“I’m afraid you have no case, Mr. Luster.”
“‘No case’? ‘No case’?! Look at her hand!”
“There’s documented witnesses both by the attending physician and two nurses that she was born with that deformity.”
“She can’t have been! Does that look like a birthmark to you? Someone sick and disturbed at that hospital etched it on her!”
“Again, I’m sorry to inform you that there’s no case. It was noted on the form at the time of birth. It had to have been preexisting.”
“You aren’t really suggesting that we somehow did that to her, are you? On purpose? To an unborn infant?!”
“I didn’t say that… I’m just saying that your child was born with this. I agree that it is highly unusual, but it is what it is.”
“You better remember you have an oath of confidentiality. The last thing I need right now is some doctor accusing me and my wife of mutilating our own child while still in the womb…”
“Mrs. Sunbeam, I’m sorry but my decision is final.”
“Please, could you at least give me an explanation? I think you owe me that after five years of employment. I want to be able and tell Blaze and Corona the reason that their favorite nanny just decided to walk out on-”
“Blaze and Corona and the rest of your children are fine, Mrs. Sunbeam. It’s…well, frankly it’s your youngest.”
“I understand that Sunset can be a handful but-”
“You don’t understand, Mrs. Sunbeam. Your child…well… Well, I guess since I’m not going to be working here anymore I’ll be blunt. There’s something wrong with your child.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“That babbling she does isn’t like any infant I’ve ever seen. Things keep moving around on their own when I’m about her. And then there’s that burning smell and those singe marks in her cradle. She’s…she’s not normal. And, if I am to be perfectly honest, I don’t even think she’s natural.”
“Five nannies in two years…and this is the second one that ran off screaming she was possessed. What is wrong with that child? I can’t keep leaving the bank in the middle of the day just to come home and fire another overpriced nanny! Do you know how this is making me look like to the partners?”
“From now on, no more candles at night, Sunset! Not if you can’t keep from burning your clothes and bedsheets with them! You stay in your bed, you stay quiet, and you do as you’re told! And don’t give me that! There was no one in your room but you!”
“You made Joy stop coming here! She was my favorite! You ruin everything! Why couldn’t you have left instead of her?! You’re the worst little sister in the world!”
“What in the world is the matter with you? Are you out of your mind? What were you thinking? Setting your own room on fire?! You could have burned down the whole house last night! Stop lying! Don’t you dare try and tell me it wasn’t you! I’ve had it with your behavior! I’m sick to death of it and you’re going to learn to behave if it’s the last thing I do! From now on, if I hear the slightest bit of trouble out of you, you’re spending the week in your room! That includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner! You sit still, you keep quiet, you keep out of trouble, and you don’t ever do anything like that again! Understand me?”
Scarcely had Twilight exhaled her horror when an eruption came out from Sunset’s body. It wasn’t like the other Anima Viris. This one wasn’t a radiation of her own aura. It was more like a pillar of light, similar to how Moon’s own body had changed. Hers, however, had been a pale moon glow. This one was an eruption of white light tinged with fiery colors.
An inferno.
For a brief moment, she almost swore she saw Sunset within the light hesitate. The nearly mad look on her face was painted over with sudden shock. Perhaps even fear. Then her body arched in on itself as she was consumed by the light from the burning rune. The last Twilight saw before she vanished into the light was her face stretched in agony.
A moment later, Twilight was forced to look away. Not only her but the others with her, for heat was pouring off of the burning pillar. The air around it began to ripple fiercely and the wind fanned even more so from the temperature about the pillar surging. It only grew hotter as time passed, and soon Twilight began to back up—stepping at first but soon moving faster as the temperature rose. She reached the others but they only got up and backed away too. Even from this distance, it already felt like they were in front of bonfire. An instant later, everything flammable on the entire third floor foyer lit aflame.
“What’s goin’ on now?” Applejack shouted over the rising heat and wind.
“She’s…she’s turning into another N-N-Nightmare Moon!” Fluttershy whimpered.
“No…” Twilight spoke, crossing her arms in front of her face. “This…this is worse…much worse!”
“What do you mean ‘worse’?” Dash yelled. “How can she possibly be worse?”
