She was right. She was right about everything.
The sun had spoken to her, told her she was special. All this time, she hadn't been following the petty morality of ponies, she had been following a god. A god of power and fire.
She was a good girl. She had done as instructed, and her reward was still to come. She just wished... it would come soon.
She cried then, feeling so alone. She was a good girl, but that just wasn't enough when she had no one around to talk to, to comfort her, to share her revelations with. She staggered to the wall, mashing her face hard against the concrete, feeling the pain lance through her as she stripped the fur from her forehead.
It was good. Penance. Giving of her flesh to Celestia above.
And then she turned, the door opening. Blessed light shone across her, and within that light... her goddess. She gasped with blessed relief, prostrating herself before Celestia's mighty figure, “My Princess... my sweet Princess...”
“Sunshine Ivory.” Celestia spoke, her voice cold and her eyes icy, “You have weathered your imprisonment... poorly.”
Sunshine Ivory gasped in horror, having not applied her makeup, not dressed appropriately, “I... I'm so sorry my Princess...”
She went to look for something to wash up in but Celestia stopped her with a hoof. Sunshine Ivory paused, looking up for explanation. Celestia regarded her with that same coldness, her voice finally moving in one, grimly spoken but totally wonderful sentence, “You were right.”
Sunshine Ivory's eyes filled with tears, “My Princess...”
“This world needs to be saved, and I am the one to do it.” Celestia stated, “This is what the Goddess made me for. What Twilight Sparkle made me for. To bring justice to this world.”
Sunshine Ivory remembered her crimes. They were necessary, but still... “I'm... so sorry...”
“You did what needed to be done. I loved Zenai, but her influence was holding us back. Holding me back from my true purpose.” Celestia closed her eyes, pain lancing across her brow. Then it was gone, eyes opening with cold determination once more. A set of robes floated over, landing softly before Sunshine Ivory, Celestia addressing her, “Put those on and join me. We have a lot to do.”
¬
Gavorn waved a claw at the medics waiting at dock from his perch aboard their transport, honestly happy to see Star Fall after everything that had happened. He knew their forces had already landed in Equestria, already made it off the beaches. To them would go great honor... but he had not signed up for honor.
The transport shuddered into dock, pulled in by the crew. He padded down the steps to the cabin, where his commander lay. Pangaea had been trapped inside a smouldering suit of power armor, crushed under both its weight and the weight of half the deck. It had taken far too long to get him healing potion.
It was obvious they needed to get him back to Star Fall, and Gavorn had insisted on doing it personally. He was a sailor for a start, having no business doing war on land. And he was Pangaea's first mate, his second. That meant seeing to his needs first.
He looked down upon the zebra, bundled in bandages upon the cot, “Don't worry Admiral, we'll see you right.”
¬
Easu looked out over the balcony, into the distance, across the blue, choppy waters. He couldn't see it with his naked eye but he knew it was there, just one last short journey away. The place he had only ever heard stories about, the great evil of the zebra lands... and the place when he would finally reunite with Star Swirl.
Star Fall, close enough to almost see with his own eyes.
"She stood there once you know. Me, Zenai and Star Swirl, standing on this balcony planning the future."
Easu turned, smiling as Dust Kicker came up behind, "You knew her before the demon infested her."
Dust gave a soft shrug in response, trotting over and sinking his body into one of the piled cushions that lay about, "Well, that's a difficult question to answer. I had only known her about a day or two before that happened, and she hadn't exactly made a good impression."
"Why not?"
Dust chuckled, "Dived out of an airship in high winds, with no preparation or plan." He grinned to himself, "Threw me against the wall with her magic to boot. Had to save the dumb mare."
Easu hadn't heard this, "Why?"
"To save the crew of a sinking ship." Dust Kicker thought for a moment before realization dawned, "Still, one of the mares we managed to pull out of there was Sabah, so it turned out ok in retrospect."
Easu looked back to the horizon, "It was a brave thing to do."
"No, it was dumb. There's a difference." Dust Kicker lectured with a little impatience, "All this? It doesn't surprise me. She was always so impulsive, so driven by her heart, never stopping to think about if what she's doing made any sense."
Easu was surprised by that. He had always assumed Star Swirl to have been a gentle, soft girl, corrupted into become hard and aggressive by Char, “That sounds a lot like the Star Swirl I knew. I had expected... I don't know."
Dust Kicker's expression grew troubled. He seemed deep in thought about something, Easu giving him time to work out his answer. Eventually Dust finally spoke, though he still sounded hesitant, “Zenai was best placed to see any change in her personality. She told me that Star Swirl had become more confident, more... sure in herself. That she was always quick to do something stupid, but she had started doing it with conviction."
Easu frowned, "I'm not sure that's a good thing."
"Well, I can only hope that we can talk her down."
Easu considered that unlikely. Still he took Dust's advice, and hoped.
¬
It brought back memories, being face to face with her once again. She looked younger, less weathered, Celestia having barely recognized her last time they met. She supposed now it was the other way round, Celestia having herself... updated her look in the meantime, “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me Dream Star.”
“Anytime Justicar.” Dream Star replied, a smile playing across her features, “Or should I call you Star Swirl?”
Celestia frowned at the mare, seeing she was still as... 'playful' as ever, “You know who I am.”
“Do you?” Dream Star asked, “I really do have sympathy for you alicorns. Robbed of your identity, your head still full of the Goddess... who would have thought after all this time, you would go back to the identity she gave you.” Dream Star smirked, “But it always fit you like a glove didn't it?”
Celestia allowed herself to smile, this at least had some truth to it, “I figured you would understand.”
Dream Star looked interested at this, “How so?”
“You've been running since the day of Sunshine and Rainbows too.” Celestia pointed out, keeping her voice firmly level, “A mare of your power, playing wasteland adventurer? It was as much of a farce as 'Star Swirl'.”
“True.” Dream Star conceded, “And I just got all my friends killed too, so there's something else we have in common.”
Celestia wasn't going to rise to her bait. She had already come to terms with the truth, “Star Swirl got all her friends killed. She was weak, and hesitant, and cowardly.” She looked round at her surroundings, smiling at the power that surrounded them, “I'm not going to make that mistake.”
Few came down here anymore, for the most part the sub-basement levels of Star Fall were used for long term storage. The current room was utterly cavernous, huge towers of girdered steel rising far above their heads. There were six rooms just like this one. In the other five those towers raised from the ground, supporting the city that had grown around them.
Here... they served their original purpose, supporting the towering cylinders of rusted metal that had stood here for over two hundred years. Star Swirl admired them, rusted steel inscribed with zebra glyphs. As far as she knew they were the only ones still in existence.
The zebra megaspells.
Or not, as she had been told. In truth the megaspells contained here were merely to ignite the other elements that had been stored in their warheads, elements that had long since decayed past their usable form. And an inspection revealed the truth about the missiles, not one would ever launch. Star Fall had used their supply of megaspells as a tool to inspire fear for years, likely knowing the truth. That the fabled megaspell complement of Star Fall were ultimately of no use whatsoever.
In their current form anyway, “Why don't we stop bickering, and get to the point of the matter?”
Dream Star cocked her head, “Which is?”
“You need a fast ship back to Equestria. And I need a workable megaspell.”
Dream Star laughed, “I appreciate your faith in me, but I'm afraid it's not quite that simple. You don't even have a megaspell reactor on this rock, and even if you did I can't just build a weapon's grade megaspell.”
“I didn't say it had to be weaponsgrade.”
Dream Star frowned at this, "You're going to conquer the world with a... utility megaspell?”
Celestia allowed herself a moment of satisfaction at having silenced the crone for a moment, “I have a spell already. Sunshine Ivory has a spell that can call down a great ray of light from the sun itself, powerful enough to immolate a zebra in a single blast.”
Dream Star smiled, seeming to be catching on, “But...”
“I need more range, and power. I can add the power and skill of other unicorns to my own, but it's still not enough.” She gritted her teeth in frustration, “I need a multiplier. A focus.”
“You want the Celestia 1 megaspell.” Dream Star noted.
Celestia shook her head, “I want the Spear of Celestia.”
Dream Star frowned at this, “What?”
“Do I have you at a disadvantage?” Celestia noted with a chuckle, “The Spear of Celestia is the spell Celestia 1 is based off. She needed considerable preparation time and the help of other unicorns, but even without megaspells Celestia could wipe a whole city block clean with a single shot. It struck terror into the hearts of her enemies and allies alike, the purest expression of her power.”
“I'm more a Cadance girl.” Dream Star noted with a smirk, before her expression became a little more serious, “If you're talking about a focus... the megaspells in those missiles are designed to collect and focus vast amounts of energy into a single spot. With a little modification, they could be adapted to work with another spell. Add to that one of the megaspell reactors that power the city, and you might well have a couple of hours charge time between each shot, with minimal burden should you have... say, at least six powerful unicorns casting.”
Celestia smiled. Those were better numbers than she could ever hope for, “What you're talking about... it's a vast improvement on Celestia 1. Or even the Spear of Celestia.”
“Actually it would be smaller, weaker, far less impressive... a dim reflection of the real deal in all respects.” Dream Star paused, giving Celestia a shit eating grin in the hope of some reaction. When she saw she wasn't going to get one she relented, continuing on, “But providing you have a unicorn capable of casting the original spell, the co-ordinates of the intended target, and a whole group of powerful unicorns trained in joint spellcasting... yes, I can craft you something acceptable to sit at its heart.”
Celestia smiled, one more step on the path to her victory. They thought they had won, just because they had driven her from the mainland? Soon the mainland would be a field of ashes, and she would build her new world upon them, "And you will have your trip home. A pleasure doing business with you Dream Star."
Dream Star just smiled, knowing and smug as ever. Still Celestia could care less. As long as Dream Star held up her end of the deal this would give her a near unstoppable advantage, a weapon finally capable of scouring the wasteland clean of evil.
Of saving the world.
¬
"So there you have it. The hard facts."
Easu stood into the council chambers, staring across at Star Paladin Cato as the zebra pointed up at the map of Star Fall that hung on the far wall. Each one of its giant defense guns was labeled, each anti air turret, each wall and gate, each chokepoint and potential minefield. The various avenues of attack were listed beside... along with the expected casualties.
"Even Inctua, with all his armies, never even considered mounting an invasion of Star Fall." Kale commented, "Even now, with barely a hundred defenders, the place is an impregnable fortress."
Easu looked on at the diagram, looking for weaknesses. There had to be something...
"Wait." Dust Kicker asked, eyes narrowed in thought, "How many defenders?"
"Two hundred and fifty guard." Sabah advised, before frowning as others turned to look at the young zebra, "What?”
“That's a very precise number.” Dust eventually ventured, “How do you know the number of Star Fall's garrison?”
The girl's face fell, “I was friends with Themba. He told me."
“So, two hundred and fifty.” Cato confirmed.
"And the Church of Celestia, along with whatever other followers Celestia has found." Kale added, before shaking her head, "More than enough to command the defenses that place has. Most of our forces would never reach land."
Dust Kicker shook his head, marching forward from his seat to wave unsteadily at the map, "Only if they know we're coming."
"How would we disguise an army?" Cato asked, "Star Fall is an island, there's no hiding our approach."
Dust Kicker faced Cato, "We can't. We don't. But trade hasn't stopped, ships are still docking there. It would be simple enough to sneak on board one of them..."
Cato gave him a doubtful look, "They would be instantly suspicious of any transport large enough to carry even a fifth of our forces."
Dust Kicker smiled at that, "How about twenty ponies?"
"You're planning a raid." Xephyr responded, ears perking up now for the first time during the whole meeting, "A small team, breaking right through the enemy at their weakest point and finishing the mission before they can respond."
"And what mission would that be?" Kale asked, sounding disapproving.
"The master controls for the islands defenses are inside the central mountain. We get to those, the place is wide open." Dust Kicker explained, "And more to the point, we can use them to isolate Star Swirl."
"An assassination?" Cato asked.
"An intervention." Dust Kicker corrected, "We convince her to stand down."
Xephyr was the first to agree, "Well I'm up for that. And I'll be going along of course."
"Eh, a little too old for commando raids." Kale commented, shrugging her massive shoulders, "I'll take command of the armies, be ready to lead them in attack should something go wrong."
"As will I." Dust Kicker concurred.
Easu took issue with this immediately, standing up and glaring down at the pony, "You are not coming Dust Kicker?"
"Look at me." Dust commented with a grin, waving at his missing leg, "I'd be a complete liabity in a fight. And someone has to lead your army while you are away."
Easu paused, "I... did you just volunteer me?"
Dust Kicker chuckled, "Don't tell me you weren't going to go. And apart from me, you're easily the one who knows Star Swirl best."
Easu conceded the point, and in truth he did wish to be the one who confronted Star Swirl. Really it felt wrong entrusting it to any other, "You are right. Though risking myself in such a way seems an insult to those who trust in me."
"I know how you feel, but the skills to pull this off are in short supply." Cato commented, stepping forward and bowing his head, "Given I am the Luna Ranger's infiltration specialist, I am forced to recommend myself. I also have two others, Darkstripe and Jeptos, fine zebra who would be perfect for this task."
"Then that's five." Easu confirmed.
"Star Fall was my home for nearly five months." Sabah commented, "I'm the only one here who really knows how to navigate it."
"And I'm small, quick, agile and you know how good I am in a fight." Ace Gold added, "So I'm coming too."
Sabah looked concerned, Easu noting her expression and nodding to her in encouragement. She smiled at that, speaking up, “There's another Star Fall native who's been traveling with me. A pegasus with Enclave training, who fought with me at Clendel.”
“Isn't she in her late forties?” Ace Gold interjected.
Sabah frowned, “Does it matter?”
“I don't disagree with taking Going Merry.” Xephyr stated softly, her eyes locking with Sabah's, “But Star Swirl has her daughter, and your best friend. She's not going to hesitate to use her against you.”
