red sparks flashing all around it. Stormclaw flew over and landed before it, lifting his claw underneath it as it rose just a bit higher, staying just out of his reach as it hovered over his claw. “Finally… all six have been empowered.” He said with a satisfied grin, looking up at the ponies trapped in crystal. “At long last the Elements of Harmony are powerless, your only shield against the storm to come is gone.”
Chrysalis managed a cackle, continuing to use her magic on the crystals, insurance to be sure that none of them could escape. Sombra, after having used his crystal spell to ensnare Twilight in case she escaped her nightmare, walked up to the dragon, looking at the diamond with some level of skepticism. “What do we do now that you have your relic?” He asked, their plan having not gone past this point. “Imprisoning them would be a start, but it is not enough; the Crystal Empire is still far beyond my grasp with Cadence and Shining Armor there.”
“All in good time, Sombra.” Stormclaw replied, his claw twitching as the Etherus Diamond seemed to be drawn to him, the red sparks touching at his scales. Looking back down at the relic, his eyes lifted from them to look at the immobilized Princess of Friendship. “First things first… it’s time we made sure the great Twilight Sparkle does not disrupt my plans again.”
Sombra glanced back at her, seeing that she was powerless in her current state. He squinted, looking back to Stormclaw. “She is trapped, Chrysalis can put her into one of her changeling pods until we have Equestria. She is no threat to us.”
The black dragon scoffed, looking over at him. “How many times must she be underestimated? How many times has she foiled plans made to control Equestria? Every time one of you chooses to imprison her, she finds a way to escape, be it on her own or with the aid of her countless friends.” He turned his glare back to her, shaking his head. “No more… I am going to end this, now, and be certain that my plan remains flawless.”
This was the first time in so long that Sombra was left speechless, looking upon the black dragon with a level of disbelief. “…you can’t kill her, we need all of the princesses to rule Equestria. Doing this would turn her subjects against us forever, we can’t afford for her to die.”
Stormclaw’s eyes darkened. “You can’t, but as for me, I can’t afford to let her live.”
Everypony else gasped, unable to speak or immediately act as they heard the wicked dragon say this. Celestia yelled out in dismay, struggling with all her might, just as her friends began to. Chrysalis, after hearing this, lost her focus as she turned to the two of them, her once smug expression now tempered with a hint of doubt. Starfall, having not stopped stomping, began to see cracks forming on the crystals holding him.
Before he could move towards her, Sombra stepped into his path. The dragon grimaced upon seeing this. “Get out of my way.” He growled.
Something was wrong, very wrong, why would he be so reckless? Cruelty was a necessity to Sombra in order to rule, but this? This was madness. “No,” the king replied, standing firm. “We need Twilight Sparkle, whatever vendetta you have against her is shrouding your judgement.”
Stormclaw snarled at him. “Remove yourself from my path, Sombra.” He threatened, ignoring the unicorn’s statement. “I will not ask again.”
Now Sombra began to lose his temper, gritting his fangs back at the dragon. “You can’t hope to rule if-” He paused, silence reigning over the courtyard as everything clicked in his head. He stood up straight, the realization coming to him, and everything making sense now. “…you have no intention of ruling, do you?” He glanced over at Shadow, then at Twilight, and then back at him. “Those relics weren’t just to stop Princess Twilight’s friends… you’re not doing this to have Chrysalis or I sit upon a throne.” Sombra’s theory made Stormclaw clench his claws. “You needed Chrysalis to get a hold of all of those relics… needed me to empower that last one there… and now that you have what you wanted, you’re making sure no one can stand in your way.”
There was an evil smirk, followed by a low chuckle. “You did miss one part,” He said, grabbing the diamond with his free claw. Red sparks instantly coursed all over his body, causing an extreme amount of pain, but he only grunted through it, not moving an inch. The darkness of the diamond reached down and the dragon’s shadow rose up from the ground, grabbing hold of Sombra and lifting him up. When the sparks disappeared from Stormclaw, he opened his eyes, which now had a red aura about them. “I don’t need you anymore either.” With a mighty swing, the dragon heaved his claw into Sombra, striking Sombra so hard that he went crashing through the stone wall of the side of the castle, a cloud of dust left in its wake.
