Twilight, like everyone else, was immobilized at the sight of Pinkie on the verge of hysterics. Part of her wanted to race over and comfort Pinkie alongside Maud, but another part of her wanted to do everything in her power to keep Applejack out of the dome. The option of blasting the dome to pieces was also on her mind, but Tantabus’s own words kept the thought from manifesting into action. Her chest tightened and her breathing quickened.
Something prickled her ear and Tantabus’s voice whispered, Endure.
Twilight’s breathing stabilized behind clenched teeth. Stop it. Now.
I have done this exercise with countless classes. You may confirm it with Celestia later if you wish. We all must face loss at some point and learn to deal it it, Tantabus said. And this is your weakness, Twilight Sparkle: powerlessness. There are simply some things, like a great uncontrollable storm, that we must let pass and pick up the pieces from there.
“I…” Twilight glared at the dome. A swirl of rainbow replaced her lilac irises for a split-second. I can stop you.
True, but what will that accomplish now? A breeze rustled Twilight’s mane. You are smart, Twilight. You know that this will ultimately benefit your friends and everyone else. You know what will happen if you actually attack. You know what the best course of action in a situation like this is. Endure this and learn from it as everyone else will. And, when it is your time, do as you wish to me.
“Applejack,” Tantabus called out once more.
Slowly, Applejack rose to her hooves. With a snort, she took a step forward. Before advancing any further though, she found Twilight at her side. Applejack greeted her with a sigh. “I know what you’re thinking, sugarcube. If I had a choice, I’d hightail it out of here, but…” Applejack glanced at the dome and pressed her hat closer to her head. “Whatever is in there, I’m gonna show everypony that it isn’t the end of the world. Somepony has to.”
“I…” Twilight flexed out a leg, but pulled it back before it could make contact with Applejack. “I’ll be here if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Twi...” Applejack marched forward to the dome. Just before she entered, she said, “Take care of Pinkie for now though.”
With that, Applejack disappeared into the darkness. Heeding her words, Twilight made the walk over to Pinkie. Spike jumped up from the grass he had raked with his claws and joined Twilight. Pinkie was sobbing and staining Maud’s dress, but her cries were weaker now. Maud gave them both a glance when they approached, but then lowered her eyes back on Pinkie.
At first, Twilight found herself unsure of what to do or say. Slowly though, memories of time with Moondancer came back to her. The two of them had often found themselves covered in trash, marked with bruises, and even bearing burns. They had cried a bit in their corner of the library and said very little, but just being at each other’s side had been enough then.
Yet, as Twilight recalled those days, another memory came to the forefront of her mind. Before meeting Moondancer, Twilight had found herself cast aside. Those first few weeks after Sunset had earned a cutie mark had left her confused and uncertain. She saw how it had weighed on her every morning with the way Sunset’s new attitude seemed to pull at her lips and drooped her eyelids. Seeing that expression had also filled her with the fear of her parents questioning why she was so glum.
She had refused to believe that Sunset had become a bully, and had resolved to never tell her parents. Velvet had already gotten mad enough whenever the two had gone off on adventures and had come back with fresh bumps and scrapes. Twilight had been certain telling on Sunset would have only pushed her further away.
So, she had made sure to summon up the only thing that could bring a smile back to her face long enough for her parents not to notice. That thing had been given to her by the one pony Twilight had told everything. First though, she had cried. She had bawled and wailed just as Pinkie was doing now, words lost to blubbering.
Taking a breath, Twilight recalled the words and began to hum, “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake.”
Out of muscle memory, Twilight’s forelegs tapped the ground as she sang and she gave her rump a small twirl. With a blush on her face, she sat down and took a breath.
“That…” a tiny voice hiccupped. Pinkie was still bawling her eyes out, but the faintest of smiles was back on her face. “That’s a nice song.”
“It… it always helped me when I was upset as a foal,” Twilight murmured back.
“Thanks,” Pinkie sniffled.
Nearby, Dash was back to doing pushups. Her muscles stung from the exertion, but she kept going non-stop. Beside her, Fluttershy went up and down at a crawl. Every time her legs bent, they wobbled and she fell to the ground. Lying prone for a moment, it was easy to see her shivering. That only made Dash move faster and sharpened her glare.
~~~
When the dome opened, everyone’s heads once more turned towards it. Applejack limped out of it, head down and muzzle stained with tears, but she was not currently crying. She managed to get over to Twilight and stopped.
“Applejack,” Twilight managed to choke out.
Applejack tipped her hat to hide her face. Her voice was dry and strained. “Sorry, Twilight. I… I need some time alone.”
“But I tho—”
“Please,” Applejack rasped. She wobbled off to a nearby tree and slumped under it.
