//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 
// Story: My Little Pony: Lights and Shadows - Part III 
// by OmegaTale 
//------------------------------//

The place they found to hide wasn’t a very good one, but there were only so many places they could go. A semi-collapsed tunnel within one of the craters from Erebus’ flare spell. The objective wasn’t to run, only to hide. Blindsided and overwhelmed by the onslaught of Erebus’ new servants, everypony knew they needed to recover best they could before facing them again.It was a certainty, and it clawed at their spirits.

All across Equestria, darkness reigned. In every home, on every street, upon every stone and blade of grass, the darkness reigned. Beneath the glow of the Red Star… no one was safe.

Helping Applejack with her bruised leg, Twilight glanced back behind them all, where Celestia stood at the mouth of the tunnel. It faced away from where the villains stalked overhead, watching tirelessly as their master awaited his spell’s completion. The princess had not spoken a single word since they fled… and even though they did not see or hear it… they knew their savior was gone.

Celestia stood there, alone, eyes cast upon the swirling darkness that was once the sky. “Dream of me…” She whispered to herself. “…and I will come find you.” Words spoken softly and with great pain. She closed her eyes, her shoulders twitching as she began to cry.

Twilight slowly walked up behind her, stopping when she realized the princess was weeping. “Celestia?” She asked, her voice as faint and comforting as she could make it.

“I finally had him back…” She replied, taking a sharp breath. “After a thousand years of telling myself I would never see him again… my prince came back… for me…” Opening her eyes, Celestia turned to her fellow princess. “And now he’s gone.” Twilight moved up and hugged her, the two going silent for a moment as Celestia did her best to compose herself from this one, agonizing pain. “Erebus says all life does is bring us pain…” She said, the two of them separating, and she shook her head. “But if my pain now is the cost of how he made me feel when we were both younger… then I know the pain will always be worth it.”

Twilight smiled at her. “He joined us for the chance to be with you again, Celestia. Something tells me he too believed love was worth the pain. Erebus just doesn’t understand that.”

Celestia looked back deeper into the tunnel, seeing everypony recovering best they could. Her eyes shimmered before turning back to Twilight.“ Sombra told me that you and your friends were our only hope of bringing back out the Shadow we all know, and I believe him.”

“But we already tried,” Twilight said, lightly shaking her head. “I-I don’t know what else we can do to get through to him.”

“You must find a way, Twilight.” She replied, lifting her hoof up onto the young Alicorn’s shoulder. “Everything that has happened to us has led us here, to this moment. The friends you have made, the light you all share, it has proven time and again that friendship is the most powerful magic of all. Magic enough that even Erebus the Shadow cannot hope to withstand.”

Twilight glanced down to the ground for a moment before lifting her gaze back up to meet her princess. “We will try.”

Celestia smiled. “That is all anypony could ever ask for.”

“First we must remove his guardians from your path,” Starswirl added in, joining the two princesses just as everypony else did. “The Pony of Shadows may have taken him over, but Stygian is still our friend.”

“And he always will be.” Meadowbrook said, glancing around at the other pillars. “Twilight and her friends helped save Stygian from the shadows last time… now it’s our turn to save him.”

Flash Magnus saluted Twilight and Celestia. “We won’t let you down your highnesses, leave Stygian to us!”

“They can all be saved,” Celestia said to them, turning back around to the mouth of the tunnel. “Sombra came back for me… and for us all.” She turned back to them. “If he broke free of Erebus’ spell, so can the others. Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight, and I shall see to it that my sister is brought back to the light.”

Somnambula nodded to the other pillars. “We shall do everything in our power to bring our friend, Stygian, back as well.”

Twilight looked to her friends standing together. “Girls? Do you think you can handle bringing Discord back?”

“You can count on us, Twilight!” Rainbow said with confidence.

Rarity nodded as well.“Darling, we are so on it.”

Pinkie and Applejack nodded in determination as well, but Fluttershy looked to Twilight. “What about Shadow? How are we going to bring him back to us, Twilight?”

Celestia stepped up, along with Cadence. “When the moment comes, we will use all of our power to hold Erebus at bay for as long as we can.”

“What about Stormclaw?” Cadence asked, looking up at Celestia. “He will no doubt do whatever he can to stop us.”

Before Celestia was given a chance to reply, everypony heard a voice from the cave entrance. “Perhaps I could be of assistance with him.”

Everypony turned to see the black skinned figure standing there. Her pale blue mane and tail with holes in them along with some in her hooves and wings as well. Her ears flat to her head, the former queen of the changelings stood before the ponies.

“Chrysalis?!” Shining Armor exclaimed.

Rainbow shook her hoof at the queen. “Oh great, you want a piece of us too? Bring it!”

Of everypony’s reactions, Celestia’s was the only one that didn’t have any shock in it. “Let her speak,” She said, quieting everypony. “With our world standing upon the brink of destruction, let us hear what she has to say.”

The attention swung back to Chrysalis, who was obviously uncomfortable with the situation and choice that had been thrust onto her. “I wanted my kingdom back,” She said in a bold voice. “I wanted my subjects, my life, everything back so that I could exact my revenge… but…” Eyes lowering to the ground, her head stooped low. “Everything changed when I met him.I never let anyone close… I never knew what it felt like to… to…” She seemingly got choked up for a second, but then lifted her gaze, which stared daggers into everypony. “I don’t care about any of you. I don’t care about your friends, your home, or anything else you have to offer… all I care about is him.”

Cadence, however mixed her feelings were about this, took a step forward. “We all saw him cast you aside, Chrysalis.You still-”

“He doesn’t think he has anything to live for anymore!” Chrysalis hissed at her, shaking her head. “But he does… and I can show him. I will deal with him while you all save your friends. After that, you can take your fight to that shadowy creature and you’ll never hear from either of us every again.”

“And why should we trust you now?” Rockhoof asked, grimacing. “You’re a master of deception, we’ve all seen it. What guarantee can you give us that you won’t just up and betray us?”

Chrysalis glared at him, and then over at Celestia. “Everything I did in the past I did for my kingdom… and for myself. I have no kingdom anymore, and I see now that I could never get them back, so my only responsibility is to myself.” She sneered as she shook her head. “Like I said, I don’t care about any of you. The only reassurance I have anymore is that Stormclaw and I can keep each other alive out on our own and be enough for one another. I’ll handle him, and you all can go off and save the world all you want.”

There was a silence that followed. For a number of moments, the ponies glanced back and forth from one another, gauging whether or not it was worth the risk to trust her.

“Chrysalis is right.” Celestia spoke up, turning to all of them. “The fate of the world hinges upon us stopping that star from falling. If her occupying Stormclaw helps us reach that goal, then we must trust her.”

Cadence looked down at the ground, contemplating this new development.Shining looked to Chrysalis with skeptical eyes. Chrysalis returned the gaze, and even though she knew this was a world-threatening, serious situation, she couldn’t resist dawning a smirk. “Don’t worry Shining; I won’t steal you away from your lovely wife again.”

Shining flinched, his face flushing red, and Cadence looked up at her suddenly, a not-so-happy expression on her face. Before things could escalate further, Celestia continued. “So it’s settled then; together we shall all free our friends,” She glanced at Chrysalis. “And allies, from Erebus’ control. When we succeed, Twilight, it will be up to you and your friends to bring Shadow back and stop the Red Star from falling.”

Starfall stood at Twilight’s side.“I will protect you best I can until that time comes.”

Spike, knowing he and a friend had yet to be mentioned, spoke up. “What about me and Starlight?Who do we help?”

Twilight turned to them. “Starlight, you help the girls try and snap Discord out of Erebus’ spell, and Spike, you go see if you can find Ember and the others, help them best you can. ”Spike and Starlight both nodded in agreement.

In the first few moments the sound was heard, the ponies all fell silent, ears upright and fur standing on end. The hymn in the air broke into a choral note, the voices blending harmoniously into a horrifying, and yet beautiful, serenade. Everypony galloped to the tunnel’s opening and their gazes were cast up to the sky.

The Red Star had ceased its growth, blazing bright high up within the swirling darkness above them. The land was now drenched in the deep, terrifying glow of the star, as if it were the sun and had gone red. The spell had to be nearing completion, if they were lucky, they had precious minutes remaining.

“We must go, now!” Starswirl pleaded to them. “If that star reaches the surface…”

Pinkie hopped up and punched at the air in front of her with her hooves. “Let’s do this!”

Spike looked around at them all in a near panic. “B-but a lot of you are still really hurt!”

“We’re outta time, Spike!” Applejack said, leaping up and out from the tunnel. “Now get a move on!”

Spike saluted her. “Yes ma’am, Applejack ma’am!” He then crawled out from the cave and took off towards where many of the dragons, changelings, and griffons still lied on the field.

“Alright everypony, let’s go save our friends!” Rainbow shouted.

Everyone emerged from the cave and split into their 3 groups, charging in the direction which they had just fled from. All 3 shadowy versions of their friends stood in wait for them, evil smiles and laughs filling the air about them. To be sure the villains didn’t join in on each other’s confrontations, the 3 groups spaced themselves away from one another, drawing their required villains towards them and away from one another.

Erebus recognized the ponies’ strategy right away, eyeing all 3 groups as they moved out of effective range of each other. Remembering Sombra’s release from his spell, he knew this may end up being problematic. “Stormclaw,” He said, gesturing the dragon forward with his head. “Make certain that my servants remain my servants until the end.”

