Half sleep is perhaps, the best time of day. When you just lie in bed, and become aware that you are no longer dreaming, but don’t feel completely awake yet. Your brain can still create images so vivid that you think you are still in a dream. You know that if you dare to open your eyes then the spell will be over, and full consciousness will descend upon you.
I laid in the bed, not wanting to get up, but knowing that I should. I could not really recall what I had been dreaming about previously, but images of people began to dance before me. I saw Apollo handing me a golden apple, but as soon as I took it, the apple turned to dust in my hand. Empress smiled down at me with a whip that she cracked in the air. Celestia and Luna sat at a poker table, playing each other for a stuffed animal.
Then they all came together at the table, and began to play chess. I wasn’t exactly certain how you could play chess with four different people, but dreams never really need to make sense. Three different levels of the board appeared above the first, and all four began to play in three-dimensional space.
Empress was the first to fall, as Celestia easily captured her king. She raged and tried to flip the table, but was unable to budge it. In a flash of green fire she disappeared from the room, leaving the three behind to continue their game.
Celestia made a careless mistake and was taken down by her own sister. She looked betrayed, and a tear fell from her eye. She bowed her head and was also gone as fire consumed her.
The only two left were Apollo and Luna, and they seemed to be equally matched. Each move was countered, and neither could take a piece from the other. Eventually Apollo gained the upper hand, and began to march against Luna. One by one her pieces fell to the dark man, and he gently placed them on the table.
He set them aside in neat rows with tender care. Every time he would conquer a new piece he would scoop it up carefully and set it in its place. He did not look happy to be winning, in fact each piece he took seemed to bring him despair. Finally he had positioned Luna in checkmate, and she balked at the board. It seemed that she had no idea how she could possibly lose, but she had.
Then Apollo stretched out his hand, and knocked over his own king. Luna saw that he had conceded the game to her tried to ask why, but no words came from her mouth. He sat back in his chair, and smiled at her as the room began to grow darker. The shadows jumped from the walls and swarmed all over him, but he did not struggle against them. He continued to smile as he was dragged away into oblivion leaving the princess of the night all by herself at the table. That was when I decided to wake up.
I opened my eyes and looked around the room, knowing that this time I would find nobody waiting for me. For once I was completely alone upon awakening. I had only been in Equestria for a few days, but already it felt as though I had no privacy. Back home I had nothing but alone time.
I pulled the comforter off myself, and noticed that the cuts and bruises that had been on my arms had disappeared. In fact, I could not recall a time that I had ever felt so good. It felt like pure energy was coursing through my veins, and I could leap into the air and fly if I wanted to. For all I knew I could.
I realized that someone had come in while I was sleeping and tucked me in, since I had been too exhausted to do it myself. A mixture of concern and shyness rose in my gut, but I suppressed it. It was probably one of the maids that worked in the castle, and I had no reason to feel either.
I slid out of the bed, and looked around the room. There was a tray of apples resting on the table in the center of the room. It was then that I noticed exactly how hungry I was, and I crossed the room so I could devour them as quickly as possible. As far as apples went, they had to be the greatest apples that had ever been grown.
Back home whenever I bit into one of the juicy fruits I would be delighted by the sugary taste, but it would eventually leave a nasty aftertaste. These however, weren’t any more sugary than the ones on earth, but made me feel better when I took a bite. Maybe there was some sort of addictive substance in them. I didn’t really care, since I had as many as I could possibly eat.
The apples went down with ease, and left me feeling satisfied. I stood from the chair that I was seated in, and tried to think of something to do. I had explored many of the halls in the castle so there was no shortage of ideas. I could go and play some tennis in the gardens. I could go look at the art gallery or check out the library again.
I looked again at my shirt that was ripped in several places. My favorite hoodie was completely ruined, and I would need to find a new one. It started to dawn on me that with my clothing utterly destroyed, I would have nothing to wear. Rarity had said that she was making me a suit. I wondered if I could ask her to make me something more casual.