Once again Twilight felt herself being torn, but now in three directions. At a loss of words and actions once more, Twilight felt a frigid realization grasp her. For all the fun she had had with Applejack and Pinkie, she still did not know much about them. All that she did know was that whatever Tantabus had done had destroyed the warm veneer that had surrounded Applejack and Pinkie and exposed something raw that Twilight was only seeing the tip of. Slinking back over to Pinkie and Maud, Twilight sunk to her hooves. She could at least stay by Pinkie, Spike, and Maud for now.
Then, Tantabus called out once more. “Spike.”
When Twilight’s hooves latched onto Spike, he looked up at her. “Twilight, stop, you’re going to get in trouble.”
“I… I don’t care.” Twilight tightened her grip. “There has to be som—”
Spike pushed her hooves aside. “I have to do this, Twilight. We all do.” He clenched his claws and gulped. His arms were shaking. “It’s just five minutes, and you’ll be out here.”
Twilight reached out to Spike, but he moved away too fast. She wanted to say something, but everything had clouded her mind. As the dome swallowed Spike up, her leg fell back to the ground. Her heart raced. As time inched forward, second by second, her breathing grew faster and faster. Tantabus’s manticore batting Spike aside like a toy flashed through Twilight’s mind.
By the two-minute mark, she was shaking and huffing. The image of Tantabus torturing Spike filled her head with visions of Spike crippled with fear while Tantabus systematically stomped on his limbs in a series of sickening crunches. She imagined Tantabus running Spike through on shadowy spears just enough to barely avoid his vitals. She imagined Tantabus summoning monsters from the darkest corners of Equestria to devour Spike. These and more horrors ran rampant in Twilight’s mind.
Sparks shot off Twilight’s horn when it was too much to bear. Slamming her hooves into the ground, she got up and braced herself. There was a minute left now. She just had to get Spike out, get Tantabus dismissed, and put this day behind her. Her horn grew bright. Nearby, Sunset perked up and narrowed her eyes.
As streaks of rainbow flicked off her cutie mark and her horn, a pink hoof clasped onto Twilight’s shoulder. The aura faded from around Twilight’s horn. Pinkie’s legs quivered and the hoof she rested on Twilight served the double purpose of stopping Twilight from casting a spell and keeping Pinkie from losing her balance.
“W-wait,” Pinkie coughed. “You… you have to let him finish.”
“Pinkie…” Twilight’s eyes stung. Anxiety over Spike and having to directly face Pinkie in such a distraught state hammered at her heart. A shake of her head brought her focus back on the dome. “No, Spike is my friend. I can’t let Tantabus hurt him like he’s hurt you and Applejack.”
Pinkie’s sky-blue eyes sharpened and sent a chill down Twilight’s spine. Appearing to sense the change, Pinkie lowered her head and sniffled, hiding her face behind a part of her tangled and mussed mane. “This… this is the worst… I’m not going to lie.” She hiccupped and a few fresh tears spilled onto the ground. “Professor, he… he said some really important stuff too. I hate this. I really, really hate this, but you’ve got to let Spike finish. Otherwise…”
Pinkie’s legs gave out, but Maud was at her side to catch her. As she comforted Pinkie, Twilight reflected on Pinkie’s words. Then, she looked over Pinkie’s body. Her mane was a mess and her sobs had puffed up her eyes and stuffed up her nose. While it had taken all her effort just to take a few steps out of the dome, her legs bore no scrapes or cuts. No injuries were visible on any other part of her body either.
A glance in Applejack’s direction revealed her curled up tight under a tree. Even from a distance, Twilight could see her legs throbbing and shaking, muscles worn down, but again not injured from an outside force. From her prior encounters with Tantabus, Twilight knew her malleable aura could leave precise injuries like she envisioned were currently being inflicted on Spike. Yet neither Pinkie nor Applejack were marked by any sign of attack.
The fragments of information lined up in Twilight’s mind and formed a theory: whatever Tantabus did in the dome, it was swift and merciless, likely aided by her fear inducing powers. With that combination, Tantabus could bring a pony to the brink of death. Then, she would cast some high level healing spell, undoing all the physical damage while still leaving her victim devastated by the brutality of the attack. Finally, while the victim’s mind was still raw, Tantabus would say a few paltry words to validate her attack and then release the student.
Twilight imagined Tantabus did a similar thing to criminals, only without the talk at the end. Shining had told Twilight horror stories about how drill instructors used similar methods. Even taking that into account, Twilight’s blood still boiled at the thought of Tantabus being the one to deliver such a harsh lesson. She could not convince herself that anything Tantabus could say in such a short time justified this lesson.
The only thing she could convince herself of was that once someone entered the dome, Twilight could not stop it. Given the injuries Tantabus could inflict during those five minutes, blasting the dome during that time could lead to Spike or another student winding up mentally and physically broken. Taking a breath, Twilight allowed logic to take over and concentrated on burying the fire boiling in her stomach. She braced herself for Spike’s return and waited.