“Maybe we'll use Sunny against her.” Sabah countered.
Easu listened to the argument, deciding to cut in, “Going Merry is a good shot, and a pegasus. Both are useful skills, and she's already proved herself against Celestia's forces.”
Sabah looked surprised at his intervention, “Thank you.”
Easu simply figured keeping someone from the mission because it was too personal for them would be massively hypocritical, “Dust Kicker, who are my three best soldiers?”
“For this mission?” Dust Kicker asked, then leant his head back to think about it, “Silverstripe is the best shot we have, and has great instincts. Tanned Hide is a great scout, fast, quiet and a wizard with blades. And Zanaia is just solid all round, better than average at pretty much everything.”
“I feel odd volunteering them, but there's a few Dusklight kids who would hate missing out on the chance to take Celestia down once and for all.” Xephyr offered.
Ace quickly perked up, “Bleak Waters and Xeni?”
“Sadly not. Bleak Waters insists he is no warrior, and Xani is still dealing with bandits in the east.” Xephyr answered, "But Hayseed, Kobe and Kushina are all excellent fighters and scouts."
"I've served with Hayseed." Ace Gold confirmed, "He's good at what he does."
"And the other two are just as competent." Xephyr added, "They'll be an asset."
Easu felt this might be taking liabilities, "Radhi isn't here. I hesitate to commit his troops..."
"He dedicated them to stopping Celestia." Xephyr reminded them with a smile, "You know he would want Dusklight to be involved. This battle started in those caves, and they deserve to be there when we finish it."
Easu questioned quite when Xephyr became a fully paid up member of the Dusklight kids, but honestly he questioned quite when she became a part of this war council. He wondered if instant access to the leadership of any organisation she walked into was one of her Princess Powers, "I will ask them if they wish to volunteer." He sighed as he considered the roster, even with their inclusion, "I don't suppose we can enlist the help of any dragons, or the praetorians, or Myrtus?"
"There are some dragons hanging around the city." Kale noted, "I'll ask. The praetorians and ghost warriors are both unfortunately over the other side of the country."
Easu regretted having not lobbied for them to join now. Still, if things went well they shouldn't even need them. He would be able to convince Star Swirl to stand down, and it would all be over.
And if not... "We do have one big weapon against Star Swirl. The same weapon we once used to save Puppysmiles, when she was lost."
Dust Kicker nodded, though his voice was slightly hesitant, "Dream walking."
"But... we needed Star Swirl for that." Ace Gold pointed out.
Easu admitted that was a problem, "I don't suppose we have any priests in the city capable of invading another pony's dreamscape?"
"An extremely rare discipline." Daisy noted, "And Lord Caesar distrusted priests. The only place where I have heard tell of priests experienced enough for that... is Star Fall."
Easu sighed, he figured as much. Still maybe it was time to put his theory into practice, "Then I just need a few trained magic users."
"Those we can do." Dust Kicker confirmed.
"Are we really doing this?" Kale asked, her tone somewhat incredulous, "Invading Star Fall?"
"Something zebra have dreamed of since the bombs fell." Easu acknowledged, admitting that it was a bizarre thing to even consider, "My father fought Star Fall for most of his life, yet never considered it possible to take the island itself."
"Is that what we're doing?" Kale asked, "Conquering it?"
Everyone paused in thought, Dusk Kicker actually the first to speak. He looked to Sabah, smiling at her, "What do you think Sabah?"
She blinked, "Me?"
"You're from Star Fall." Dust Kicker pointed out, "If we topple Star Swirl from leadership, who takes over?"
"Takes over the Church of Celestia, or Star Fall?" She asked.
"Both I guess."
She sighed, "Star Fall has the council. Pangaea, Mint Engine, and Golden Dawn. Of those... Pangaea is in Equestria, which is a good thing." She lifted her eyes to look pointedly at them, "He would never let anypony take Star Fall while he still lived, and hates the mainland."
"I remember Golden Dawn." Dust Kicker commented, "She was in favor of peace with Caesar."
"She was also imprisoned by Star Swirl, and I seriously doubt she's still alive. And Mint Engine is only a council member because he heads the science division, he has very little political authority." Sabah snorted, "And almost all the leadership of the Church of Celestia follows Star Swirl. So the answer to 'who leads'... is no one, frankly."
"That's a bag of dicks." Kale bluntly summarised, "Without anyone of authority, we'll be steering a rudderless ship."
"At least we'll be steering." Dust Kicker pointed out, "Everypony, go get ready. We've got a couple of days at best to plan an invasion of one of the best protected cities on the planet, and a literal alicorn princess. So make it count."
¬
It wasn't right. Time and again Gavorn tried to reach his friends, and time and again he was simply bade to leave a message. Sometimes they would ring later, explaining in shaking voice how everything was fine, don't worry about a thing.
Often they didn't reply at all. Those not responding? Golden Dawn, Themba and Mint Engine, the other three members of the ruling council. Themba hadn't even contacted them to see the condition of his own son.
Gavorn looked out the window of Pangaea's mansion. He was sure they were being watched.
Behind Pangaea stirred, his voice weakly sounding out, “Gavorn... please, something for the pain...”
Gavorn obliged, peering through the door and motioning to the two doctors. They were deep in conversation, counter waving for him to come over. He obliged, “What is it?”
“You've done well to bring him here commander, but his wounds are very serious.” The first doctor stated.
“We're not saying it's a lost cause, but you need to prepare for the worst.” The second concurred.
“Nonsense.” Gavorn firmly stated, “I'm no doctor, but I've seen plenty of serious wounds in my time. And I've seen lesser zebra survive much more. Now please, something for the pain.”
The first doctor nodded, taking a syringe from the tray and tapping it before moving over the bed. Gavorn grimaced at the smell, having a more sensitive nose than most. Indeed it was familiar somehow...
...he reached forward and gripped the doctor's hoof tightly, “That's hemlock extract.”
The other doctor reached into his coat and pulled a pistol from the folds, the weapon already buckled to his hoof. Still drawing it gave enough time for Gavorn to react, swinging about the doctor in his grasp and using him to shield himself from the first bullet. It punched through the doctor's throat, leaving him gasping as Gavorn pulled his own pistol from its holster and fired back. One, two, three bullets marked the second doctor's head before his dropped, Gavorn then shoving the first away and finishing him with a single bullet.
“Gavorn...” Pangaea whispered, “...what's going on?”
“Nothing good.” Gavorn answered, quickly reloading his weapon, “Looks like we have to go.”
¬
Being mostly made of pre-war steel of varying qualities, Star Fall constantly needed a lot of maintenance. As such it wasn't an unusual sight to see a griffon in heavy safety gear hauling a large, covered length of steel on his back...
...though perhaps seeing one loitering in the mansion district was. And Gavorn was starting to run out of options, and become aware of how suspicious he was starting to look. Themba's house? Guarded by a pair of zebra he didn't recognise. Golden Dawn's? Members of the Church of Celestia passing in and out. Gavorn didn't trust either, so he continued looking, looking for someone willing to tell him what was going on.
Yet it was third time lucky. The spearmint colored stallion opened the door to them, adjusting his glasses as he stared into Gavorn's dirty face and heavy goggles, “Hello, can I help...?”
“Mint Engine, it's me.” Gavorn stated, preparing himself in case this went bad. On one claw, Mint Engine was reliably harmless, on the other it couldn't be a coincidence that he was the only one still seeming to be in residence, “I have Pangaea with me.”
Mint Engine's expression went pale, “Oh my...”
“Mint.” Gavorn stated, his voice low but firm, “If you sent us away, we'll die.”
Mint Engine coughed, then moved away from the door, “Please... come in.”
Gavorn entered, waiting until Mint Engine has closed the door again before untying the straps and letting Pangaea fall from his back. The poor zebra was still unconscious, possibly mercifully, “Mint, you're a doctor aren't you?”
Mint looked across at Pangaea, gulping back his fear yet unable to hide the tremor in his voice, “Please, bring him this way.”
Gavorn picked his commander up and followed into a standard issue laboratory, a large clean table in the centre. Mint Engine indicated to place Pangaea there and so he did, taking the opportunity to ask some questions in the meantime, “What has happened? Where is Themba, and Golden Dawn?”
"Dead, and in prison.” Mint Engine replied, “It is Princess Celestia who controls Star Fall now.”
“Wait... what?” Gavorn hesitated to call bullshit, Mint Engine really didn't look like he was joking, “Explain.”
“It was Sunshine Ivory, the High Priestess of Celestia."
Gavorn cursed, "That bitch!"
"Indeed." Mint Engine commented, "She had Themba killed and Golden Dawn thrown in prison. She dissolved the high council, and in its place brought in this alicorn mare... Princess Celestia.”
“So she's painted an alicorn white?” Gavorn asked, not impressed that it had been that easy, “And Star Fall brought that?”
“This new alicorn is very powerful.” Mint Engine explained, “And quite... effective in her acquisition of power. She turned on Sunshine Ivory immediately, accused her of the murder of Themba and many other crimes. And since then she has proven quite popular and quite... unwise to challenge.”
Gavorn got the hint there, “Is that why you're still here, while the others are gone? You didn't challenge her?”
“I have had a long career of not being a threat.” He responded, “And I do not intend to start.”
“So we're just going to let her...”
“My dear Gavorn, I'm not sure I've made it clear.” Mint Engine insisted, turning eyes full of concern down upon him, “This alicorn makes a good case for being Princess Celestia. I have heard tales of her taking down whole groups of heavily armed opponents, and she has never been seen to bleed. She made more alicorns from her followers, granting others wings and horns.”
Gavorn tried to deny the idea. But Mint Engine was no fool, “How?”
“I am forced to reply, 'because she is an alicorn princess'.” Mind Engine answered, adjusting his glasses and staring pointedly, “And though my friendship compels me to at least offer you sanctuary, we both would be wise to leave it at that.”
¬
Sabah, sat meditating, thinking on her lessons, on Celestia. She had to focus, she had to be clear of mind...
...she sighed, opening her eyes and looking round at Going Merry. The mare was busy grooming her wings, noticing Sabah after a moment and giving a smile, "You've got through everything else. You'll get through this too."
"Everything else has generally been a shitshow." Sabah retorted, frustrated with her own inability to focus, "I've lost far too much, I can’t lose..."
She cursed herself as she saw Going Merry's face fall. She reminded herself who she was speaking to, sure Sunny was her best friend, but she was also Going Merry's daughter. And here she was, contemplating her death.
After a moment Merry just smiled however, moving over and gently tousling Sabah's hair, "You know, we feared we'd lost her once before."
Sabah remembered, the first time they met. Sunny has gotten caught up with an internal struggle, almost got herself killed. Sabah had saved her, "Yeah..."
"Sunny thinks the world of you. Was always telling me that you were the strongest mare in the world, that you could do anything."
Sabah sighed, relaxing a little at Merry's touch as the mare ran the comb through her hair, "She doesn't know any better."
Merry chuckled, "We've been travelling together for a little over a month now, and Sabah... I see what she was talking about now." She paused for a moment before her voice lowered to a whisper, "You know, a lot of ponies compared you to Sunshine Ivory."
Sabah tensed, though she had made the comparison herself, "Both of us came from the wasteland, both of us had a whole history of darkness and killing behind us."
"Sunshine Ivory came from Star Fall. She was born there, she was educated there... but she never really belonged." Merry stated softly, "At her base level, she belonged in the wasteland. Behind all her grace and charm, she's ultimately a sadistic monster."
Sabah's shoulders dropped, feeling the hatred in her heart. The hatred... for herself. She had... done things. Done terrible things...
"You belong in Star Fall Sabah. You might have not been born there, but your heart... it's full of compassion, wisdom, conviction worthy of Celestia yourself." Merry drew her hooves around Sabah's shoulders, holding her close, "Behind the scars, behind the roughness... there's a spirit that embodies everything good about us. And that spirit is going to save my daughter, and bring us home."
Sabah relaxed into her embrace, for a moment wondering if it was true, if she was really strong enough. Still, at the end of the day she could only accept it. She would fight, as hard and as smart as she could. And if her cause was just, either she would come out victorious... or encourage others to take up her banner.
And that was all that mattered in the end.
¬
Easu watched as his team prepared, wrestling with the insecurity in his chest. He was going into battle with no weapons, confronting Star Swirl with no firm plan. And even if they won, there were just too many outcomes that he would never forgive himself for.
...but he had to let go of his selfishness and embrace the truth. Star Swirl's death would be a great victory to many of these equines, and pave the path to peace. And if that was what it took...
"You are almost prepared?"
Easu turned and looked across at Daisy, flanked by two of her guards. He nodded, "Yes, almost."
"Good." She replied, "Ideally I would like this to be cleared up as efficiently as possible."
Easu was still unsure what her angle was, "What do you want Daisy?"
The donkey gave him an assessing look before speaking, "Star Swirl and her fanatics out of power, normalised relations between us and Star Fall. And in the longer term, normalised relations between us and Equestria, and the rest of the zebra kingdoms."
"You prefer a peaceful world?"
“I am an old merchant. I prefer a stable market.” Daisy explained, her expression sour, “And I've seen two wars in my lifetime, and one religious fanatic. All three resulted in the deaths of those I care about, and the loss of years of investment and planning.”
Easu wondered if the two were comparable to her, “You dislike violence.”
“I am not a soft mare. I met Dust Kicker when the NCR hired me to forge a new trade route through bandit territory, and out of all the mercenaries I hired, only he beat my kill count.” She grunted, looking rather proud, “You don't make it as wasteland merchant without knowing your way around a rifle, or without knowing how to hunt, skin and cook your own meals. But war is nothing but a pile of shit, and I wish you would all figure that out already.”
“So you're a merchant. Buy low, sell high.” Easu observed, “And I'm a calculated risk. You couldn't defeat my army, and ultimately our interests align. Aiding me is the best option available to you.”