I didn’t exactly want to take advantage of the very generous mare, but I didn’t see many other options. Here I was stuck, on an alien planet with no way to acquire new clothing, other than asking the only fashion pony that I knew.
Either way I needed to pay her a visit, and pick up the suit that she had generously offered to make me. I opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway where two guards were standing outside my door. As I exited they looked up at me for a long while, before turning back to staring straight forwards. I honestly could not imagine a job that would be more boring than standing in place, and doing nothing all day.
They probably only stood there for a few hours at a time, but it was hard to put myself in their shoes since my attention span is so short. My own ability to focus was incredibly underdeveloped, and I could only take up any given task for a few minutes before becoming distracted.
I walked once again through the magnificently decorated hallways of the castle. Every wall was white, and lacked any sort of blemish. How many ponies were needed to keep the walls in such a pristine order? The castle itself was huge, and there wasn’t a speck of dirt to be found anywhere. Maybe, there was some magic that was being used to keep anything from getting dirty. More likely, the cleaning staff was just incredibly dedicated.
Everypony that I had seen in the castle so far seemed to be incredibly dedicated to their jobs. The guards were at all times stoic and reserved, and the servants had all been well mannered and respectful. The librarian that I had met was kind and helpful as well. I hadn’t met any of the cooking staff, but I am sure that they too would be completely professional.
It was likely, a huge honor to be allowed to work in the castle for the royal sisters themselves. I could hardly imagine, the kind of scrutiny that each pony that worked in the castle must be under. Back home, those that guarded the king were always being investigated. I wondered if it was the same for the ponies that I had seen guarding the princesses.
I quickly arrived at Rarity’s room, and noticed that there was a lack of guards standing outside. I guess me being a strange creature from a different world, is what had warranted them to be waiting outside my door. I knocked at the door, and heard movement from the other side. A moment later a white unicorn was looking up at me as the door opened.
“Well it is about time you got here.” Rarity turned away and walked into the room. I took the hint and followed her inside; she seemed very put off that I was a day late.
“You know that I worked very hard on this suit, and was hoping that you would arrive yesterday to pick it up. I waited for you all yesterday, and you have the gall to show up today like nothing happened.” She rounded on me causing me to back up a bit. I wasn’t sure, but I had the sneaking suspicion that she wasn’t just mad about me being late.
Rarity continued glaring at me for a moment, before she sighed, and continued into the room. “I’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude. It’s not you that I am mad at,” knew it. “It is Sweetie Belle. She disappeared all last night, and never even told me where she was.” Now that she mentioned it, Rarity did look slightly less fabulous than usual. Her mane wasn’t as perfectly styled as it often was, and she had bags under her eyes. I didn’t think that she slept at all last night.
“Anyways, your suit is over here. I finished it on time as I had promised.” She led me over to a mannequin that was wearing the most finely tailored suit I had ever seen.
It was black, and had subtle lines running vertically down, which I have been told are very slimming. When I felt the fabric it was soft, almost like silk, I could tell that it would breath well. A “D” was embroidered in what appeared to be rubies on the jacket pocket. The slacks matched the lines running down the jacket perfectly, and looked to be made of the same soft material. Rarity had even gone through the trouble of making a dress shirt, which was a red that matched the rubies on the jacket perfectly. The tie was lavender, and folded perfectly into the jacket.
After I finished admiring the jacket, I noticed that the mannequin it was on was distinctly not a pony. At some point, it seemed that Rarity had gone through the trouble of making a humanoid mannequin. Was there anything that she couldn’t do?
“Well go ahead and try it on.” She prodded me, and I walked up to the glorious suit. I carefully removed it from the mannequin, and held up the jacket. I turned back to Rarity and motioned for her to leave.
“Oh yes, where are my manners.” She walked to the door, and left the room. I removed my shirt and pants, and began to assemble the suit. I was glad that I would finally be out of my raggedy clothes.
When I had it on I was even more impressed by how well it fit. I have heard of clothing fitting like a glove, but this truly did. Rarity was an amazing seamstress, and if I could pay her for her work I would. I walked back to the door and knocked on it a few times to signal that she could enter.