Spike emerged a short while later. Like Pinkie and Applejack, he stepped out of the dome with an uneven gait. His snout was towards the ground and his fists were clenched tight at his sides. Twilight saw a few shallow claw marks on his arms when she stood up to come to his side.
The new bit of information did not have time to register into her working theory. Getting to Spike now that he was free took precedence. Before she could move from her spot though, Spike rushed at her and pulled her close. His arms constricted around her chest. Her fur grew damp as Spike cried and hiccupped, “Twilight!”
“It’s okay, Spike,” she said, drawing on words Velvet and her babysitter had said whenever she was brought to tears. Lowering him down to the ground as Maud had done for Pinkie, she brought a leg against his back. “I’m here.”
“I’m…” Spike shuddered and hacked. Twilight felt a bit of her hair get singed, but she kept holding Spike close. “I’m not a monster.”
The words struck Twilight harder than the small errant fiery sobs. It made her think back to when they had first met and how nervous and vulnerable Spike had been. Alone, in a strange land, and in the grasp of the two ponies that could have easily ended his life. Twilight did not want to think of their first meeting like that, but her mind’s tendency to wander had led it to some less than pleasant places, especially in the wake of Tantabus’s first attack on her and Spike.
Now, Tantabus had driven Spike back to that same level of insecurity and beyond. At least Twilight’s initial rudeness had not brought him to hysterics. Her jaw clenched, but a hiccup from Spike stole away her anger. Words tumbled out of her mouth as she tightened her grip on Spike. “No, you’re my partner.”
Spike cried even more after that, but soon his breathing grew more steady and his grip a little less constricting. Twilight was so focused on calming Spike down she did not hear Tantabus call out the next student. The following minutes were spent soothing Spike, until eventually, he stopped crying and fell fast asleep. Setting him down beside her, Twilight let out the breath she realized she had been holding in and sat back, feeling utterly drained.
It was then that she saw the dome open. Rarity emerged, for the first time displaying a mane and tail with split ends. Makeup and lipstick ran down her face, but through ruined mascara, her pupils shrank when she looked in Twilight’s direction. Her eyes then rolled up and she collapsed.
“I’ll get the nurse,” Tantabus’s voice echoed.
~~~
Once Rarity was carried off, the process resumed. Everypony watched in silence as the next student would make the slow walk up to the dome. Those observing recalled reading in their history books about ponies sentenced to banishment. They all felt a surge of empathy with the banished that took one final journey through Equestria before they were forever cast out. The dome was only a few feet away, but the space between the students and it might as well have been the entire world.
Hobbles, tears, and gaunt faces overtook the class as more and more students went in and out of dome. A few displayed clenched jaws while other just stayed silent and went off to their own corner of the field like Applejack had.
When Maud was called, Applejack herself had left her tree and gone to sit with Pinkie and Twilight. She still remained silent, and Twilight decided at this point that words were best saved for a later time.
Pinkie shot up and away from Applejack when Maud emerged after only three minutes. Since Maud walked so slowly anyway, Twilight could not tell if the experience in the dome had affected her. Aside from her sharpened eyes and perked ears, Maud appeared to be the only one that had made it out unscathed.
Then, Twilight saw how Pinkie was crying again and wrapping her hooves around Maud. When the two of them rejoined Applejack and Twilight, Pinkie was just finishing a conversation with Maud. “… not like back home.”
“It’s fine, Pinkie,” Maud said, still retaining her monotone. “Don’t forget, I’m your older sister, and you matter to me most of all.”
“Oh, Maud,” Pinkie sniffled and pulled her close. Maud hugged Pinkie back. It was then that Twilight saw that Maud’s hooves were shaking.
~~~
Tree Hugger stumbled out of the dome and placed a hoof to her head. “Whoa, that was heavy.”
As she staggered off, Tantabus called out, “Rainbow Dash.”
Dash was sitting next to Fluttershy. Both of them had remained near where they and Tree Hugger had done pushups. Throughout the afternoon, Twilight had occasionally glanced in their direction and had spotted Dash with a wing draped over Fluttershy’s back as they had watched Tantabus take down student after student. Dash had alternated between glaring at the dome and offering soft-spoken words to Fluttershy.
“Okay.” Dash stood up and snorted at the dome. She then looked back at Fluttershy. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. He’s gotta be tiring out by now. I’ll wear him down no matter what.”
“Just…” Fluttershy shuddered. “Just be careful, okay?”
Dash nodded and then marched toward the dome. As she marched, she popped her joints, cracked her neck, and gave her wings a few flaps. Right at the entrance to the dome, she peered into the darkness. “All right, let’s do this.”
Fluttershy watched Dash enter with a clenched gut. As much as she hated to admit it, Twilight observed Dash disappear inside with a bit of curiosity. Even if Tantabus could devastate the class, Twilight counted Rainbow Dash apart from the rest of the students.
