//------------------------------// // Chapter Seventy-two: The Three Warriors // Story: A Rather Large Adventure // by BradyBunch //------------------------------// Though the Everfree Forest was ordinarily a haunted jungle of darkness, the ponies had taken so many ventures into it that they no longer felt oppressively surrounded, lonely, or cold. The extraordinary had become ordinary. To some extent, it was even a beautiful thing to see such variety in flora and fauna. Even if most of the plants were poisonous and the animals feasted on flesh, the ponies were well aware of the danger and stayed out of danger for their walk. “Look at all the birds!” Fluttershy cooed, looking around her at the many birds nesting in trees. There were indeed plenty of birds nesting on the branches of the exotic trees. They varied in color and size, but none of them were flying. “Why do you think they’re all sitting on the trees like that?” Starlight wondered. “Either they’re conspiring against us-” Pinkie started to say. “Or rising humidity is keeping them from flying as effectively,” Rainbow Dash completed. “So we should expect rain or a killer sparrow attack in the next few hours,” Pinkie concluded. Noble Blade, with only leather straps on his back to support his sword and shield, was listening to all this, but didn't let it distract him. He was at the rear of the line with Freedom Fighter. Both ponies didn't have much to say. Until Freedom Fighter cleared his throat and, ruffling the hair on his exposed head, glanced at Noble. "Hey." "Yes?" "Look, I… you know Twilight, right?" "No, I don't. Never heard of her. Could you describe her to me?" Freedom Fighter looked exasperated. "Noble. Listen to me. Um… on the train…" Noble was paying attention for real. "Don't be afraid." He looked afraid anyway. "Actually, forget about it. It's stupid." "You were the one that decided to start this," Noble pointed out. Freedom Fighter inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of the forest. Then he exhaled, a soft red blush on his golden cheek, and looked down at the ground. "On the train, we… made out. A lot." Noble Blade blinked. Freedom Fighter, not hearing a response, sneaked a glance at Noble's face. Noble looked dumbstruck. There was silence between them. No one else had heard it. "Well, that's news," Noble eventually coughed out. "I know," Freedom Fighter miserably said. "It was more of a heat-of-the-moment thing." "How long have you had a crush on the princess of Friendship?" "Ever since we rescued her from the Noxxa tower." "Wow. That's… a long time. Why didn't you do anything before?" "I dunno," Freedom mumbled. "Low opinion of myself, I guess. I feel miserable!" Freedom Fighter cheerfully sang under his breath. He then let out a beleaguered, empty sigh, and pinched his nose. "What can I do to be successful?" "Why are you coming to me about this?" "You're the Love Expert, remember?" "Hm. Well... Don't be a douchebag, first off." "I figured that part out myself, as a matter of fact." "It's hard for you to act like a douchebag," Noble told him. "You have a heart. You love those you cling to, and you won't let them get hurt. I know you'll treat Twilight with all the reverence in the world. It wouldn't be like you otherwise." Freedom Fighter held back a smile. "Stop inflating my opinion of myself." "It just looked a little weak and floppy, that's all." "That's what she said." Seeing the look Noble gave him, Freedom Fighter waved his hooves in desperation. "Kidding! Kidding!" "You're not perfect," Noble muttered. He grinned. "But you've definitely changed." Freedom Fighter gave him a bewildered glance before indicating his weapon-loaded bodysuit with his mechanical hoof. "Take a good, long look. I'm still the same edgy antihero I always was." "But you also learned to come to me. Before, when you were cutting yourself, it was I've done something wrong! I need to hide it from Noble! But now I have proof that you now think like I did something wrong! I need to talk to Noble about it. Don't you think that's an improvement?" Freedom Fighter, looking astonished, gave a slow nod. "You are strong and wise, and I'm very proud of you," Noble affirmed, and there was solid truth in his expression. "You've come so far. I'm just happy I was able to see it." "You changed as well," Freedom Fighter told him. "Before we left, you were kind of a dunce. Lovestruck with Fluttershy and empty to the needs around you. But now, I feel like you value me more. You're not snobby or prude anymore. You're far more humble. Fluttershy's