Stormclaw chuckled and spread his wings, flying up into the air to plan how best to sabotage the ponies’ plan. Knowing Discord was still weakened by his curse, he decided start with the six mares advancing on him. Diving down through the air, he began his approach, only to come to an early halt. Down below, Chrysalis stood on a slighted hill, looking up at him. Crossing his arms, Stormclaw dawned a smirk as he descended down onto the ground in front of her.

“You fight for the princesses now?” He mused.

Chrysalis shook her head. “I fight for me and no one else, and that’s why I’ve come.”

“No,” the black dragon replied, shaking his head. “You’ve come because you’re a star-crossed little girl who’s never felt love before. So helpless is this girl that she continues to believe the one who used her has any remote kind of feelings for her.”

“Spell or not,” Chrysalis said, denying his words. “I know you felt something… that you feel it now, and you’re afraid of it.” Stormclaw grimaced at her claims. “I was afraid too, the first time I felt it, but you helped me to overcome my fear.” She took a step closer to him. “Live for me, Stormclaw. Come away with me and let the world sort out its problems on its own, we don’t need anyone else, you and I.”

A deep, amused chuckle surfaced past Stormclaw’s aggravation. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Such a shame that the world needs to end so soon…” His eyes then flashed open. “So what do you say we cut straight to the part where I end your pitiful story before the star even has a chance to start falling?”





Discord lounged on a floating throne in the air, slowly spinning upside-down as it went. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Starlight all came sliding to a halt, looking up at him.

The draconequus crawled up onto the edge of the throne with his both his claw and paw holding up his chin. “Lookie what we have here! My dear friends… and my dearest of dear friends! Sweet Shutterfly.”

“It’s Fluttershy.” Fluttershy said, flying up into the air alongside Rainbow.

Discord waved off the mistake. “Oh, right, whatever, anywho! Are you all here to teach me about friendship?!” He asked, his last word rolling off his tongue as his eyes grew wide and sparkly. He gaged and coughed, thumping his chest with his balled paw. “Took you long enough, honestly, how long do the folks at home have to wait to see a finale like this?”

“I know, right?” Pinkie giggled.

Rainbow looked at her pink friend. “Pinkie!”

Pinkie giggled again. “Oh yeah, right, sorry.” She then lowered herself to the ground and growled. “You’re goin’ down, buster!”

Discord appeared now sitting in a lounge chair with glasses and a nightgown on, reading a book. “Hmm? Yes, I’m listening.” He said without looking away from the book.

“Discord, I know you remember us.” Fluttershy spoke softly, trying to see if she could win him back over by acting more like herself when they would be together. “So why don’t you-”

“One moment, one moment…” Discord interrupted her, turning the page in his book. “Lord Eddard Stark just got betrayed by Baelish and Slynt…” He said, rubbing his goatee. “I’ve got a good feeling about this series, it has some serious potential…”





A mass of shadows crossed the ground and stopped just in front of Starswirl and his group, who slid to a halt when it did. Growing up from the stone, the shadow transformed into Stygian’s Pony of Shadows form, his mouth gaping wide as he bellowed a deep laugh.

“Stygian, it is us! Your friends!” Starswirl tried shouting to him.

Stygian laughed even louder, his eyes squinting. “Oh yes… I can see that!” He grunted and slammed his hooves down on the ground, sending a splintering quake towards the 6 of them.

Starswirl teleported away and the others evaded the attack to safety. Mist Mane then tried going next. “We weren’t there for you in the past, Stygian, but we’re here for you now!”

The massive pony scowled in the face of their persistence. “Shower me with all your most clever whims, believe me, I’m dying to hear them!” He shouted, firing a pitch black beam of magic towards her.

Flash Magnus dove down and intercepted the beam by blocking it with his shield. Rockhoof then caught him before the force of the attack could spike him into the ground like last time. “Will you not stop to hear what we have to say, Stygian?!” The earth pony called out. “Princess Twilight and Starlight showed us the truth; that you want no part in the destruction your shadow seeks!”

Meadowbrook galloped up to their side. “Let it go, Stygian! The shadow is not who you are!”

Stygian growled deeper into frustration. “The shadow is everything I am! I know of no such truth you speak! You betrayed me, all of you! And you must all pay!” Yelling in rage, the shadow pony summoned a magical burst from his horn that expanded as a dark blast in all directions.

All 6 of the pillars moved together while Starswirl and Mist Mane created a barrier to protect them through the attack.





Unlike the other 2, Nightmare stood with her back turned in her adversaries’ direction. She was gazing up at the Red Star in the sky and marveling at Erebus’ power to cast the world into eternal darkness. She had been unable to move the moon, the ethereal star in the sky preventing her from doing so. It was glorious… beautiful… everything she wanted in her long, eternal night.

Celestia, Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight, and Starfall all stopped within a certain distance of the Alicorn, Celestia having gestured for them to stay put as she took a few steps forward. “Luna?”

“I never knew such magic existed in the world…” Nightmare said in her strong, commanding voice, keeping her gaze upon the Red Star. “Never in all my years within the darkness could I have imagined such power… and to see it now, it is more beautiful than anything you or I could ever hope to do.”

Celestia sighed, looking down a bit before returning her gaze up to her sister. “I thought… I thought you had purged the darkness from within you. That night when you left for the ruins… you told me-”

Nightmare muffled a maniacal chuckle, turning around to face them. “I promised you a great many things, I’m afraid. That was one of my more cunning lies.” She said, lifting her chin as she smirked at her sister. “What else could I have said when I returned only to hear the news that the castle had been attacked while I was gone? That a pegasus who remained close to my heart had nearly died, and all because I was not there to protect him as he had protected me all those years?”

Starfall felt shaken by this deception being centered around him and the night at the gala. “Luna…” He said, shaking his head. “I don’t blame you-”

Nightmare looked to him and turned away again. “And to think you all believed me that day when I confided in you what happened… you are all FOOLS!” She yelled, spinning back around as her eyes squinted in anger. “I am Nightmare Moon! The princess you’ve seen in the past years has been haunted by her memories as me for we can never be apart from each other!” The darkness swirled around her as her anger grew stronger. “Here we are once again, sister, after over a thousand years, and ponies STILL shun my beautiful night! I come to them in their dreams and make soft their burdens within the Dream Realm and STILL they love you more than they ever have me!”

Twilight shook her head. “No, Luna, your subjects love you, they love us all. Remember Pip at your first Nightmare Night?”

Nightmare cocked her head back for a moment. “Hmhmhm… what is a single child in the face of an entire kingdom?”

“Remember the night all of Ponyville helped you confront the Tantabus?” Twilight tried even further, not wanting to let up. “The ponies of Equestria love all of their princesses… they need their Princess of the Night now more than ever.”

Nightmare looked to her, blinking a few times. “Dear child, are you truly so naïve as to think such petty memories will be enough to stop the eternal night?” Her eyes glowed pure white as the darkness swirled around her faster, a breeze about her changing into a powerful wind as her brow furrowed. “When the world ends, it shall end in darkness… Erebus means to free us from our pain. This night… will never end.”





Chrysalis teleported away from Stormclaw as he advanced on her, swinging his claw and hitting nothing but air. After missing a few times, he scoffed and stood up straight.

“What are you trying to prove?” He questioned her. “That deep down, anyone can be saved?”

“I won’t claim to know that anyone can,” Chrysalis replied. “But you and I, we have already changed so much apart, imagine what we could become if we stayed together.”

Shaking his head, the black dragon began his approach again. “You don’t know me… I haven’t changed at all.”

Standing her ground as he drew closer, the changeling queen persisted. “But you have, the only difference between you and me is that I don’t deny the change. Have I not given you what no one else has? You know the way I feel… that should be proof enough that I am someone you can live for.”

The black dragon’s claws clenched tight, his scarlet eyes blazing up. “You have no idea the horrors I’ve endured… the suffering I’ve felt, no more.” His dark aura began to rise from his scales. “One way or another, my story ends here…”

Chrysalis teleported again once he moved too close, but this time, a similar burst of light came from the dragon’s eyes as he struck out with his claw in the blink of an eye, grabbing her by breaking her spell in the middle of casting it.

“And so will yours.” Stormclaw head butted Chrysalis, stunning her, and then heaved a claw into her chest, sending her flying to the ground and sliding across the stone. Chrysalis’ vision was blurred and spinning from the strike to her head. As she looked up, she saw the black dragon walking towards her, the dark magic on his scales becoming denser and more violent. He stopped just in front of her, towering over her as he chuckled. “Too bad you have no friends of your own to protect you.”

He lifted his claw for a final strike, only to be cut short when someone rushed into him from behind, sending him grinding into the stone. Garble lowered his claws, his chest heaving, one wing torn, and one eye shut from an injury to his face.

“Look who’s talking, punk.” Garble growled, standing in between the now rising Stormclaw and Chrysalis, who managed to get up and stand beside the red dragon. “You mind if I thrash your boyfriend a bit?”

Chrysalis tilted her head, her neck letting off a few cracks. “I think he may need some sense knocked back into him, so be my guest.”

Stormclaw chuckled, his claws coming together as the dark aura about him flared up again. “We’re entering the final chapter now… time to go out with a bang.”





Applejack jumped from floating boulder to floating boulder, dodging flying debris all over the place. “Land sakes! Y’all doin’ alright?!”

Rainbow was caught in a cotton candy cloud, upside-down with an irritated expression on her face. “Do I look alright to you?!”

Pinkie hopped up to the pink cloud and devoured it, flipping back down to the ground and rubbing her stomach. “Oh how I’ve missed you chocolate milk filled cotton candy clouds…”

Shaking off the last bits of cotton candy, Rainbow flew down to her. “Thanks Pinks, but can you please stop goofing off long enough to help us out here?”