While Twilight had watched student after student enter and exit the dome and tried her best to keep her emotions in check, the harsh fact had dawned on her that a similar incident could have played out with any one of the teachers. Everyone in the class, despite passing the entrance exam, was still the epitome of a greenhorn facing a professional going all out. No one in their age range should or could have faced a challenge like that before.
Except Dash. The scars on her side and flanks were all the proof Twilight needed. Everyone else may have trained, but Dash had actually put her life on the line in the pursuit of heroics. From what Twilight had glimpsed, the only other pony she regarded as having such talent was Sunset.
Only Sunset, Fluttershy, and Twilight herself remained after Dash. While imagining Fluttershy going into the dome tugged at Twilight’s heart, the other two provided a sort of solace. If Dash or Sunset could leave some lasting damage on Tantabus, that would show everyone else that the situation was not an utter defeat.
If all else failed, Twilight could give Tantabus a small blast. She just needed to regulate the Elements’ flow. First though, she had to see what Dash would do. In the back of her mind, there was even the small hope that Dash would unleash some sort of massive weather phenomenon that rivaled Twilight’s use of the Elements.
When Dash emerged, Twilight stiffened. Like many before her, Dash came out the dome with bleary eyes that she quickly hid with a bowed head. Fluttershy rushed to her side, but Dash snapped something at her and forced her back. Dash shrunk back from her own outlash, muttered something, and then darted off to the where the dummies were. She was already unloading strike upon devastating strike to one of them when Tantabus called out Fluttershy’s name. Dash landed a blow right to the dummy’s head that knocked it onto its side.
Fluttershy stared up at the dome, but did not move from her spot. Just as she managed to raise up a single quivering leg, Tantabus called out to her again, louder this time. His words drove Fluttershy’s leg back to the ground and she inched back.
“We are getting short on time,” Tantabus grumbled. Smoke wisped up around Fluttershy. She yelped when it seized her legs and lifted her up.
“I… um…” Fluttershy’s chest rose and fell, the intervals between inhale and exhale growing exponentially shorter as she neared the entrance. Before she could get another word in, the smoke sprung upward and threw her into the dome. Her scream did not even get a chance to leave her throat.
Tantabus’s rough handling reignited the fire inside Twilight. It had been agonizing watching her newfound friends, Spike, and everyone else face defeat at Tantabus’s hooves, but at least everyone else had managed to make it into the dome by their own power. That everyone at least had the bravery to face Tantabus was a silver lining, but Tantabus had not even allowed that with Fluttershy. To Twilight, the act reeked of an ulterior motive, and with only her and Sunset left, it was not hard for Twilight to guess what it was.
A massive blast of pressure knocked Twilight out of her thoughts on Tantabus’s scheming. Some students were thrown onto the backs. Spike jolted out of his slumber and shivered. Nearby, goosebumps ran up Pinkie and Applejack’s legs, and other students were similarly chilled. Dash stopped wailing on the dummy and grinned.
The grin faded a second later when Tantabus himself emerged out of the dome with Fluttershy dangling limp in his aura. Dash beat Twilight in rushing over to him and yelling, “That’s it! I knew I should ha—”
A tendril lashed out and tapped Dash on the side of the head. Her legs crumpled, and she was unconscious before she even hit the ground. A few students gasped at the swiftness Tantabus has disposed of Dash, but his words silenced them.
“I shall call the nurse again.” His eyes formed and locked onto Twilight, taking in her clenched jaw and rigid form. “Twilight Sparkle. It’s time.”
As Twilight stomped down, she heard Sunset snicker, “Saving the best for last, eh?”
She kept her eyes forward. Even when some of the nursing staff came to get Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, Twilight remained focused on Tantabus. Standing before him, she looked up and declared, “Let’s do this.”
“Shall we?” Tantabus swirled into the dome.
With a snort, Twilight followed after him. When her leg moved out of the sun and into the dome’s confines, she felt a chill run up it, like she was sticking it into a cold stream. Advancing forward, she felt the feeling move over the rest of her body. The feeling was somewhat like stepping through a waterfall, but without as much force bearing down on her.
Inside, Twilight found that the dome, while comprised of a shadowy substance, was bright enough to allow her to make out that the ground too was also murky and swirling. There were no other features beside that until a part of the floor rose up and took on a familiar form. Armored legs and barrel formed out of the darkness, followed by a helmed head, and a ghostly mane and tail.
“Well,” Tantabus said in her true voice, “I commend you for restraining yourself.”
“I’m really not in the mood to talk,” Twilight growled and lit up her horn. “You’re pushing it.”
“That’s what a good teacher does.” Tantabus strafed to the left. Twilight went to the right. “You bring ponies to their limits, tear off the brave faces they put on, and see what they are really made of. Did Celestia not push you in a similar way?”
Twilight flared her nostrils and the glow around her horn grew brighter. “Do not compare yourself to Princess Celestia. She’d never hurt ponies like you have. I should have stopped you as soon as I saw what you did to Pinkie.”