kindness must have rubbed off on you. Among other things, am I right?" Noble turned pink once again. "You have no kindness in your heart." "There I go, changing again." "I haven't changed at all!" Firestorm proclaimed from just ahead of them. He had fallen back from the line to listen in on their conversation. "What? Of course you have. I can tell the difference." "I haven't changed in months now!" Firestorm insisted, plucking at the ragged body armor on his chest. "This has got to smell worse than a shoe full of pee." Up ahead, Rarity whipped her head around so fast a cricking sound was heard. "Excuse me, what?!" "Never change, Firestorm!" Noble said loud enough for Rarity to hear. "Oh, I don't intend to," he responded cooly back. Rarity shook her head, muttering something that sounded like "Degenerates," before returning to the path. As the party came to a bend in the path, the trees grew thinner and thinner until they finally could see the remains of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Firestorm let out an audible gulp. “I remember…” Rarity and Rainbow Dash also were suddenly looking both nostalgic and somber, Twilight noticed. It must have been their Friendship Mission that the Cutie Map gave them. And she understood why it brought back bad memories. This was where they learned there were ten Elements, where the three of them were attacked by timber wolves and a flaming alicorn, where Firestorm rescued Rainbow Dash from suffocation. Survivor’s guilt must have played a part in their discomfort, the more sensible part of Twilight pointed out. Indeed, Twilight could relate to that. It made empathizing with the three ponies easier. The whole castle was collapsed in on itself like an unstable gingerbread house. It was still semi-burnt and had smoke stains on its grey blocks. It didn’t look like a castle so much as a pile of broken, burnt stone. Nothing was recognizable. As they emerged from the tree line and came to the rocky ledge overlooking a ravine that separated them from the remains of the Castle, the trees behind them rustled unexpectedly. All of them looked up or flinched, but before most of them could do any more than anticipate the danger, everything happened at once. A voice screamed, “Sapphire Flame Wall!” and a stream of ten-foot-tall, dark blue flames appeared at the pony’s backs, blocking the path back into the forest. At the same time, three shapes flew above their heads in zigzagging, unpredictable directions until they all landed near the cliff edge on their hind legs or in a crouching position. Indeed, to the surprise of the group, these shapes were ponies. The ones with weapons lowered them, reluctant to use them. The three ponies were angular, tall, and narrow-eyed. Weapons that should have been much bigger than they could wield were strapped on their backs. If Noble’s broadsword seemed proportionally big before, it was now comparatively shrunken. They radiated the stench of Tartarus between them all. One was a jet-black alicorn with a tall, spiky red mane and piercing red eyes. Half a dozen white diamonds were embedded into his ears, and he was covered with ritualistic red tattooed lines and long, alien piercings. He wore a deranged, wide grin, and his eyes were confident and smug. The lone female of the group, another alicorn, was the reverse color scheme: tomato red with a long black mane, and wide, yellow eyes. Black tattoo patches in the shape of diamonds were printed under her eyes. She looked stern and defiant. The final one, and obviously their leader, was a taller, spiritual-looking alicorn with orange hair and bright, electric blue eyes. His stunning white body shone in any light, but it was pockmarked on his legs with more ceremonial tattoos in angular formations. His expression was neutral. “Well, well, well,” said the dark alicorn smugly upon seeing that the ponies had their weapons out or were in fighting positions. “Some ponies in this world aren’t entirely useless. Heh. Wouldn’t you say, Renee?” “Hmm…” the red alicorn, Renee, hummed, studying Starlight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. “Some of them could be narrowed down a bit… A trial by fire is in order.” “Again?” Applejack muttered. "I'd like to have a moment when I'm not having a trial by fire," Fluttershy agreed. “Don’t you think this is all a little presumptuous?” Firestorm philosophized. “Like, who in the heck do you think you are?” The black alicorn let his red gaze linger on Firestorm for a few seconds before he let out an arrogant smirk and dropped his eyes. “I