Before Twilight could say any more, the air was broken by the sound of a cry from within the inferno. One of agony and torment but also with an otherworldly power on it. It somehow reverberated far louder and more resounding. Enough to go through the entire castle and the lands around it. The six winced once more as the heat surged again. The light grew stronger as they saw the metal pieces of the structure and surroundings nearest to the blaze slowly start to gleam like irons in an oven.
Looking above it, within the flames, the shape of Sunset’s body began to take form again. Just dark enough to be seen in an outline. It took a moment of staring to be sure, but as the flames kept rising it was unmistakable—it was changing. The limbs were stiffly and spasmodically lengthening. Becoming longer. Thinner. After a time, it looked like her torso was doing the same. Only that stiffly lengthed a bit at a time like a ratchet was working it…or, more appropriately, like spinal columns were being added every few seconds.
She cried again and it resounded even louder.
Worse than that, it also sounded a little less human.
The air squealed, and suddenly a ray of black fire burst from the pillar of flame. It swung about in a deadly arc, cutting half of the staircase to the right of the foyer in two and making the entire set of stairs collapse. Another ray came out soon after, slicing through two of the columns at once. As they groaned, creaked, and finally collapsed (pulling a good part of the ceiling with them), the girls quickly retreated back even further. This time they didn’t stop moving until they were all the way to the staircase down.
By that point not only the metal but the stone around the pillar was starting to gleam and deform. The heat was so strong it was melting the stone into magma. The cry sounded again, even less human, and the six could see Sunset’s head beginning to deform now.
“W-W-When is she going to stop…?” Fluttershy stammered.
Applejack opened her mouth to answer, but stopped and pointed. “Aw no…look!”
Through the open ceiling and in the blazing light, the six ladies were able to see shapes starting to appear. Swarming over the area in a circle. As another ray lashed out from within the pillar and cut the back chamber apart, the fire gleamed enough to see, much to the shock of the six, black monstrous black shapes with yellow gleaming eyes.
“Nighttouched?”
“I thought we were supposed to get rid of them when we beat Nightmare Moon?!” Dash yelled.
Rarity looked at them uneasily before shrugging. “Maybe this will work to our advantage? I mean, at least they’re not interested in us. Only in what’s making the most light right now.”
Two seconds later, multiple rays of light shot out from the pillar again. This time they went into the sky surrounding it and made contact with several of the flying bat creatures.
Each one lit up with fiery flame on contact and the six were able to see them clearly stop and curl in on themselves in spasms. Yet they weren’t knocked from the sky or destroyed. On the contrary. Razor sharp claws came out of the edges of the wings. The wings themselves grew longer and serrated while their bodies gleamed like coals. Their faces twisted and enlarged to grow bigger teeth and dribble yellow-hot fire out of their jaws.
Moments later, the light cut off. Now the mutated creatures weren’t just monsters.
They looked like devils.
An instant later, they pitched out and began to attack their brethren, slicing and snapping at them and leaving them ripped apart or aflame in instants.
Fluttershy cupped her hands to her mouth in horror.
“She…she, um…just made the Nighttouched worse,” Dash half-muttered.
“Should we really call them Nighttouched anymore, though?” Pinkie shrugged. “I mean, look at them. They’re all flamey and more toothy. Maybe we can call them Firetouched? Or Lavatouched? Or-”
A groan from the entire structure cut Pinkie off and made everyone go wide-eyed again. They looked back to the inferno, and saw the constant rising heat was having an effect on the whole chamber. The middle of the floor was sinking a little as the metal and stone alike began to melt.
Furthermore, while the heat continued to blaze, the inferno itself was starting to die down at last. Whatever was inside was “done changing”.
And based on the latest cry from inside it, which it now bellowed, it wasn’t human at all anymore.
There was no need for prompting at the sound of that voice. They all turned and ran for the stairs. They heard the sound of more of those rays of fire coming out as they did, knowing it meant even more of the bat creatures were turned into far more monstrous forms, but they didn’t stop.
“What’s with that kid?”
“She never joins in. She just sits over there and doesn’t say anything to anyone.”
“Maybe she can’t talk.”
“Maybe she’s dumb. I bet she’s stupid but her dad paid for her to be in class with the rest of us.”
