“How many?!” The Monster fired again, the rock melted away like wax. Sable stumbled with me away from our pitiful cover to try and find more. “How many will die?! Even your precious Twilight Sparkle!” The ground in front of us became a wall of fire; there was nowhere left to run. Sable held me close, shielding me with his own body. Both of us stared at the Monster of ashes and cinders as he marched slowly towards us, each step marked by a burst of flame where hoof met the ground. The Monster pointed one hoof at the Unicorn in the black coat. “How many will die all because you weren’t good enough!?” Why now, in this very last moment, did he sound so familiar? Why did Sable Stardust’s face, that day at the hovel, flash in my mind?
Sable stopped shaking. His eyes opened wide. The Monster laughed at us again.
“I know what he is.” He was calm, how could he be calm? “I understand now.” Sable looked down at me, his tears dry in the heat. It was the same expression I saw on his face just as he cast the spell at the map table that broke his mind. “He is me. I am him.” Why hadn’t the Monster already ended us?
“What are you saying? I don’t understand.” Why did it even matter?
“I’m sorry.” Sable let me go, setting me gently on the ground. He stood at his full height between the Monster and me. Somehow he found the strength to face against the fire and darkness. The Monster blinked, confused as the powerless Sable advanced defiantly towards him, and then chuckled at Sable’s audacity.
“Sable! No! What are you doing?!” He glanced back at me for just an instant, calm and determined, before facing the Monster again under the sky full of swirling lights. Why wouldn’t he just die with me?
“I know what you are now!” Sable stopped advancing. “You aren’t just Despair; you’re my despair!” The Monster stopped laughing, suddenly shaken. “I stood on the event horizon, balanced on a razor’s edge when I cast that spell.” It backed away, just one step. “You were there, on one side of that line. Twilight Sparkle on the other. I fell both ways as the spell collapsed, torn in two!” He advanced one more step, and the Monster fell back, snarling.
“Be quiet!” I saw power gathering on the Monster’s horn. Flames burned around Sable. He remained standing, unblinking as the blaze faded. Where did he find the power to put up that kind of shield? Something golden glistened beneath his coat as it fluttered in the burning wind. Seven solid diamond crystals manifested above the Monster, sparkling with the lights of the swirling cutie-marks above them. I was too weak even to look away.
“You are everything I am, everything I was!” Sable stomped one hoof, hard, and lightning sprang from his horn. The bolts reached out and smote bright lines on the Monster, it retreated further away, shrieking in pain. “If I have to face my fears, my hate, my pain, and my sorrow in order to bring you down, then so be it!” He locked his eyes on the Monster, unblinking, confident. “You can try to kill me.” Who is he kidding? The Monster will kill him. “But you cannot break me.” A gleaming golden shield appeared in the air before the Unicorn.
The Monster scowled and waved one hoof, and immediately proved Sable wrong. The first crystal took off his right foreleg, piercing through the shield as if it were nothing. The severed limb landed not far from me. Pure pain from Sable now as he shouted, almost falling to the side as he struggled to remain standing upright.
“I’m still standing.” He gritted it out, snarling past the agony. The Monster scowled back at him, and the other six crystals streamed towards the defiant Unicorn. Sable tried to fight them off, shooting several down with neon blue lightning, but it was no use. One cut him hard along the side, another across the neck. When the barrage was over, Sable was perforated, dripping blood, but by some miracle, he still stood and drew breath. His left eye was shut, shot out, but he still stared at the enemy. “I’m… Still… Standing!”
Energy flowed towards the Monster’s horn, spiraling in as he reared. Magic flared, bright and wide. The beam overflowed Sable’s shield, and the Unicorn disappeared in the stream of power. The magic faded, where Sable had been standing there was only a deep scar in the ash. Something soft landed in front of me. A scrap of black cloth, all that was left of Sable Stardust’s black coat. I grasped at it, holding on to everything that remained of him, and it disintegrated into dust in my arms. I couldn’t even die with him.
Despair stared at where Sable had been. It almost seemed like he couldn’t believe it himself. Then Despair laughed, whole and deeply, genuinely and finally victorious.
“See, Princess! Hope is dead!” He turned his flaming face up to see the vortex of cutie-marks. “Despair the stronger! I knew it had to be! How else could I go on, knowing I had fallen so far? I had to see the truth.” Tears, real tears, streamed down his face, how can such a vile thing cry? “Was I so weak? I gave up on everything.” His voice dropped, no longer a violent shout. “But I had to know. When it came down to it, was I so much weaker than the rest of the world?” He sounded so much like Sable. “I have my answer. Even in all my failings, I am no different. I am nothing special. Nothing of value.” All his fire, his internal fury, started to fade away. His body cooled, coalescing into a figure I feared I knew so well. Sable Stardust’s silhouette stood before me, framed by the swirling vortex of lights. “I have taken the destiny from them. So they fall, as despair takes hold, as they give up.” He was silent for a while more, watching as the last of the streaming cutie-marks disappeared into the black pit. “It’s over. Finally it’s over.” He turned towards me, Sable’s face behind the scars. “We are all that’s left, you and I.” He bowed his head, so familiar, so like the Sable I knew. “There is nothing left to do but kill you, and end.”
I couldn’t look away as he began to cast the final spell, as darkness began to settle. The red ring in the sky started to fade, and the light of the world went away. It was all over; I gave up, Despair had finally won. Magic flowed forth from him. It washed over me as everything went black.