“Caesar emptied out the garrisons of Star Fall and the Golden Coast, over confident in their static defences. And not a moment after he crossed the horizon this Princess Celestia pops up, demanding our allegiance, and how quite do you defend against an alicorn princess capable of just teleporting into your throne room at will?” Daisy noted with sharp irritation, “I didn't have anything capable of stopping her, so I bided my time and waited for my opportunity.”
Easu could respect that, “I wouldn’t hold it against you if you considered me an enemy, to appease until a better option came along."
She snorted, "I'm keeping my options open."
"I intend no harm on this city.”
“And my liege lord?”
Easu took a deep breath, “I will not insult you with platitudes. This war cannot continue. If the zebra are to advance into the future, the violence must stop.” He looked to her, “If the fire allows it, I would do this thing without a single life being lost.”
“If my lord Caesar dies, I will not accept your claim to the Golden Coast.” Daisy stated coldly, “And if you wish to press the matter, you will have a fight on your hooves. I am a pragmatic mare, but a contract is a contract.”
He nodded, “I test myself in the fire. If I cannot save Star Swirl, if I cannot save my brother... then I cannot save the zebra either.”
¬
“...and I promise you this! You have seen my power, what it can do! If they come here, and they will come here, you will see first hand the true power of your Princess as I burn the sin from their bodies!”
“Easy for her to say that.” Whispered a figure within the crowd, nodding up at where Princess Celestia addressed them all from the mountain balcony, “But we all know she's scared of the Equestrian Princess.”
“I heard she won.” Whispered another.
“Only because she cheated.”
“The Equestrian Princess is a fraud, I heard she used dark magic in the fight, just like Princess Luna.”
“Princess Luna is a saint! She died protecting those children from that brute Starhammer!”
Pangaea sighed as he eased himself away from the crowd, making sure to keep his face concealed beneath the raincoat he was wearing. Fortunately his face had been burned during the attack on his battleship, still he was aware he was somewhat distinctive looking.
But no scar on his body was a match for the scar on his soul left by this Equestrian whore starting a religious war in his city. He resisted the urge to glare at a couple of thugs in white robes, shaking down yet another shopkeeper. He wished he was strong enough to show them just what he thought of their 'Princess'... but he was aware he wouldn't show anyone anything by getting himself killed.
He slipped into Mint Engine's house through the back entrance, Gavorn looking up at where he had sprawled himself out on some cloth bedding at the side of the garage. The griffon was instantly up, a relieved grin spread across his face, “You were gone way too long! I was worried.”
Gavorn had always fussed, though he had gotten much worse of late, “I can take care of myself. We need to gather information if we're ever going to take this city back.”
“I still think we should ship out.” Gavorn ventured, not for the first time, “Go to Equestria, get in contact with our armies.”
“That is exactly what she would expect us to do. I have never won a battle by being predicable, she has to be watching the shipping lanes between here and Equestria, and have any communication systems tightly locked down.” Pangaea countered, “I have another plan in mind.”
“And this plan is?”
“I had the pleasure of listening to our 'Princess' making a speech today.” Pangaea noted with a smirk, “And she seems convinced that there's an army on the mainland aching for her head. It seems like she might be nursing a grudge, focusing entirely on them...”
“So we... ally with them?”
Pangaea hardened his expression, “We use them. The mainlanders have never been our friends, and a common enemy won't change that. We use them as a distraction to take back our island, and dispose of any and all unwanted guests.”
Gavorn noticeably shrank back a little, still he soon straightened back out, thumping a claw against his chest, “I'm with you till the end captain.”
He really was, wasn't he. Just himself and one loyal soldier, against two entire armies.
The best kind of odds a stallion could ask for.
¬
Easu hated water. He had rarely had a chance to experience it, but every time had made his swear never again. Yet here he was, crammed into the cargo area with near two dozen other sweaty bodies, totally aware that if they sank there would be no getting out.
At least he was able to use his magic to counter sea sickness. Many of those aboard were from inland and there were many green faces about the crew. Most of the worst off had been able to go above to puke over the side, the two dragons with them however had needed to be confined below. He therefore had the pleasure of learning what dragon puke smelt like.
"It's unfortunate." Going Merry commented, helping the sea sick ponies how she could, "Our forces are going to be somewhat understrength on landing."
Cato grunted, his eyes firmly closed, "I am shamed."
"We should have prepared better." Easu replied, kicking himself for his lack of forethought, "Zebra of the Golden Coast are descended from fishers and sailors, I failed to consider the possibility that they would be naturally better adapted to travelling the sea than those inland."
"I'm honestly surprised the dragons aren't handling it better." Going Merry commented, "Pegasi have to have a very strong sense of balance in order to fly."
"It's more... ugh... more being cooped up in here." One of the dragons, a female called Fynn replied, wiping her muzzle with a claw and looking even greener than she already was, "Dragons don't do confined spaces."
"I'm sorry. They would inevitably have questions if they saw dragons on deck." Easu reasoned. He figured they had to know about the dragons at Clendel, and though Fynn and her companion Burper were only a little larger than your average zebra they were still distinctive enough to raise questions, "As soon as we reach port, you can break for air."
"And start wrecking shit!" Burper added, thumping his claws together enthusiastically, "Show the world what we can do!"
Easu hoped he'd made the right decision bringing them, "No civilian casualties."
"Bah, if they don't have the sense to get out of the way they deserve to get burned!" Burper stated proudly, thrusting his chest out, "You equines coddle your weak too much, it only encourages them!"
"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Fynn interrupted, "Any if our employer wishes us to limit our attacks to those who wish to harm us... well it's like a game. Like skull kicker."
"I do like skull kicker." Burper admitted.
Easu really hoped he had made the right decision bringing them. Having dragons on the team seemed like a good idea at first, but...
"Land ho!"
Easu looked up at the voice from above, locking eyes with those around him, "Everyone, get ready."
The sound of the city soon reached them, Easu watching everyone tense for the battle to come. A light tapping on the hatch indicated for them to start making their way up, Easu filled with relief as he lifted himself up into the cold morning air. One of his soldiers saluted him as he emerged, "We've found a small dock, a little out of the way. We made it look like we'd hit a current the wrong way and drifted off course, there's only a small detachment of soldiers waiting for us."
Easu looked at Star Fall, the great mountain looming above the rickety city like some great, defiant beast. The carving of Celestia fighting the All Mother that covered the side felt like a challenge, the mountain rearing up like some angry beast. He looked to his destination, a set of three small landing platforms. They looked pretty badly maintained, he guessed few used them.
A group was indeed waiting. Four soldiers in mismatched but resilient looking metal armor and... a Knight of Celestia. That was worrying, he didn't know how many there were but was sure they didn't generally handle port inspections, "I want Ace Gold up here."
Ace obliged, appearing from the hold after a moment, "Easu?"
"We need our welcoming party taken down. Quietly, and non-lethally if possible."
Ace Gold nodded, summoning up Sabah and Xephyr. They took cover within the cabin, waiting patiently as the small transport ship pulled into dock. Some of the guards immediately called out as the crew moved to deploy the anchor, "You there, state your purpose."
"Just transporting goods..." The crewman started, before crossbow bolts soared over his head and took the first guard down with no time to do anything but gasp.
The Knight was first to react, to her credit. She leapt back, unbuckling her spear from her side, "We are att...ach!" Her voice failed as Xephyr slammed down in front of her, the Knight swinging out her spear and merely shaving off a few hairs from Xephyr's mane. The next sound from her throat was a simple pained gasp, Xephyr swinging up with a fearsome uppercut and knocking the Knight spark out.
A guard had his rifle out, just about to fire when Sabah came out behind him and caught him in a chokehold. He went limp fairly quickly after that.
"Fire!" Cried one of the two remaining guards as he ran for cover, "Call for...!"
Fynn dropped out of the sky like a meteor, driving the guard's head through the dock's floor. The other guard was less fortunate, Fynn’s mouth opening to unleash a ball of flame that immolated him instantly. He was already dead by the time he toppled sideways into the water.
The dragon chuckled as the combat ceased, standing to her full height and grinning at the others, "I win. Took down two of them."
Easu saw Ace open his mouth to say something, jumping down off the ship and silencing him with a wave. That done he nodded to the dragon, "That you did. Keep doing that and you'll more than earn your pay."
Easu watched Ace stroll over, an angry look on his face. Easu braced himself, Ace's issue exactly what he expected, "You said minimum causalities."
"If possible." Easu replied, giving Ace a reproachful look, "Ace, those guards were about to fire. One of you might have been killed if she didn't step in."
"We can handle..."
"They are loose cannons, and they might prove a liability eventually." Easu admitted, though he didn't pull back on the reproving glare, "But we needed more muscle, and they signed on. It's up to you to use them wisely."
Ace gave him a surprised look, "Up to me?"
"Ace, I thought that was obvious." Easu stated, admitting that they had never formally agreed on his role. Still, he thought nothing further had needed to be said, "You have commanded dozens of missions for me now. You are my best scout, my best engineer and my best small unit commander. You are in charge of this operation."
"What about Xephyr?"
"She looks to you for orders." Easu replied.
Ace looked shocked, “She does!?” Realisation quickly dawned, face falling, “She really does doesn’t she? She was never really a ‘plan’ mare... ugh, I’m turning into my mother...”
"She clearly sees the same thing in you that I do. And the others... they all respect you."
Ace sighed, then his expression became resolute, "Ok... everyone out. Quick and quiet, and let's do this."
They set out, the city quiet, peaceful. Towers of interconnected walkways extended in all directions, grey steel decorated with a kaleidoscope of graffiti. Yet among all of it, the sight of a living equine was a rare one indeed. Going Merry was the first to speak, "This is wrong."
"Yeah, the city's too quiet." Sabah agreed.
"Star Swirl could have locked down the city." Ace Gold optioned, "After Demonivore fell."
"I sense... boredom. Tension, but not too much. Peace." Xephyr opened her eyes again, shaking out her mane and looking to Ace, "It seems like there is a lockdown, but it's been in place for a little while. Doesn't seem unusual either."
Easu was uncertain. It all seemed to convenient, "It will keep civilians from crossfire at least."
"But it will make it impossible to blend in with the crowds." Ace countered.
"Not like there was much chance of that." Easu stated, nodding to their destination, "We have to keep moving."
Easu had never visited Star Fall. It had gained a rather mythological weight for him from the simple fact that he had never considered it remotely likely, the whole city full of people who wanted his father dead. The headquarters of a faction whose soldiers he had executed, who's cities he had seen bombed into oblivion.
When he was a child he had dreamed of the moment, when the Warlord Thassan would cross blades with General Themba, and their rivalry would finally be decided. Being here, now... he realised both zebra had died to assassins, killed by those who considered them outdated relics, mere obstacles in their path. That ultimately, the world had moved on.
He wrinkled his nose as he passed leaky sewage pipes. The city was cramped, dirty. It had none of the glory of Demonivore. He was aware that they had been having financial troubles. It showed.
And then the central square opened up before them. A fountain in the centre, the worn yet proud structures of the old zebra military base around the sides. And ahead, the base of the central mountain, a huge set of double doors leading into the entrance hall of the base.
It was open. Civilians swarmed the area, chatting and carrying on their business, paying them no mind.
Ace frowned at the sight, then nodded, "Weapons concealed, separate into two groups and fan out across the square. Meet up at the entrance." He pointed upwards, "Dragons to the roof."
They all nodded, moving out. Easu made sure to avoid getting to close to the civilians, which was easier than expected. They all seemed... to avoid him. They were just a short way across when Xephyr spoke up, "There's something off..."
One of the unicorns chimed in, "There's a lot of magic in the air."
"But it's not coming from any of them." Xephyr noted, looking at the crowd, "In fact they hardly..."
Then she moved forward, flung out a hoof, and delivered a blast of compressed air at one of the unarmed civilians ahead. Easu was just about to protest, before the blast passed straight through the zebra without comment.
Ace Gold's eyes widened in comprehension, looking to the unicorn and shouting his command, "Dazzling's photonic scattering!"
The unicorn nodded, magic blasting from her horn. The crowd was instantly dispersed into shimmering clouds of light, though some... retained their solidity. A second later and a gunshot rang out, striking the unicorn in the head and dropping her to the pavement.
"Scatter!" Ace called out, rolling into the cover of a bench and firing his crossbows. Further gunshots rang out, Easu dodging behind a badly worn statue and trying to work out what exactly was going on... and then he saw her.
Celestia, standing upon the balcony above the mountain entrance. Smiling, powerful, majestic.
He screamed at her, "Star Swirl, we just want to talk!"
She smirked, her voice seeming to project itself right into his ears, "With so many weapons?"
"Please, I don’t want to fight you!"
Celestia raised a hoof, the gunfire quieting down. Easu took the point, shouting to his own troops, "Everyone, cease fire!"
The shimmering light had cleared now, revealing a small army of guards and Celestia cultists crowded around the fortified buildings that ringed the square. His own forces crouched down in the significantly less impressive cover of the square itself, several of them wounded and a few not looking likely to get back up.
Celestia observed the sight, then smiled benevolently at him, "I was expecting you."
Easu cursed, "You knew we were coming?"
"Oh Easu." She breathed, her mouth becoming a smirk, "After what we shared? I felt your presence the moment you set sail."
"Yet you didn't sink us." He observed, "So you wanted to speak to me."
"Yes." She noted, "You are useful. Something I will need after my judgement." She smiled at him, before looking to her troops around the square, "Kill the rest of them."
"Star Swirl!" Easu screamed, but his voice was lost over the sound of battle.
But it was not so one sided. Xephyr's hoof struck the pillars of one of the surrounding buildings and the porch caved in, burying and scattering those troops taking cover there. The dragons touched down on the other side of the square, their fire breath devastatingly effective against the tightly packed ranks of the enemy. Cato and his fellow rangers set themselves up as defensive positions, their power armor tanking enemy fire as their own automatic weapons kept the enemy pinned down.