noticed your power level is rather small,” he harrumphed. “Heh. I don’t deal with enemies whose power level is below ten thousand.” “Power level?” Firestorm muttered in incredulity, furrowing his brow. “What constitutes a unit of power, anyway?” Rarity questioned. “Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?” Starlight asked Twilight in a stage whisper. “He seems to think your power determines your worth,” Twilight whispered back, her forehead crinkling in anger. “I hate him already,” Spike decided, folding his arms. “Give him a chance to prove himself,” Noble admonished him gently, shifting the direction his unstable blue sword was pointing. "He… might not be all that bad." “We outnumber them four to one anyway,” Freedom Fighter added, holding his staff like a spear. The dark alicorn smirked. “Heh… Then it’s an even fight.” Noble fixed him a look of frustration and disappointment. “Allow us to introduce ourselves,” the white alicorn spoke up, taking a step. “We… are the emissaries of Tartarus. We were not always like this, however. We have… a bit of a long history.” “Don’t tell me,” Pinkie moaned. “In my past life, I was a simple pastry chef.” “It’s happening,” Rainbow confirmed, facehoofing. “My name is Cookie Cutter,” the alicorn continued, ignoring her. “I was once a simple earth pony that devoted myself to the dark arts to bring back my dead mother. And a vision from my master, Solaris, told me he could do it if I pledged my soul to his service. So I did, and over the years, I became an alicorn through his magic and did the same to my estranged brother, Bloodrayne, and my adopted sister, who’s not related by blood.” “I’m also fifteen,” Renee pointed out in an angry you-forgot-something-important tone hardly befitting of a pony her age. “Oi, oi, oi,” Bloodrayne interrupted, sounding bored. “Can’t we just kill them now? Why are you babbling on and on?” “They deserve to know who it was that finally captured them.” Cookie Cutter took a few steps toward Twilight, who held her ground. “You see, we heard tell of this upcoming invasion of the Noxxa and thought… if anyone could stop them, it was the Elements of Harmony. So to stop you, we located the Tree of Harmony with one of our Fallen soldiers some weeks back. He paid a heavy toll for his discovery, but it allowed us the chance to find it. We actually tried to take the Elements ourselves… but the power of the tree forbid us. So we waited. All this time by the Tree, patiently waiting… for you. We are your final obstacle.” Twilight felt fear lock her into place. No matter how nightmarish the situation was, it was always worse than it appeared to be. These three… were they really some of Solaris’s crazy self-appointed disciples? “One could even say that we are the antithesis to Celestia’s Guardians of the Sun,” Cookie Cutter finished. “We consider ourselves to be Solaris’s greatest servants.” “He’s in for a rude wake-up,” Spike muttered. Twilight silently agreed. There were far greater servants of Solaris. Marshal Malice and the spirit that stole the Pearl came to mind. “Oh, really?” Freedom Fighter drily asked. “Far as I’m concerned, if you need to be an alicorn to counter a simple earth pony, the problem lies with your lack of skill.” “Tch,” spat the tattooed girl. “None of your might can match the powers of Tartarus. All of our training and devotion has led us to this moment! You will fall!” “Who are you again?” Rarity demanded with a flat look. Renee’s eye twitched. “I will not be undermined by some lowly dressmaker!” With a steely rasp, Renee drew the long katana from across her back. It was glowing a strange green color, radiating sickness and virulent death. “You underestimate our power! I carry the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons, harvested from the exotic plants of the Everfree! One nick or jab with this weapon, and you’ll be dead in seconds!” “I carry the Razorbeaked Ironcrow,” Bloodrayne boasted, drawing his sword with a devilish hiss and sticking it upright in the ground. Black fog radiated off its thin, elaborately engraved blade, and the long hilt was carved into the shape of a silver crow with fangs in its screeching mouth. “It’s a blessed Black Blade I summoned that directly harms both the soul and body, so once you get killed with this… it’s over. Permanently, in this life or the next!” “And I,” Cookie Cutter intoned, floating in the air so he could draw his own sword, which was actually fairly common and normal, “possess the Priesthood of Solaris. My sword is actually a normal steel sword. It’s