“But you didn’t, because deep down, you know I’m right about this.” Tantabus lunged forward and swung at Twilight. The blow nicked Twilight’s muzzle, but she managed to pull back quick enough to avoid a direct blow. A swath of blood trickled down the side of her face. “And, deep down, you didn’t want to.”
“Yes. I. Did.” The aura around Twilight’s horn flared. She crouched and braced herself as wisps of rainbow swirled off her cutie mark and around her eyes. Streaks of color joined the purple glow coming of her horn. Her heart ached thinking off how devastated Pinkie, Applejack, Spike, and everyone else had looked. Her mind burned with the thought of putting Tantabus in her place once more. With all her might, she willed her magic upwards into her horn and concentrated on sending it out.
Instead, the magic continued to percolate around her horn. The vision of her friends faded and was replaced by a racing heartbeat and hastened breaths. In her mind, she saw rainbow strings seize her own violet magic and pull it into a void. A wave a pain shot through her legs, forcing her to look down.
Cracks ran up them, as if she were made of porcelain. Streams of prismatic light flowed out of the cracks as they raced further up her legs. Twilight was gasping for breath now. Cold sweat dampened her fur. In a panic, she tried to cancel out the spell. The cracks on her legs widened and more formed along her barrel.
A blast of heat slammed into her head. The aura around her horn was blinding now, but she could glimpse her horn turning black in the center of it. The tip of it crumbled away and other pieces of the alicorn faded into the dust.
“No!” Twilight cried. “Stop! Stop!”
“You can’t,” Tantabus sighed.
“Help,” Twilight pleaded. Her whole body was perforated with cracks now. The light spilling out of them was nearly as bright as the aura around what remained of her horn. “Ple—”
What was left of her horn shattered in a swell of colors that bled into each other. Twilight tried to scream, but the roar of the Elements tearing out of her head drowned her out. The uncontrollable magic exploded outwards, consuming Twilight’s upper body while at the same time rending the rest of her apart. Pieces of her flew off like shattered glass and then disintegrated into ash.
In a blink Twilight was gone, but the Elements still flowed outwards as a blinding wave of light. It devoured the dome, the field, and everyone nearby. It all happened so fast, there was not even time for confusion at the spectacle to turn into horror.
All the was left of the School, Twilight, and her friends was a gaping crater.
Then, Twilight fell to her knees. The dome’s shadowy substance cushioned the fall. Her sweat and tears cascaded on the floor, followed by her lunch. The dome quickly swallowed it up, leaving Twilight to dry heave and wail. Eventually, her heart rate slowed to a level where she could take in more than her own demise. One of her eyes peeled up to see that her horn was undamaged. The nick on her muzzle was gone as well.
Something slithered along her left foreleg. She looked down and was met with a tendril of aura latched to her skin. It ran across the floor and connected with one of Tantabus’s legs. She stood not in the form of a stallion or the monstrous shape of her master. Instead, while still appearing to be comprised of the swirling cosmos, her appearance was the outline of a mare. With a flick of her hoof, the tendril detached from Twilight and retracted back into her leg.
“So, the first taste of the Elements affected you that deeply?” Tantabus said with her true voice. “Well, I prefer that to somepony unaware and disrespectful of the power they wield.”
“What…” Twilight gasped, “what did you do?”
“I made you face something you had no chance of defeating,” Tantabus answered and raised up her leg. The tendril sprouted out of its frog and flowed back and forth. “My talent is fear. Indirectly, I can summon the instinctual terror that all life harbors, but, if I can physically link with a creature, I can summon their greatest fears: failing loved ones, losing family, and being despised are just some of the things locked away in our hearts— the things that we dare not even face, let alone fight.”
The tendril vanished, and Tantabus pointed at Twilight. “You, Twilight Sparkle, are quite remarkable. I recall when I first inflicted my talent on you, and your greatest fear was being unable to wield any power whatsoever. In such a short time you managed to overcome that fear by sheer perseverance. No one is perfect though, so now you are at the opposite extreme: afraid that your own power with destroy you and everything you hold dear.”
Twilight shuddered and hiccupped. Then, a cool sensation flowed over her back. Tantabus sat at her side, a misty wing extending out of her. Twilight shot up a hoof to push her away, but before she could land a blow, Tantabus recoiled on her own.
“Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle,” Tantabus sighed. “I have not the right to console you after what I have done, but I have the duty to do so as your teacher. You may not trust me when I say it, but I believe you shall conquer this fear as well. Power is new to you, and power can be one of the most terrifying things in the world, but you do not back down in the face of defeat. So, do not give up. Tread carefully, but know that someday, like your predecessor, the Elements will be yours to command.”
A sheath of light poured into the dome. Twilight blinked and let her eyes adjust. She could see outside where Pinkie, Spike, and Applejack were alert and waiting. She looked away from the exit and up at Tantabus. “So, this is it?”