“Sorry, sorry!” She said, shaking her head wildly for a moment. “Discord when I get-” She stopped when she realized the draconequus was nowhere in sight. “Discord? Where d’ya go?”

It suddenly got far darker than usual, a single, bright spotlight appearing that illuminated a small area where Discord stood with his back turned and a classy outfit on. He spun around and shouted, “LAAAA! La cucaracha, la cucaracha! Ya no puede caminar! Porque no tiene, porque le falta! Dinero para gastar!” A band of instruments appeared floating in the air around him, as well as maracas in his claw and paw. He danced around, the spotlight following him as he shook his maracas.

During this time, a whole mess of chaos began swirling around the six mares as they continued to try and break through to him.

“Discord!” Starlight called out. “Remember coming with Trixie, Thorax and I to the Changeling Hive!” The music died down and Discord slowed his dance to a halt, his back turned to them. “We need your help! Please, snap out of it!”

Rarity huffed. “Yes, please do before you break into another one of these ridiculous charades.”

Discord turned around, levitating up into the air in lying sideways position. “Why should I? Spreading chaos is sooo much more fun than saving the world! Why not have our last moments goofing off to a few good laughs?”

“Discord?” Fluttershy asked, making the draconequus glance down at her below. “Remember when you flooded Sweet Apple Acres? And then froze it over when I asked you to fix it?”

The memory itself made Discord light up with laughter. “Oh yes! I do remember that! Good times, good times… oh! Right! Then I used your promise to manipulate you against your friends into allowing me to stay free! I love recalling our memories! Say another one, say another one!” He said excitedly, rolling over onto his stomach, his tail wagging like a dog.

Fluttershy paused, not saying a word, only looking up at him expectantly. The delay in a response sparked up Discord’s entertainment-craving mind to keep going and recall the memory for himself, not completely remembering it.

“Then you…” He stopped, his giddy expression fading. “Then you said we weren’t friends anymore… and I realized that… if I kept making chaos… I would lose my only friend in the whole world…”

“We’re all your friends, Discord!” Pinkie said happily, hopping up and over to Fluttershy and hugging her. “Remember that time we all had that day out! You know, when Twilight was busy in her library? Remember all the fun we had?”

Discord’s gaze fell as he recalled that day. It had been made all the better when he found out Twilight was jealous, and he made the painting, and milked out the orange joke too much… and they all shared a laugh in the end.

“You may be a bigger goofball than Pinkie,” Rainbow said, landing down beside the pink mare and reaching her hoof over her shoulder. “But you’re still awesome! Who else can set up those epic Ogres and Oubliettes games we all love so much?”

The memories came rushing to Discord like a flood, all of the many times they were together, be it the tea parties with Fluttershy, the pranks with Rainbow, or the raves with Pinkie. So many memories… they engulfed his senses, the chaotic aura around him flickering.

“You don’t want the world to end, Discord…” Applejack said, looking over to Rarity, who stepped up beside her.

“Not when you still have so much more joyful chaos to offer it.” Rarity said, swishing her mane back. “You know… within reason, of course.”

Discord felt his ears flatten to his head, his mouth opening slightly. Fluttershy flew up in front of him and he tried to speak, but no words emerged. She lifted her hoof to his face, softly stroking it. “It’s okay, Discord… you have all of us.You always will.”

“Oh Fluttershy…” He said quietly, his eyes changing back to normal. “Girls… you… I-I…” He closed his eyes, his brow furrowing as the chaotic aura disappeared completely. Opening his eyes, he smiled softly at her. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled back her most adorable smile. “Now… our friends are in trouble.”

The joy on Discord’s face contorted into anger.He turned to look at the others, still trying to free the other 2 from Erebus’ spell. “Time to get serious…” He glanced over at Pinkie, who nodded to him.

“Like a dear friend of ours once said…” Pinkie said with a smirk, both she and Discord looking to their friends in need. They then both spoke in unison.

“Maximum effort!”





Flash used his shield to stave off a rush of darkness Stygian sent towards him and Somnambula. “We need to think of something, fast!” He yelled. “This isn’t working!”

“Stygian, listen to us!” Mist Mane called out to him. The shadow pony replied by reeling up and summoning strands of shadows that tore up from the ground. Mist Mane cast her serpent spell which cut through the strands that came too close to her.

Stygian let out an evil laugh. “Give it up!The shadows are all I need anymore…” His horn sparked and become coated in darkness. “Your friendship means nothing to me!”

Starswirl leapt over in front of Mist Mane just as Stygian cast his shadow beam at her, intercepting it with his own white magic beam. The beams collided, but Starswirl’s immediately began being pushed back towards him. Stygian echoed another laugh as he relished in his newly restored power.

“Starswirl!” Flash yelled, trying to fly over to him.

This time, Stygian saw it coming and spread his ghostly wings, one of the shadow strands from the ground grabbing the pegasus and walling off everypony else. “Your friends won’t be there to save you this time, Starswirl. You are MINE!”

With a slighted yell, the shadow pony unleashed all of his magical power into the beam, increasing its size and pushing the collision of the two spells closer and closer to the old unicorn. Starswirl gritted his teeth, struggling to hold his ground, the stone beneath him cracking from the weight of the pressure on his horn. As the magical beam came within mere feet of him, he closed his eyes.

“Stygian… forgive me, what we did to you was my fault.” He managed to say under the intensity of the magic. “I should have known you were only doing what you did to help us… I can’t believe I imagined you were trying to steal our power… rather than make yourself strong so that you could stand with us.”

Stygian’s eyes grew wide, and he snarled. “And here I am,” He said lowly. “More powerful than all of you combined! The darkness deserves my loyalty more than you!”

The beam collision was now so close to Starswirl that his entire vision became shrouded in the light it was causing even though his eyes were closed. “You… have the chance now to prove how powerful you really are.” He said painfully, his muscles weak from holding the brunt of the beams. “A chance to save the world… and every living thing on it.” He slowly opened his eyes. “Come back to us… be our friend once again… we need you.”

Stemming the flow of power into his horn, the beams stayed where they were, just inches away from breaking through and exploding in the unicorn’s face. Stygian hesitated, eyes filled with doubt.He shook his head several times, trying to force himself to do it, end it now and prove his dominance over the old wizard.

That one moment of hesitation was all Discord needed.

Appearing within the beam collision, the draconequus held both of the beams with his claw and paw, separating them. His pupils glowed red and he gritted his fangs, clenching both beams closer and closer into closed fists. The light from the beams began to fade as all of their power became trapped in Discord’s grasp. Closing both fists completely, the beams’ connections became severed, both attacks ceasing.

His paw remained clenched tight, darkness seeping out from the creases in between, and his claw remained tight as well, light peeking out from it in several places. With a calming breath, Discord squeezed them into oblivion, both magical beams becoming nothing within the draconequus’ grasp. He turned to the shadow pony, shaking his head. “Let’s try this my way.” He said with a chuckle.

Stygian went to fire another beam, but Discord dematerialized and the attack went straight through him, whizzing past Starswirl who had been pulled away by Mist Mane. Discord appeared inches from Stygian’s face and grabbed hold of him, his eyes changing into the same swirling spirals that they had been when he hypnotized Twilight’s friends within the maze all those years ago.

“What are you doing?!” Stygian cried out.

Discord’s claw and paw became engulfed in chaotic aura and he grabbed Stygian’s head with them both. The shadow pony felt all of his memories of what happened after the darkness was banished, all return to him in a single moment.

“Before friendship I was strong,” Discord said, his eyes returning to normal. “Now I’m just completely OP.” He chuckled, releasing him.

Stygian took a step back, recalling in a flash what he saw in the days, weeks, months after the darkness had been taken from him. His days with his friends, the pillars, meeting Shadow and seeing the Crystal Heart for himself. His ambitions faded away as he saw how much his friends truly cared about him… and then how Starswirl asked forgiveness.

He turned to Starswirl, who was nearly unconscious from the power struggle they had just had.He lowered his head and closed his eyes. “Get… out… of me!” He yelled, the shadows of his current form bursting out in all directions as the giant pony vanished, tiny Stygian appearing out from its center and falling to the ground below.

“Stygian!” Everypony around him yelled, running to his aid, but he was up on his hooves just as soon as he hit the ground.

He looked at the wounded unicorn. “Starswirl…?”

Starswirl managed a smile, nodding to him. “It is up to all of you now… the star… you haven’t much time left… go.” He slumped down to the ground, falling still.

“Starswirl!” Stygian cried out.

Flash looked the old wizard over. “It’s okay, he’s just lost consciousness.”

Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Starlight all reached them at the same time, everypony turning to the only one of the shadow servants left.





“This isn’t what you really want.” Celestia said to her sister, neither side having had to resort to violence yet. “Erebus has cast a spell to make you blind from the pains of your past. You are not Nightmare Moon, you are Princess Luna… you are my sister.”

Nightmare slowly shook her head in disappointment. “All of Equestria looks up to you, Celestia. The princess who knows best… who knows all…” She scoffed, looking down and away from her. “And yet I was right there in front of you, all those years and you never saw my pain… you never WANTED to see it. Caught up in the admiration of your subjects, you let your own sister fall into darkness.”

Celestia lowered her head slightly, remembering herself the mistakes she made in the past. Erebus’ ears twitched and he slowly turned to watch this encounter taking place not so far away. His deep, red eyes gazed at the princess of the sun, almost in a puzzling manner.