She opened the door, and came back into the room. When she looked at me she stopped, and gasped, which caught me a little off guard.
“You look absolutely dashing in that suit.” I probably blushed a little at the complement. I wasn’t exactly used to being called dashing. “Oh yes.” She rushed over to the desk that was in the room, and began to dig through the drawers.
She retrieved a small case, and floated it behind her as she made her way back over to me. She held up the case in front of me, and opened it with her magic. Inside rested two golden cuff links that also had a capital D on them. She offered the cufflinks to me, and I hesitantly took them.
She saw my hesitation, and cut off any objection that I might have about accepting the gift. “Don’t worry about those, I had a nice stallion who owed me a favor procure them for me.” With an explanation that I was so willing to buy, I buttoned them cufflinks, and walked to the mirror to admire myself.
She was right I did look a lot better in the suit. I am not exactly a vain person, but I knew that I looked at least five times better than usual. Maybe the clothes do actually make the man. I turned back around to thank Rarity, but noticed that she was occupied looking at my raggedy clothes, which were lying on the floor.
“Darling what have you done to your clothes?” She levitated my shirt into the air, and looked at me through a large hole that was in the back. “Did you burn a hole through your shirt?”
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Malitia fell to the floor of the cave. He breathed heavily, and felt sweat fall from his brow to the cave floor. Apollo had not lied, a real god would not tire like he had, and certainly wouldn’t show it if they did. Hours had passed; he had lost count of exactly how many. There was no way to tell time in the dark cavern.
He looked up from where he laid on the cave floor to where the diamond that imprisoned Porosis had stood. He had succeeded, and the diamond prison had been destroyed. All that stood in the center of his spell was a winged zebra.
Porosis stood much taller than any zebra, and his wingspan was even larger than that of the black alicorn. One would have assumed that you could feel evil seep from him, which would have justified his continued imprisonment in the bowels of Canterlot. Malitia did not however; instead coldness was all he could sense when looking at the freed god.
Porosis stood perfectly still; he could not even be seen breathing. He looked like a sculpture, or the greatest statue that had ever been created. He represented order and stability at their height, and just like order, he was cruel.
With a move more skilled than any artist, and more graceful than the greatest dancer, he turned his head and looked down at the exhausted alicorn. His face was the absolute picture of stoicism, as he slowly walked to where Malitia laid.
He reached the alicorn, and continued to stare down at him. His eyes were completely blank. They lacked a pupil or iris; they were black and dead. With the most deliberate of motions he lifted a hoof above Malitia’s head.
Fear shot across the face of the black alicorn, and he struggled to move away. His legs kicked the air, but he was unable to move. He could not break his gaze from the dark figure that loomed over him. His black eyes kept him firmly rooted in place.
“Abomination.”
With a strike that shook the very foundation of the city, he brought his hoof down. He looked away from what he had done, and left the chamber.
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When I thought about it, the fact that ponies even had chairs to sit in baffled me. Would they not be just as comfortable standing? Maybe it had something to do with taking a load off after a long day. Still, that they had created chairs was something I could not comprehend.
I sat at a very long table in what I was told was the “Royal Dining Hall” while several ponies mingled around me. Apparently, I had been invited to the weekly dinner where all of the aristocrats gathered to speak with the princesses informally. Initially, the ponies had been very wary of me, and still seemed to be. They had lightened up though, and decided to go about their business as usual.
When I did decide to eavesdrop on some of the conversations I found that they were most often discussing just what I was, which didn’t surprise me in the least. Opinions ranged from a monster from the Everfree Forest to Celestia’s new pet. I honestly didn’t care what they thought I just wished that the food would get here already.
When I looked to the head of the table I saw that Celestia looked as bored as I felt. She rested her head on a hoof while some aristocrat talked her ear off. She would give him a small nod every now and then. She probably wouldn’t be as impolite as to shoo him away if he annoyed her too much. Because of her fine manners the stallion continued to talk to his hearts content.