“Yes. A simple yet harsh exercise,” said Tantabus. “I apologize as well for keeping you until towards the end, but I thought that a good additional lesson for you as well. I know you’ve formed a bond with many other students already, so you must be careful that a villain does not take advantage of that. Anger, like fear, can blind you at a critical moment.”
“I’ll... I’ll keep that in mind.” Twilight wobbled to her hooves. Tantabus remained at her side to keep her steady and helped her over to the exit. Just before Twilight stepped outside, she stopped. “You know, if you’d given talks like this before, we might have made a lot more progress over the summer.”
“Yes,” Tantabus sighed. “I think you should be aware now of how fear can shatter reason though. Rest, Twilight. You have more than earned it.”
Tantabus gave Twilight a small push out the exit. The sense of walking through a veil washed over Twilight as she went back into the sunlight. She raised a hoof to wipe her face and then hobbled over to her friends. The sight of them unharmed after watching them get disintegrated brought fresh tears to her eyes.
Spike rushed to her side and hugged her while Pinkie and Applejack drew close, but kept a hoof apart. Spike’s words were soft and shaky. “Twilight, I… I should have told you, but it was just so…”
“I know, Spike,” Twilight sniffled while stroking his spines. “That wasn’t easy, but I’ve got you, and you’ve got me.” She looked up and managed to summon a tiny jittery grin. “We’ve got each other.”
Pinkie spread out her forelegs and offered a slightly bigger smile. “'Seeing the worst thing ever, but also learning a lot about ourselves' hug?”
“That’s one way to put it.” Applejack reached out a leg, wrapped it around Pinkie, and wrapped the other around Twilight. Somehow, Maud had also appeared beside them and had gotten a hold on Pinkie.
All five pulled close. Their eyes were puffy, their throats were raw, and they barely had enough energy to stand. Yet, they had made it through the ordeal.
Sunset snorted at the display. “Pathetic.”
“Sunset Shimmer,” Tantabus called out.
Sunset smirked. A spark flew off her horn. “Time to show them what’s what.”
Without breaking stride, Sunset marched into the dome. When she passed through the entrance and into the interior, a glow formed around her body. A tendril slithered across the ground and lashed out at Sunset’s left foreleg. It pushed against the forcefield, but it could not reach her skin.
The dome roiled. Sunset shut her eyes, but continued to grin. Piercing eyes filled the dome, and bore down on Sunset, but she stood firm.
“Impressive,” Tantabus mused. Sunset twitched her ears and tried to locate where Tantabus’s voice was coming from, but could not pinpoint it. She dropped into a defensive stance, and the glow around her hooves brightened. “There have only been a few students that have managed to figure out my technique and guard against it.”
“I knew you were up to something when I saw remnants of your magic on the others, and only in one spot. If you were wiping the floor with them, there would have been more signs of healing magic.” Sunset stomped the ground, sending up a swirl of embers. “You’ll have to do a bit more than that to beat me!”
“I suppose I could. Do not get ahead of yourself though, Sunset Shimmer. Powerful as you may be, you are still a novice.” Even with her eyes closed, Sunset sensed Tantabus exude pressure. “And there will always be somepony better than you.”
“Somepony like me.”
Sunset’s eyes flared open at the familiar voice just as a purple hoof decked her across the face. The blow launched her off the ground and sent her tumbling across the dome. Rolling with the blow, she flipped upright and snarled, “You!”
Twilight grinned as she lowered her hoof. “Ah, that felt good. I don’t think I can thank Professor Tantabus enough for the chance to pay you back.”
“Heh.” Sunset spat to the side and looked up. “So, you roped in Twilight to beat me? Ha! This will b—”
Twilight was upon her before she could finish and socked her in the left shoulder. The strike shoved Sunset off her left hooves, but she leaned away from the attack and spun around. A flaming hoof exploded against Twilight’s head. Through the smoke, Sunset saw a violet glint and jumped back. Twilight canceled out the shield around her head and smirked.
“What were you saying, Sunset?” Twilight twisted her head to the side. “Think this will just be another time to pick on the poor little blank flank?”
“You lying sack of crap,” Sunset growled. Her hoof and horn were burning red, with a few flecks of white here and there. A blast sent her roaring off the ground and straight at Twilight. Her right hoof flailed at Twilight’s head. Fire and smoke roared out of where hoof met shield. Sunset snarled and struck with her left leg. “How long, Twilight? How long have you been making a fool out of me?!”
Twilight parried the blows with shields. Despite the flurry of strikes, she maintained a grin. “Oh, I didn’t need to do that, you’ve always been a fool, Sunset. Showing off, making fun of me and Moondancer, saying you’ll be Princess Celestia’s next student, but that can’t fool me.”