“Sombra!” Celestia cried out.
Chrysalis froze in place, not sure what to do or how to react to that. Stormclaw looked over her way, but his expression softened. “Hold them still, this will only take a moment.” He turned back to Twilight, beating his wings as he began rising up into the air.
Crawling out from the ballroom, Discord continued wheezing for air, his vision blurred. Seeing everything that was unfolding, he lifted his paw again, trying to focus what magic he could.
Before the black dragon could rise too high into the air, he was struck by a dark magic beam. He looked up at the castle to see Sombra emerged from the dust. Surrounded by shadows, the unicorn king leapt out from the hole in the wall, slamming his hooves down on the ground, sending sharp crystals shooting up at Stormclaw.
“No more games.” The dragon replied, clenching the diamond tight and roaring into the air. His shadow rose up from the ground and reached him before the crystals could. His shadow emptied itself into the diamond and his body went pitch black, the crystals breaking against him. As his roar continued, his body grew, becoming the monstrous form that had been hiding away all this time. The spikes on his head grew longer, his golden colors darkened, and his form appeared with a slight afterimage that faded much like the magic trail on Sombra’s eyes.
With a swing of his claw, the shadows around Sombra turned on him, clawing at his body and tossing him aside, where he skidded across the courtyard and plowed into the wall, debris falling down over top of him.
Stormclaw looked at his new form, one that he had been wanting to see for so long now. He chuckled to himself, but then grew serious once again, looking down at Twilight as he was very high up now. “Twilight Sparkle, you have meddled in my affairs for the last time.” His eyes began to glow fully red, crimson light building up behind his fangs. “Now, be welcomed to oblivion.” Opening his maw, a sphere of pure, destructive fire began to grow, his mouth opening wider as it grew.
“Twilight!” Everypony shouted out, trying to wake her up from her nightmare. The fiery sphere, thought slowly, grew larger and larger, its light now illuminating part of the courtyard in red.
Having focused and held on for long enough, Discord cast another chaos spell, striking Chrysalis in the face with a kind of purple aura, temporarily blinding her and stopping her magic.
Seeing this opportunity, Starfall stomped down on the crystal harder and harder, the cracks growing and growing until finally he broke free. He immediately took off towards Twilight, but knew he wouldn’t be able to break her crystal trap in time. He stopped, looking over at Starlight’s whose crystal was also cracked as she had managed to begin overloading the crystals with her magic. Galloping over towards her, he stomped at her trap frantically.
“If I can free you, get to Twilight and use your protection spell!” Starfall yelled, pounding away at the crystal and making the cracks spread.
Celestia then shouted out, “Starfall!”
He stopped, turning back and looking up at the dragon in the night sky. The fireball was now larger than a pony, the growth slowing as it became apparent that he was almost done. Starfall hesitated, trying desperately to think of what he could do. He couldn’t break Starlight’s trap in time, he couldn’t move Twilight out of the way, and he couldn’t possibly have the strength to fight Stormclaw, and even if he did, he wouldn’t reach him in time to stop the attack. Eyes in a near panic, he suddenly stopped, pausing for a moment.
Starlight looked to him in confusion. “Starfall, what are you doing?! Get me out so I can cast my spell!” He turned to her, a dangerously desperate look in his eyes. She paused, not sure what it meant. “S-Starfall…?”
He managed a small smile at his friend. “Take care of her for me.” He said quietly, his ears falling flat to his head.
Eyes wide, Starlight replied, “W-what…?”
Turning around, his mane lifted slightly in the wake of the dragon’s charging attack. “Take care of all of them for me.” He said, spreading his wings. Galloping towards the red light, Starfall leapt up and took flight, moving as fast his wings could carry him.
“Starfall, no!” Starlight replied, continuing to cast spells on the crystal in a frenzy, tugging and struggling all she could.