Twilight wasn’t sitting at the table; instead she was talking with a white stallion in a guard uniform near the door. He was taller than most of the ponies that I had seen so far, and his mane was two different shades of blue. I wondered what their relationship was exactly.
Luna had not made her grand appearance yet, which was the reason that none of the food had been served. Apparently, it was considered rude to go and wake the Princess of the Night so that we might eat dinner. I had half a mind to go do exactly that. But, since I didn’t actually know where her room was, and since I had no way of asking, I continued to sit at the table bored and hungry.
Out of habit I started to rap my fingers on the tabletop. This dinner was held at nearly ten at night, and I hadn’t eaten since I woke up at around noon. I have gone much longer periods without eating, but those apples left me hungry after a few hours. Everyone else didn’t seem to mind as they continued to just talk to each other.
Most likely many had eaten before they came, which was an opportunity that I would have killed for. The kitchen staff had been so afraid when they saw me stroll into the cafeteria that they had run away. Because of this I was unable to have anything all day.
I was actually surprised that Luna had not yet joined us. Shouldn’t one of the princesses know at what time the dinner that was held in their honor was? Tardiness was my second greatest pet peeve, right behind having to repeat myself. Since there was no way I would have to repeat myself while in Equestria, tardiness had moved up the list.
Being late is just something that I cannot stand. I don’t really know when I started to hate it so much, but it has gotten so bad that if there is even a small chance that I might be late for something I just won't do it. There was no clock in the room, but gauging Celestia’s deteriorating patience I guessed that we had been waiting for her sister for about forty minutes.
I noticed that the room had fallen quite. A few ponies had yet to notice that the conversations had ceased, and continued talking to one another. I shook myself out of my blank stare, and saw that everyone was looking at me.
“Can you stop that?” I looked behind me to see that Twilight was motioning to my hand. Apparently, my fingers tapping against the table had been such an odd sight that it had caught everyone’s attention.
It occurred to me that ponies weren’t exactly used to having someone with hands around. Only boredom pushed me to take advantage of this fact. I began to pop each digit on my finger as loudly as I possibly could. The looks that I got from the ponies seated at the table were priceless.
Many of the mares looked absolutely horrified, whether it at my rudeness or they thought that I was hurting myself I am not sure. The stallions looked disgusted that the princess would even allow a beast like me to sit at the table. Celestia looked mildly annoyed, and Twilight’s annoyance was significantly more advance.
The mare next to me opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment the doors to the dining hall flew open, and in walked Luna. Everyone stood from their seats, and bowed before the princess, but I wasn’t in the mood. Hunger can do some terrible things to a man.
The stallion to my left noticed that I decided to not bow before the princess, and thought he would bring it up with me. “You there,” a great way to address someone. “Bow when your princess walks into the room.”
I quirked my eyebrow, and looked down at him. I had only bowed to them earlier out of courtesy. I wasn’t from this country, which meant that they were not my sovereigns, and I didn’t have to bow to them. Now this small pony was telling me to do something, and I was already slightly agitated. It is a good thing that Luna stepped in when she did.
“He does not need to bow to me, Golden. He is not a citizen of Equestria so I am not his princess.” The stallion whose name I now knew as Golden accepted Luna’s input, and dropped the matter. The princess then turned, and walked to her seat at the head of the table next to her sister’s.
I heard a bell ring, and several servers began to quickly file into the room carrying trays of appetizers. It seemed that they had also been waiting anxiously for Luna to arrive. A plate was set before each pony at the table and myself, and then the lids were removed. Before me sat what was very obviously grass. Sure the grass had been decorated, and done up to seem fancy, but it was still grass.
Everyone at the table began to delicately eat their appetizers. Most ponies at the table were able to use magic, and they lifted their utensils into the air with practiced ease. I was surprised that the earth ponies and pegasi were able to manipulate their forks so well with their hooves. I looked back down at my dismal plate of food, and picked up a leaf.