An uppercut skimmed Sunset’s chin. A thick stream of fire blasted out of her horn and struck Twilight’s leg, but a beam of magic smashed into Sunset’s face. The spell sent her flying across the room and left her seeing spots. She saw purple through the corner of blurred vision, gritted her teeth and summoned a fiery shield. Another spell crashed against it, but Sunset managed to hold her ground. With a snort, she faced Twilight.
“I know you, Sunset.” Twilight fired off a spell. Sunset dodged and surged forward. More spells arced out of Twilight’s horn. Unlike the first one, which was just a beam of pure magic, these ones crackled with electricity, turned the air icy, and sprouted flames. The last type made the fires swirling around Sunset swell. Yet, Twilight checked her advance by weaving away with each step Sunset took towards her. “What you want is more than just showing off. No, you were a greedy monster that wanted something I already gave you, but you threw it away.”
“Shut up.” Tendrils, black and brimming with heat, sprouted out of Sunset’s horn and snaked through the air like living seams of coal. Twilight smirked and met the attack with tendrils of magic. They clamped onto the seams and sent the now-icy coal clattering to the ground.
“You wanted somepony that could give you power and acknowledgement.”
“Shut up!” Rearing back a leg, Sunset summoned a ball of blinding magic around it. Snarling, she threw the spell with all her might. It left her hoof and transformed into a horizontal column of magic and fire that washed over Twilight.
Tantabus stepped aside to avoid some of the flames. A tendril ran from her leg to Sunset’s. It had taken a little more effort to breach her barrier, but nothing a little force could not accomplish. After that, she had just sat back and let fear take its course.
Sunset Shimmer she mused while Sunset snarled and fought against a Twilight only she could see. Her spells were perfectly rivaled, her attacks were easily blocked, and her breathing was growing ragged. You’re quite the surprise. Talented, observant, and ambitious. Your ability to fight with such ferocity against your worst fear is a testament to your convictions.
The air around Sunset popped, crackled, and filled with tiny blue wisps. The small flames then converged on one spot into a great immolating pillar. Sweat coursed down Sunset’s face and slicked back parts of her mane. Smoke rose off her horn even though she wasn’t casting a spell at the moment .
Her right cheek distorted and she spiraled backwards. This time, she was unable to roll with what she had felt as a dizzying hook from Twilight. Instead, the attack sent her tumbling across the dome. Her legs shook and cried out for her to stay down, but she forced herself back up. With a battle cry, she summoned massive spheres of flame that fell upon Twilight until the dome was filled with smoke.
However, Tantabus thought, you need to learn to accept and respect the strength of others, especially if Twilight empowered is your fear made manifest. I had best draw this to a close now. So, let’s go all in.
“Hey, Sunset. You were right though.” Twilight’s voice was calm despite the smoke and flames that now obscured her. Sunset was coughing and struggling to breathe amidst the remnants of her own attacks, but Twilight spoke without showing a sign of exertion. A translucent dome of aura shone through the smoke, shrinking Sunset’s pupils. Twilight marched through the flames, her barrier instantly quenching them. “I did have a little help getting to this level. Sorry to say, but you’re done. It’s over. I am Princess Celestia’s new stu—”
“Shut up!” Sunset roared. Her scream was like that of a wounded beast. Her horn flared brighter than ever. Magic rocketed out of it and coalesced into a thick molten orb. Sunset continued to bellow, eyes white with rage.
The remaining flames around the dome and the smoke were ripped towards the orb, making it bigger. A part of it bled outwards in a blinding arc. Tantabus’s breath caught. The arc was neither magic nor flame. She could feel heat that was far greater than anything fire could summon coming off it. At the same time, she could still feel the pull the orb generated—the great swell of gravity.
As the orb expanded outwards, its form shifted from something akin to lava or molten lead to a blinding swirl of gold, orange, and red plasma. Below, Sunset still snarled, bloodshot and maddened eyes still locked onto the imaginary Twilight. She did not notice nor care that her horn was turning black in spots.
“Oh, sweet Equestria,” Tantabus cursed, watching the spell wax ever larger. The tug of gravity, the summoning of plasma, and the heat that would have incarnated a lesser foe. Tantabus knew this magic all too well. “Now of all times?!”
With a snap, she tore her tendril away from Sunset. The illusionary Twilight vanished into smoke, but Sunset continued to growl and funnel magic into the miniature sun.
“Damn!” Wings flared out of Tantabus’s back. She went into a crouch as a glow formed around her horn. “I’ll give you my comments when yo—Hng!”
Tantabus’s legs gave out under her and dissipated into smoke. The glow vanished from her horn. Something ached from deep in her core while her body wobbled, with pieces here and there evaporating off. Tantabus gasped for air and concentrated with all her might to summon back her limbs, but her aura refused to stabilize.
A vision of aquamarine eyes came back to Tantabus. They had rivaled her own in sharpness and power, even if they had been filled to the brim with tears. Above her, the dome quaked. Parts of it trailed off into the air while other parts were sucked into Sunset’s out-of-control spell.