“Hmm… how interesting.” He said to himself, his horn glowing as the magical aura returned to it. “It seems not even the sun princess herself is void of darkness…”

Celestia lifted her gaze back up to meet her sister once again, only to fall back down. “My past mistakes have weighed heavily against me as well, dear sister. To not have been there for you when you needed me most… countless nights when I rested my head, I woke within your Dream Realm only to be faced with them all again and again…”

Nightmare paused, her own gaze slowly drifting over towards her sister. Her resolve had begun with a fiery passion, before, when Erebus first cast his spell on her, but now… something was different. Looking upon her elder sister now… for the first time, she tried imagining living a thousand years, ruling alone, having lost her sister, her lover, and her best friend. She imagined the nights… lying alone in the dark, with nothing but a crown, and the responsibilities of an entire kingdom.

Twilight and Cadence both looked to Celestia as it seemed she had been completely derailed from her task of freeing Luna.The white Alicorn stood there, drawn to telling them all what had been building up within her. “Going on every day… keeping my past locked away for the strength I needed to keep Equestria shining and prosperous… to assure them that their princess could rule alone.” She closed her eyes, the floodgates of her emotions now opened and flowing strong. “So much…” She paused, taking in a sharp breath. “So… much… pain.”

Erebus’ mouth curved into a wicked smile.His eyes glowed their colors deep and bright, as well as the openings from his mouth. The magic aura around his horn changed into the ember-filled darkness that swirled about him.

The ground around Celestia began to simmer, the stone steaming as heat began to seep into the rock. Everypony around her backed away in recoil, and Nightmare turned to her completely, her eyes going wide. Celestia’s armor darkened, almost as if it were being heated up from just touching her. Her mane and tail brightened, the air about them giving off intense heat.

Nightmare immediately understood everything.Her sister felt that same pain for all those years, with the added devastation of having banished her own sister, and needing to disguise it for her subjects to remain happy. Her pain… Erebus could feel it… he had to have. She turned to Erebus, who was watching with an evil smile on his face, mouth opened slightly as he laughed in silence. Nightmare turned back to her sister, seeing the transformation continue.

The metal of Celestia’s armor became heat-drenched, falling away from her as the clasps melted. Her mane and tail flickered a brightness equal to the intensity of the sun, the heat from them warming the very air around her. Her eyes clenched tight, as well as her teeth, which sharpened into fangs in her mouth. Her eyelids darkened, becoming fiery bright, almost as if they too were heating up from within.

Twilight moved to help her. “Celestia, what’s-” She yelped and backed away as the air became too hot to even approach her.

The ponies had no time to react, having been too caught up with what was happening to see Nightmare moving towards Celestia until she was right in front of her. “Sister.” She said, her voice still foreboding and deep.

Celestia flinched at hearing her voice, it looked as if she was still trying to keep her pain hidden away. “Oh Luna… I’m so sorry…” She whispered.

Nightmare lifted her chin, eyes glancing down at her elder sister, who was still arched over. “I forgive you.”

Celestia opened her eyes suddenly, her mane and tail igniting into their full, flaming form. Celestia had transformed into the dreaded Alicorn she had seen in the Dream Realm the night she acquired Luna’s powers. She stood as the haunting Alicorn known only as Daybreaker. Despite this, she looked upon her sister in shock. “W-what did you say…?”

The two now stood eye to eye, Nightmare taking a deep breath. “I see now everything I was too foolish to see before,” She said as soft as she could despite still sounding intimidating. “To have hidden away all of your guilt… your pain for so long… I see now that you have suffered, as I have.”

Daybreaker, although summoned forth from Erebus’ powers, seemed petrified from this confession from her sister. Erebus watched in slight confusion as the solar nightmare of a pony stood there, almost fragile-looking in the eyes.

Nightmare looked back at Erebus, her eyes squinting in anger. “Witnessing this has also made me understand I am being used in another’s game… and Nightmare Moon is no pawn.” She said, turning to him completely. “I will stand with you, my sister, with your friends, and with the hope of our world.”

Daybreaker felt a tear fall down her cheek, one which didn’t evaporate despite the intensity of the heat around it. She looked to her sister, who remained facing the Shadow Alicorn, a small smile forming on her face. Then, she too turned her glare to Erebus, stepping up beside her sister. “Then let night and day clash upon the shadows, together.”

Cadence stepped up with Daybreaker as well. “I am with you too.”

Discord appeared from thin air, landing beside Cadence. He looked like he was about to say something serious, but then went suspicious-looking when he saw Daybreaker. Rubbing his chin, he raised an eyebrow. “Celestia… something’s… different about you…” She looked at him, unamused in the moment.Discord snapped his claw. “Did you change your mane-style?”

“I take it you are with us as well?” Daybreaker asked him.

Discord turned to face Erebus just the same as they were. “Now and always, princess.”

She looked at him for a moment more, a slight shimmer in her eyes before she returned her glare to the Shadow Alicorn. Twilight was about to step up too, but the sound of a crash upon the ground made her and everypony else turn to see its source. Garble and Chrysalis were trying with all their might to face-down Stormclaw, but they were failing.

Daybreaker glanced back at her. “Twilight, you and your friends help to quell him…” She then turned back to face the Shadow Alicorn. “Nightmare, Cadence, Discord, and I shall see to Erebus.”

“But Celestia-” Twilight began to say.

Daybreaker looked back down and over at the purple Alicorn. “Remember what I said, Twilight; you and your friends are the only hope our world has left. Go, save your friends, we will do our best slow him down until you come to finish it.”

Twilight hesitated, but then nodded. “Be safe, princess.”

Seeing Celestia’s smile on Daybreaker’s face was enough to fill Twilight with confidence. “And you, dear Twilight.” Facing Erebus once again, Daybreaker nodded. “Let’s go.”

As the three princesses and the draconequus flew towards the Shadow Alicorn, everypony else, in both remaining groups, moved to converge on Stormclaw.





Crashing down hard onto the stone ground, pieces of black rock and dust went flying all over. Garble used his claws to slow himself to a halt, tearing grooves into the ground. Stormclaw was on his heels, attacking the injured dragon in a rush to not allow him a moment to breathe. Garble was forced to go on the defensive during almost the entire fight so far, blocking the black dragons claws best he could.

Chrysalis used her magic to try freezing Stormclaw in place, but the spell seemed to have no effect, and he continued on. So instead, she used her magic to lift and moved Garble out of the way. Stormclaw, seeing this, turned and lunged at Chrysalis. Out of impulse, she tried teleporting again, only to find him using the same magic he had before, catching her by breaking her spell and grabbing hold of her.

Garble landed, grabbed a chunk of black rock, and hurled it up at them. Before Stormclaw could strike Chrysalis, the rock smashed against his shoulder, giving the changeling enough time to squirm out from his loosened grasp and down away from him.

Stormclaw huffed, now bent on bringing these two down before he got to the others. “You two are pathetic, and to think I was actually looking forward to beating you down one-on-one.” He said, chuckling at Garble.

The red dragon snarled up at the black one, he hated being helpless like this. Before he could make a remark back, Chrysalis spoke up.“You can’t win this one, Stormclaw. The ponies will take you as their prisoner if we don’t leave, now.”

Stormclaw muffled a chuckle, shaking his head. “No, like I said, one way or another my life ends here, today. If it ends before the star reaches the surface then so be it, I will go down fighting.”

Garble snorted out some smoke, his eyes then catching sight of what Chrysalis was getting at. He looked back at the black dragon, growling. “You better change your mind quick.”

Stormclaw chuckled again, his dark aura building up around him again. “Yeah? And why’s that?” He asked, crossing his arms and tilting his head.

Stormclaw was then blasted in the back by several magical beams all at once. Not having expected the sneak attack, the black dragon was unable to keep in the sky as he plummeted down and struck the stone hard. Garble cocked his head to the side. “Too late.”

With a shake of his head, Stormclaw looked up and around him, seeing Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Starfall, and Stygian all lining up to give him a full sight of adversaries. Spitting out a tooth, he rose up from the ground. “Forgot how much you ponies love your cheap shots.”

“It’s over, Stormclaw!” Twilight shouted at him.

Rainbow shook her hoof at him. “Yeah, give it up!”

Clenching his claws, Stormclaw’s dark aura flared back up and he growled. “Never!”

Chrysalis shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t win!It’s pointless to keep fighting!”

Spreading out his wings, the black dragon went down on all fours, the aura spiking up again. “I think not… I’ll take you all down myself!” He suddenly stood upright and roared, creating a shockwave that made everypony shield themselves. The magic swirling around him became absorbed into his scales and his entire body became cloaked in the shadows, shifting around and making him difficult to see.

“Here he comes!” Applejack yelled.

Like a freight train, Stormclaw charged towards them with the intent to plow into them. Starlight fired a magic beam towards him, but the shadows around him worked to stave it off as he charged through it. Applejack, Rainbow, and Starfall all charged at him as well, the four of them colliding.

The dragon slashed at them, but Applejack ducked underneath the wing, spinning around in the process. She dug her front hooves into the ground and heaved a mighty kick straight into Stormclaw’s gut, making him stagger backwards quite a bit.

Rainbow followed up on this strike by jump kicking the recoiled dragon, striking him off balance and down onto his back. Garble, seeing the opportunity, leapt up in the air and came down with a brutal swing. Stormclaw just barely managed to roll out of the way of the attack, opening his mouth and breathing a bright flamethrower at them. Garble turned in time to grab both AJ and Rainbow, shielding them from the fire.