my personal limiter to make things fair in battle so I don’t unleash my alicorn magic and destroy them too quickly. When I strike… the power of the universe comes with it.” They might have sounded legitimately terrifying, had it not been for the remark that followed. “Thanks for telling us,” Pinkie said casually the instant it all was over. “Great! Now we know what your weapons do, and that your power is all you value.” "... Is there anything else we should?" Bloodrayne asked, shrugging. "Oh, just the magic of friendship," Pinkie dropped. "But you obviously couldn't handle the Elements of Harmony, so you settled for an inferior version. What kind of power is that? Why aim for less? Are you just weeeeeaak?" Cookie Cutter gaped at her in shock. He looked like he was having trouble processing what she was saying, and he was making strained sounds in his throat. It likely wasn't what he expected would happen, Twilight noted. “Gah… kk…ch...” Pinkie adopted a cheeky, winking pose. “Your next line is, ‘Blast that pink girl! She dares to think I’m weak?’” “Blast that pink girl! She dares to think I’m weak?” Cookie Cutter blurted out without thinking. He widened his eyes, his shock doubled. “Eh?!” “You are,” Noble Blade said, dead serious. “Relying on a devil? He’s giving you wish-fulfillment. Solaris will not support his admirers. He speedily drags them down to Tartarus. You are relying on borrowed strength. His strength. Where is your strength?” Cookie Cutter looked like he was about to have a stomachache. His mouth was open, and he was sweating openly, but he couldn’t speak. “Take a look at this guy,” Firestorm was whispering to Rainbow Dash, pointing at Bloodrayne. “He’s got more money on his ear than the population of Griffonstone.” "His neck is so thick, he could drink peanut butter," Applejack remarked. "He's so edgy, he doesn't even need the sword," Tempest snarked with a grin. Twilight, hearing this, looked surprised. Tempest was getting along well with Applejack and Firestorm? "He's got more hair than Bigfoot," Rainbow observed. "He looks like the 'After' image for an amateur goth makeup artist's ad," Rarity disdainfully added. "He's got so many implants, I could shake him up and hear it all rattle," Spike noted. "He looks like a chimney sweeper that hasn't gone home in a month," Starlight said. "He looks like Manetallica married another Manetallica and had a baby," Rainbow continued. "I bet his skin is just plain black leather," Freedom Fighter said, joining in. "Even I wouldn't stoop to that." He rolled his eyes. "Most of the time." Bloodrayne, meanwhile, was twitching. His smirk was wavering into a scowl. His eyes boiled in their sockets. He looked positively unhinged. “Idiots,” he breathed. “I… I won’t let you oppose me! I’ve come too far to be mocked by a bunch of noponies like you--even if you do have the Elements! I’ll be the greatest pony in the world! I don’t need the Elements to recognize my true potential! I’m powerful without them! My power is greater than you can ever comprehend! Wh-what, did you think you could ever… use your measly power… to defeat us?” “Yeah,” Freedom Fighter said. He flicked his hoof. “Now piss off, boy. The grown-ups have business.” “Let you go? I think not.” He smirked. “How about this--I’ll make you a deal.” “I knew this would happen,” Freedom Fighter muttered lowly. “Tch. You all are either tremendously brave or incredibly idiotic to pick a fight with me. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say, Freedom Fighter, you at least… definitely have balls." "First time," Freedom Fighter muttered. "I’m offering you all a challenge.” The black and red alicorn looked over Freedom Fighter with his energy staff, then to Noble with his vivid blue sword, then to Starlight Glimmer, whose buildup of power on her horn was recognizable to all by now. He gave a long look at Tempest, a smile gracing his lips at her armor, scarred appearance, and broken horn crackling with lightning. He then came to Applejack, inspecting her powerful legs, and then Rainbow Dash’s muscular, trim warrior’s body. Finally he came to Twilight, the embodiment of all magic itself. He had deliberately skipped Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, and had ignored Firestorm altogether, unwilling to even acknowledge his presence. Bloodrayne finally closed his eyes, looking smug. “Listen up. Choose the best of you--your greatest warrior, if you will. Heh. If he or she manages to beat me at 10% of my power, I’ll humor the notion of joining you on your little crusade. You can