But it wasn't enough. Easu watched as Fynn breathed a wave of fire at a group of unicorns and a Knight, the flames simply sliding off their shields as the Knight took aim. A single shot from her magically enhanced weapon sent a heavy slug right into the dragon's chest, propelling straight through a wall behind with a yell of pain. Burper yelled out and charged the group, moving out of cover to do so. Predictably he instantly found himself showered in gunfire, the bullets drawing blood and forcing him to collapse in pain long before reaching his target.
Ace gritted his teeth, looked around... and screamed his orders, "The mountain, charge the mountain! Use the Rangers and dragons as cover!"
They moved, all those still able... and Star Swirl continued to smirk. A blast of light flew down from above, joined with others. They collected in a single beam of energy, lighting up Star Swirl's horn... she directed it outwards and it exploded forth with a roar, directly at Cato.
The Star Paladin turned, drawing his hooves up to protect himself. It was at the last moment that one of his fellow rangers slammed herself into his side, flinging him clear. It might well have saved his life, as the bolt obliterated the area, flinging broken flagstones and broken bodies aside with no resistance.
...still, as Cato rolled to a stop, his power armor broken and smoking, it might well have claimed two lives instead of just one.
¬
Ace Gold jumped back in surprise and horror at Star Swirl's display of power, hardly able to comprehend it. Even at the climax of her horn blast her shields easily deflected a hail of gunshots, casually stepping off the balcony and floating down to the ground. A horn blast of that intensity, fired off near casually while still keeping up her shields in the face of gunfire?
He shook his head free, focusing on what he knew. And he knew his Steelhooves, "Grenades!"
A barrage of grenades flew from their troops, straight at Star Swirl. She just smirked, more light streaking down to collect at her horn. Its length glowed brightly for a moment before that light exploded outwards, shredding the grenades and cutting down many of her attackers. Ace Gold himself only just rolled away at the last moment, the paving stones shattering under his hooves. He looked up at her as he rolled to a stop, at her, up at the mountain above, at the white cloaked figures standing upon the balconies...
"How is she this powerful!?" Sabah shouted desperately from the broken shards of the statue she was cowering behind, her shoulder badly burnt, "She wasn't like this before!"
Ace Gold was... impressed. Maybe that was the wrong word, but it was certainly clever, "She's an alicorn... alicorns used to be able to co-ordinate their magic together to increase its effectiveness, connecting to each other through the unity."
Sabah glared hotly, "Sense!"
Ace realised this wasn't time for a debate on rare magically phenomena, "She's drawing magic from the priests on the mountain, using it to fuel herself."
"And how do we stop her?!"
Ace Gold looked at Star Swirl, smirking as she blasted one of Easu's soldiers into ash, a grenade striking her dead on and not even causing her to flinch, "I have no idea."
And then something shot across the square, a blur of black and white. It dove through the smoke, Star Swirl too slow to react as it struck her shields and knocked her skidding across the flagstones with her magic sparking. The alicorn was only stunned for a moment though, unleashing another fearsome horn blast... that was deflected up and way by a shield of encompassing wings.
They opened, Xephyr launching herself forward with enough force to break the sound barrier. Her next hit shattered Star Swirl's shields, Xephyr proceeding to tackle the alicorn through the mountain wall. They rolled through the rubble, Xephyr recovering first and launching herself skywards with a powerful sweep of her wings. Star Swirl was quick to follow, glaring fiercely up at the zebra and shooting after her.
Ace allowed himself a brief moment to admire them as they duelled in the skies above Star Fall before singling to Sabah, "Now's our chance!"
The zebra followed as he dived through the hole the pair had made in the side of the mountain. Ace didn't look back, didn't have time to see what other members of the raiding team might be still alive...
...and maybe he didn't want to know.
¬
Pangaea grimaced as the door slid open to reveal what had once been the mountain's old medical bay. Now blood stained the tables, walls lined with the preserved corpses of equines young and old. Most of them sported the tell tell signs of some of the wasteland's deadliest diseases, others the signs of what looked like many, many failed attempts to treat them.
The zebra stallion in the room turned and smiled, a genial type of early middle age, wearing half moon spectacles and a blood splattered surgical gown. He looked to Pangaea first, softly approving before turning his eyes to Mint Engine, “Oh, Mint Engine. It's good to see you, though we are under lock down at the moment."
“Um... yes. Well I figured Princess Celestia had it all under control.” Mint Engine replied, ushering Pangaea inside and motioning him to stand in the middle of the room, “I know this is your lab now Doctor Zavic, but I was wondering if I could speak to you about one of my projects."
Doctor Zavic gave Pangaea an assessing look, eyes tracking the supporting struts of the power armor frame that now supported his injured body, "I presume this is the project."
"Yes." Mint Engine replied, "As you can see, this zebra was seriously injured. I have however managed to use a stripped down power armor frame to support his body...”
“And how is this better than cybernetics?” Doctor Zavic asked, his attention clearly wondering.
Mint Engine looked more and more nervous, “Well it doesn't need any invasive surgery, and is far cheaper...”
“Soon Princess Celestia's wonders will be available to all.” Doctor Zavic stated, waving a hoof at the corpses on the walls, “We will have no need of this... clunky machinery. I'm afraid that your efforts have been made obsolete dear doctor.”
Pangaea gritted his teeth as he viewed the doctor's... work, it's bloody remains still staining the operation tables.
Mint Engine was about to reply before Doctor Zavic cut him off sharply, eyes flicking to Gavorn as he entered the room behind them, “Doctor Mint, have I not told you how I feel with the city guards in my labs!?”
Doctor Mint gave a desperate smile, “The city is under attack, I thought I might need protection...”
“This facility is perfectly sealed, we are perfectly safe!” Doctor Zavic replied sharply, "I assure you, there's nothing you need protection from in here!"
“What about malfunctioning projects?” Pangaea stated, stepping forward with intent.
Zavic looked round, hesitating in confusion, “What is this...?”
Pangaea drove his hoof down and knocked the doctor to the floor, then stomped down hard. The zebra got off a few manic screams before he eventually stopped moving, Pangaea shaking the gore from his hoof before kicking the body aside, “Hmph."
Mint Engine vomited in a corner, Gavorn giving him a look of deep concern, “Was... that necessary?”
“This zebra was a mass murderer, of women, children. He was locked up in Demonivore's deepest prisons waiting for execution, until this 'princess' decided to free him.” Pangaea snorted hard, striding forward towards the front desk, “They should have done that a long time ago.”
“Ok... but still, I have a rifle right here. Not quite as hard to clean up afterwards.” Gavorn stated, then moved to help Mint Engine. Pangaea ignored him, having other things on his mind. He found the entry in the logs, located the right cell...
He snatched the key from the rack beside the console, galloped over to the cell and jammed it in the lock. He had to know, he had to make sure she was alright...
...the door slid open, a pair of scared, trembling eyes looking up in terrified expectation. Her rail thin, malnourished body barely had the energy to stand, her voice weak, “Please... please... just let me die...”
“Never.” Pangaea answered, striding inside. He looked down at the yellow fur and black tiger stripes, though he didn't need any confirmation. This was her, “Golden Dawn, it's me.”
“Pangaea?” She whispered... then a small chuckle broke through, “You always wanted me to lose weight...”
“Not like this.” He growled, “What has he done to you?”
“I did this to me.” She stated with a hint of steel, “I would not be a loyal little prisoner, a forgotten loose end in a dungeon. I would rather die.”
Pangaea glared, “Starving yourself. I should have guessed, it's just like you.”
Golden Dawn smiled at this, “Just like me?”
“You always had a destructive relationship with food.”
She chuckled weakly, looking to the blood on his hooves, “And you always had a destructive relationship with violence.”
They were cut off by Gavorn's head poking through the door, the griffon giving a cheerful but somewhat anxious salute, “Good to see you again my Lady. But just so you know, we just triggered an alarm. I'm pretty certain they know we're here.”
“If you want to fight Celestia...” Golden Dawn began, her smile becoming confident, “...then there's plenty of good citizens here who would love to see her head on a pike.”
Pangaea nodded, thinking how good it felt to stand side by side with her again, “Then let's get started.”
¬
Sabah had walked these corridors many times before, feeling the weight of familiarity settle upon her as she climbed.
The last time she had taken these steps, Themba had still been alive.
He might have been a warlord, a villain. To her, he was the best father figure she had ever known. He had understood her. He had loved her, and she loved him. More than his actual son ever did.
She looked out the window, spotting Xephyr and Star Swirl fighting there. It was truly something from another world, unbelievable power crackling through the air as they struck at each other again and again, “Does this sort of thing happen a lot in Equestria?”
Ace Gold struggled up behind, clearly finding the climb slightly more challenging. He paused to catch his breath, staring out at the battle, “To be honest, I had no idea Xephyr could fight like this.” He paused, giving a look of slight outrage, “She was holding back during our fight...”
“She's losing.”
“What?!”
Sabah noted the outraged disbelief in his voice. Still even in battles between gods, one would come up short. And frankly... one of them was cheating. She nodded as another beam of light streaked down, lighting up Celestia's horn and empowering her to deliver a blow that nearly knocked Xephyr out of the sky, “We need to take out those other acolytes.”
Ace Gold pointed out the obvious problem, “But they're stationed all over the facility.”
“Then we have to split up.” She gave him a questioning look, wondering if her next question would sound silly, “Can you... fly? With your magic?”
“Not with any sort of agility.” He smiled slightly, seeming to catch her meaning, “But I could run up the side of the mountain.”
She nodded, it seemed like they had a plan, “We split up then. You have the mobility, I know this mountain. Together, we can ambush each one of these fuckers in turn.”
“It's risky, splitting up.” Ace started, “We're dealing with some pretty powerful mages...”
“It's ok.” She reassured, offering him a mocking smirk, “You're tougher than you look.”
He smirked back, “And you're just as tough as you look. See you on the other side.”
¬
Pangaea looked around at his 'army', remembering what Golden Dawn had said about them being ready to fight Celestia.
The spirit was maybe, but the body... he looked across at the rows of injured, underfed, too long confined equines, none of which looked ready to so much as glance at a gun. Gavorn and Mint Engine helped tend to their plight, Pangaea looking to the one pony who should have been the worst off, yet remained standing tall and proud, "Grand Priest, let me assure you. They will pay for what they have done."
The old zebra smiled weakly, "That thirst for vengeance diminishes your cause Pangaea. Celestia has proven a poor custodian of her duties, and must be removed for the good of all."
He raised an eyebrow, "Imprisoning you is rather more than poor management."
The grand priest smiled, "It was Sunshine Ivory who imprisoned me, and she is a most unwell woman. And Celestia is simply a lost soul who has been sucked into that madness, along with her followers."
Pangaea swallowed his objections. He respected the holy fire, even if he... struggled with some of the tenets, "Well I am the only one who can stop them, and unfortunately I can think of no better option than violence."
"Few can these days." The Grand Priest stated mournfully, "Do what you must Pangaea."
¬
Ace felt the air whip through his hair, felt the shockwaves from each blow Star Swirl and Xephyr made against each other. A few energy blasts marked the side of the mountain, Ace Gold aware that one unlucky shot could vaporise him outright, or at the very least knock him from the mountain. He was fairly sure he could slow his fall with his magic, still it would injure him enough to take him out of the fight, and leave him right back where he started.
But just ahead was one of the balconies where the blasts of magic had flown. And right on cue another flew out, collecting at Star Swirl's horn and giving her the power to recharge her shields.
It would be the last time. He came up the side of the balcony, leapt off, and beheld the shocked look of the alicorn mare below. He pumped gravity and fake mass into his back hoof, coming down like a rocket and slamming the mare's head into the ground with a boom of unleashed energy. It shattered the alicorn's horn and left her spark out, her part in the battle over with.
The he looked round, heart trembling as he saw Star Swirl look straight at him. He raised his hooves and charged his shield as Star Swirl unleashed a blast of energy, already aware that it wouldn't stop the blast. Still maybe it would diffuse it enough that it would only take off a few limbs...
Xephyr appeared in front so suddenly it looked like she had teleported, her hoof sweeping out and smacking the blast away to scrape about the side of the mountain. Ace's instant elation was quickly diffused as he heard Xephyr grunt, the mare knocked backwards by the impact. He opened his shields and caught her, slowing her with his telekinesis. They rolled across the balcony together, Ace cradling the mare as he gently placed her down on the ground beside, “Xephyr!”
She winced, looking up at him with anger, “Ace... get out of here...”
He shook his head, then looked round at Star Swirl, hovering nearby with a look of cold fury, “What the hell Star Swirl?!” Aren't we supposed to be your friends?!”
“I already have more than enough of those.” She stated, charging energy at her horn.
Ace growled and fired a crossbow bolt, Star Swirl casually dodging the shot and flinging down a beam of energy that Ace Gold only just rolled clear of. Star Swirl's attempt to follow his movements was cut short as Xephyr sprung into action, using the side of the mountain as a spring board as she kicked Star Swirl away with a yell of fury.
Ace watched the two duel, realising he would just get in the way. He turned and hurried away, knowing he would best help by finding the next Knight.
¬
Celestia span in midair to make some distance, firing off horn blasts as Xephyr moved to follow. But the zebra dodged them with ease, unleashing a barrage of hooves that Celestia only just fended off.
It... wasn't right.
Celestia had improved her skills since their last battle, worked on her magic, her strength of body. Yet somehow the battle was even harder, Xephyr faster, smarter, anticipating everything Celestia could throw. She felt herself grow frustrated as the battle continued, made worse as Xephyr scored a clear hit across her muzzle.
She decided to stop playing around, waiting for Xephyr to be committed to her attack before unleashing her trump card. The spear of Celestia appeared before her and she swept it down at the zebra, screaming as she put all her strength into the blow...
Xephyr swept round it with an easy turn, kicking the spear out of her hooves and sending it spinning. A powerful flying kick later and it was launched into the horizon, striking the statue of the All Mother and lodging itself deep within the stone.