Starfall, who had flown over the flames, tucked in his wings and did a flip, coming down with an axe-kick that struck Stormclaw directly on his head. The black dragon staggered backwards, holding his head with both claws as he appeared stunned. Starfall went to follow up with another strike, but Stormclaw had faked the intensity of the injury and spun around, swatting the pegasus aside with his tail.

Anticipating the beam to the back like before, Stormclaw turned around just in time to backhand a beam from Starlight as he took flight to avoid another kick from Applejack. Bright, red light shot out from his mouth as he stopped his ascent, a fireball charging up as he opened his mouth.

“Not this time!” Starfall shouted, grabbing the dragon from behind and forcing his mouth shut with his hooves. Doing so caused the fireball to explode and sent both the dragon and the pegasus crashing into the ground.

Standing back up onto his claws, Stormclaw’s face steamed from taking the blast so close. Starfall rose, seeing everypony galloping towards them. A distant flash filled the air, making a wall of dark crystal jut up from the ground around the two of them, trapping them from the others. As Twilight reached the wall, she rammed it as hard as she could, but it didn’t budge. Looking back where the flash came from, she saw Erebus had briefly paused to do so during his own confrontation with the princesses and Discord.

Garble reached the wall and began swinging away at it to break through as quickly as he could. Everypony joined in, thrashing the crystal wall as hard as they could.

Starfall, unable to see through the walls, looked around at them, eventually turning back to Stormclaw, who chuckled. “Hmhmhm… how helpful are your friends to you now?”

Lowering himself to the ground in a fighting pose, Starfall replied, “Don’t go celebrating just yet, now you can’t go running away from me.”

Stormclaw growled lowly at him. “This time I’m going make sure you stop breathing for good!”

The black dragon advanced on the royal guard, swinging wildly at him. Starfall ducked and rolled, paused and flipped through the air, evading his foe’s claws. The moment an opening was presented, Starfall dove low to avoid a strike and came up with a head butt, giving an opening for him to kick Stormclaw in the stomach, exactly where AJ hit him.

Being hit in that particular spot made Stormclaw stagger backwards, one claw to his stomach as he snarled at the pegasus. Knowing he would be slower this time, Starfall closed the gap between them. After dodging a few more swings, he delivered a quick jab to the dragon’s throat and then kneed him in that same weakened spot on his stomach. Stormclaw hunched over from the strike, allowing the pegasus a backflip kick that struck the dragon backwards and up against the wall.

Roaring in anger, Stormclaw breathed out his fire breath in every which direction in an attempt to fill the confined area with flames. The strike to his throat, however, made the flames painful to breathe, causing less fire to come flowing out. Starfall reeled back, moving out of the dragon’s effective range.

“Enough of these games!” Stormclaw bellowed, raising both claws and roaring as he slammed them down into the ground. Dark magic rippled across the stone and cracked it, the magic seeping down into the ground. Starfall looked down in a kind of panic as he had no idea what was about to happen.

Within seconds, the stone beneath them shattered, revealing a bottomless pit down below. Both the pegasus and the dragon took to the air, but before their fight could resume, the dome over them cracked from everyone banging against it outside. Seeing a particularly large crack on one side of the wall, Starfall rammed into it, breaking out from the dark crystals right where everypony had been striking it.

The entire crystal dome came crashing down, with Stormclaw just barely able to make it out in time. The crystals fell down into the chasm, likely making the bottom, if it had a bottom, a fatal fall for anyone.

Garble, having expected Stormclaw to come flying out from the hole to escape the collapse, got in a perfectly timed claw strike that tore through the black dragon’s wings, making him flounder down onto the stone and grind to a halt.

Stormclaw breathed heavily, his entire body aching from the punishment it had taken. He pushed himself up from the ground, turning around and facing his foes with raised claws.

Chrysalis shook her head, not wanting to see him being beaten down anymore. “Stormclaw, please stop! I can’t… I can’t keep watching this happen to you!”

“Oh enough already!” the black dragon snapped at her. “Get this through your holy head, you lovesick pest; YOU MEAN NOTHING TO ME!” He roared, putting all of his strength into a charge towards her.

Twilight used her magic to teleport him past them as he stumbled back down to the ground. Now surrounded with the giant, bottomless cavern, he was trapped as everypony formed a semi-circle around him. Everyone stood in silence as the black dragon slowly rose back up onto his claws. Chrysalis stood in the middle, looking at him with eyes longing to believe he meant nothing he just said. She stepped forward, now only about a dozen feet away from him.

“Do you truly hate me so…?” She asked him.

Stormclaw paused, allowing for a brief period of eye contact with her that ended with him closing his eyes and taking a breath to try and ease his injuries. “I used you, Chrysalis.” He said, opening his eyes. “I feel nothing for you.”

Hearing this gut checked Chrysalis, but she tried for another approach. “Come with me… give me the chance to give you something worth living for… Stormclaw, I beg of you…”

Taking a step back, Stormclaw felt a pebble fall from the ledge that was just behind him. He glanced back, looking down into the abyss behind him, pausing there as everypony remained silent. Turning back around, he made eye contact with the changeling queen again. With a shake of his head, he replied, “There is nothing worth living for…” Spreading his arms out on either side, he scowled at them. “Not for me.”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened and she reached out for him, lunging forward. “STORMCLAW, NO!!!”

Leaning backwards, the black dragon fell back into the darkness. Chrysalis stumbled down to the ledge and reached down for him, crying out in dismay. Arms still held out wide, Stormclaw closed his eyes, plummeting down into the chasm and disappearing from sight.

Chrysalis wheezed for breath as she remained there on the edge, eyes filled with tears as her outstretched hoof fell limp. Everypony stood in complete and utter shock at witnessing the dragon’s demise. His heart may have been as black as his scales, but that… seeing him choose that over a chance at life… it was completely demoralizing.

Twilight, knowing Chrysalis needed someone in this moment, took a half-step forward. “Chrysalis… I… I’m so sorry.”

The changeling queen didn’t move from the ledge, eyes still cast down upon the darkness of the abyss. She shook her head slowly. “No… no…” It was all she could manage to say. Although he didn’t love her, she had loved him. She felt her heart break, shatter like it never had before.

“Twilight…” Starlight said, grabbing the princess’ attention. “We have to go…”

Twilight looked back and forth between Starlight and Chrysalis, knowing that this was a critical moment to the changeling queen. Nopony had ever seen her express any real emotion outside of her vengeful plots over the years… this could be the moment Twilight needed to change her. But the swirling darkness overhead and the distant sounds of magic bursts and beams reminded her of what was at stake should she delay.

“Go, Twilight Sparkle…” Chrysalis said, making everypony turn back to her. Slowly, Chrysalis stood up on her hooves, still overlooking the chasm in which the black dragon fell. “…just go.”

Twilight’s eyes shimmered as she watched the queen lamenting over the loss of Stormclaw. Starlight lightly tugged on her leg. “Twilight…”

She hesitated, taking one step back, and then turned and galloped away, her friends following after her. Starlight paused for a moment more, her eyes showing how much it hurt her to leave, but Chrysalis remained unmoving, standing there upon the precipice in gloomy despair. She slowly turned and galloped to catch up with everypony else, all of which ran full sprint towards the brilliant flash of lights and pulses of wind.





Just as Twilight and her friends took off to help Garble and Chrysalis face Stormclaw, the four remaining magical beings stared down the Shadow Alicorn.

Erebus took a few steps forward, noticing Stormclaw was his only remaining servant. “Why do you persist?” His voice was deep and dark. “You cling helplessly to the light even now? In saving each other, you’ve left me no choice but to deal with you all myself.”

Daybreaker, Nightmare, Cadence, and Discord remained steadfast, walking together towards the shadowy figure. “I’m glad you’re with us, Discord.” Daybreaker said to him without looking. “No goofing off.”

“Celestia,” He replied, also without looking at her.His pupils glowed red once again. “It’s time I showed you just how serious I can be.”

Erebus stopped, glancing at each of them before chuckling. “Quite the collection of wayward heroes, I see.” He looked to Cadence. “A crystal pony without a home,” He turned to Discord.“ A cursed joker with abandonment issues,” Then to Nightmare. “A dark princess who was banished to the moon,” Then finally to Daybreaker.“ And the loveless sister who put her there.” He mused, laughing lightly. “All standing together in defiance of the shadows… how poetic.”

“Nothing poetic about it.” Nightmare remarked.

“Oh, but I disagree,” Erebus said calmly. “How much more poetic can it get? My sister and her dragon lover bore 2 children.” He glanced over at where Stormclaw was. “One was a dragon, and by my side stands her last descendant.” He returned his gaze back to the princesses, particularly the princess sisters. “The other was a unicorn, and against me stands her greatest descendants. So you see… our family was destined for this moment.”

“We will not allow you to destroy our world.” Daybreaker said lowly, her horn lighting up. “I do not want to, but to save those we love, we are prepared to do what we must.”

“Hmhmhm… so you are.” Erebus replied, shaking his head. “So be it.” His horn became cloaked in red magical aura. “Come then, saviors of the world… bring light to the shadows.”

Daybreaker and Nightmare both lunged forward and fired magical beams at him. Erebus’ body slid sideways without him even moving, a shadowy streak behind him as the beams missed. Cadence rose up into the air and fired a beam as the two other princesses charged, but Erebus moved his horn in the way, the magic from her beam being absorbed into the aura around him.