even send three or four. Give them as many weapons as you want. However, if you lose-” “All right, I’m in,” Firestorm quickly said, drawing a blade from his back, and shot right at him before he could finish. Bloodrayne opened his eyes in panic. “H-hey!” he exclaimed, trying to return to his stance by lifting his enormous sword. “Wait a second!” But Firestorm was too quick, and Bloodrayne was wide open. With one downward blow, he completely severed his right hoof in a spray of blood, dropping the Ironcrow. After spinning once from the momentum, Firestorm’s sword connected with his long, glowing horn like he was hitting a baseball. With a deafening crack and an explosion of light, Bloodrayne’s horn shattered at the base, sending him flying back. Shards of smoking bone fell all around him. Tempest gave a sharp inhale and rubbed her forehead, as if it was her horn that had been severed instead. Everyone else was too focused on the scene in front of them. The other alicorns had been petrified with shock and rage. Bloodrayne was on the ground screaming, clutching his hornless head with his left hoof, smearing the emerald grass with ruby blood. Firestorm flapped above him, holding his blade upside down. “Hey!” Bloodrayne whimpered, trying and failing to meet his eyes. “Th-that wasn’t fair!” “I’m your enemy,” Firestorm bluntly told him. “You think your enemies will ever play fair? You’re not just wrong, you’re stupid.” “Hey!” screamed Renee, furiously gesticulating with the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons. “You fought without honor! You don’t deserve to win!” “You dare to lecture us about honor?” Noble Blade asked, trembling with suppressed anger. “Those who worship the devil?!” “Remind me again, who dropped out of nowhere, insulted us, and challenged us to a duel?” Twilight drily followed. “You’re paragons of combat virtue.” “I don’t care about honor in combat anymore,” Firestorm whispered to the shaking Bloodrayne. “You might think it's honorable to blab on about fair chances and honorable deaths. You're full of crap. It’s death. There’s no such thing as honorably killing someone! You have no honor. All you wanted in that duel was to make a fool out of us. And now you’re in the spot you intended for me to end up in. You want compassion? Move on. You expect me to hold back? Tough luck!” And he buried his blade right through his chest. Several ponies screamed. Twilight and Tempest weren’t part of them. Firestorm took his sword out of Bloodrayne’s inert body, soaked to the hilt with wet blood, and swiveled to meet Renee, who was holding herself back with extreme effort. By all looks of it, she looked ready to explode. “Well?” Firestorm asked, a shadow over his eyes. “What are you waiting for?” Renee swiveled the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons above her head. “I swear to Solaris, you shall pay for the death of my brother!” “Just call him your boyfriend already,” Firestorm boredly retorted. “Or one of them.” He gestured to Cookie Cutter. “We all know you’re on your knees night and day, but you ain’t praying to Solaris, that’s for certain.” She held her long katana in a firm stance. Both she and Firestorm were flapping a few inches above the ground, ready to fire themselves at each other. "You know, " Renee smirked, swirling her blade, "we don't have to fight. You could just… surrender now…" She moved her hips side to side. "And you and I… could have some fun…" "There's no way I'm touching a used, fifteen-year-old, inflamed, diseased, infected, puffed-up, dry, gaping, scalding hot, toothy, soggy, beefy, hairy, pimpled, floppy, moldy, crusty, brown, radioactive pussy," Firestorm refused, not dancing around it like Renee was. "Let me describe you with all five senses. You're gonna look like someone punched a lasagna, you're gonna feel like sandpaper, you're gonna sound like a bongo, you're gonna smell like a bald wet monkey scalp, and you're gonna taste like cold, week-old hot dog water--ya dirty hoooee~" he beautifully sang. He put a thoughtful hoof to his chin and gave a wicked grin to Cookie Cutter. "Although after the first three inches it'll feel brand new…" Cookie Cutter, thoroughly red in the face, looked like he wanted to both disappear from the face of the earth and strangle Firestorm at the same time. Renee's disposition had flown to one of unbridled, outraged fury. Evidently, she was used to that trick working. "You monster! No one has EVER said that about me! GAH!" "Aww, the poor little child can't handle insults!" Firestorm flung in her face. "Want