“Impossible!” Celestia shouted, backing away in frustrated rage.
Xephyr chuckled as she squared off against her opponent, “Heh... you know you always smile just before you pull off a big move?”
Celestia glared back at the smirking zebra before her, wishing her very stare was enough to vaporise the girl, “You're... reading me?”
“You're pretty much an open book.” Xephyr replied, “You've got plenty of talent and strength, but I figure that's the problem. You don't know how to fight an opponent as strong as you.”
Celestia paused to consider those words. She...was right. And she had fallen right into the zebra's trap, “That duel between us, it wasn't just bravado was it?”
Xephyr shook her head, “Surrender. End this.”
“You were studying me. “
“And you showed me everything you have.” She replied, “Believe me, you can't win this.”
“Not everything...” She whispered as she called upon the powers at her core. She hadn't used them in some time... and predictably they woke her up. Celestia felt the doubt knag at her, the fear, the regret, the weakness. She flung it off, driving herself forward with her dominating will, felt out for her children...
And dove forward. Xephyr tensed to defend herself, her attention deflected from the true attack. It hit her from the side, Xephyr desperately flapping her wings as the cloud of insects covered her, crawling in her hair, stinging her flesh. Celestia laughed as the zebra screamed in terror, kicking her in the chest and striking across the head before the mare could recover.
Xephyr dropped away and shook herself free of the creatures, then delivered a series of short shockwaves to drive them away. It didn't work as well as she might have hoped, Celestia overriding the insect's intense desire to flee with her own will. And those little shockwaves were only good for disorientating, they weren't strong enough to injure even creatures like this...
...Celestia delivered a deep growl as she realised. She glared across at the princess, “You're holding back.” She pulled her lips back into a snarl, “You can't even kill insects!”
Xephyr at least looked guilty, knocking the swarm back with a carefully controlled shockwave, “They're innocent creatures, creatures bound to your will...”
Celestia split the swarm into two separate groups, surrounding her on both sides before sending them diving in. Unwilling to dive through the swarm Xephyr had no choice but to dive forward...
...straight into Celestia's horn blast. It flung the mare back and slammed her into the side of a mountain, cracking the stone and clearly injuring Xephyr badly. She struggled to recover, Celestia unable to resist taking the opportunity to get her feelings off her chest, "This is why the world is like it is! It was because you care more about the life of some insect than the safety of this world that Xenai died...!"
Xephyr winced as she struggled up from the rubble, "The way I hear it, she died because somepony considered her a disposable pawn in some misguided plan to save the world." Her eyes linked with Celestia's, "Motive and methods you continue to champion, killing your friend a thousand times every day."
Celestia was done gloating. She charged a bolt of energy at her horn, empowering to explode on impact and directing it straight at Xephyr's heart. Even if she tried to dodge, no way she would be able to escape the blast radius in time...
...the effort distracting her attention so much that she almost didn't sense it in time. The bullet flew in from the side and she angled herself away just in time, her shields enough to deflect it across her flank in a splash of crimson. She turned her attention down at the city below as her spell fizzled, firming her shields and letting the next bullet shatter against them. She quickly calculated the angle of the shot, diving down through the clouds towards the residences where it had come from.
No further bullets came, Celestia left looking about in frustration as she searched for the sniper perch. Just like most of Star Fall's districts this area below was a tangle of iron wrought shacks sitting on top of one another in a confusing mass of walkways and overlapping girders, leaving a thousand places to shoot from, "Show yourself!"
There was no answer, and Celestia furiously continued to scan the buildings. There were here somewhere... and then she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, spinning about and blasting out with her horn. Houses collapsed in roaring flames, support struts vaporised and their structures shattered. She smiled as she witnessed the destruction, sure she had got her opponent.
And then more movement. Celestia had a blast already charged, only just catching herself as she saw a few white robed ponies leading a group of rather pathetic looking civilians. She almost let them go, before she realised one of the priests was a unicorn. She instantly teleported down, landing before the group and rising up before them. They stopped, as well they should.
She turned her gaze to the unicorn, "What are you doing here? I ordered all the unicorns to the mountain, to aid..."
"What are you doing!?"
Celestia turned to another of the priests, a zebra. He was glaring at her, full of anger, "I.. what?"
"You are attacking civilian buildings now? Killing your own?!" The zebra shouted, waving at the flames behind, still working their way through the buildings, "This is the work of a Princess?"
Then there was a loud boom, the flames seeming to hollow out for a moment before spluttering and dying from the lack of oxygen. The embers flared up again as the air came rushing back, but it resulted in little more than a few small smouldering flames in the wreckage. Celestia snarled as she saw Xephyr hovering ahead, the zebra dropping down to land just a snort distance away, "So this was your plan? Turning my own servants against me!”
"No. It wasn't." Xephyr answered, a grim look on her face as she trotted over, "My plan was to keep this in the sky, far away from any innocents."
Celestia couldn't believe the hypocrisy, "It was your man that fired on me from these buildings!"
"And I'm sorry about that." She answered, "It will not happen again. This fight is between us."
"You..." Celestia wondered if that included the unicorns feeding her magical power, but quickly shook that thought off. Of course it did, "Fine!"
"My apologies to you all." Xephyr offered to the civilians and priests, bowing her head low. Her eyes then came up to look at Celestia once more, "Shall we?"
Celestia gritted her teeth in fury, just wanting to kick this bitches' teeth down her throat already, "Let's."
¬
Easu watched Star Swirl and Xephyr fly away, taking her advise on firing on Star Swirl under consideration. He was still pretty sure if Silverstripe hadn't fired Xephyr would be dead now, still he got her point, "We do as she says, let her handle it from now."
"I'm... I'm not going to be firing many more shots anyway." Silverstripe answered through her pained grimace, covered in nasty burns, "So what now?"
"I take a chance on a big idea." He answered, moving out into the street. He met the eyes of the three priests, shifting his cloak to prove he was unarmed. The nodded and allowed him to approach, Easu bowing his head before them, "My good wishes to the church of Celestia."
"And ours to you." The lead priest answered cautiously, "You don't look like you're from around here."
"I am not. I am King Easu of the Northern Mutum, brother to Caesar Incuta."
They paused in shock, eventually forcing out an answer, "Brave of you to tell us. We are proud citizens of Star Fall..."
"So you should be. And I have come here to save it." He replied firmly. He nodded to the still smouldering wreckage behind, "Star Swirl, the pony you now call Celestia, has deposed the council, restricted your freedoms, kidnapped your citizens and now turns her wrath on your very homes."
"We are no friends of Sunshine Ivory, or of her rebellious apprentice." The lead priest confirmed, "But we will not take up arms against her."
"I don't wish anything of the sort. I came here unarmed, to talk. To save her." Easu asserted, "And with your help, I might yet."
¬
"I'm sorry Sabah." The Knight at Sabah's hooves stated quietly, trying to stem the blood from her nose. It wasn't the first time Sabah had broken it, Gleaming Star having been a frequent sparring partner of hers back when they both trained under Ember. A new pair of wings hadn't helped, especially after Sabah had broken both of them, "You're even stronger than before."
"So are you." Sabah noted with an added dose of bile, "Shame you're fighting for the wrong side."
"We know that. Celestia is... there's something wrong with her." Gleaming Star admitted, averting her eyes, "But she might really be able to help the wasteland. She's so powerful..."
"I've seen her 'help' with my own eyes." Sabah shot back, before focusing on the other thing she had said, "Something wrong with her?"
"I've seen her arguing with herself." Star quietly whispered, "And when she changed me, made me a Princess... it felt like she put part of herself into me. Something... glorious, and divine. And what was left afterwards..."
She went quiet, Sabah considering this new infomation. That divine part of herself was obviously Charaxies, Star Swirl the Star Demon to make them into alicorns. And as for her arguing with herself... clearly their bond wasn't quite as strong as it once was, "Go on."
Star looked away, clearly reluctant. Sabah just continued staring, and sure enough the mare eventually cracked, "Each time she does it, she has to lock herself away. And when I saw her afterwards she was barely holding it together, she was so... angry."
Sabah nodded. Star Swirl was clearly losing it, which explained a lot, "Thank you sister. Now do the smart thing and stay there."
Star nodded, "I'm not going to anger you any further, believe me."
Sabah thought that displayed a lot more intelligence than she had five minutes ago. And with that established there was no reason to hang around. She turned to go...
"Sabah." Star suddenly asked, her voice quiet, "You... you called me sister."
"Yes."
"You still believe in the Church of Celestia? In... us?"
"Actually, I outrank you." Sabah noted with not a small dash of amusement, "I'm the High Priestess for the Heartlands, advisor to King Radhi."
Star actually laughed at this, with a little wince of pain at her injuries, "Of course you are. You know, I kinda challenged you... because I was always so jealous of you."
Sabah raised an eyebrow. Sure Sabah had often come out ahead in their sparring, but Star was a senior acolyte, four years older, and... well a pretty, more or less white coated unicorn. She was the kind of acolyte who always made her feel jealous, the image you brought to mind when you thought of what a Priestess of Celestia should look like, "Jealous of me?"
"Thirteen years old, and there wasn't a single equine on the island tougher than you. And you had only been here for about a year, and already knew more about our philosophy and teachings than some of the priests." Star chuckled, "Good at sports, loads of friends, the eye of Themba himself... and you made it all look so effortless, like you didn't even notice how good you were."
Sabah... hadn't. But that was a gross simplification, "That was all down to Diamond Star and Thousand Sunny." Her eyes flicked back to Star, making the gravity of the next question clear, "Where is Sunny?"
"Fifteenth floor south side viewing platform." Star answered, then offered a smile, "Good luck."
She didn't really believe in luck, but she would take whatever was offered. She considered what she had learned about Star Swirl as she ran, remembered their meeting nearly half a year ago. Even they she had sensed something unstable and dangerous in her. A desire for respect, and a fierce anger at the world. That anger, that fury... it had got Diamond Star killed. Sure she would likely have died anyway, but that didn't change the fact that her teacher and best friend had died because Star Swirl had been reckless.
And that was before Charaxies.
She burst out onto the fifteenth floor, jumping up and knocking a guard out with pure instinct. She dropped down beside and checked he was down while scanning the area, reassuring herself that the route to her destination was clear. She walked the corridor with controlled, regimented steps, getting herself fully under control. She had to be ready for this, should couldn't let herself lose control...
...she kicked open the door, ready to fight...
Thousand Sunny turned with a start, retreating back behind Ember. The old zebra's eyes narrowed as he looked Sabah over, the open balcony window behind all too familiar. This was the room where Sunny had learned to fly, where they had raced. She called out, "Sunny!"
"Do your friend and yourself a favor Sabah." Ember stated with cool tones that almost disguised the fury behind them, "Your princess is losing. Surrender, convince your friends to surrender, and stop all this fighting."
"Please Sabah!" Sunny pleaded, "I don't want to fight you!"
"I don't want to fight you either." Sabah assured, turning her eyes up at Ember, "Just you."
"I can't deny I am interested to find out how you've developed out there." Ember admitted, "You had real potential, and potential is something the wasteland can develop into true greatness."
"And you plan to kill everyone in it?"
Ember's mouth shifted into a small grin, "Strength is not virtue. The wasteland produces far more monsters than it does heroes."
Sabah snorted, "Monsters like you and her."
"I will not deny she has done terrible things. But I've seen the alternative." A simmering contempt formed in his eyes, "I was once the apprentice of Tradash the Black, I saw how useless the mild mannered moralising of good zebra was. And I saw what Sunshine Ivory could achieve in half the time."
"I grew up in the wasteland among the monsters." She spat back, "They all offered me the same justifications."
They met in the center of the room, hooves meeting with fierce passion. Sabah had to respect Ember's skills, he had of course been greatly responsible for training her to her current level. He was precise, he was controlled. It was almost impossible to catch him off guard or surprise him, he seemed to have an answer to everything. All the same, he knew how to fight with carefully controlled passion and strength, delivering each blow with fierce conviction.
But she was younger. Too young maybe, but he was in his forties. And he had clearly been neglecting his exercise, his muscles and joints lacking firmness. She struggled at first, but as she upped the tempo she felt him tire. He tried to back away to allow himself time to recover but she wouldn't let him, swinging out with a hard right and bloodying his lip.
He growled, swinging his head down and slamming it against her own skull. Smaller and lighter, she couldn't help being knocked backwards. She threw up a guard, preparing to cut him off when he attacked...
...but as her vision cleared it became clear he wasn't attacking. Instead... he stood behind Thousand Sunny, a knife at her throat and a dangerous look in his eye.
Sabah moved, as fast as she was able. If he hesitated, maybe...
He didn't hesitate, simply digging the blade of his knife distressingly deep into Sunny's throat. She squealed in pain, Sabah stopping and desperately holding her hoof up, “Please, stop! I won't resist!”
Ember smirked, “You won't move at all. Or I'll cut this girl's throat.”
She nodded desperately, searching for options... as Ember brought out a sawn off shotgun and blew a hole in her side.
"Sabah!" Sunny screamed, struggling for a moment before the knife dug deeper into her neck, "Ghk..."
Sabah gasped and staggered, another blast opening her neck and dropping her to the floor. She reached up desperately, aware that she had failed but at least wanting to save Sunny, “Please... let her...”
Ember just shook his head, driving the knife in deeper, “Stupid girl.”
If the air hadn't rattled the windows a second before impact it would have been a perfect sneak attack. Even with the warning Ember was only able to turn his head as Going Merry streaked through the balcony door. She got Ember's hoof in a hold with pretty impressive skill, yanking it back and making him drop the knife with the same momentum she used to drive him hard into the floor.
Thousand Sunny broke away, her eyes wide and desperate as she tried to stem the blood flow from her neck, “Mom!?”
“Get away from my daughter!” Going Merry screamed, her old enclave training coming to the fore as she drove her hoof down against him, “Don't you dare...!”