The fiery sphere over Stormclaw stopped growing, pulsing to signify it was ready. With a roar, the dragon swung his head down, heaving the giant fireball down towards Twilight.
Everypony cried out for him to stop, but Starfall kept going, reaching new heights of speed as he soared up and into the path of the fiery sphere. He came to a stop, facing the attack with his arms held out wide. The fireball ripped through the air down towards him, bathing his entire body in its crimson light.
Eyes open and watching the monstrous attack approach him, Starfall remained unmoving, afraid, but not letting his fear control him. All of time seemed to slow down, everything Starfall ever experienced with his friends in Ponyville flashing before him. Pinkie Pie, with her crazy nature and funny antics, always doing her best to make him smile. Rarity, the stunning beauty that taught him so much about expressing himself. Applejack, always keeping him wishing everypony could be so honest. Fluttershy, with her nurturing heart, wanting him to be safe and happy. Rainbow Dash, that awesome mare who wanted him to be the best pony he could be… and… Twilight Sparkle, who gave him purpose, joy, wisdom… and what could have possibly been a future.
Sombra, having shifted about in the debris, used his magic to cut the nightmare spell holding Twilight. The teary eyed princess’ eyes returned to normal, looking up at the light, and the pony barring its path.
Closing his eyes, Starfall smiled. “Thank you all…”
Upon impact, the explosion was devastating and bright, lighting up the night and creating a bang so loud, it shattered the glass windows in the ballroom. Twilight felt her heart stop as she took in a gasp, the light from the explosion reflected in her eyes.
Out from the massive cloud of smoke, the gray pegasus plummeted down, fur singed and his body smoking. Friends screamed and cried out as Starfall collided with the ground, bulldozing a path until finally it stopped. He lied there, motionless, as silence and sorrow filled the air of the courtyard, all motion stopping in the wake of the royal guard’s sacrifice.
Garble watched in disbelief, he shook his head, slowly at first, but then wildly. Lowering it, he choked in a breath, his tense muscles relaxing without command as, for the first time in a long time, he felt a tear roll down his face.
Stormclaw grimaced, growling at first. This didn’t last, however, as he smirked afterwards. “Foolish brat, all you did was buy her another minute to live.”
Feeling great heat spiking up in his chest, Garble lifted his head, fangs gritted and eyes narrowing on the black dragon overhead. “You…” He growled, clenching his claws against the crystal restraints. “You…!” He repeated, his voice having gone from trembling to broad. “MONSTER!!!” He roared, his entire body glowing the colors of his scales. The crystal buckled and cracked, breaking almost immediately from the wall. Tearing up from the ground, the red dragon sky rocketed at Stormclaw, catching him off guard as Garble plowed into him.
Chrysalis, having just managed to cast away the purple, blinding spell Discord used, looked around frantically. Starlight’s horn glowed red, her emotions changing from sorrow to anger and plummeting deeper into the emotion until she hit her breaking point. A cloud of her anger formed over her head, her eyes turning from Starfall to the changeling queen. Yelling out in frustration, her magic overcharged the crystals holding her, causing them to break and set her free. Immediately, she reeled up and drew from her anger cloud to fire a concentrated beam of magic at Chrysalis, who dodged it at the very last moment, turning to the unicorn.
“This is all your fault!” Starlight shouted, the cloud only growing larger as it fed more and more into her magic. She fired again, causing Chrysalis to try and block it, but her protection spell was shattered upon taking Starlight’s attack.
Sombra emerged from the pile of debris, watching the four of them fighting. He winced, having to limp as he took a few steps forward. His eyes then met Celestia’s as she was still trapped behind the crystal wall, they told her that he no longer wanted to be a part of this. Managing one last spell, he crippled the magic holding the crystal wall up and broken the trap holding Twilight down. Backing away into the shadows, then disappeared.