to go in the corner and cry?! Mad hoe alert! Mad hoe alert!" "You DARE profane me such?!" "As if you weren't profaned enough already," Firestorm retorted darkly. "But yeah, I dare. Proudly. You're not even really a pony anymore. Just a disgusting experiment. Perversion of all that's good. I'm going to enjoy killing you." Firestorm drew his other sword from across his back with his other hoof, and with a flick, both flames became coated in spitting, dripping flames. He swirled them twice before adopting an offensive stance, growling. "You foolish mortal," Renee crooned, disguising her simmering fury with confidence. "I am an alicorn. The greatest creature in the universe! I have all power. If I want to have you, I will." Renee slowly, sensually, licked the edge of the Potent Blade of a Thousand Poisons with a throaty moan before she took her own stance, matching his ferocity with a seductive glare. Three seconds later, Renee paled. “Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.” And she keeled over like a sack of potatoes, instantly dead. Firestorm blinked. His arms grew limp, falling to his sides. Face pulled in a dumbfounded expression, he blinked again, unsure of what to say. There was silence for a moment before all heads swiveled to look at the one remaining warrior. Cookie Cutter was rendered officially speechless. Just a minute ago, they were both alive. Right? It wasn’t that he was weak. It was that they acted before he could respond. That was all. What could he do against something like that? Maybe… he could resurrect them! Maybe with the power of the Elements of Harmony, he could resurrect Bloodrayne and Renee. He couldn’t use the Elements, however. If he played his cards right, though, he could come to an agreement with these ponies and their guardians. “I know what you’re thinking,” spoke up the dark pink one with the broken horn. “It won’t work. Believe me, I tried.” Cookie’s train of thought halted in his tracks. “The Elements of Harmony are not to be used lightly,” spoke up the one indicated as Starlight Glimmer. “And harnessing them to bring back a pony from the dead… I’m not sure if it’s right to use it for a selfish need like that. Or even possible.” “O-of course it’s possible!” Cookie blurted out, staring at the unmoving bodies of his only friends, his only family, the only ponies he ever loved. “They’re the most powerful things in the universe! They can create worlds and destroy them! Of course they can bring them back to life! With the power of friendship, anything is possible, right? With the power of friendship, we’ll all win and live together, right?” He gulped. “R-right?” Princess Twilight Sparkle gently pushed aside a few ponies until she was face to face with him. “No,” was her answer. “With the power of friendship, we’ll die together.” It caught him off guard. What was she talking about? That was wrong! She was the princess of friendship! She should know better! “Friends die,” Twilight told him to his face. “The world won’t care. But we will. The truth is, nobody can be brought back from the dead through magic. Don’t try to. Honor them by moving on. Don’t make the same mistake I did and let them… linger inside you like a disease, and tear your mind apart. I lost friends searching for the Elements of Harmony. And... it made me realize something. “Friends are temporary. But our friendship is immortal. It is what will carry us into danger. The power of friendship alone won’t be a bubble protecting us from the evil of the world, though. We have to fight as well. But it will bring us peace and comfort when we fight for our world. And if we die in the pits of danger, I’ll at least do it with the ponies that… that mean the world to me.” Cookie Cutter felt numb listening to her. His hooves felt cold, and his brain tuned out her words. No. No! She was wrong. Wrong! If friendship was so powerful, why couldn’t it do everything?! Why did it result in their deaths? “I’m sorry about your family,” Twilight continued, casting a glance at the bodies of Bloodrayne and Renee. “I wish you still had them. I know how much they can mean to you.” “You don’t get to apologize,” Cookie Cutter cut off. His eyes shrunk in rage, and his self-moving orange hair began to wave faster. “Your friends killed them!” “They were gonna kill us!” Spike defended, emerging into view. “What, d’ya think-” “They were my friends too!” Cookie bellowed. “Are your friends the only ones that matter?!” Twilight couldn’t answer that one. Cookie scowled, and his horn began crackling with orange power. He