//------------------------------// // Nebo // Story: L'amore รจ femmina (Out of Love) // by Ospero //------------------------------// Princess Celestia coughed. Spike and Gilda, who had been watching the gateway attentively, turned to the white alicorn, ready to do battle again if necessary, but she showed no signs of aggression. "Where are the others?" Spike pointed at the void. "In there. It seems that whatever corrupted you also got the Elements of Harmony." Celestia slowly got to her hooves. "So they're fighting the other Elements now?" "Highness, we..." Gilda was cut short by a loud sucking sound from the gateway, followed by a brilliant flash of light in all colours of the rainbow. When the light subsided, the twelve missing Elements were lying on the ground, six of them struggling to get to their hooves. Spike ran to Apple Bloom's side, only dimly aware of Gilda and Celestia at his side. He knelt beside her. "Are you alright?" Apple Bloom drew in several deep breaths before answering. "I don't know. My right front leg..." she broke off, looking down at it. Spike followed her gaze and gasped. The limb was hanging at an unnatural angle below the knee, the bone sticking out of a gaping wound just above the hoof. Letting his gaze wander over the other Elements, Spike noticed that all of them were showing similarly serious injuries. Derpy was clutching a hoof to her left side, face scrunched up in pain. Trixie was helping Sweetie Belle to her hooves, both unicorns showing burn marks from their horns down to their chest. Scootaloo struggled to keep on her hooves, her hindlegs seemingly ready to give way any second. And then his eyes fell on the big red stallion still lying on the ground, locked in what looked like a final embrace with Fluttershy, who, like the other Elements of Harmony, wasn't moving. Big Macintosh slowly got up and turned to look at Spike, and the dragon realized that the fight had taken even more of a toll from the earth stallion. Mac's muzzle was scorched black, and when he opened his mouth to speak, Spike saw that his gums looked similarly burnt, as if the stallion had swallowed fire. "Help her. Please." Spike could tell that every word was causing Big Macintosh excruciating pain, yet he was pointing down at Fluttershy. A pulse of golden light washed over the Elements, and Spike felt the dread returning. This wasn't over yet, but how were they supposed to fight anything in this state? "Get the Elements of Harmony out of here, Highness." All eyes turned to Derpy at these words, uttered respectfully, yet almost amounting to a command. "They can't fight Conformity's influence forever, and we can't leave them here for the final battle." "I won't be able to heal you if I do that." The princess looked at the void. "And there is something else coming as well. Can't you feel it?" "I did, when I was in there, but I don't think that this other...thing wants to hurt us. But Conformity does, and they need to get out of here. I can't help them, but you can." Derpy's eyes focused on Celestia. "They will not survive if they go up against her again." Celestia bowed her head and focused. Her horn glowed white for a second, then she and the unconscious Elements of Harmony were gone. The second the seven ponies were gone, Derpy collapsed to the floor. "Ow." "Now what are we gonna do?" Apple Bloom asked. "We're all hurt, completely exhausted, and Conformity is still out there?" "Let her come." Gilda took a position between the injured ponies and the void, talons at the ready. "She's managed to hurt all of you once. Not again." "Don't challenge me like that, griffon." The void flared up with golden fire, bright enough to make the ponies and Gilda squeeze their eyes shut. Spike could see a figure taking shape within the flames through his inner eyelids, and he shivered. She was tall - even taller than the princesses. And she was beautiful, the kind of beauty you'd see in a wild beast or a thundercloud, best observed from very far away. The pink coat, the mane in three stripes of purple, pink and pale yellow, the shining golden eyes, even the golden hexagon cutie mark all combined into the kind of regal figure you would expect the original Harmony to be. Yet one look into her eyes was enough to turn awe into dread. The golden fire died down, and Conformity regarded the assembled Elements with a haughty smile. "I was hoping it would not come to this. I have no wish to harm anyone, yet what must be done, must be done." Slowly, painfully, the Elements staggered to their hooves and turned towards the alicorn. "We are the Elements of Unity," Spike growled. "You are a corrupt, evil thing, and we will stop you." "We are the Elements of Diversity," Gilda hissed. "My blood is where it belongs, and there it shall remain." "How impressive." Conformity lowered her head and focused, sending a shockwave of golden light into the assembled Elements. Spike had to use every last bit of strength he had to remain standing upright, and he saw one or two of the ponies keel over. His Element flickered furiously, trying to put up some kind of resistance to this assault of pure order, yet finding no purchase. "Is that all you have to offer?" Conformity asked sarcastically. "Had I known, I would have taken to more direct tactics earlier." She redoubled her efforts, and Spike felt the light beginning to pierce his scales. From the screams that reached his ears, the ponies and Gilda were less fortunate than that. A deep, resonant note echoed from the gateway, a sound that made Spike think of white marble halls for some reason, and the onslaught of light ceased. Conformity turned her head. "What is the meaning of this?" A ray of green light shot upwards from the void, slowly taking shape in mid-air, a deep male voice issuing from it. "You know that I cannot let you do this, Harmony." The pink alicorn gaped in disbelief. "This cannot be. You have been dead for twelve thousand years." "True, and yet false at the same time." The light flared up briefly, brighter than the midday sun. When it died down again, a second alicorn was standing between Conformity and the Elements - a green stallion clearly not in the best of health, his coat patchy and ragged, gaping wounds visible in his legs and chest. Spike recognized him from Twilight's vision, and he couldn't help but share Conformity's astonishment. "Greetings," Virtue said, bowing his head to the assembled Elements. "I think I might be of some assistance." "How...?" Conformity was struggling for words, and Virtue turned back to her. "I am the part of your brother that he sealed into the gateway's wards. Call it the final line of defense against your escape, if you