But the enclave training was just that, old. Ember recovered too quickly, blocking her attack and twisting out of her grip. He swung her round, levelled up his shotgun... a quick blast in her side and she fell, thumping down amid some furniture next to the balcony door. Ember didn't even say anything, simply stepping forward and levelling the shotgun downwards at her head.
Thousand Sunny turned, her eyes wide and scared. And then anger took them, anger and desperation. Her horn crackled, her eyes filled with power, her voice rose in a fierce scream... “STOP IT!”
Ember turned, his hooves rising to defend himself. Thousand Sunny's horn blast exploded against them in a fierce crack of superheated air, the impact hurling Ember backwards. He hit the window, his eyes registering fear for a moment before he went through with a final desperate scream.
And then he was gone.
Thousand Sunny was left standing there amid the devastation, her horn sizzling slightly. She mouthed wordlessly for a moment before movement suddenly caught her attention, “Mom!”
Going Merry injected another vial of healing potion, then nodded desperately at Sabah, “Help her, quickly!”
Sabah felt like she was doing alright personally, though there was a giant hole in her side. That sucked. Thousand Sunny looked devastated, Sabah finding her tears rather amusing. She had always been so emotional. But... it was good to see her again, “Sunny...”
“Tell me what to do!” She pleaded.
Sabah didn't really get the question. Besides, there were more important things to say, “Sunny... I love you... I've missed you so much...”
“Mom!” The mare desperately shouted, her eyes filled with tears as she cradled Sabah's head, “I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. If it wasn't for me...”
“If it wasn't for you, I would never survived any of this.” Sabah whispered as her vision drew dim, “You... saved me...”
And then Going Merry jammed a vial of healing potion into her neck. And all the pain came back. She yelled, struggled in Sunny's hooves, feeling every motion of her skin and muscles growing back. She eventually just flopped against her, exhausted.
Sunny held her close, looked down at her with those wonderful, tear filled eyes for several long, wonderful moments. Then her head turned back towards her mother, glancing at the broken window, “Is he...?”
Thousand Sunny paused for a moment before speaking, “Yes.”
“Then... I killed someone.”
“I'm sorry.” Sabah croaked.
She smiled back, tears in her eyes, “What am I going to do? Wail and cry? I... I almost got you killed.”
Those words reminded Sabah of what was at sake. She reluctantly straightened out, shaking herself free of Sunny's embrace. She paced a little to test her strength, reassured that the healing potion had done the trick, “Sunny, stay with your mother.”
The little alicorn gulped back a breath, “What... are you going to do?”
“I'm going to stop Star Swirl, and Sunshine Ivory.”
Sunny drew herself up, “Then I'm...”
“No.” Sabah touched the mare's cheek, forcing herself to look at the bloody wound on her neck. The bastard had known just how to cut to not risk killing her, “I hate seeing you covered in blood.”
“I hate seeing you like that too.”
“But this is what I do.” Sabah replied, drawing back, “You sing, you tell stories and you comfort those in pain. And I fight, fight to protect you and everyone like you.”
“You're hurt Sabah.” Going Merry stated, “You've lost a lot of blood.”
“Blood is something I always had more than enough of.” Sabah replied, turning away and firming her resolve, “Keep her safe Merry.”
¬
Celestia was starting to grow tired of this now. Granted, she had never dared to think taking down Xephyr, Princess of Magic would be easy, still the mare just wouldn't quit. With the quantity of balefire Celestia had stored and the constant supply of power from Sunshine Ivory and the others, she was pretty much unbeatable. She could regenerate from any wound, had a near endless supply of magic. And this dumb mare just didn't get it! “You can't win! Give up!”
Xephyr just smiled back, the blood from her injuries covering her black and white fur, “Why? Getting tired?”
“Do you think you can outlast me!?” Celestia screamed, teleporting straight at the mare and striking hard with her hooves. It had been an act of frustration and Celestia found herself quickly punished, her hooves soon striking nothing but air as Xephyr artfully dodged and drove down a powerful hoof that knocked Celestia clean out of the air. She fell, stunned, slamming into a support strut with enough force to dent the metal, “Ngh!”
Xephyr fluttered higher, taking the chance to catch her breath, “You're getting sloppy.”
Celestia growled, drawing on her power to heal her wounds, “With this much power, I can afford to make mistakes.”
¬
Sabah might... have spoken too soon about being fully recovered...
She hit the ground hard as the horn blast finally cut out, desperately rolling aside as the Knight drove her spear down into the tiles. This was Sun Strider, an acolyte she had always considered one of the lesser fighters in the Church of Celestia.
Either she had got a lot better, or her injuries had really made her slow.
"For my lady Celest...!" Sun Strider started, before her eyes went wide. She stumbled slightly, her spear dropping, the magic at her horn fading.
She hit the ground in a heap, Ace Gold standing behind with a cool look on his face, "Are you ok?"
She found herself blushing, forcing herself upright with as much dignity as she could manage. She looked into Ace Gold's rather piercing green eyes, clearing her throat, "...t...thanks for the rescue..."
"It's ok, had a few close calls myself." He stated, reaching out a hoof to steady her. She froze as he touched her, a shiver going down her spine as he continued talking, "Are you ok? All out of healing potion unfortunately."
She couldn't take it anymore. She looked straight at him, her words coming out in a tumble, "You know, after this I would...." She blushed deeper as confusion spread across his face, “...you know... like to get to know you better..."
He raised an eyebrow, before a softer look dawned. He smiled, drawing away a little, "I'm sorry, I'm gay."
She sighed, wishing she never said anything.
"But it's nice seeing you talk about something that's not fighting or religion." He continued, then looked upwards at the roof, "It's good to take a break from all that."
Sabah admitted, even she was beginning to reach her fill. Still... "Only one floor left."
"Really?"
She nodded, "Themba's office just above us. That's the highest point in the mountain open to the skies. The rest of it is totally closed off."
Ace took a breath, "So we clear that area, wait for Xephyr to paste Star Swirl, then we take the command centre together."
Sabah nodded, "We've come this far."
Ace looked her over, "And you're up to it?"
She wanted to be insulted, but she realised how immature that would be. He really needed to know, "I might need you to do more than your share, but I can still fight."
He nodded, motioning for Sabah to lead the way. She took the now familiar path up the stairs, hearing no sounds of anyone up ahead. Maybe they had already cleared all the opposition.
"You know, it's really dumb. Out of all the legendary heroes, two kids are the first ones to get this far." Ace observed.
Sabah scanned the corridors ahead before letting him draw close, nodding in agreement, "And I'm a dirty wasteland scumbag of a zebra, who's fighting to take back a equestrian military base and a religion devoted to Celestia from a pony who's perverted both."
Ace paused beside her, "Sabah... you talk a lot about your past. Do you really think you belong here? That you deserve to be a member of the Church of Celestia?"
She frozen, her heart skipping a beat. After a moment she choked out her answer, "No." She bit her lip, "I spent most of my life in the wasteland. Had to do terrible things to survive."
"And I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, the son of heroes. I had a private chef, and wore clothes that cost more than the average pony made in a month." Ace Gold noted, before fixing her with a proud stare, "But there's only one thing that matters at the end of the day. That we're both here, fighting for the right thing."
Sabah smiled, unable to stop herself, "I'm glad you're here with me."
He smiled back, chuckling a little, "Me too. I wonder this is how my dad felt."
"What?"
"Youth be dammed, you're the kind of mare a pony could save the world with." He observed, then nodded to the double doors that stood ahead, "So shall we go and do it already?"
"Lets."
Themba's office was still familiar, even after all the remodelling. The symbol of the sun had been placed on the far wall above the doors leading to the balcony, a throne where the desk used to be. Carvings and images of solar phenomena lined the walls, a rich red carpet laid down the middle.
Even with all of that, this was still the place where Sunshine Ivory had killed... murdered Themba.
And there she was. Free. Alive. Smiling, clad in white robes and looking as beautiful and pure as ever. It was all Sabah could do to restrain herself, knowing the reports of her imprisonment were too good to be true, "You!"
Sunshine Ivory observed Sabah and Ace Gold as they entered, her voice kind and sweet as bells, “It's been such a very long time, hasn't it?”
“Since Dusklight.” Ace Gold stated grimly.
“Since you threw my friend from that balcony!” Sabah added, padding forward with slow and purposeful steps, “And now you'll answer for that!”
“You'd really fight me here? Surrounded by the light and power of my lady?” Sunshine Ivory asked, her brow creasing with deep concern, “I don't want to hurt either of you.”
“Liar!” Sabah screamed, losing her temper at the blatant attempt at mockery, “You're going to...!”
A crossbow bolt streaked past her ear, slamming into Sunshine Ivory. Ace Gold let out a triumphant cry, a second before the mare shattered into moats of glowing light.
Sabah paused, looking around at the now empty room. There was really only one thing to say, “Shit.”
Light burst out and Sabah threw herself to the side, the carpet erupting in flames as the light scorched across it. Another blast bounced off a mirror and flew at Ace Gold from an unusual angle, Ace Gold still managing to dodge it with a quick pivot. His horn burst with magic and all the mirrors shimmered with images of Sunshine Ivory, beams of light crisscrossed between them...
...to focus on one particular point, a shimmering image of the mare barely visible. Ace Gold cried out, “There!”
Sabah didn't need further prompting, firing her rifle on full auto as she closed. Sunshine Ivory took it on her shields, dodging away and taking Sabah's hooves from under her with a shotgun blast. She dropped painfully onto her side and rolled, Ace Gold however was already galloping past.
Sunshine Ivory blasted at him with her horn but Ace Gold simply dodged, Sabah looking on in wonder as he moved far too fast to be natural. He kicked at Sunshine and she blocked, firing her shotgun at where he should have been. He however was already leaping over her head, looking like he was almost weightless as he kicked down at her head. She took a hard blow and staggered, firing another shot that he dodged in midair with an almost pegasusian swerve.
It left Sunshine off balance, Ace Gold striking her hard with a roundhouse kick. She gasped and stumbled, Ace Gold hitting the ground and launching himself at her with a cry. Sabah's heart soared, sure he had her...
...her image shattered into light as Ace Gold hit it, her form shimmering into vision again just beside. Ace tried to turn, but it was too late. Her horn blast shot out and took him in the side, Sunshine keeping the blast coming as she cooked him with everything she had.
Ace hit the ground and slid across the floor, blood smeared along his path. Steam rose from his motionless form, his flesh burned and raw. After a moment Sunshine let herself smile, wiping some spittle from her chin, “Such a waste of potential. For all your brute force, you wastelanders have no concept of the subtleties of battle.”
“How to cheat and scheme you mean!” Sabah growled as she made her way to her hooves, “You're a fucking psychopath! And the worst part is you can't even admit it!”
Sunshine Ivory smirked, “Language.”
“You're right.” Sabah snarled back, “Language will NEVER be enough to express how much I hate you!”
Sunshine Ivory just gave a slow shake of her head at this, regally elevating her head upwards, “And naturally, you now show your true colors. We tried Sabah, we really did. But time again you show how right I am, how there is no redemption for the wasteland. An animal will always be an animal, no matter how prettily you dress it up.”
Sabah glared at the mad old mare, “You arrogant little...”
“You want to kill me, hurt me?”
“Yes!”
“Such barbarism, so openly stated.” Sunshine Ivory stated in reply, “And this is why you and all like you must be burnt from the world. Why we need Celestia's fire. Believe me, there's no mare who weeps more than me for what is to be done... but for a better world, this is the price we pay.”
Sabah stood in shocked disbelief, “You believe that don't you? You... really are that crazy.”
“Of course you would say that.” Sunshine Ivory gave a sad shake of her head, “After all, you have been taught all your life that concepts like peace, justice and kindness are a lie.” Sunshine beamed, her face full of hope and optimism, “But if I can assure you of one thing... it's that in our new world no child will ever have to suffer that again.”
Sabah kicked off the floor, hoof raised for the kill. Sunshine reacted with utter calm, swinging her shotgun round and firing off a burst, then alternating with blasts from her horn. Sabah tried to dodge but Sunshine Ivory was good, cutting off every approach, herding her into a corner...
...she watched Sunshine Ivory's face grow more and more smug as the inevitable beaconed. And she knew this wasn't going to work.
And Sunset Ivory wasn't about to mess around either, her head turning to direct her blast down at Ace's motionless body. Sabah moved to protect him, even though she was well aware how little she would accomplish. She leapt in front and drew her hooves up, awaiting the inevitable...
“Celestia preserve me...” She whispered, sure the end was coming, knowing she had failed, “Shield me from evil, strike down the wicked, and restore harmony to this land...”
The blast hit her. It burned like fire, a pure beam of light and fury. She already knew she was dead, but if this was the end she faced it with Celestia in her heart. After all, it was just light and fire. She bore that in her heart every day. She advanced into it, feeling it break around her. She drew her front hooves outwards, feeling the fire burn all the way along them.
She took a deep breath and ran straight through it, flames at her hooves and power in every pounding hoofbeat. She leapt up and burst out of Sunshine Ivory's attack in a corona of fire and vengeance, flinging her hoof down and raining solar fury with it.
Sunshine's smug expression broke like glass, the mare panicking as she charged a spell at her horn to defend herself. Sabah just drew her hoof back and struck a terrific blow against the mare's forehead, the horn splintering down the middle and releasing a terrific storm of magical energy that crackled around them. Sunshine screamed, backed away as her horn fell in pieces at her hooves, drew herself up to strike...
Sabah ducked under her first blow, landed on her back, and bucked her opponent hard in the chest. Ribs yielded, Sunshine Ivory sent flying backwards to slam into the far wall with spine shattering force. Sunshine's mouth opened in a final, pained gasp, blood flecking her lips. The angle at which she hit the ground made it clear she wasn't getting up.
