//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Everything Changes Part 2: End of Harmony // Story: My Little Pony/DC: Equestrian Heroes // by Equestrian Defender //------------------------------// -Ponyville General: 2 Hours Later- The rest of the Mane 6, Sunset, Starlight, Trixie and Zecora were all sitting down outside the Emergency Room of Ponyville General, anxiously waiting for the doctors and nurses to come out and deliver the news. All of them were praying to whatever deities were out there that Pinkie Pie would be alright. Rainbow Dash was the most distraught, flying back and forth (the pegasus version of pacing), the worry almost permanently etched into her face. Twilight finally asked "Rainbow, could you please-?" "No, I can't calm down" she snapped. "How can I calm down when one of my best friends got dosed in a potions mixture while getting struck by lightning, and is currently getting looked over by doctors to see if she'll live?" She then looked right into Twilight's eyes and asked "How can I calm down when there's a chance that-" "She'll be fine" Fluttershy cut in. "Yeah, she's been through worse" Applejack added. At that moment the doctor walked through the door, seeing the nine of them looking at him. He sighed and said "She's comatose. As far as we can tell she's stable, but..." "But what" Sunset asked. "Well, she IS breathing. But our monitors can't pick up her heart rate." That got a collective "HUH?!" from the group, so the doctor led them into the room. Pinkie Pie had been put in a hospital gown with one of the sheets thrown over her, her head the only thing they saw. A breathing mask had been placed over her muzzle, and they could tell from how the mask fogged that she was breathing. But her heart monitor was showing a flat green line, which would only happen if the pony in question had passed on into the next life. Applejack looked at the doctor and asked "You sure this fancy gizmo ain't busted?" "That 'fancy gizmo' was installed a week ago, and it's been working fine since then." Fluttershy immediately put her ear to Pinkie's chest. She then said "H-her heart is beating. B-but it's... abnormally fast." "So, her heart is beating so fast that the monitor can't pick it up" Rarity stated. "Is such a thing even possible?" Twilight looked at Pinkie, then to the others, and said "Honestly, after I went through the mirror to the Human World, impossible became a very loose term." Zecora sighed and slumped against the wall. "This is all my fault." Everypony immediately assured her it wasn't, that Pinkie Pie would have likely gone back regardless. Rainbow was the first to ask an obvious question. "Why aren't you rhyming?" Chuckling, Zecora replied "I like poetry. A bit too much if you ask my family. But that doesn't mean I always rhyme. Indeed, it's only half the time." "And, she's back." Twilight then looked at her and asked "What potions were in that crate?" "Most were potions designed to enhance the body and the mind. I made them after Chrysalis swarmed Ponyville, in case we'd need an edge. But one potion, was the one you took when the Plundervines came." "The one that let me see all the way back to when Celestia and Luna turned Discord to stone." "Indeed. But... The strangest thing; when the bolt struck the potion, I swear parts of it started to glow." That got everypony's attention. "I thought that potion could only glow and work it you added Alicorn magic to it" Applejack asked. "That's true" Zecora replied. "Because only an alicorn could contain the necessary amount of magic to activate it. But that bolt of lightning did, so perhaps within it magic hid." Twilight's face immediately turned white as a ghost. "Oh no" she muttered. Being a former student of Princess Celestia, Sunset Shimmer came to the same conclusion. "Twilight, you don't really think-" Sunset began, only for Twilight to cut her off. "Let's just wait until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna get back. Hopefully, they'll have the answers for what happened." "Where are they anyway" Starlight asked. As if to answer her question, a bright flash of golden light appeared before them, momentarily blinding them. Once it died down, it revealed none other than a battered and bruised Princess Celestia... ...who was carrying the unconscious form of her sister, Princess Luna. And to the shock and horror of all who saw, Princess Luna now bore two horrifying black burn marks where her wings were. Or rather, where her wings USED to be. Fortunately the doctor overcame his shock first, calling in a bunch of his coworkers. "Get her to the ER, stat! Lock down the entire wing, nopony allowed in except those who the Princess OKs is allowed." Once she was wheeled away, Princess Celestia looked to Twilight. "Is everypony okay?" Twilight briefly explained what happened, ending at what happened to Pinkie Pie. "That bolt of lightning contained magic equal to that of an Alicorn" she finished. "Otherwise the potion wouldn't have worked. The only thing I can think of that could possible cause that, along with the massive rainbow lightshow we had, could only suggest one thing." She then looked up at Celestia with a pleading look