Now free of the crystal, Twilight galloped as fast as she could to Starfall in the mini-crater his impact had made. His fur was singed all over, his wings most definitely broken from the fall, as well as some manner of places on his chest and legs. His mane and tail were tattered, his whole body still letting off some smoke from the heat of the blast. His eyes were closed, he lied there, motionless.
“Starfall…?” She said to him, then proceeding to shake his body gently. “Starfall?” She repeated, wanting so badly for him to answer her, but he remained silent and still.
Flipping through the air, the two dragons grappled one another, growling and snarling as they fell to the ground. Stormclaw threw Garble up and off from him, rising up. Garble didn’t let up, thrashing at his enemy with wild, powerful swings. Stormclaw dodged most, then caught his claw to counter, but missed the red dragon’s tail as it swept his legs, falling him as Garble jumped up on top of him, roaring as he went berserk on him.
Chrysalis cast attack after attack, but they were all of them absorbed by the red cloud around Starlight, who replied with her own attacks. Chrysalis stomped her hoof into the ground, which caused the ground beneath Starlight to rise up, throwing her off balance. She then proceeded to fire a clean shot that passed through an opening in the cloud, striking the unicorn off her hooves. Starlight was quick to cast her levitation spell on herself, evading a second attack and floating up in the air. Chrysalis hissed and took to the sky towards her.
“Come on girls!” Rainbow shouted, bashing her head into the crystal. “They need our help!”
Applejack grunted and kicked with her legs all she could, the crystal beginning to break away as it was no longer being reinforced by Chrysalis and been weakened by Sombra. “A-almost… got it…!” She shouted, the cracks forming and spreading.
Fluttershy tried all she could, but she still wasn’t strong enough. She cried out in anguish as she looked back out at the courtyard, seeing Shadow still in his trance and Twilight now holding onto Starfall.
“Starfall wake up…” Twilight said softly. “Starfall… please wake up.” She stroked at the fur on his face, but still there was no reply.
Stormclaw and Garble were engaged in an endearing close-quarters fight. Unable to focus long enough to use any of his dark magic, Stormclaw was forced to contend with the red dragon physically alone, which proved to be difficult. Somehow, Garble was managing to keep up with the empowered black dragon. Proving to outlast him just barely, Stormclaw clawed him down to the ground and then kicked him in the head, flipping him over onto his back. He channeled his powers into summoning a shadowy claw from the ground around the red dragon, but Garble opened his mouth and breathed fire up into Stormclaw’s face, forcing him backwards as he shielded himself. Rising up from the ground, Garble continued to breathe fire on him, the black dragon’s form beginning to flicker and tremble.
Finally managing to clip Chrysalis’ wing, Starlight followed up with her fully charged energy beam, which broke through the changeling queen’s protection spell once again, spiking her down into the ground. When the dust settled, Chrysalis was still lying there, out cold.
Breaking one hoof free of the crystal, Celestia bashed it into the shards holding her neck in place. Once freed, she used a powerful beam from her horn to shatter the rest, turning and using it on the other crystals as well. As everypony broke free of their restraints, Celestia looked up at the Canterlot Tower, not seeing Luna there. She had been worried when her sister did not come to their aid, but it appeared she was gone.
Garble and Stormclaw clashed together, claws in each other’s grasps as they pushed back on one another. They budded heads, still growling lowly at each other. The black dragon’s form flickered again and he momentarily lost his strength, giving Garble the chance to force his claws down and execute a clean strike to his chest, making Stormclaw stutter backwards. Jumping up, Garble drop kicked his enemy, sending him sprawling out onto the ground.
Stormclaw groaned as he rolled around onto his stomach, pushing himself up slowly. Garble lunged at him again, but the black dragon turned and held out his claw, dark magic stopping Garble in his tracks. Spitting out a fang, Stormclaw snarled at him. “You can’t defeat me! It is useless to resist-”
He was suddenly struck by a magic beam in the gut, forcing him to release his hold of Garble as he grabbed at his stomach with both claws. Starlight reeled up and fired again, striking him in the leg this time, forcing him down to one knee. He blocked a strike from Garble, moving to counterattack, but Ember then swooped in and punched him in the side. He shoved her away just to have Garble strike him again, then feel another magic beam strike his arm. Catching himself before falling, he stumbled backwards, his monstrous form shimmering and flickering back to his original and in reverse over and over.