will." The green alicorn frowned. "Though it seems I have failed, as he knew I would." "And you intend to fight me?" Conformity let her eyes wander over the battered shape before her. "He barely defeated me even at full power. You stand no chance." "I am quite aware of that." Virtue's horn began to glow. "Yet for the sake of the innocent, I shall not let you harm them while I still draw breath." Conformity's eyes narrowed, and she grinned. "There is only one solution to this little problem, then." Her horn flared up, and a shockwave of golden light shot towards Virtue. Strangely, the green alicorn showed no signs of resisting his sister's assault. His horn never stopped glowing, even as the rest of him slowly dissolved into the wave of light, but whatever he was trying to do with his magic, it seemingly wasn't working. A final, brief flash of green light erupted from Virtue's horn, washing over the assembled Elements, and Spike heard the stallion's voice in his head. I cannot stop her, but you can. Do not kill her if you can avoid it, but take all I can give you. Faith, hope and love be with you always. Spike saw the ponies' wounds begin to mend, though they didn't completely close, and he understood. Virtue had never intended to fight Conformity directly. He was counting on the Elements to do what they had come here for, and he had helped them in the only way he could. Conformity gritted her teeth. "You always were the saintly one in our family, Virtue." She turned back to the Elements. "So, he got you back onto your hooves. How aggravating, and how irrelevant." Another wave of golden fire washed over them, and this time, Spike could feel the heat even through his scales. He could only imagine the pain this must cause to the ponies and Gilda, and he instinctively moved in front of Apple Bloom to shield her a little from the flames. "Stop it! Why are you doing this?" The agony in Apple Bloom's voice was enough to drive Spike to tears. As if in response, his Element blazed again, and the golden light seemed to retreat a little. "You cannot possibly be serious, filly. I am doing this because it is necessary. Sacrifices must be made, in the name of my father." Conformity's assault lessened for a second, and Spike could see that his marefriend was still standing, if barely. "What about your mother?" The question came in a quiet, almost demure voice, from the grey pegasus in the line of Diversity, yet Conformity recoiled as if from a physical blow. "My...mother?" "You were a child of Chaos and Order." Derpy's Element was glowing brightly as she stared at Conformity, eyes completely focused. "You denied your own mother. I have a daughter myself, and if she ever did something like that, it would kill me. How do you live with the knowledge of what you did to her?" "She abandoned us!" Conformity roared, losing focus on her assault momentarily. "She left me and my siblings to fend for ourselves!" The wave intensified again, and Derpy was thrown back. "And yet you still pine after her, and after your father." Big Macintosh's eyes were shimmering in the golden light. "I get that, believe me. But they're gone, and they won't come back." "Be...QUIET!" the alicorn screamed, lashing out against the earth stallion with a lance of golden fire that hit him in the chest, causing him to collapse to his knees. "You were a foal thrown into an unfriendly world before she was ready." Trixie's voice was thick with swallowed tears. "So was I. You tried to find something - anything - to hold on to, as did I." In the blue glow of the Element of Respect, Spike saw that Trixie was barely holding it together. "Your way was to try to be the best copy of your father you could be. I tried something else, but in the end, neither way was an answer to our problems." Another lance of golden fire dropped the showmare, but Spike realized that they were getting somewhere - and by the look on her face, so did Gilda. The griffon stepped directly into the alicorn's field of vision, spreading her wings. "You never even tried to be the best Harmony you could be. You wanted to become a second Order." She stepped closer until she was almost eye-to-eye with Conformity. "It doesn't work that way. Every one of us exists only once. You have to face that." This time, Conformity didn't even bother with magic. She raised her front hooves and brought them down on Gilda's head with all her might. The crack made Spike wince even at this distance. "Does there happen to be anyone else who wants to tell me how to live my life?" Conformity looked at the Elements of Unity in turn as Gilda dropped to the ground, earning nothing but unflinching stares from the three mares and Spike. The dragon looked at the alicorn, and he finally understood why Virtue hadn't found it in him to kill his sister, even after all she'd done. For all the evil inside Conformity, she was not to be hated. Spike swallowed, very much aware that his next words might very well drive the mare into killing him. "I pity you." Conformity stumbled and collapsed to her knees. "I do not need your pity!" Apple Bloom managed to drag herself next to Spike. "No. You are incomplete." Her Element blazed. "You need closure. I promise you everything will be alright." Sweetie Belle moved beside them. "You can still fight this. I believe in you." Finally, Scootaloo joined the other Elements of Unity. "You've been running from this for twelve thousand years. It's time to face it." A rainbow of four colours erupted from their necklaces, hitting Conformity head-on. The alicorn screamed, yet Spike could feel that something was still missing. "Get up already!" He turned his head in astonishment at the bellowed order, never expecting Big Macintosh to raise his voice like that, especially with his mouth and throat still burnt. "They can't do this alone, and I'll be damned to Tartarus if I don't help my brother-in-law and sister in this!" Trixie, Derpy and Gilda slowly got up, and the griffon bowed her head to the screaming alicorn. "It's time to be yourself." "You've done nothing new in twelve thousand years." Big Macintosh grinned. "Go for it." "Your vision isn't the only one." Trixie managed a smile. "Respect others." Derpy took her place by the side of the other Elements of Diversity. "You've been ignorant for so long. It's time you understood." A second rainbow erupted from the Elements of Diversity, joining forces with the first. A starburst of colour exploded outwards from Conformity, and Spike could feel the last vestiges of resistance from the alicorn lashing out at her surroundings. He felt a sharp pain, as if someone had driven a stake through his right shoulder, and then everything went dark.