With a grunt, Tantabus forced legs to shoot out of her torso. Her head spun and her whole body felt aflame. The dome was rupturing all around her.
Outside, everyone first felt the heat race out of the breaks in the dome. Then, they saw the light pouring off the spell. Students broke out of their dazes and their moping. At first, they could only stare in awe at the sight of second sun cutting through Tantabus’s darkness.
The sight equally stunned Twilight. After her own defeat, she could not have imagined anyone being able to stand against Tantabus’s talent. Then, she caught sight of Sunset amidst the dissipating shadows and her heart plunged into a pit. Worse, she caught sight of Tantabus wobbling, form unstable and wispy.
“That ain’t looking right!” Applejack yelped and took a step back as the spell swelled outwards. Loose clumps of dirt and grass trailed off the ground around her and the others and zoomed up into the spell, fueling it even more.
Pinkie’s neck snapped back, force her eyes to go wide. With a crack, she put her head back in alignment and screamed, “Hit the deck!”
Panicked screams reached Tantabus. With all her might, she summoned her wings and spread them wide. “To think I’d face solar magic again!” In a voice that made the ground shake, she called out. “Take cover, everypony! I’ll bear the brunt of it!”
The warning sent the class into a stampede. Students fled as fast as their legs could carry them, but the encounter with Tantabus had left many hobbled and unsteady. Amidst the chaos, Maud loaded Pinkie onto her back and turned to run, but stopped when Pinkie cried out, “Wait!”
Applejack reached out and grabbed Twilight, tugging her with enough force to knock her off balance. “Come on, Twi! We gotta move! I’ll get you and Spike out of here fast!”
Twilight looked at Applejack and then at Sunset. More of Sunset’s horn was black now. Her face was contorted with anger. Seeing Sunset lost in the swell of her own magic struck at Twilight’s core. She turned back to Applejack, raised the leg Applejack had grabbed and put it on her shoulder. “I know you can, Applejack, but Sunset needs me.”
“What are yo—” Applejack stopped herself when she saw the swirl of rainbow around Twilight’s eyes. The display stole her words and the world appeared to slow when Twilight turned away from her.
Twilight stared up at the spell, now looming over a great swath of the field. Then, she focused and felt the magic within herself. Focus! The Elements are a guide, but I control the flow! I just need to…
Aura flowed up around her horn. Wisps of rainbow flecked off her flanks and swirled near her horn. A few students stopped running. Twilight clenched her teeth. In her mind, she saw the rainbow pulling at her magic, drawing it in. She pulled back, only allowing a little bit herself to flow into the Elements. Just a little! I just need a little to… to enhance!
Just then Sunset screamed with a ferocity that dwarfed Tantabus’s own booming voice. The spell surged forward, its speed unhindered by its massive size. Tantabus braced herself but a thin purple beam whizzed over her head. Rainbow spiraled around it as it slammed into Sunset’s spell.
A flash consumed the field. Inside the school, the other classes had felt the windows rumble minutes earlier and a few onlookers had alerted the other classes to the ongoing situation. Now, almost everypony in the school had their heads pressed to the windows. They were momentarily blinded a split-second later than everyone on the field, so they caught sight of violet racing over the miniature sun.
Only Twilight and Tantabus fully saw what happened. Twilight’s spell covered Sunset’s, but the beam still connected to Twilight’s horn. She cried out when she felt her horn’s tip blacken and crack, but she kept her mind centered on casting the spell. Sunset’s magic roiled within Twilight’s sphere, convulsed and then, with a bang that was deafening even within the barrier, collapsed in on itself in a swell not of plasma and heat, but of tsunamis and seafoam.
Twilight collapsed, and her spell burst, unleashing a deluge of transfigured water down onto the field. Tantabus surged forward and wrapped herself around Sunset just as the water cascaded down on them. It raced outwards in swells, turning the field into a muddy bog. A few students were swept up in the flood, but the water could only go so far before turning to mud.
Before the rushing water could reach Twilight, Applejack sprang into action and chucked her and Spike on her back. With unrivaled speed, she sped off until the swells subsided and sank into the ground. When she turned to look back, she spotted Maud close by with Pinkie pitched on top of her.
Students were strewn all around. A few coughed up water while others wobbled to their hooves. In the center of it all was a smaller version of the dome. With a hack, Tantabus swirled away, drops of water dripping off her misty form. Sunset rested beneath her, unconscious but shaking. Tantabus hovered over her, limbs and tail gone and the rest of her body wavering.
She glanced around and caught sight of Twilight standing beside Applejack, only able to do so with Applejack and Spike’s support at her sides. The tip of her horn was pure black and smoke rose off it, but the rest of it was still purple.
In spite of just seconds ago facing one of the few things in Equestria that could truly harm her, Tantabus chuckled, “I really should be careful with what I promise.”