Garble grabbed him by the throat, pulling his face towards him. He crunched his other claw into Stormclaw’s stomach, forcing his head down a bit. “For Starfall.” Garble growled, pulling back as his claw tore through the air, a fire streak trailing it as he slashed the black dragon across the face, sending him spiraling down to the ground. Upon landing, Stormclaw reverted back to his normal form, the Etherus Diamond no longer sending sparks through his body as he released it from his grasp, rolling out into the grass.
Standing over him, Ember scowled. “Finally, it’s over…”
A magic beam then struck all three of them, Garble, Starlight, and Ember, sending them to the ground. Chrysalis came galloping over, grabbing hold of Stormclaw and lifting him up onto her back.
Having been released from the hold of the curse once Stormclaw went down, Discord rose up and tried using his magic to stop the queen, but she had already cast her spell, creating an explosion in the ground around them that made a cloud of dust rise up, engulfing them.
Garble was up quick and ran through the dust, but came out the other side with nothing. The cloud drifted off and dispersed, both Chrysalis and Stormclaw were gone, as well as the Etherus Diamond.
Shadow shot upright from the ground, gasping for air as his eyes returned to their normal color. He could still see it… the star, the blast wave… everypony around him, everything he loved anymore… all gone. He couldn’t let it happen… he must never let it happen.
He turned to see Fluttershy, who was running to him, but stopped at seeing his reaction. He stood up, shaking his head as he backed away.
“Shadow… I’m here, everything is going…” She took in a breath, glancing over at Starfall. “Everything is going to be alright…”
Shadow looked over at Starfall, his breath becoming lost to him as his tears continued to fall. Turning back to Fluttershy, he shook his head again. “I’m so sorry…” He said, turning and galloping away.
“Shadow, no!” She cried, chasing after him, but he disappeared into the dark without a trace. She slowed to a halt. “Shadow…?” She asked quietly. Reality then hit her and she turned back around, seeing her friends all reaching Twilight.
Shaking him again, Twilight felt her tears return to her. “Starfall… Starfall, please wake up…”
Everypony gathered around him, in complete shock at the sight. Rarity held her hoof over her mouth as Applejack lifted her arm onto her friend’s opposite shoulder, embracing her. This couldn’t be real, each of them thought, it just couldn’t.
Celestia, stepping forward, knelt down, placing her head to his chest. She flinched, pulling back up. “He’s not breathing…” She said, her own voice frail at having to say it.
Twilight looked to her in alarm, turning back to her royal guard as she shook him harder. “Starfall! Starfall, come back!” She cried, hardly able to see him because of her tears. She lowered her head to his, taking in a sharp breath. She could remember the day they met, when he arrived at her door after having flown from Canterlot. She remembered crying into his shoulder that night on the train, when they were transporting Shadow to the princesses. She saw their visit to see his parents at Rainbow Falls, their many moments just talking while he was guarding her, his promise to let her rest while he did her work for her when she was exhausted. The many nights spent reading by his side, their many outings with their friends… and their magical dance on what could have become the greatest night of her life. She looked down at him, trembling as she continued to brush his cheek. Taking in another quiet, sharp breath, she whispered to him, “Please… don’t go…”
Ember turned to Garble, unable to watch anymore. Garble lifted his claw up onto her shoulder, looking away with his eyes closed. Starlight gasped for air as well, shaking her head as she collapsed to the ground.
Lifting her head just barely, Twilight waited, hoping, wishing, praying for him to open his eyes… but he didn’t. As the darkness of the night carried on with its sorrowful song, everypony now stood in silence around him, heads lowered or falling, eyes wet with tears, and hearts broken.
Starfall Blitz lay facing the sky. He lied there, burned and scarred, with his friends gathered around him, his enemies gone, and his princess safe.
To be continued...