Discord appeared from behind the Shadow Alicorn, using a spell to alter reality and make the stone beneath them turn to quicksand. The spell rippled to where Erebus’ hooves were, but then rebounded back at the draconequus, forcing him to fly up into the air.

Just then, Daybreaker and Nightmare came into close range with him, using their magic to pick up speed and become two charging magical forces. Erebus turned on them and created a shield of dark magic, stopping them in their tracks. Spreading his wings, the shield shattered into an array of dark bursts that shot the two Alicorns backwards, sliding across the stone on their hooves.

Erebus whirled his horn around and fired a destructive beam of magic at them, but both princesses teleported to evade it, the beam striking the ground and creating an explosion. Cadence used a levitation spell to take up masses of debris and throw them at the Shadow Alicorn, but with a single glow of his horn, the stones turned to shadows upon passing through a dark veil he created.

Sensing the buildup of magic behind him, Erebus stomped one hoof, a portion of the ground shooting upwards behind him where Nightmare was charging up for an attack. The disruption ruined her spell and she was forced to take flight.

Daybreaker followed up with another beam of magic, but this time, Erebus moved his horn in its path and redirected it into Nightmare, who was still flying through the air. As soon as the princess of the night struck the ground, Erebus noticed the commotion happening with his only remaining servant, eyeing the fight before refocusing on Daybreaker, who had already come charging towards him surrounded in bright flames. Cadence and Discord both came charging as well, all three colliding against another dark shield Erebus created.

Expelling the shield and catching them off balance, Erebus quickly cast a dark crystal dome spell over where Stormclaw was being ganged up on, giving him the chance to fight and defeat one of his foes one-on-one. He returned his gaze to his own attackers, using his shadowy movement to evade more offensive spells being thrown at him.

All five combatants then became still, Discord and the princesses looking already well-worn from fighting the Shadow Alicorn. Erebus lifted his chin to them, smirking. “Are you, perhaps, done playing this little game?” He asked them, amused by the exhaustion from their endeavor. The amusement left his voice quickly, replaced with a sinister and dark look in his eyes. “Having to hold back against the four of you has grown quite boring already.”

Nightmare pushed herself up from the ground, huffing. “You won’t defeat us so easily… we are stronger together than you could ever be.”

Erebus kept his dark glare on her. “Evidently not.” Without the slightest hint of warning, Erebus’ form rose up from the darkness in front of Nightmare after disappearing where he was. Unable to react quickly enough, she was blasted, point blank, by a red explosion from Erebus’ horn.

“LUNA!” Daybreaker cried out. She spread her wings and flew over to her sister as quickly as she could, who had been tossed across the blackened ground like a ragdoll. Cadence teleported to Nightmare just as the other Alicorn reached her, the two of them trying to help Nightmare up onto her hooves.

“I haven’t even begun to try.” Erebus bellowed, turning his back to them as he looked up at the Red Star. A sudden cry in the distance caught his ear and he quickly turned in that direction, seeing the distant ponies on the edge of a chasm. Realizing Stormclaw was gone, Erebus closed his eyes, letting out a breath. He knew the ponies would never purposely end his life, and so the Shadow Alicorn knew his final servant took that chance to end it himself. “Well done, Stormclaw… you truly have proven yourself to me, thank you.”

It came like a flooding sensation, a burst of bright colors, and a firework of energy. Discord, having been moving to join the princesses in helping Nightmare, stopped suddenly, Stormclaw’s curse breaking within him.Feeling the free rush of chaos once again, he looked down at his claw and paw, clenching them slowly. A purple aura surrounded them, he felt his limitless pool of magic spike up once more. Slowly looking over at the princesses, all of whom were hurt especially Nightmare, Discord felt it all come back to him.

Lifting his gaze, his now malevolent, purple eyes became fixed upon Erebus.The Shadow Alicorn felt the disruption, glancing back at the draconequus. Discord felt the power return to his very breath, only now… now it wasn’t fun he sought.No pranks or tricks, meddling or entertainment. “Erebus… you are mine.”

The Shadow Alicorn smirked. “Why so serious?”

Discord slowly shook his head. “You take Shadow away from us… you turn me on my friends… and you threaten my world with destruction and death…” With every word, the chaotic aura about him spiked up even more, becoming its own source of bright, purple light. “I WILL make you pay for this!”

The chaos around the draconequus suddenly burst into a dome of raw magic coursing around him, making fragments of stone on the ground lift up into the air. His eyes were swirling purple and black, his fangs clenched tight as that same light peered out from his mouth.

Erebus’ smirk faded and he grimaced, looking more annoyed than concerned. “Have you learned nothing, Discord 
You cannot win, it’s pointless to keep fighting.”

Discord instantly appeared within inches of Erebus and swung a dimensional-tearing claw strike at him. Erebus’ form fazed through his swing, and he slammed his head into the draconequus. Discord, however damaged, shouted out in anger and slammed his head back into Erebus’ who was unprepared for it and was struck, taking a step back.

Erebus snarled, the dark magic around him amassing and near instantly responding with a flare spell that tore Discord from the ground up into the sky. Erebus appeared over top of him, but the draconequus managed to evade the oncoming magical attack, the two of them trading blows for a moment. Discord wasn’t able to dodge the next one, however, and it sent him crashing into the ground.

Landing down on his hooves, Erebus huffed, glaring at the draconequus. “I have had quite enough of this. If you all want to see power, then I will show you power.”

Whirling his horn around in a slow circle, Erebus lowered it to point at Discord, a sound like a wail emitting from the aura around him. The shadows swirled about on the ground around him, his horn sparking as the red aura around it changed to the pitch black with ember-like lights within it. A horrifying sound followed this, like a charging blast as pieces of the ground around him slowly lifted into the air.

Discord rose up from the ground, grimacing as he watched Erebus’ magic power up more and more. Reality around the Shadow Alicorn bent and twisted, the amount of magic coursing into his horn beginning to emit wild bursts of light and red sparks.

As he stood, ready to face this monstrous attack, Daybreaker stepped up to his side, as did Nightmare and Cadence. The four of them looked to one another, all of them nodding. Nightmare’s veil of darkness appeared around her, her eyes turning white. Cadence closed her eyes and focused her magic, her form shimmering and becoming almost like her crystal pony form. Discord channeled every ounce of his chaos magic to one point. And Daybreaker made a sun-like sphere of magic appear behind her, filling her with all its power.

What light was left in the world slowly condensed into the region, trees swaying and mountains trembling. Silence fell upon the land, as everypony else had come running towards the phenomenon. The Red Star rippled another wave of crimson light through the sky, breaking the silence.

Erebus unleashed a destructive, magical beam that was pitch black at its core, grayish silver on the outside, and sparking red all over with red embers shimmering within it.

Daybreaker fired a beam of magic as bright as the sun, Nightmare fired one that was pitch black, Cadence fired one that was a deep blue, and Discord breathed out a beam that was the malevolent color of chaos. All four beams swirled together, forming a multicolored one.

Both magical blasts clashed, creating a wind wake that was without equal. The shockwave it created shattered the area around it and blew everypony else back even though they were still a ways away from it. The collision of the beams was nearly impossible to look at, as it was so bright, the black stone around them turned white and cratered from its sheer intensity.

Twilight squinted as she lifted her head, the wind making any sudden moves nearly impossible. “Everypony hold on!” She shouted back to her friends, all of whom tried moving forward ever so slowly with her.

Cadence winced and gasped, her eyes clenched tight as she was just barely able to keep her hooves planted on the ground. Discord squinted, the magic pouring out from his mouth becoming difficult to sustain. Nightmare faltered a little, but Daybreaker helped her as the two sisters braved the intensity of the blast together.

Never before had power like this been unleashed in Equestria. The beams, almost completely evenly matched, struggled to gain any ground against the other. The brightness of the collision between the two grew and grew, until something phenomenal happened.

At the center of the clash between them, the magic became void and white, pieces of both beams fragmenting away from them and into the center of the void. Light bent inwards towards the void and then imploded, creating a violent explosion that engulfed the land in a flood of light and shadows. Large pieces of the land were torn from the surface and shattered, the gust of wind from the magic burst leveling everything within a certain distance of it.

Ash and dust was all that could be seen for the first few dozen seconds.It took as much time for the clouds of smoke to clear, revealing absolute devastation upon the land where the explosion had taken place.

Starlight coughed a few times, just barely opening her eyes and standing up from the ground. Rainbow helped Fluttershy up as AJ did so with Rarity. Pinkie shook her head wildly for a moment, dust coming off from her like a cloud. Twilight rose up from the ground and jumped up onto a fractured piece of stone to get a better view of the devastation.

Celestia winced, her eyes opening and glancing around before she slowly sat up. Being so close to the blast must have had some kind of effect on her, being as she had reverted back to her normal self. “Luna…” She managed to say, trying to stand up, only to fall back down. Lifting her head again, she pulled herself across the ground. “Luna, where are you…?”

Nightmare shook her head, painfully rising up onto her hooves. After a quick glance around, she spotted her sister and limped over to her. “Sister… be still.”

As soon as Celestia had her sister by her side, she quickly looked around. “Where is he…?”

The black smoke rising from where the beams collided was thick and all encompassing, but it began to swirl and shift. Dispersing up and away from the center, Erebus stepped through the opening, the ground beneath him turning pitch black with every step. There wasn’t a single mark on his body, and he walked with a kind of horrifying elegance, being as he had just taken exactly what hit the four of them.