Sabah advanced, looking down upon her fallen opponent. She was broken, that was for sure. Sunshine Ivory looked up in terror at Sabah, her words weak and quivering, “Please... don't...”
Sabah hesitated a moment, then plunged the vial of healing potion deep into the mare's flank. The effects were immediate, bones healing, spine mending. Sunshine Ivory mouth hung open in shock, mouthing silently for many long moments before she finally found her words, “...why?”
“Because I am a Priestess of Celestia.” Sabah stated with passion, pressing sharply into the mare's neck and rendering her swiftly unconscious, “Not a monster like you.”
¬
Cato grunted as he forced himself up the last few steps, feeling the blood pool beneath his bandages. He had run out of healing potion some time ago and his power armor was gone, still he had ammo, the use of all four hooves and a good weapon. Along with the two soldiers he had picked up along the way, Zanaia and Dry Dusker, that was enough to continue his mission.
And it was there, just ahead. And beyond those doors marked with text labelling it as the central command station... gunshots. The sound of fighting.
“Sir?” Zanaia questioned as they approached.
“One of the other members of the team must have got there first.” Cato informed them, though he was unsure who, “Check your shots.”
He leant his body in, took a deep breath, and made the breach.
The command centre was fairly typical, pre-war stuff. Little expense had been sparred on atheistics and it was even uglier now, all gunmetal grey and chunky, utilitarian consoles built to take a beating. The areas between them were currently filled with members of the Church of Celestia, firing at an enemy on the other side from their entry.
Cato didn't have time to identify the other party. If they were shooting at the ones in white, they were on his side. He brought his submachine gun up and fired, scattering the cultists with quick efficient bursts. Zanaia quickly ducked behind a console and set up her rifle, Dry Dusker running in and downing one of the cultists with his shotgun.
Cato tried to warn him, but he wasn't quite fast enough. A Knight of Celestia dove from the cover of the consoles and swung her spear out, cutting Dry Dusker's throat from ear to ear and dropping him with a gurgle. Cato fired on her as she landed but she deflected his shots with her shield, retaliating with a shot from her spear mounted gun that he only just avoided.
He studied her for a second, quickly identifying her from the files of the Dusklight kids. Blessed Dawn, the first and most highly ranked of Celestia's Knights, it made sense that she would be guarding the command centre.
The other group was already moving to flank however, a tough looking griffon opening his wings to soar overhead. Blessed Dawn saw him coming and opened her own wings to intercept, striking him from the sky to hit the main console headfirst. Zanaia tried to get a shot off but she was pinned down, Cato helping her out by taking out the last few cultists.
This attracted Blessed Dawn's attention however, the mare diving in for the attack. Cato admitted he was taken off guard, the mare was fast.
But not fast enough to dodge a zebra clad in what looked like a power armor frame, slamming into her shields with a fierce shoulder tackle. It didn't penetrate but it knocked her sideways into the wall and caused her shields to pop with a loud ringing noise, Cato quickly sighting up and shooting her horn away with one short burst.
Blessed Dawn gasped in pain, unable to react in time as the power armored zebra smacked her in the face hard enough to knock her spark out.
And then... it was quiet. Cato looked to his downed soldier, “Zanaia, Dusker!”
She nodded and ran over, bandages already unfurled. She quickly slowed as she got near however, pressing his hoof for a moment before giving a slow nod, “Sorry sir. Not even a healing potion would help.”
“Damn.” Cato cursed, looking to where the zebra was helping his griffon companion up. They clearly weren't with them, which added... complications, “Thank you for your help.”
“We weren't helping you.” The zebra grimly replied, his eyes narrowed and suspicious, “You're even less welcome here than they are.”
That didn't sound friendly, “How so?”
“They at least were born here.” The zebra stated, “You are invaders.”
“So you are... with the Star Fall council?”
The zebra snarled, “I am the council!”
“As I note, are we.” A soft, feminine voice replied, soon revealed as belonging to a skinny mare sporting tiger stripes, a mint blue unicorn following behind. The mare smiled at him, though her face looked strained and worn, “Please, there is no need for us to come to blows.”
Cato recognised the unicorn, and that made the identities of the other two fairly obvious, “Golden Dawn, Mint Engine and Pangaea.”
“Enough.” Pangaea demanded, “Mint Engine, take back control of our defences.”
Cato didn't lift his weapon, but he did take a warning step forward, “And what do you mean by that?”
“There's a password, but it would be easy to crack.” Mint Engine commented as he inspected the console. He lifted his head nervously as he asked his next question, “Am I to set it to target the Knights and Celestia alone... or our other guests?”
Pangaea stared angrily at Cato, peering through a face covered in burn scars, “So who do you serve? Which would be warlord sets his sights on Star Fall?”
Cato didn't feel this was time for a major debate. Still he had to convince them somehow, “I'm here to serve and protect the zebra nations, by ending this war between us and Equestria.”
Golden Dawn looked up at this, Pangaea on the other hoof gave him a look of utter contempt, “You must not know, but we won the fleet engagement. Our troops already march across Equestria.”
Cato kept his cool, simply responding with as little emotion as he could manage, “And how does this serve the zebra?”
“We will bring back their false riches, take revenge for the pain we suffered...”
“You have no idea of what you speak.” Cato responded, knowing it was foolish to anger this stallion. Still, he would not demean his beliefs by failing to defend them, “Star Fall descends from the remnants of the Equestrian forces. Two of your own sport pony blood. Equestria is no more, and what has replaced it is now led by a griffon exactly like the one that stands beside you. So I ask again, what do you gain by sending the best of these lands to die in some foreign land?”
Pangaea advanced angrily, “I will not hear...!”
“I do not feel this is the best time for this debate, do you?” Golden Dawn asked, her regal, imperious tones having firmed and become confident in their authority, “I suggest we activate our defences, and kindly ask all involved to stand down.” She looked to Mint Engine at the console, “Princess Celestia's remaining forces remain inside the base, yes?”
Mint Engine gave a nervous nod, “Yes...”
“Then lock the base down.” She responded, “And all forces will be ordered to cease hostilities.”
Cato nodded, “Of course. I will give the order myself.”
“I do not like it.” Pangaea protested, “We need to take them down while they're not expecting it. We have precious few troops to defend the island if they decide...” He flashed her a grumpy look, “If they decided to hurt you.”
“Exactly.” She responded with a warm smile, “Pangaea, I appreciate your courage, but we cannot hold this island with the two dozen we currently command. And they stand little chance of holding this place should they turn against the three remaining councillors, and the Archon of the Holy Fire.”
Cato nodded, “Our goal is to liberate this place, and end conflict.”
“I vote in favor.” Mint Engine quickly stated, looking to Pangaea.
Pangaea dropped his head, defeated, “...I vote in favor.”
“And the motion is carried.” Mint Engine replied with a smile, hooves moving to the console.
¬
Xephyr batted away strikes, using the occasional shockwave to keep the insects away as she dodged and weaved about the mountain. Star Swirl was letting her frustration show now, occasionally diving in for an aggressive assault and each time earning a bruise or two for her efforts.
Star Swirl was breathing heavily now, her concentration clearly starting to suffer. The energy from her minions had stopped, making her magic more conservative and tactical. Xephyr couldn't say she wasn't feeling the fight either, but with the power of harmony and her own training she was confident her endurance would carry the day.
Star Swirl cursed and dove in, Xephyr moving to intercept. Her hoof came down, struck flesh...
...and Star Swirl seized the hoof, hugged her close, and set her own skin on fire. Green balefire consumed both of them and Xephyr only just managed to pull away in time to save herself from being cooked, Star Swirl kicking her upwards and blasting her with a horn blast that slammed her into the side of the mountain.
Xephyr struggled to recover, looking up at Star Swirl diving in...
“By the order of the council, all hostilities are to cease!”
Xephyr looked up, seeing the anti-air turrets on the mountain moving to follow them. Star Swirl opened her wings wide and came to a stop, also looking unsure.
“This is Star Paladin Cato. I repeat that order, lay down your weapons! There will be no further violence!”
Xephyr smiled, chuckling a little as she eased herself from the rubble, “Looks like that's it.”
“No!” Star Swirl looked confused, lost, hesitant. She stared around the mountain, increasingly distressed, “My Knights... trapped, or gone...”
Xephyr spoke with more authority this time, glaring at the alicorn, “You've lost.”
“I haven't!” She shouted, “None of you have the strength to beat me! None of you...”
“That's why you fail.” Xephyr replied, gingerly shaking the dust from her wings, “You think you can change the world with strength, like every warlord before you.” She raised a hoof, feeling a tiny fraction of her power run through it, “But personal strength is meaningless in the end.”
Star Swirl's eyes grew wide, “It's everything!”
“Littlepip could shift the course of the world with a couple of words and a single shot of her revolver. I couldn't even defeat you.” She smiled, “But I didn't need to. Because I stand in defence of principles that have brought peace for countless thousands of years, and millions of ordinary people who are working tirelessly towards making them a reality for all.”
Star Swirl snarled, gritting her teeth, “You dare...”
“While you just fight for yourself.” Xephyr finished, “Just like the Goddess before you. I didn't need to defeat you, because you stand against an entire world that rejects the self satisfied, murderous ideals you represent.”
Star Swirl's expression shook for a moment longer, before finally... she smirked, “Xephyr, element of magic. You really are everything they say you are.”
Xephyr couldn't deny she was thrown off a little by this reaction, “What?”
“Who but a Princess could lecture an enemy with such arrogance?” Star Swirl spat back, flapping her wings to drive herself upwards, “You and Littlepip alike, a pair of self satisfied brats exposing easy, pretty ideals with no place in the real world. Destroying the dreams of those who make hard decisions that could save it!”
“There's nothing easy about trusting in our ability to make something good of what we've been given, to encourage and support those hopes.” Xephyr replied, this hardly being the first time somepony had said that to her, “Rather than be so afraid of the world we've been given that your only solution is to destroy it and build some hollow fantasy amid the ashes.”
“Well let's test that theory shall we?” Star Swirl replied, before teleporting away and reappearing next to the rising spires of the support spires. Her magic flashed and the whole mountain suddenly shook, a park below collapsing as the ground beneath slowly opened up to reveal five more spires that slowly rose into the sky.
Each one supporting the dirty, rust covered forms of a zebra megaspell missile.
¬
“Shut her down!” Golden Dawn shouted, looking up at the monitors as the missiles rose into the sky, “How is she doing this?”
“She must have a magical trigger on the controls, or someone down there operating them.” Mint Engine theorised, turning his head up to her, “And I'm afraid those systems can't be accessed from here. The silo and base are on entirely different networks.”
“But it doesn't matter.” Pangaea reassured, “They don't work.”
Mint Engine nodded, “Look at the way the missiles are shaking, they're too light. And number four still has the big hole in its tank. Every single one of them is unfueled, even if their engines did work. And I assure you, they don't.”
“Last time we checked, even the detonators were non-functional.” Pangaea agreed, “Whatever she has planned, she's in for a very rude surprise.”
¬
“You're utterly crazy!” Xephyr shouted as she blasted through the side of one of the missiles, shredding what she was fairly sure was the line between the megaspell and the warhead. She came out the other side with a few scratches and a need for a tetanus jab, still she was pretty sure it wouldn't be doing any exploding today, “You're using megaspells now?! After everything that's happened?!”
“Of course not.” Star Swirl answered with a grin, hovering nearby, “I'm not stupid.”
“Then what...?”
Star Swirl's horn burst into light, her magic surging outwards. The glow of telekinesis surrounded the warheads of each of the missiles, the rusted metal only able to muster some brief resistance before it broke open. Inside sat the round containers full of fissionable material, these too surrounded by telekinesis for a brief moment...
Xephyr realised what she was doing, “No...”
“Yes!” Star Swirl screamed in joy, wings expanding outwards as the balefire flowed from the fractured missiles and into her body. Her fur glowed fiercely, her hair rippling with green flames as it built up within her. Xephyr had to back off a little as she felt the radiation level go through the roof.
Star Swirl shifted and flexed as she built up the power within herself, more than any alicorn before or since. Xephyr couldn't imagine it, knowing that every alicorn had some sort of hard limit on the amount of radiation they could safely store.
And Star Swirl had just absorbed the power of five separate megaspells.
“I have to thank you!” Star Swirl screamed, the power flowing out of her and into an expanding ball of balefire at the tip of her horn, “Bringing every single one of my enemies here to die at once!”
Xephyr flung out a blast of compressed air and it just dissipated before the aura of power that surrounded Star Swirl. The islands turrets fired their own bursts only for their bullets to melt, the civilians below staring up in terror as the ball of energy grew ever wider.
Star Swirl's voice echoed with power, “Star Fall... let us make its name literal shall we!”
¬
"Damnit, she's totally lost her mind." Easu growled, looking back at the priests scattered around, "Is it ready?"
"We think so." The leader of the group stated, shaking his hoof free of the paint he had used to weave the symbols that now covered the courtyard, "None of us have ever done this before. Indeed I note the irony, of priests of Celestia casing dream magic."
"I will do the casting." Easu countered, though truth be told it wasn't really in his repaouture either. Shaman of the Sacred Light were descended from Luna's teachings, but they focused on her role as a breaker of curses, as a defender against monsters and protector of the night. Dreams were a far later role.
Still, he had some advantages. He had done this once before, and had touched the minds of both Star Swirl and Char. He maintained an emotional connection with them. He was no great magic user, but he had studied with Tradash the Black. He focused on the alicorn above, focused on his love for her... "Now, do it!"
He felt the energy flow into him, directed his mind outwards...
There was no falling this time, no separation into separate facets of personality. That at least was a positive, though the view hadn't got any better. Easu looked up at skies full of churning clouds and the occasionally flash of green lightning, across at a landscape of broken stone and... corpses.
They lay broken and dead all about, alicorns and... some sort of dog like creatures. It looked like they had been caught in some sort of titanic earthquake. The scale of death was horrific, Easu figuring it must have been one of Star Swirl's memories.