Normally I wouldn’t even try to eat a leaf or any kind of grasses, but I was really hungry. I put the leaf into my mouth, and was immediately overwhelmed with the taste. It is really hard to describe what an inedible plant tastes like, the only word I can think for it is that it tasted, green. The leaf tasted green, and so did everything else on the plate.
Everyone else seemed to finish their “salads” fairly quickly, and waited for the next course to be served. It took me a while, but eventually I noticed that all eyes were on me once again. I once again seemed to be breaking etiquette by not finishing the food that was placed before me.
I sat back in my seat, folded my arms, and turned my nose up at the plate in front of me. Sensing my distaste a waiter quickly came over and took the food away. Another bell rang out from a place unknown, and the next set of waiters rushed into the room carrying the next course.
The next plate was set in front of everyone, and I was really hoping that I would get something edible this time. When the lids were removed a very fancy looking sandwich greeted me. Sauces decorated the plate, and flowers were placed expertly to highlight the delectable meal.
I had never eaten a sandwich that was dressed up as this one was, but everyone else at the table had started to dig in. Judging by the grins that were on several of the patron’s faces I concluded that they were satisfied with how it tasted. I picked it up and took a generous bite since I was still very hungry.
The bread was amazing, probably some sort of sourdough. There was a sauce inside that managed to taste very sweet, but also slightly spicy at the same time. The bulk of the sandwich however, was an assortment of various flowers. I spat what was I my mouth into a napkin, as politely as I could.
I opened it to see that it was in fact stuffed with daisies, and what looked to be rose petals. I sighed, and scraped the flowers off the bread with a knife. I was left with some bread and some sauce. Greedily, I devoured the bread, trying to get as much sauce on each slice as I could.
My odd behavior once again did not go unnoticed, and I had drawn the eyes of many of the ponies at the table. I pushed the plate away from me, and a waiter came to collect it again. Most of the ponies looked at me like I was behaving like some uncivilized ape wearing a suit.
Twilight had her face in her hoof, and tried to hide from everyone’s sight, no doubt feeling ashamed that she was the one who brought me here. Celestia didn’t even bother to look up from her plate at me. Luna however, gave me a smile that told me she was mildly amused.
The last bell rang and once again the waiting staff shuffled in carrying the final course. A tray was put in front of everyone, and all the lids were removed. I looked down at the plate in front of me, and noted the arrangement of colorful flowers in front of me. I decided that I wasn’t even going to bother with this course, and instead pushed my seat back and stood to leave.
All eyes were on me as I walked to the doors and quickly left the room. As I closed the doors behind me I distinctly heard several conversations begin on how outrageous my behavior had been this evening. I really didn’t care what they thought. I was a man, and a man needs to eat. I remembered having seen an orange tree in the gardens, and quickly hurried off in that direction.
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The cavern was still now that Porosis had left. Water dripped from the stalactites on the ceiling. The water pooled around the dead body of Malitia who had been working for hours to free his murderer.
When he knew that it was safe to move Apollo stepped from the shadows where he was hidden. Before him lay the still body of Malitia. He sighed and kneeled next to the fallen alicorn.
“Sorry about this buddy.” Quickly, Apollo jabbed his hand into the chest of the dead alicorn.
He fished around for a short time, before finding what he was looking for. Slowly and carefully he pulled out a glowing white sphere of energy. He held it in front of his eyes, and studied it. The white ball pulsed in his hand as he gazed at it. With a flick of his wrist Apollo conjured a portal in front of him, and gently placed the ball inside.
The portal vanished carrying away the white ball with it. Apollo stepped away from the dead pony on the ground in front of him. He moved back to the shadows that he had entered the cavern from.
“I guess the days of peace have come to an end.” His words echoed off of the walls of the cave, but no one was around to hear them.
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The night air was nice. I sat on one of the benches in the gardens enjoying an orange. Like the apples that I had eaten earlier that day, the orange was better than any had been on Earth. It was probably because the oranges and apples here were naturally grown.
