You know those old monster movies? With the eighty foot monsters that came out of nowhere, started wrecking the city and people were panicking? Yeah that was more or less what was happening in the area around Los Pegasus Grand Park. People who saw the big fuck off shadow centaur did the usual scream and panic while others that were a prime case of Darwinism in the making sort of took their sweet time while recording it on their cell phones.
The large shadowy centaur flexed it's muscles before taking a swipe at a building, phasing right through it before trying a different tactic. Red eyes glowed, there was a pulse that could be felt through the area before it opened it's mouth and let out an orange blast. This time the building was effected, turning gray as it crumbled and decayed, the people inside doing the same as the centaur seemed to grow more... solid.
Being the only one with a crystal left, Dash powered up before using her wings to fly off towards the thing, trying to get a better look at the situation. However no matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be no way to shut this thing down! The only thing she could see was that it was coming from the portal and it had it's left hind hoof right over it! She didn't go unnoticed for long, red eyes turning to her before large hands moved to grab her! Dash was thankfully fast enough to dodge and stay out of it's reach, noting that for now it was staying put... but as it seemed to drain more buildings and people around her, the thing was getting less shadowy and had more of a real form! Would it be able to move after it had enough power? Dammit think!
Grimacing, she looked around for... SOMETHING. Wasn't the army supposed to be on this shit?! Then finally her gaze turned upwards, spotting the sun and the blue sky spanning out across them. There was a sort of stirring in her heart, something she couldn't tell what it was but... she had to try it.
Taking a deep breath, she suddenly flew upwards at great speeds! Pumping her wings with all of her might as she climbed in altitude! Higher and higher above the ground, not stopping until she felt it was right to. Down below the shadowy centaur looked nothing more than an ant, her lungs panting hard to draw in what little oxygen was available up here but she shouted out "Alright you bastard! I'll either crush you, that portal or every bone in my body! SO LET'S DO THIS!" she said, doing a back flip before diving, down, down, down, picking up speed, the friction so great it almost felt like she was burning up! She could feel a wall in her way, trying to resist but..!
Sparks started to light up around Rainbow Dash's body, energy building more and more!
Then with a loud boom, she broke the sound barrier! And a brilliant ring of rainbow light trailed out over the sky as she headed down for the giant centaur and-!
"LET THEM GO!" shouted Jackie, scrambling back onto her feet as Tirek simply laughed maniacally, insanely as he continued to magically shock Sunset and Discord, punishing the annoying gnats that dared stand in his way! "I SAID LET THEM GO YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Jackie shouted again, charging forward and pulling her fist back to punch Tirek right in his face!
Then with a sneer, he opened his maw and fired a beam of magic out, hitting Jackie square in the torso with a mini explosion following!
"JACKIE!!!!!" screamed Sunset, willing herself to fight the pain as she looked towards her girlfriend. The unicorn felt her heart drop at the sight, Jackie lying on the ground, back to her, smoke rising up off of her body and not moving.
No...
She couldn't be.
Not again.
SHE CAN'T BE!
NO!!!!
Then came a pulse. She had no idea what caused it, but it was also probably what caused the pillar of light to become a multicolored rainbow! Tirek was momentarily distracted, confused as suddenly the dark aura on the crystals around his neck was thrown off! They glowed and shot out to Sunset's crystal now, empowering the unicorn so much that she dissipated Tirek's magical hold with but a blast of energy! Discord fell to his front legs and back legs on the ground, disoriented but Sunset had landed on her hooves, eyes aglow as she glared at Tirek. Before he had the chance to say anything, without even a word, her horn charged an immense amount of magic and blasted him! The man's body was caught between the pillar and her magic! Both dispersing his body as he gave an enraged, pained scream until he was no more!
Panting as the glow faded, Sunset's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed onto her side, completely drained...
"Hey... hey! C'mon don't tell me you're dead!"
With a small groan, magenta eyes fluttered open, seeing that same blue sky far above... and a familiar siren standing above her, looking drained but putting on a smile. "About time. I come back from the hospital to try and help and here you handled everything. Show off."
"Heh heh. What can I say? I'm awesome." replied Dash, reaching up to take Aria's hand and pull herself up onto her fee- bad idea! Her legs buckled but the MMA fighter was there to lend a shoulder and prop her up, helping the de-powered athlete hobble off before people started coming by and they had to answer questions. Like where the hell was the giant centaur and why the fountain was a pile of rubble now.