Thinking about the four of them led Celestia to remember Discord and Cadence, glancing around for them. Both the draconequus and crystal princess were a number of yards away; Discord had grabbed Cadence to shelter her from the blast and they both lied there. Cadence rose out from under the draconequus, turning to him and trying to get him up, but he was far more injured than the rest of them. If any of them had been any closer to that blast… Celestia didn’t want to think about it. Her gaze was then drawn back to Erebus, who took one last step, amidst the destruction their magical clash had caused.

“I am impressed, I admit it,” Erebus said, offering the slightest of cruel smiles. “I never imagined the ponies of the world could become so powerful without the darkness…” He looked to Nightmare, chuckling. “Well… I suppose you did use the darkness a little.”

“Shadow!” Twilight yelled, grabbing Erebus’ attention. She and her friends came galloping through the smoke and debris, standing in between him and the princesses.

Erebus grimaced. “That is not my name, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yes it is,” Fluttershy said, looking up at the Shadow Alicorn and no longer shying away. “Shadow Light is the name you chose for yourself. Do you remember? The night I came to the castle? The night we found each other in the dark and helped one another get out?”

Erebus nodded. “Yes, I remember it well. You spoke Celestia’s name, granting me my first memory since by banishment had ended.”

Fluttershy paused, then slowly shook her head. “I don’t understand… if you remember everything… why are you still doing this? We are your friends, Shadow… what pain you felt in the past, that’s all it is; in the past.”

The Shadow Alicorn tilted his head just slightly. “Because this isn’t about me, little one. I was gifted with the power to end the suffering of all life. Yes, the memories we hold together are ones I believed were all I needed… but now that I remember everything else… I cannot stop now.” He looked up to the Red Star. “As I said to the black dragon… you wouldn’t understand.”

“Let us help you, Shadow…” Starlight said to him, her hoof lifted slightly in concern. “Tell us what we can do to change your mind.”

Erebus sighed, shaking his head as he lowered his gaze back to them. “I admire you your passion, your drive to protect those you love, truly I do… but I’m afraid there is nothing more to say. You ponies haven’t felt it… the pain I was subjected to that night I fled from the light.” He closed his eyes. “The screams… the heartache… the tears… it was all too much…” He opened his eyes again, which were glowing even brighter from the aura on his horn. “This world… it must be annihilated.”

All of a sudden, the choral note in the air gained strength, the echo of the voices reaching all across Equestria. Every land beyond, every inch of the world became subject to the despair of hearing its sound. Heads turned to the skies as ponies stood in silence all over Equestria, watching the Red Star ripple once again, the sonic wave reaching far across the dark, swirling horizon.

Breaths became drawn back and eyes widened; the Red Star had begun to descend.

Celestia and Nightmare both rose from the ground, eyes cast upon the crimson sphere as it fell from the black sky. Celestia looked down to Twilight, yelling, “We shall do all we can to try and slow it down!” Both Alicorn took to the air despite their injuries and, together, unleashed beams of magic towards the massive celestial form. The beams struck the Red Star, but had no effect. Both princesses grimaced and winced, using all of their power to try and halt its descent.

Erebus shook his head, not even bothering to try and stop them. “I am done trying to convince you all…” He said, turning back to the others still before him. “We are all already gone… only our time left remains.”

Fluttershy looked to him with pleading eyes as he turned away from them. “Shadow…” No response. “Shadow…” She tried again, but once more, there was no response. To her knees the pegasus fell, her eyes filled with tears. Her friends gathered around her, holding her tight.

That’s when it happened… the moment Fluttershy knew exactly what she had to do. It came to her only now, and she didn’t know why it took so long for her to realize it… for any of them to realize it. The answer had been right there in front of them… it always had been.

“I refuse to give up on you.” She whispered. Erebus’ ears stood up straight, but he still remained unmoving from where he was. Fluttershy lifted her gaze back up to him, her friends around her not sure what she was doing. “Sometimes… being kind is difficult… sometimes the kindest thing we can do is tell our friends when they are wrong.” Erebus’ head turned just slightly, but still he stayed with his back to them. Fluttershy smiled through the tears. “I have seen you suffer, Shadow… I have seen you fall down… but you always get back up. You’ve never once abandoned us when we needed you. And so I refuse to believe that you don’t care… because in your heart… you are kind.”

Applejack smiled too, looking up at him as well. “In all the time we spent together, ah never once heard you tell a lie… you’re my friend just as much as anypony else, Shadow. Honesty is your policy just as much as it is mine.”

“Yours is the most generous a heart as any, Shadow.” Rarity added in, smiling up at the Shadow Alicorn. “You never put yourself before others… I’m not sure you even know how to.”

Pinkie, catching onto what was happening, beamed her most joyous smile. “You always know how to make ponies smile! And the happiness I see in your eyes when they do makes you light up like a firefly! You’re super funny, Shadow!”

“And awesome!” Rainbow pitched in. “You never let anyone come between you and your friends! You’re loyal, right up to the very end of the line!”

Twilight felt that same heart-warming heat within her, turning to the Shadow Alicorn as well. “We all have faith in you, Shadow… and do you know why?” Erebus turned slightly more, one eye becoming visible as he glanced back at them. “Because we are all your friends.”

Suddenly, each of the mares’ cutie marks lit up bright, rainbow colors dancing across them. Around each of their necks and on Twilight’s head appeared the Elements of Harmony, their gems still dulled. The light from their cutie marks shot up into the air above them and then plummeted down into the elements, returning their color back to them.

Erebus turned around completely, confused as he watched all of the lights increase in intensity more and more. The white blotted out the dark of the sky and made all the land greyscale in the Alicorn’s eyes, making him shield himself with his wings.

When the light died down, Erebus awoke, floating in a lightless void of pure shadow. Around him he saw his many memories of the past, the ones that fueled him to run away from his home. He winced away from them as he began to feel the pain rising up higher and higher, as if the shadows were purposely putting him through it all again.

And then, out from the darkness, he heard a voice. “I believe in you, Shadow!” Opening his eyes, he saw a crystal silhouette of Twilight floating in the darkness with the light of her cutie mark shining through the shadows.

“You can do this!” Pinkie encouraged him, appearing with the light of her own cutie mark shining through the dark.

“The darkness ain’t got nuthin’ on you!” Applejack shouted, the dark waning away from her cutie mark.

“Yeah!Show the shadows whose boss!” Rainbow cheered, spreading her wings as her own light cut through the dark.

“A gem like you deserves to shine in the light!” Rarity yelled, her radiance repelling the darkness from her.

Erebus looked around at each of them, trying to say something, but unable to. Suddenly, he felt the cold spike up in his chest, the light around him flickering as the icy grip of two claws appeared around him, attempting to fill his head with all the terrible memories again.

“Shadow,” Spoke one final voice. Again, Erebus opened his eyes, slowly turning to where the voice came from. Fluttershy floated there, in the dark, defying the darkness with the light from her cutie mark. “You promised me nothing would ever tear us apart again…” She smiled that smile he remembered too well. “Live for us… and for me.”

The light from each of the ponies around him chained together, bathing him and the center of the dark void in light that contested the shadows. Erebus’ form flickered between the shadowy one and another… one that seemed drawn to the light the Mane Six were creating. He closed his eyes as the forces clashed within him. The icy claws that gripped him remained, grasping him tighter.

“You are no longer Erebus!” Twilight cried out to him.

Opening his eyes, they were golden colored. “No…!” He replied, spreading his wings out wide. The darkness broke away from him as the light began to overflow into the void around them. “My name… is SHADOW LIGHT!”

The lightless void shattered away from sight, everything returning to reality as a pillar of pure light erupted from the ground underneath where the Shadow Alicorn had been standing. High up into the sky the pillar rose, its outer layer glowing with a bright, golden hue. Everypony shielded themselves as the light became too intense to look at. Celestia and Nightmare, both halting their magical attacks on the star, were forced to land from the brightness.

The pillar then began to constrict. From the retreating light, a new Alicorn emerged from within it. His fur was a dark gray color, with black stripes in certain places in an ornate fashion. His mane and tail were pitch black, flowing elegantly in the air as small, white ember-like lights shined through them like the clear night sky. His wings were the same color of his fur, and despite being feathered, were shaped more like dragon wings, with sharp, sudden curves and edges. On his flank there was a familiar cutie mark, the same as the Shadow Alicorn, only now it was silver and shined with a bright glow. Golden eyes shined bright as a faint, emanating glow of the same color trailed from behind them and out from the corners of his mouth.

Everypony stopped and stared at this new being, completely enchanted by his new appearance. His eyes turned to the ponies before him, a small smile dawning his face.

“My friends…” He said softly, his voice a pleasure to hear as it was the perfect combination of strength and elegance. “Thank you… and please, forgive me.”

Fluttershy took a step forward. “S-Shadow…?”

Shadow smiled just a bit wider at her. “Hello Fluttershy.”

Staggering forward, the pegasus practically tackled the newly formed Alicorn, a chuckle rising from him as he hugged her back. Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Starlight, and Starfall all joined in on the hug, everypony so happy to finally have one another again.

Shadow separated from them, smiling down upon them all. “I became so caught up in the pain I once felt… that I completely forgot what it meant to believe in friends… my friends. I promise you all this; never again shall I forget.”

Rarity blushed a bit at seeing his new form. “So… is this, what you normally look like…?”

Shadow looked down at himself, returning his gaze to them and shrugging. “I suppose... do you not like it?”

“No, no, no, no, no!” They all said at once, coming out like a mob of voices.