Back home, everything that we grow to eat has been genetically altered to grow quicker. I had heard my grandparents telling me how much better things tasted back in their day, and this orange was probably the best evidence I would ever get to support that claim. I finished the last slice of the orange, and tossed the peel onto the ground where I had piled all of the others.
I picked up another orange that I had resting on the bench next to me. I had only eaten fruits for the entire day, but they were the best fruits I had ever had. I would probably need to get some protein in my diet soon. I feared that the ponies might frown on me eating meat so I would have to figure something else out.
I began to peel the orange, and toss the peels into the pile on the ground next to me. I looked around the garden and admired the statues and trees that littered the landscape. An elderly stallion was raking up leaves near one of the trees while whistling a catchy tune. The stars in the sky were absolutely beautiful.
I heard hoofsteps behind me and saw Luna leaving the castle and heading over. I had never seen the princess of the night in her natural realm before, but I realized then that she shouldn’t stay cooped up inside. When she stepped out into the night air her mane began to flow with the breeze, and the moonlight lit up the stars that covered it. She looked far more regal walking through the gardens then she ever did standing in the stuffy throne room.
Luna continued walking to me and stopped when she saw the orange peels lying on the ground at my feet. “I see fruits are more to your liking than flowers are.” She couldn’t help, but smile as she made her way over.
I also smiled, and looked back up at the sky. I had read and been told that she was the one that raised and lowered the moon. I had also heard that she was responsible for arranging the stars in the sky. A small part of me was pained that I was unable to ask her about it.
“I imagine that you are trying to figure out if I can do what they say I can.” She stood beside me and also looked up at the heavens. “I don’t really raise and lower the moon.” Her admission made me turn to her hoping that she would continue.
“The moon wants to make its way across the sky at night. I just help it out a little.” She smiled again, and continued to look up at the sky. “The stars though, they are what capture my eye at night. There was once someone who helped me shape the heavens long ago, but I fear that they no longer exist.” It was the slightest of movements that I could notice, but suddenly her smile became sad.
She continued to stare at the night sky for a long while. I also looked back up at the stars. I don’t know how long we just sat there, but I didn’t really care at that moment. It was nice to just sit still and enjoy the beauty that this world had to offer for a change. I had never seen so many stars in the sky before.
I had grown up in the city, where between the heavy cloud cover and the constant light pollution you were lucky to see any stars at night. Looking up at the sky now, I knew that I would never be able to count how many stars I could see.
The ground suddenly shifted, and I fell right off of the bench on my back. Hitting my head against the concrete likely caused a concussion, and I tried to get up. Luna helped me get to my feet, and I noticed that she was visibly worried. Not just about my and my minor brain injuries, but she was likely troubled by whatever had caused that quake.
The ground shook again, and once again I almost fell. I was a little jealous of not having four legs to keep myself balanced right then. I looked back to the castle and saw that Celestia had made her way outside with an entourage of guards behind her. An explosion in the garden through me off my feet, and into the grass that ran along the sides of the path.
Out of the earth shot something moving faster than I could see. It climbed into the air about five hundred feet before coming to a dead stop. I looked to Luna who was no longer looking at me with concern, but was instead staring at the thing flying in the air. The fear I saw in her eyes told me all I needed to know about it.
Just as fast as it had flown into the air it came crashing back down. Since I was already on the ground when it collided I wasn’t once again thrown away, but several guards were not so lucky. It struck the ground not even fifty feet from where I was sitting, and sent a shock wave rolling through the garden. Several trees were uprooted by the blast, and thrown away from the center of the explosion.
When the dust finally began to clear I was able to faintly make out something standing where the object had come down. When no more dirt obscured my vision I could tell that it was some sort of winged zebra. I had been told about a winged zebra that lived in Equestria. I thought that his name was Porosis or something.
Celestia, moving as fast as the winged zebra has when he shot into the air, put herself between him and the guards that were sworn to protect her. Luna quickly hurried to her sister’s side also flaring her wings defensively.
“Porosis,” it seemed that I was right about the name, “how did you escape your prison?” Celestia demanded.