He continued forward straight ahead, his destination soon making itself apparent. The dim outlines of the great mountain of Star Fall rose beyond the whirling dust, the statue of Celestia and the All Mother replaced by one of Celestia alone. Her eyes shone like suns, her face contorted in anger.
And before her a dais of marbled stone stood, surrounded by deep crevasses’ and shards of upended earth. Imbedded into it were five copies of the spear of Celestia, each connected to a chain.
And bound by those chains... was an alicorn.
Easu leapt from one to the other, fording the divide as quickly as he could. If he could free Star Swirl before Char discovered him they could end this, it would all be alright! Without Star Swirl, Char's power was gone! He landed, rushed towards her prone form...
...and her head rose, green eyes staring from an inky black carapace, "Easu?"
He could only drop his eyes, unable to even look at Char. Even after all this time, he was still so blind, "I'm a fool."
"Yes." Was Star Swirl's simple response, the mare swooping in and delivering a kick that hurled Easu across the platform, bouncing painfully across stone before rolling out into the void. His hoof came out and grabbed hold of the edge of the platform just in time, allowing him to look up at Star Swirl's unsympathetic face as he fought to keep himself from falling.
Her voice was as cold and hard as her eyes, "You're all cowards and hypocrites."
Easu firmed his grip, knowing any attempt to pull himself up would just lead to Star Swirl hurling him back off, "Why? Why is Char chained up?"
"Because she too is a coward and hypocrite." Star Swirl repeated, "You want to change the world, but you're all too scared to do what needs to be done. Too weak." She averted her eyes, looking disgusted, "I was too, once. Too scared to say what needed to be said, do what needed to be done."
Easu struggled to hold on as the stone crumbled beneath him. He had to keep her distracted... "What changed?"
Star Swirl looked at him, surprised. She eventually firmed her expression once more, though her eyes shone with a deep repressed pain, "A lot of things"
"So let's talk about it..."
"NO!" She shouted back, "All the Followers ever did was talk!"
"The Followers...?"
"I buried my old self, Justicar, deep inside me!" Star Swirl shouted, "But not because I was ashamed of her! Not because she was wrong... but because I feared she was right. She wouldn't shut up, that voice in my head telling me that letting the corrupt and evil go free would lead to corruption and evil within the heart of the NCR! That I needed to go out there, resume my quest, destroy the sinners!"
Easu risked throwing another hoof onto the platform, hauling his head above the edge, "So... you hid away from the world, from temptation."
Star Swirl stepped backwards a little, eyes cautious as she saw Easu haul himself up, "Zenai didn't know what she was risking, bringing me with her. Getting me involved. She even knew, that I was the most terrible of the Unity's lieutenants, that I was her executioner and enforcer. And she wanted me to use that power, use it to save the world."
"Then honor her." Easu gasped as he finally climbed onto the platform, "Do it right!"
"I am." Was Star Swirl's simple response.
"Easu, I'm sorry." Char spoke from behind, her dark head bowed in shame, "I didn't know. She buried her memories so deep... maybe it was because of the unity, or their psychic abilities..."
"It's all your fault Easu." Star Swirl stated, sharply cutting Char off, "When we saved Puppy from Nightmare Moon, when you helped bring me back together. It made me whole. I finally remembered my time with the Goddess, with the Unity. It made me strong again."
Char coughed weakly, looking at Easu in despair, "I've found it increasingly difficult to control the union, ever since that day. I tried my best..."
Easu could had dashed his stupid, ignorant brains out right that moment. The truth dawned like a dagger to the heart, "You were holding Star Swirl back. It was you the whole time, trying to keep her on the right path."
"A coward, within my very soul." Star Swirl smiled, and not pleasantly, "But once we started separating in order to create the Knights, I had more than enough time to consider my goal without her influence. And she on the other hoof had enough time to let weakness and doubt into her heart."
"I'm so sorry..." Char despaired, "...I keep creating monsters..."
"Then own your mistakes." Easu stated with firm intensity, glaring across at the broken Char, "Each time, you left them for others to fix! That is your real sin!"
Char raised her head, surprised a little, "What...?"
Star Swirl looked a little concerned at this development, "Stop it."
Easu wouldn't. It was painful to even consider it, but he knew the truth, "Charaxies, you are the only one who can stop this!"
Char hesitated, "I can't..."
"Yes you can!" Easu roared, "You know what you are! Stop hiding from it, and do what you know is right!"
And Char... remained still. The pain and indecision radiated from her, her body tense and hesitant. Star Swirl turned, smiling as she smirked at the demon, "It wouldn't work anyway. I am much stronger than Charaxies could ever be."
"All your power, she gave you!" Easu accused.
"Hardly." Star Swirl snapped back, expression haughty, "Long before Charaxies, I was Justicar. The wasteland trembled before my might. If I had met Littlepip I would have torn her in half with ease!"
Char's eyes flicked round. And with the tiniest change in her expression, doubt became determination, “...no...”
And Star Swirl... stumbled. She looked up at Char, the demon also wincing in pain as her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Star Swirl looked at Char in confusion, her body shrinking and the glow of energy about her fading. She realized after a moment, screaming in fury, “What have you done?!”
“I... will not help you do this...” Char shouted, her strength rapidly departing with every moment, “I won't be used like this...”
“You... separated yourself from me.” Star Swirl stated in realization, eyes growing wide, “You idiot! You'll die without my magic!”
Char grinned, “So be it... Easu!” She turned eyes to him, “You have to kill her! Kill her now while she's weak!”
Star Swirl looked concerned for only a moment before grinning wildly, “That's your plan? He's a pacifist now, and you really think he's able to hurt me?” She smirked, “He loves me.”
“Then... kill me...” Char gave him a begging look, “Without me she's just another alicorn! You can stop her!”
Easu looked to Char, looked into those eyes. Green like balefire, her hide black and hard like Nightmare Moon. A star demon, a creature of Nightmares. He firmed his resolve and ran to her, extending his hoof...
...and placing it upon her side, allowing magic to flow out from him and into Char. The demon instantly started to regain her strength, shooting him a look of confusion as her power returned, "Easu, what are you doing? You need to..."
"I cannot fix this for you." Easu replied, knowing the truth, “You cannot run from your mistakes any longer. You must turn and face them, yourself."
"Too late." Star Swirl spat as she recovered, shaking out her hooves and charging magic through her horn. She looked greatly lessened, but still an alicorn in her prime, "I told you, I don't need..."
...and then she teleported, Easu unable to do more than widen his eyes before Star Swirl appeared in front of him and struck him down with a fierce blow. He rolled, stars flashing in front of his eyes as he attempted to right himself. He blinked a few times to recover his vision, opening them to what could be described as a fight between Char and Star Swirl.
...if you were generous.
"This is why you fail in everything you do." Star Swirl stated almost casually as she avoided Char's wild attacks, tripping the demon and kicking her aside, "You have no conviction. No courage. You hesitate, question yourself constantly."
Char rolled upright, firing a blast from her horn. Predictably, it simply burst off Star Swirl's shields.
"You have all my knowledge, but you cannot fight a real warrior with book learning." Star Swirl stated, giving a cruel chuckle, "Just as I have all of yours, and use it far better than you ever did."
Easu forced himself to his hooves, looking to Char, "She's right. You cannot fight her alicorn to alicorn."
Char gave him a panicked look, "Then how?!"
Easu sighed, knowing this would either work... or they were all dead.
"Moonlight hear my pleas, evil hides within the shadows of night." Easu muttered to himself, feeling his whole body vibrate as the prayer collected it's power at his hooves, "A spirit haunting the dreams of the good, give me strength to resist... sealing!"
Star Swirl was waiting for an attack, caught off guard as Easu struck the ground. Magic burst forward and formed a circle around Star Swirl, silver energy the color of moonlight. Zebric runes proclaiming Luna's duty shone within, Star Swirl tensing as her body was sealed within, "What... is this...?!"
Char looked upon the sight, wide eyed, "Easu, what...?"
"It won't hold her for long!" Easu yelled, already struggling to maintain the seal, "One way or another, end it now!"
Star Swirl just laughed, "You don't have the guts. Kill me and you die too!"
"I'm not going to kill you." Char admitted.
"Ha!"
Char raised her head, staring at Star Swirl with broken eyes, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."
Star Swirl was just about to shout out another taunting reply when Char suddenly... fell apart. Her black chitin just became a cloud of flowing mass, like liquid or smoke. And as she surged forward Star Swirl could only yell, "No! Get away...!"
And as they met Easu poured every last fragment of magic into Char, willed her onwards, threw every seal he knew at Star Swirl. And he struggled to comprehend the perversity as he celebrated the moment when Star Swirl's will gave out, and Char's prevailed.
He couldn't imagine how Char felt.
¬
Xephyr felt the energy dim. The pressure was gone, like it was being pulled back somehow. Xephyr watched the light fade, shocked to see Star Swirl deep within the maelstrom of power... screaming in pain.
And Xephyr realized why. She was drawing the energy back inside herself, burning it off by healing her flesh as fast as it could be destroyed. Xephyr knew enough about alicorns to know it was madness, that it would reduce her lifespan, send her mad. No alicorn could absorb that kind of power.
It might well kill her right there and then. She was literally channeling the combined power of multiple megaspells, her flesh burned to the bone again and again before regenerating.
Xephyr couldn't do anything. She didn't know if she should do anything. She just hovered, watching, as Star Swirl's strength finally cut out and she plummeted downwards through the last fragments of collapsing energy. The sound of her hitting the ground seemed to echo across the entire island.
¬
Easu galloped into the ruins surrounding the megaspell struts, buildings already long past their expiry date torn and shattered by Star Swirl's actions. It left the area very difficult to navigate, still he had to reach her. Before she died of her wounds, before Xephyr could finish the job...
...before she had a chance to run away from him once again.
And as he busted his way through a broken wall, he saw her. Standing amid the devastation, eyes wet with tears, her head lifted to the sky. He recognized her immediately, though more from context than anything else.
Her hair flowed like before, indeed it seemed even more sleek and regal. Yet it no longer had Celestia's colors, instead it was the colors of ash and embers, silver highlighted by tiny hints of inner fire. Her coat too was albino, having lost its pink tinge in favor of a cold, frosty light grey. Her eyes shone with silver, rainbow colors rippling across them like oil as the light caught the irises.
Upon her flank, a falling star, stylized and almost zebra like, etched out in sharp ebony.
He opened his mouth, "Charaxies?"
She looked at him, eyes broken. Her voice was a whisper, "Oh why... why did it have to end like this?"
Easu approached cautiously, not wanting to spook the mare, "What... happened back there?"
"Star Swirl? She's sleeping. Suppressed." Char explained, "Just like when Nightmare Moon took over Luna."
It was a weighty thing to consider. Easu looked her over, trying to distract her with another topic, "You channeled a lot of magic there. Is that why you look... different?"
She lifted a hoof, staring at her fur in confusion. Finally realization dawned, "I pretty much destroyed every cell in my body with that stunt. Had to regrow myself from scratch."
"Rebirth." Easu commented.
She smiled softly, looking embarrassed. Her expression soured after a moment, "You know... you never actually met Star Swirl."
Easu understood, "By the time we met, you were already well established in her body. I was aware, in fact I was watching you closely for any signs of corruption."
"I became part of her shortly after she arrived in Star Fall for the first time." Char explained, smiling softly as she thought back over the past, "I spent our time in Demonivore trying to get to know her, work out what made her tick. She was so... repressed. So frustrated, yet so tightly controlled. I sensed her frustration might turn to malice, so I attempted to guide her to more productive avenues. Admitting her feelings to Zenai. Exploring the heritage of the Princesses. Becoming an icon of the wisdom and benevolence of the alicorns." She chuckled, "And as normal, I only ended up making things worse."
"I met Star Swirl, the Star Swirl, during our quest to save Puppy." Easu noted, that making a lot more sense now, "Was that really what she was like?"
"To an extent." Char acknowledged, "Of course Justicar was split from her at that point too, so she lacked the anger, the pride and sense of purpose. But... yes, that was her."
Easu sighed, confronting once again how little he truly understood, "I'm such a fool. I've spent months trying to save the woman I love from a demon... but you were always a part of her weren't you?" He looked up at her, searching her eyes for truth, some hint as to what this all meant, "...a good part."
She blushed, then backed away. She shook her head decisively, "Easu... you can't justify it. You were right. I'm a demon, and everything that happened to Star Swirl... was my fault."
"And you feel guilty about it."
"Of course!"
He smiled, moving over and nodding firmly, "What you said there... it wasn't Star Swirl you sealed away was it? And it's not really Char I'm speaking to now?"
She considered for a moment, then shook her head, "It's a lot more complex than that. We've been together so long, we're really one and the same. It was her will that I sealed with those emotions, and it's from the demon's core that I speak now. But the memories, the experiences, the glands and brain patterns that power my emotions... they are in large part hers."
"Then this was no evil takeover." Easu challenged, "It was you, fighting to rid yourself of the darkest parts of your psyche and become a better mare. To truly find yourself."
She bowed her head, looking unconvinced, "I guess..."
"There's no need to guess." He waved a hoof at her flank, "You have your cutie mark."
She attempted to look down at it, craning her neck in enthusiasm. It didn't get her far, Char eventually having to ask, "What is it?"
"A falling star." Easu stated, looking up to where Xephyr was quickly descending, "This is going to take some explanation."
She smiled warmly, hopefully, "Whatever happens... thank you for everything."
Easu looked back, momentarily lost in those eyes. In them he saw a mare who had once embodied everything I hated. Now he remembered their night together, the time they had shared, the pain they had felt. Both of them so broken, now both something more.
It was ironic really. Here zebra and pony soldiers had watched the megaspells together, worked together to stop them and save the world best as they could. And at that moment they had given "Rainbow Command" a new name.
Star Fall. Where the lost, orphaned remnants of a broken world settled, and together reached for a new future.