and whispered "Please, tell me it's not true." For several moments, Celestia stood there, silent as the grave. Her face refused to reveal any emotion, until finally she spoke. "The Tree of Harmony was destroyed." The silence that permeated the room was as thick as a fog. Finally Twilight found her voice. "How" she asked. Celestia sighed as she looked at the doors of the ER. "It seems our brother is far stronger than he was back then. We were outmatched, and he nearly killed Luna." "And..." Rarity couldn't find the words to form the sentence. "He didn't destroy it" Celestia said, looking down. "Then who destroyed the tree" Rainbow asked. Sighing, Celestia began "After you left, we teleported to the Cave..." -Earlier that Day: Cave of the Tree of Harmony- Celestia and Luna appeared outside of the cave in a flash of light. Luna looked to her sister and asked "Sister, why not teleport us straight inside?" "For all we know, Void could have set up a trap that would activate if we teleported straight inside" Celestia replied. "Rushing into a situation headfirst-" "-is rushing in brains last" Luna finished. "One of Starswirl's favorite sayings." Nodding, Celestia led the way inside. Once they were inside, they immediately found Void standing in front of the Tree of Harmony, gazing up at the crystal structure. Without turning around, he said "I knew you two would be the ones to face me." He turned around to face them, and began undoing the straps of his cloak. "Just as I planned." "You truly have fallen, brother" Luna stated. "This coming from the one who became a dark alicorn bent on bringing forth eternal night?" Glaring, Celestia said "I had hoped you would have learned the error of your ways in 2500 years. It seems I was too optimistic." Void chuckled. "No, you're just incredibly naïve. Glad to see some things haven't changed." His horn glowed black and his cloak floated off of him, revealing dark blue armor on his chest and shoulders, as well as armored greaves on all four legs. "But I have." His horn glowed, magic surrounding the blindfold around eye, as it began to rise from his face... ...and both of them could see that his eyes were now bright red within red, and seemed to glow with dark magic. Both Luna and Celestia looked at each other with surprise. "What magic helped you see again" Celestia asked. Void laughed, before replying with "The kind that allows me to do... THIS!" And with that, beams of crimson energy shot out of his eyes towards them. Celestia immediately stepped in front of Luna, projecting a shield of golden magic. The beams struck the shield, which immediately cracked and shattered, though it served its purposed in stopping the beams. Void smirked and said "Dear sister, when was the last time you used your magic in a fight? You're clearly out of practice." He chuckled, then added "Then again, you never were much of a fight-." His sentence was cut off by a blast of white magic slamming into his chest, not hurting him but interrupting his sentence. He looked to see Luna hovering in midair, her horn glowing. "And yet, you still seem to be quite the fighter, little Luna." "I'm not little anymore, Void" Luna replied. "True." Void smirked. "But still, even with both of you working together, you are no match for me. As it was then, so it is now. And this time, neither of you can use the Elements of Harmony." "Be that as it may, we are still the Princesses of Equestria" Celestia stated, her voice unwavering. "It is our duty to protect all who call this place home from the dark, the chaotic, and the fallen." "You can try. But in 2500 years, I have not been idle." THWACK! Before they could even react Void had somehow moved faster than either of them could track, and slammed his right hoof into Celestia's chest. The force of his punch was so hard that Celestia was knocked back to the far wall of the cave, slamming into it, hard. Void then shot a magic blast from his horn, which struck the ceiling and buried Celestia under some rather large boulders. Angered by this, Luna sent a magic blast at him that struck him hard on the chest. But to her shock, it did next to nothing. He simply smirked and sent a blast of black magic of her, which she dodged before shooting a flurry of blasts in retaliation. Void simply allowed them to strike him, again doing nothing. "Oh Luna, is that the best you have" he asked mockingly. Luna glared and her horn glowed, and a magical aura surrounded the rocks and stalagmites on the ground. They then rose and surrounded Void, before slamming into him simultaneously... ...just as Luna unleashed a massive beam of magic the purest white. It slammed Void into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and a huge flash. Panting, Luna landed on the ground, never taking her eyes off the spot where Void had been standing. The dust cloud began to settle... ...and Void walked out of it without a single scratch. Even his armor didn't have a speck of dust on it. Luna was in shock at this. The only word she could utter was "How?" Void suddenly appeared in front of her. "Because I have transcended the limits of mortal ponies." He then punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground, before