Slowly he turned his head and acknowledged her existence. “I was freed.” This guy was definitely an expert at dodging questions.
“What is your intention here?” Luna took an assertive step towards him.
He didn’t seem to be worried by either of the alicorns that were standing in front of him. He was definitely not worried about all of the guard that were slowly making their way to surround him. There was no chance in hell that he was worried about anything that I could do.
He first looked from Celestia to Luna. Then he turned his gaze towards the citizens that were starting to gather after hearing all of the commotion. Finally, he turned to look at me. “ A cleansing.”
Celestia was the first to attack. Without warning she shot a beam from her horn that was blinding to look at. Porosis didn’t even bother to look at her, the beam arced around him and crashed into a statue behind him completely vaporizing it. Celestia continued to rapidly fire beams of light at her enemy, and each of them arced away from him right before they would have collided.
Luna however seemed to be channeling power into her horn. A black orb began to form at its tip, and started to grow in size. It took me a moment to realize, but Luna had created a black hole. Anything smaller than a basketball was pulled from the ground, hurtled towards the black orb, and disappeared into it. I grabbed onto one of the legs of the bench to make sure that I wasn’t pulled into it as well.
Celestia kept Porosis pinned down with her rapidly fired beams of energy, as Luna flung the dark sphere at him. Unlike the beams of light the black hole did not move off course as it flew towards him. Lazily, Porosis lifted a hoof and stopped the orb before it reached him.
The black sphere began to shrink as it floated in the air, and as it did a blinding white light began to emanate from it. I shielded my eyes from the explosion that I knew was coming, and I heard the onlookers begin to run for safety. I hoped that they would make it away in time.
In a miniature super nova the black hole released a burst of gamma radiation that cooked the very air. I turned away and felt the heat roll over me, but it didn’t harm me. When I felt it was safe I looked back to where the three gods were battling, and saw that Celestia had erected a shield to protect everyone from the explosion.
“Get everypony out of here!” Celestia yelled back to the guards that remained standing outside the castle.They immediately moved into action, and began to shuffle the civilians away from the fighting.
Porosis looked at the guards and the ponies that had begun to flee the battle. Statues began to levitate into the air behind him, before they were thrown at the fleeing ponies. Celestia obliterated each as they flew through the air with a beam of light.
“Your compassion for these creatures makes you weak, Celestia.” He turned back to the royal sisters, and his eyes began to glow white.
Suddenly, twin beams shot from his eyes at the sisters. They snaked through the air in a way that should have been impossible, but nevertheless reached Celestia’s shield and collided with it. This time I did feel the force of the explosion as the shield was obliterated.
Celestia was thrown back, but Luna remained standing against him. Her horn lit up again, and I felt my body begin to get heavy. The branches on the trees around me began to sag and break. Porosis’ own wings fell to the ground, and he fought to keep his footing. Celestia, fighting against the force of Luna’s spell managed to get back up, and started to channel a spell of her own.
The air around him began to shimmer as Celestia’s spell began to take effect. I heard him cry out in pain as the heat began to burn him. After a moment, the oxygen in the air around him ignited, and Porosis was caught in a massive fireball. As quickly as it happened, the fire went out, and Luna stopped channeling her spell.
Luna fell to her knees, clearly exhausted from keeping up that spell for how long she had. Celestia also looked worn out from focusing so much magic into her attack. Porosis stood as still as he had when he first landed in the garden. He was singed all over, but otherwise looked completely unharmed.
“It seems that I will need some time to recover my full strength before I face you two.” Without saying anything further he shot into the air, and quickly flew away from the city.
Luna took to the air to follow him, but Celestia blocked her path. “We cannot defeat him.”
Luna closed her eyes, and slowly landed. She sat back and watched as Porosis vanished into the horizon. Celestia joined her, and watched as their enemy disappeared from sight. I had no idea what I had just seen happen, but I was glad that it was over.
“We will not have very long to prepare,” Luna said as she rose from the ground.
“We will be ready.” Together the two sisters headed back into the castle. Hesitantly, I got off the ground and followed them inside.