I blinked, still alive. I did not fade away. Despair, in the body so much like Sable, still stood there. A tiny glimmer of golden light between us, the only light left in the world. Neither one of us knew what was going on, and I saw his confusion just as plain as my own.
“I told you. You cannot break me.” That was Sable’s voice, the real one! It seemed to come from nowhere. Despair fired again, and a shimmering golden shield erected itself before the spark, it looked like a heart. Despair’s magic impacted the barrier and did nothing.
Five more tiny lights appeared in the air, flying in from the north. They spiraled around the light, around me. Each one was a symbol I knew so well. Each a trio of apples, of balloons, of diamonds, of butterflies, and a single multicolored lightning bolt.
“What is this?” Despair backed away, utterly bewildered. The cutie-marks in the air came to a stop, surrounding me. Golden spectral forms of my friends materialized at each mark, facing me. I could read their expressions as clear as day, despite the fact I could see right through their bodies.
“You all came? Even now, at the end?” The golden figures all nodded. “You came to save me? To save the world?” They had no voices, but they each smiled.
“No, no. No!” Despair snarled, some of his rage reigniting, the Alicorn Amulet glowed red again. The shimmering heart shield held as Despair unleashed more fire on us.
“How can we stop him? He took my mark; I’m powerless!” Applejack came to my side and placed one ghostly arm on me. Her touch was warm, familiar and friendly. I looked up into her smile and understood as the Earth Pony tipped her hat. “No! Don’t go! I can’t do this alone!” The others all came closer, each placing a hoof on me, the agony in my chest faded away peacefully. Despite my begging, I knew… it was time for them to go. I had to choke back my tears. “Thank you for your friendship; I love you all.” It was almost too painful to watch, but I had to, for them as well as myself.
Rarity went first, always the generous one, flicking her hair one last time. Resolutely she stepped up to the glimmering golden point of light between me and Despair. Her mark flashed brightly, beautifully. Rarity was gone.
Rainbow Dash was next, loyal and fearless, saluting me with one wing and a bright smile before standing with the golden spark, ready for the next adventure. Her mark flared, bursting like a sonic rainboom. Rainbow Dash was gone.
Pinkie Pie bounded over to the golden light. I swore I heard her laughter as she jumped in place. Her mark popped, little bits of shimmering confetti flashed for a moment. Pinkie Pie was gone.
Applejack, honest and strong, helped me to my feet before stepping to the light. She reared as if to celebrate, and her hat fell off. The hat obscured her mark and then faded. Applejack was gone.
Fluttershy was last. She came over to hug me, one final act of kindness, the embrace was gentle and soothed my pain. I nodded and tried to smile past my tears. Slowly the golden pony stepped up to the gleaming point of light, looking back to smile one final time. Her mark fluttered as if blown away by the wind, and disappeared. Fluttershy was gone.
Through all this Despair continued to pour fire on the flames beyond the heart shield. He scowled and howled at me. Even protected by my friends, how could I win this?
Then I heard a hoofstep behind me.
I looked back. A single shimmering hoof materialized slowly, a right foreleg, the rest of the body rising in silver and gold like the dust of fallen stars. Glass wings flapped once, held wide at his side.
Sable Stardust stepped up beside me. He nodded, familiar and sad. Then he turned his eyes towards Despair and stood before the golden spark.
Despair howled with rage and failure. He poured endless fire and magic into the shield, his body burning itself out, inexhaustible powers finally nearing their end.
Twin wings of blinding lightning unfolded from the golden heart as the fire threatened to break around its edges. They opened wide around me and Sable, Despair’s fire was as nothing to them. Sable looked back at me and smiled softly. A six-pointed star blossomed at the center of the golden heart shield. A star I knew, my star. Sable walked through the golden spark, unafraid of the fire.
“They saved my life.” Sable spoke, his voice was calm and sure, clearly audible even over the roar of magic. “They saved yours.” I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me or to Despair, maybe both at once. “Rarity’s drama and beauty. Applejack’s love for her family. Rainbow Dash’s competitive spirit. Starlight Glimmer’s magical skill. Even Pinkie Pie’s stupid jokes. Fluttershy’s quiet inner strength. All of it, their hope gives me power. Especially…” He glanced back at me again, something special sparkled in his eyes. “They are my friends.” He advanced again, right through the infernal flames of Despair. Upon his flank the same symbol appeared, bringing the golden spark with it. The lightning winged heart shield, with my own magic star at its core, shimmered in gold and silver upon his side brighter and more glorious than any mere fire.
“Why won’t you just DIE!” All Despair’s sanity was gone, nothing but uncomprehending hate was left.
“Don’t you understand, Despair?” I found my voice was strong, much to my surprise. “Hope is immortal.”
“You are my despair, my sorrow.” Sable advanced calmly towards the burning pony. “Myself at my worst. Not anymore!” He started to lower his head, to point his horn at Despair’s beating red heart. “I will no longer let my despair hurt those I love!” Despair screamed in fear as Sable’s horn pierced the red gem of the Alicorn Amulet.
I expected a bright flash. I expected a rush of power or an explosion. What I got was the shattering of glass, the sound of crystal breaking. Sable in silver and gold, and Despair all black and burning, both stood still as stone. The blazing inferno that was Despair’s core was snuffed out, Sable’s glowing body vanished. Darkness took us all, and the light was gone.