lifting her up in a telekinetic grip. "In doing so, I was reborn, as a god." He then held up his right hoof, which began to glow black. "And none shall stand against god." He pressed his glowing hoof on Luna's forehead, and immediately she screamed in pain, streams of white magic flowing into his hoof and his eyes glowing the same color. Luna tried to summon up the magic for a blast, but she quickly realized what he was doing. "My magic-!" "-is now mine, dear sister" Void finished. "And I must say, the magic of the Moon? A little warmer than I imagined." He then looked at Luna's wings, and his mouth curled into a sadistic smile. "I don't believe you'll be needing these anymore." His eyes glowed, and twin beams shot from his eyes again. But somehow, they bent at perfect 90 degree angles and shot above Luna's head. They then moved, bending at curving, until they finally hit home. As they struck the part where Luna's wings connected to her back the area was filled with a blinding blood-red glow; and all that could be heard were the horrendous, ear-splitting screams of Princess Luna. Once it was done Void dropped the now wingless Luna to the ground, the remains of her wings nothing but ash around her. Void then turned to Celestia, who had dug herself out from the boulders just in time to see her little sister fall to the ground, and sneered. "A pity. But I suppose you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Deep within Celestia, something snapped. Her eyes began glowing bright blue-white, while her body began to glow and overflow with golden light. The light began to grow so bright that Void found himself having to shield his eyes. "VOOOOOIIIIDDDDDD!!!!!" Before he could move he was immediately knocked off of his hooves by Celestia, who hit him with a high-speed flying tackle. She then followed up with a right hook across his face, followed by a left jab into the unarmored portion of his torso, right in his stomach. Her whole body glowed with magic and power, and Void could feel the strength and power behind each strike. "You've finally stopped holding back, sister" he commented. However with practiced ease he blocked her next punch with his hoof, before slamming his forehead into hers and stunning her. He then followed up by lifting her by her throat and socking her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her, and throwing her to the ground. Rising to her hooves Celestia growled and shot a powerful beam of golden magic, but again Void simply tanked it and emerged unscathed. But then she noticed he was smiling. "How can you smile" she asked. Void's reply was simple. "Because, dear sister, I've just won." Lines of red magic began appearing around the area, surrounding and then crawling up through the branches of the Tree of Harmony, surrounding the Elements themselves. Void smiled and asked "Did you really think I spent all my time simply discovering new magic to fight with? That I spent 2 and a half millennia ONLY training to beat you and Luna? In those years, I have studied the Tree of Harmony, the Elements, and the Light and Darkness of Equestria extensively." He smiled as the ground began to shake. Two streams of magic began flowing into the tree; one was white and gold and the other was the darkest black. "What is this, Void" Celestia asked. Void turned to look at the Tree, and replied "Making my vision of the future to a reality. The Tree of Harmony is now a magnet, drawing the Light and the Dark together. Soon enough the old world will die, and a new world of True Harmony shall be born." The ground shaking began to grow into a full-on earthquake; outside the sky began to darken, with thunder and lightning striking through the sky. Knowing that if she didn't stop this that Equestria would be destroyed, Celestia realized there was only one thing to do. "Starswirl" she muttered under her breath. "Forgive me." Focusing as much magic as she could into one attack, she fired it into the Tree, striking the Element of Magic dead-center. Seeing this, Void growled and asked "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" "Stopping you, brother." The cave lit up with rainbow light. And with arguably the loudest BOOM ever heard, the Tree of Harmony shattered, a massive column of rainbow light shooting up into the sky and merging with the storm. As Void watched as his masterpiece became a massive lightshow, Celestia charged. And as Void turned to face her, Celestia struck with her right hoof, smashing him in the face and knocking him into the rainbow light. As the magic seemingly began to tear him apart, he bellowed "THIS IS NOT THE END, CELESTIA! I WILL RETURN! EVERYTHING YOU'VE BUILT WILL FALL! AND FROM IT'S ASHES, I SHALL BUILD A BETTER ONEEEEEE!!!!" Finally, he disappeared, as did the rainbow light. All that was left were a few small shards of crystal, and the two princesses. The Tree, the Elements, it was all gone. Slinging Luna over her shoulders and whispered "Please be alright, Luna." And she teleported away... -Present Time- "...and here we are." Nopony said anything for a long time. Finally, Fluttershy asked "So, what do we do now?" Celestia sighed. "I... don't know."