".... JACKIE!" shouted Sunset, suddenly sitting up but wincing at the throbbing pain in her head.
"Whoa! Don't get up so fast!" said Twilight, placing a hoof on Sunset's shoulder.
"B-But Jackie! She got blasted and-!"
"We know." said Celestia, looking tired but smiling gently to Sunset "After Discord sent a message through the book and got you all back, Luna, Twilight and I did everything to help her pull through." A look around revealed that Sunset was in one of the many rooms of Twilight's crystal castle, tucked into bed, safe and sound. "He told us of what happened..."
"And while I have A LOT of questions about how you most likely saw primordial magic and a realm between worlds that goes back all the way before the existence of everything we know now... you probably don't want a lot of questions thrown at you right now." said Twilight smiling sheepishly before going back to worried as Sunset started to get out of bed again. "You really shouldn't! You had a great influx of magical energy! You're lucky that you aren't suffering worse than this!"
"Where's Jackie?" was all Sunset asked, wanting to see her girlfriend for herself, even though her legs felt like jelly the moment she stood on the floor.
"Next door to the right." said Celestia, motioning for Twilight not to argue with the stubborn unicorn. It would be best just to let Sunset see Jackie. Plus, she and Twilight still had much to talk about now that the crisis was over...
With trepidation, the orange unicorn made her way next door and peeked inside, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Jackie on the bed, the pegasus's chest rising and falling slowly. She'd come over and pull herself up onto the bed, snuggling close and carefully resting her head on Jackie's chest so that she could hear the pony's slow, strong heartbeat.
".... place is still kinda tender Sunshine."
Sunset's head jerked up, surprised turquoise eyes staring into tired silver ones "You're awake?"
"Been awake. You've been the one out for three days." joked the guitarist, a statement that nearly had Sunset squawk out a repeat of what Jackie had just said. "You okay?"
"Me? Jackie, while taking in so much magical energy is dangerous, what about you!? You got blasted in the chest!" said Sunset, the memory of which nearly bringing tears to her eyes if it weren't for the anger she felt. She loved how nice Jackie could be but dammit, this wasn't the time for it!
"I know..." said Jackie, quietly and softly as she let Sunset go on.
"And that's on top of disappearing for two days straight! I mean, Poppy's death fucked me up too, but you don't see me disappearing!"
"I know."
"And then you just charge after Tirek, AGAIN! If we didn't have three alicorns on hand and Discord, you'd be dead right now! I know you want to help Jackie, but when you're a human without a crystal to channel magic, you just can't-"
"Do you want to break up?"
That... threw her for a loop. The unicorn blinked, seeming unable to comprehend as Jackie shifted slightly in bed. "You said it yourself, I'm a mess right now... and I can't do much for you on my own with all this magic shit. Even if we did get the crystals back so I could do magic stuff, it's just.... I know you're angry with me and you're probably tired of my shit. And, and I don't want to drag you down, so...." The pegasus seemed close to tears as silence started to move in, no response from Sunset... up until the unicorn bopped her on the head. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Because Poppy isn't here to bop you one when you're being dumb." deadpanned Sunset before shaking her head "Jackie, I don't want to break up."
"But-"
"I know things are strained right now. Like, unimaginably strained before of all this with Tirek. But we've been together for a year and it's been good. I like having you there waiting for me at home after a long day of college, I like going out with you and the gang to do something fun. I love playing in the band with you, I love how your face lights up when we come up with new songs, and I love how much you've taken care of me, even if you can go over the top with it. I just... love you Jacks. Breaking up with you hasn't crossed my mind."
A soft sniffle came from the guitarist as she rubbed her forehead, but a small smile was on her face now "Even after the poptart incident?" she asked jokingly.
"Well..." Sunset joked back, a small smile on her face as she placed a hoof against Jackie's cheek "I know it's been rough lately. But it won't always be this way. We both need help to heal from what's happened and that takes time. I'm not throwing all the good things we have away in the heat of a moment."
"... okay." said Jackie, using the back of her hoof to wipe away some tears as Sunset lied down again, head to the guitarist's chest as they both settled down for a good rest.
After everything that happened, they had no idea what was in store for the future, but whatever came along they knew they'd face it together....