began to levitate into the air, his wings spread apart. His eyes began glowing as well. “You… You all will pay for the deaths of my friends… my family!” Stretching a hoof, the Razorbeaked Ironcrow flew across the ground, the hilt smacked into his hoof, and he swung at Twilight, leaving a wake of black streams. The only thing that prevented Twilight from certain death was Noble, who had stopped the deathly Black Blade with a mighty blow of his own blue sword, which was barely able to contain the power of his Element. Between crossed blades, Noble was firm but neutral. “Death is part of the package of being a warrior,” Noble replied, slowly forcing the Ironcrow back with both hooves. “Did you think you were invincible? Or did you not read the contract before choosing the hard path of abusing life?” Cookie Cutter yelled in his face and lunged his head forth to impale Noble in the face. His horn missed his head, but grazed his skull on the right, and blood ran down his cheek and matted his blue hair with a wet red color. Noble dropped all resistance to pushing his sword, and as the knight ducked with his sword out of the way, Cookie stumbled forward. Noble used the chance to quickly slice open his thigh, and in doing so, made the butt of his blade smack into his ribs. Hard. Cookie Cutter, moving back, made a “Tsk” sound and observed his injuries with a critical eye. “Not bad. You made me bleed. You’re a good-” Noble, not wasting any time listening to his words, had made a thrust as he was speaking, and Cookie, still shaken, barely put his sword up in time to deflect it from going into his kidneys. Noble’s other hoof immediately shot forward and punched him smack in the face. His head flew back, blood flying from his nose. Noble twisted the sword in his arm hard, and the Ironcrow flew out of his hooves and embedded itself in the rock on the edge of the ravine. Now that he was without a weapon, Noble Blade opted not to pierce his heart, but instead placed himself between him and the Ironcrow and advanced slowly enough to allow Cookie to scramble away. This wasn’t good. Cookie Cutter was unmistakably concerned now for his life. Was he going to die here? No. No, he still hadn’t unleashed his full power. He didn’t want to use it and admit that Noble was a legitimate threat. But desperate times require desperate measures. Noble Blade was skilled, but his mercy would be his undoing. “I am at the end of my patience, but I still have enough room for this. Swear that you won’t follow us, and I’ll let you live.” Cookie Cutter snarled, blood dripping from his face and leg. “Like I’d ever admit defeat to you! Why can’t you see… that I am a disciple of Solaris? This isn’t even my final form! Want me to unleash my real power?!” “If that’s what you want,” Noble Blade answered, hefting his blade and bringing it up to swing. Cookie Cutter cringed as a blue ball of energy appeared in the middle of his chest and began to branch out like veins of blood. “Watch… and learn! This… is what it means… to go… beyond!” He threw his head back and bellowed, long and loud and rageful. The blue energy began to course through his body like electricity through cables. His horn overloaded with power as it steadily grew out of his skull, and his wings shivered as they seemed to grow extra joints and expand. His eyes were glowing like headlights at this point. His spiky mane was flowing like a flag in the wind, and it was growing longer at the roots, becoming fuller in volume and stronger in color. The ponies kept their distance. What if his power was to be unleashed upon them? Noble’s shield was out by now, covering anyone crouching nearby. Waves of power emanated off of him, making manes flap and faces stretch. The world became distorted as the color blue took prevalence over all other wavelengths. Cookie Cutter was still bellowing as his powerful transformation took place. And suddenly, with a wet crunch and squelch, his bellowing stopped, and became a weak, gurgling scream of pain and terror. The magic cut off, his transformation incomplete. He fell out of the air and stood on his hind legs, held up by the object embedded in him. The tip of the Razorbeaked Ironcrow was protruding from his chest. Cookie scrabbled at the tip of the blade, gasping and moaning, but his wings and legs grew faint, and hung limply from his body. He dropped to his knees, and the group saw Tempest behind him, holding tightly to the hilt of the blade. With a jerk, Tempest nudged it in further, and Cookie Cutter moaned and fell to one side, taking the sword