Shadow chuckled at hearing this, his eyes turning to see Celestia and Nightmare there, as well as Discord and Cadence who had just managed to reach them. He bowed his head to them. “Princesses, Discord, I ask you your forgiveness for what I have done…” His gaze then rose to meet Celestia’s. “For Sombra… words cannot begin-”

“No, it is alright, Shadow.” She replied, nodding to him. “All that matters now is that you are here.”

Shadow nodded. “Now,” He said, turning to face the plummeting star. “To set right this catastrophe. Stand back.”

Everypony did as he asked, backing away as they glanced back and forth between him and the star which had been gradually picking up speed as it approached the land. Grass and trees waved in the wake of the oncoming star, which parted the clouds as the hymn foreshadowed the imminent collision.

Bringing up a hoof, Shadow slammed it down into the ground, cracking the stone as he lowered his horn. Blue sparks ignited and coursed all around him, pieces of the stone slowly rising up from the ground. The light from his eyes and mouth flared up, glowing brighter as the aura around his horn changed from gold to white. The darkness spiraled around him, converging on his horn as it sparked up brighter and brighter. In a single, fluid motion, he stood up straight and unleashed a white and gold magical beam up towards the star. Upon releasing the flow of magic out from his horn, the stone beneath him splintered and cracked.

The beam pierced the darkness of the sky and clashed with the Red Star, creating a bright flash of white, gold, and red. The wind wake from Shadow’s spell made it difficult to be anywhere near him, the pulse powerful enough to send even the strongest of ponies down onto their backs and slide away.

Not seeing any visible change in the star’s descent speed, Shadow gritted his teeth hard, his eyes glowing brighter as he released a deep, wild yell. His magical beam expanded and became larger, the collision between both forces of magic becoming even brighter. Everypony looked to the sky, hoping and praying for Shadow to find the strength to prevail.

The star seemed to slow, the wake from Shadow’s constant magical beam blowing away all the clouds in the region as shockwaves rippled out from it. Despite this, the Red Star continued to fall.

Shadow squinted and tried to push back harder, but he was already giving it everything he had. “I-I can’t stop it…!” He shouted, letting out another yell as he tried again.

Twilight looked up at the star and dawned a determined expression on her face. Braving the shearing wind from Shadow’s powerful spell, she worked her way closer to him and turned her gaze in the same direction his was. “Then we’ll have to stop it together!” With a grunt, she charged up and fired a magical beam with every ounce of strength she had left.

Starlight was the first to break away from the group and take the force of the wind to join Twilight, firing her own magical beam up at the Red Star. Celestia and Nightmare joined in as well, followed by Cadence, and even Discord despite him being wounded. Shining came running and fired his magical beam up towards it, soon followed by Mist Mane. All of the beams collided with the star alongside Shadow’s, making its descent slow even more.

Standing against the weight of the dreaded celestial form, everypony winced and cried out, putting forth everything they had into saving their world from obliteration. All everypony else could do was stand with their eyes to the sky, wishing it would all be enough, and that the nightmare would finally be over.

But this was not to be.

Through the power of everypony’s magic, the Red Star endured, splitting the beams ever so slightly as it continued to fall towards the surface. Now nearing halfway from its original place in the sky, Erebus’ warning rang clear. Truly, the star could not be stopped.

Unable to keep up the effort of their magical endeavor, the beams from everypony dwindled and vanished, even to Celestia and Nightmare, unable to hold up against the might of the celestial form. Shadow held on, yelling out more and straining as he tried harder and harder, but soon his attack dwindled into nothing, the light disappearing from Equestria as the star began to pick up speed once again.

Twilight looked down, eyes wide as she tried thinking of something… anything they could do. She turned to Celestia, unable to speak. The white Alicorn shook her head, her ears going flat to her head. “I am sorry, Twilight… we were too late…”

Cadence gasped lightly and turned to Shining, who held her tight. Everypony who was still able to move came to the group, standing together with eyes to each other in fear and sorrow. Shadow looked down at them all, his eyes lifting a little before turning back to the oncoming star. Having his memories returned to him made him see everything he couldn’t have in the past, even during all his visions and memories. He saw the night at Neighagra, the places where he recalled his memories… and the night at the gala… when…

Shadow paused, glancing back at Starfall.

Twilight turned to her royal guard, the two of them speechless as they both looked up at the star plummeting towards them. Starfall looked back down at her and lifted a hoof to her face. “Don’t look…” He said, gently pulling her gaze back to him. “Just look at me.”

Twilight trembled lightly. “Starfall… I’m scared…”

Starfall nodded. “Yeah, me too.” Softly, he brushed his hoof along her cheek, causing her to lean into it slightly. Starfall tried at a smile, which dawned a little one on the princess’ face.

Shadow’s eyes shimmered as he watched them, a rainbow-colored light flashing through his eyes. Lifting his chin up high, he looked back up at the star. Fluttershy looked up at him, seeing that look on his face which made her nervous.

“Shadow?” She asked quietly.

Shadow turned to her, seeing his eyes as they were weighted with responsibility. He didn’t give her the chance to question it as he looked to the rest of the group. “Everyone,” He said, attaining all of their attentions. There was a pause, each of them seeing his difficulty in saying this. “Thank you… for everything you have done for me… for bringing me back and saving my life from despair.”

Twilight squinted in confusion. “S-Shadow? What are you saying?”

With a pause, he turned back to Fluttershy, who looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Allow me to return the favor.”

Although it took her a moment, Fluttershy was the first one to understand. “No…” She whispered. “No, no, no!” She spoke up, running to him. “You can’t go!”

“Go where?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head. “What do you two mean?”

Twilight then understood as well, her eyes widening. “Shadow… you can’t… you can’t sacrifice yourself for us…!”

“I can,” He said, looking back up at the Red Star. “And I must.”

Everypony gasped, recoiling back upon hearing this. They were about to move in on him, but Fluttershy grabbed at him before they could reach him, halting them. “Shadow! Please, don’t go!”

Without turning to her, he replied, “This is the only way.”

She shook her head wildly. “No! There must be some other way! There must be!”

“The star is all the pain and darkness I felt when I was shown the vision of the world,” He said, still keeping his gaze to the sky. “We cannot destroy it, not by force.”

“You promised!” Fluttershy cried, making everything else suddenly silent to them all. “You told me nothing would ever pull us apart, do you remember?!” There was a pause for a few moments, no pony moving or willing to. She was now standing right behind the Alicorn, looking up at him as his gaze had yet to be torn from the star. “Why are you… why are you doing-!”

Shadow turned without much warning and silenced Fluttershy by pressing his lips to hers. The pegasus let out a small “eeep!” and blushed fiercely as the Alicorn kissed her softly. Slowly, she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. Despite the world being upon the edge of oblivion and the fate of the world hanging on a single breath… nothing touched this moment, not to either of them. A more beautiful sight had yet to be seen in Equestria; underneath the fiery glow of a falling star, an Alicorn prepares for an uncertain fate, but only after stealing a kiss from a single, pegasus mare. A bursting flare from the Red Star came only as a blurred sound, nothing but a heartbeat to them.

Those moments were long and magical, but they ended all the same. Shadow pulled back only inches away from her, his voice soft and gentle as he said, “I love you, Fluttershy.” The pegasus stood in absolute shock and wonder, hardly able to breathe in that moment. Standing upright, he was finally able to pull his gaze from her, looking to everypony else. “Thank you all…” He said, turning away from them and spreading his wings. “…goodbye.”

With no time to be bid farewell, Shadow bolted from the ground into the sky towards the star. Down below, at the front of the group of ponies watching him, Fluttershy stood, her face still bright red from the confession.

With softer words than ever, she spoke, “…and I love you.”

Rising higher and higher, Shadow’s body soon became engulfed in the star’s light as it came roaring towards him. Keeping his eyes wide open as he ascended, the Alicorn spoke his friends’ names, repeated over and over. The closer he drew towards it, the louder the roar became and the more he felt his vision go blurred. It came within hundreds of yards… dozens… closer and closer. Then, enveloped in crimson light, Shadow reached the surface of the Red Star.

“I am not destruction,” He said to himself, reaching out for the red of the giant sphere. “Pain and despair are not magic...” Closing his eyes, he lifted his chin. “Friendship… is magic.”

Their Alicorn companion disappeared from sight. Still the star descended, seemingly unflinching from Shadow’s contact with its surface. Soon after, however, a golden light shined through the red of the star’s surface. To the core of the Red Star this light traveled, stopping and expanding. When the star was only a few hundred feet off from the ground, the light had reached all corners of it.

The darkness in the sky became condensed in towards the star, its red aura beginning to spiral around it as the flares ceased and its wind wake weakened. And then, without warning, the star shrank in a matter of seconds to a small, white sphere which skyrocketed and soared up through the darkness.

After another moment, a bright light shined down upon the land, dispelling the shadows with one big, loud bang. Dispersed from the skies, the shadowy spell upon the world became shattered. The hymn faded in an instant and the blue returned to the sky. Along with the return of its color, the sky, now cleared of the dreadful star, took its light from the sun and the sun alone, the moon returning down past the horizon.

All the world stood in silence, gazes turned to the sky above. Big and small, young and old, everyone stood together, wherever they were, as the return of the light cast hope back into their hearts.

Hope to many… but sorrow to others.

Everyone stood there, their eyes still lifted to where Shadow had saved them. Nothing would ever be the same again… the world was his legacy now, just as much as they were.

He was Shadow Light, born Erebus of Alarei, son of Magna Umbra and Lux Aeterna. He was the Alicorn of Darkness, and of Light… he was their hope, their savior… and their friend.