with him. It left Tempest standing awkwardly as Cookie Cutter rapidly expired with the Black Blade in his chest. Noble sighed. “Tempest…” “What?” she challenged him, nudging Cookie’s now-inert body. “You were going to kill him anyway. I just decided not to fight it out.” Noble grimaced before sheathing his sword, and the blue light coming off of it disappeared as well, leaving the scene as it was before, only with three dead bodies strewn about on the ground near the ravine’s edge. Everypony blinked rather hard at the change. “Let’s just get to the tree already,” Fluttershy finally suggested, eyeing the bodies and shuddering. They set off to the route leading down the ravine. Nopony thought to remove any of the weapons. Starlight stuck by Twilight’s unmoving side, however. They were looking at the fresh body of the artificial white alicorn. His soul was gone as well as his body. It was a fate worse than death. “Twilight?” asked Starlight, and the alicorn in question turned to the uncomfortable Starlight. “The whole ‘We’ll die together, but as friends’ thing… Did you… mean all that?” “I wouldn’t have said it otherwise,” Twilight answered her. “Ponies grow and change on experience. It just… took a while to process.” “Inevitable death is always kind of hard to process, don’t you think?” Twilight shrugged. “Fair point.” “Of course, the whole point is to try not to die in the first place,” Starlight tacked on. “That part isn't the problem,” Twilight replied. “The trick is… accepting when it’s time to go. Not everyone was ready for it.” She gestured at Cookie Cutter, Renee, and Bloodrayne. Her horn chimed to life, and their bodies floated up and drifted together. “What should we do with them?” Starlight asked. “We can’t leave them out for the wolves to eat. And we can’t dig graves in stone. The most we can do is burn them. It’s the most dignified way to do it.” “And their weapons?” “Throw them into the forest.” While Starlight did just that, Twilight gave a tap of her horn to each of the bodies. They each caught a purple flame that quickly enveloped them and revealed only their empty mortal silhouettes. Starlight wasn’t able to look at the bodies or at Twilight. “Do you think… they’re doing okay? In the afterlife?” “I’m sure Faust is being as fair as possible,” Twilight said. “The real question is, do they want to be around her in the first place?” “Of course they do!” “Do they?” Twilight indicated their forms. “You really think they’d rather be uncomfortable in heaven than comfortable in Tartarus?” Starlight was silent. “I do feel sorry for Cookie,” Twilight continued, eyeing his burning body. “He didn’t deserve that. He was right about some things.” “Like what?” The dark circles under Twilight’s eyes deepened in the light from the violet flames. “My friends aren’t the only ones that matter. Whenever any life is taken, a friend… is lost.” “You think that was friendship they had between them?” Starlight asked. “It looked unstable at best. They put power first, they thought friendship followed power. But it’s power that comes from friendship instead. Didn’t you teach me that?” Twilight turned and gave her a weak smile. “You always were a good student.” Starlight smiled back, holding Twilight close with one arm. “I learned from the best.” This small action made something bloom in her heart that made Twilight feel warm all over again. She identified it quickly. It was reexperiencing the value of friendship, and how valued it really was. The fact that she had the need to reexperience something as important to her as friendship made her feel twisted on the inside, like there was something inherently wrong with her. And yet… there was something else there, too, saying Twilight was good enough, that she was strong and brave despite all the psychological batterings she had taken. It made her feel braver and more willing to accept the outcomes. Her knees felt strong yet relaxed, her head was high and clear, her eyes were dry and stable. “Hey,” Starlight said, as if seeing those emotions on her face. “It’ll all be okay. This’ll be over soon. We won’t have to worry about Solaris anymore once I get my Element.” “Yeah,” Twilight said, nodding. Something genuine was in her eyes. “I think I can have that same hope.” “Don’t say that,” Starlight jabbed. “Of course you do.” And Twilight was startled to realize her pupil was right. After ensuring the bodies were safely disposed of, Twilight and Starlight trotted down the path to join the others at the bottom of the ravine, in the holy presence of the Tree of Harmony.