“Sunset, I’m busy. We’re down three percent this quarter and I have to find out why. I’ll find out how you’re doing in school when I talk to your teacher in a couple months. Just stay out of trouble, alright?”
“Not now, Sunset. Your sister’s violin recital starts in 30 minutes and then your brother’s game starts right afterward. Just keep behaving and everything will work out. Dinner’s on the table, so just eat up and do your homework. We’ll be back late so you’ll probably be in bed before we get home.”
“There’s that freak kid again.”
“She’s a freak?”
“Oh yeah. I heard it from my big brother. He’s in class with her sister, and she told him that she likes burning things. She tried to burn the whole house down with them in it.”
“Wow!”
“She’s crazy!”
“Hey Sunset? You want to come hang out with us? Yeah, really! You can help us with the float for this year’s school parade!”
“Mr. Luster, Mrs. Sunbeam…your child’s act of vandalism is completely unacceptable. Arson is not going to be tolerated no matter how young they are.”
“There you go again! All you ever do is act up and then lie about it! Why in the world would your classmates have set it on fire and then said it was you? Why? Did you do something to make them mad at you? I don’t want to hear it! If you can’t even admit that you did it then you can go to bed without supper tonight!”
“I don’t believe this, Silver! A new elementary now! Every time someone comes into the studio now someone whispers to them about her and then they give me these weird looks! I must have lost ten new clients already because of her acting up! Now how are they going to act when they find out she got expelled for setting a fire?”
“I hear she got kicked out of her last school because she tried to burn the place down.”
“She’s a retard, is what I hear. She can’t even talk.”
“Let’s watch her. I know this one retard around home who just grabs one ear and slaps a table with his hand for five minutes. Maybe she’ll do something like that!”
“Hey, nice hair bow! Why don’t you let me borrow it for a bit? Or do you want me to tell the teacher I saw you try and start a fire?”
“Ugh…you lost your hair bow? Well, you can do without for a few days. I can’t keep paying to replace things you lose, Sunset…”
“Give me your shoes, kid. You don’t want everyone thinking you’re going to burn down the school, right?”
“According to four witnesses, Sunset started the fight, Mrs. Sunbeam. She said she hit her and knocked her down when she just stopped by to ask her to play with them. I’m afraid your daughter is a bit out of control.”
“I can’t have one day without you causing trouble, can I? Not one!”
“Oh, you mustn’t blame yourself, dear. It’s not your fault. Some children are just born with particularly thick skulls. Happens all the time to everyone. Luckily, factory work is so easy these days that even a dullard can pick it up.”
“Silver, some people are just never meant to go anywhere in life. They’re just not suited to ever accomplish anything or earn anything. The sooner you realize that’s the sort of person Sunset is going to be, the more at ease you and your wife will be. Just don’t expect anything out of her from now on and that will make trying to suffer through her childhood more…bearable.”
On reaching the bottom floor, the heat from upstairs was causing the stone over their heads to gleam, and even begin to dribble like lava in a few spots. It gave enough light, however, for them to see their way as they kept running. They didn’t dare cross under it for the front, so they charged through the columns and passageways for the rear. They eventually left the main hall and into a side corridor that was reasonably intact. Another roar sounded when they did, this one shaking the castle itself, but it wasn’t any closer at least. After running a short distance, Twilight led them into one of the rooms.
As soon as she was in, she dropped into a crouch and panted fiercely; trying to catch her breath. The other five quickly ran in and crouched alongside her.
“Good grief…” Rarity spoke, breathless, wide-eyed, and struggling to keep her cool. “I’ve heard of the expression out of the frying pan and into the fire, but this…”
Twilight’s pupils were nearly pinpricks as she took off her hat and ran a hand through her hair. “I never thought things could get this much worse… This is bad. This is really, really bad.”
“W…w-w-w…w-worse…?!” Fluttershy nearly whined.
“How in the hell is it even worse?” Dash nearly snapped.
Twilight sighed and held up her hand, pointing to her rune. “This is the one she needed! I don’t know exactly how the compatibility works with Anima Viris, but Sunset said she needed mine specifically to go with the rest of Celestia’s! She couldn’t just grab any other Anima Viri! That’s why it’s burning on her hand! It’s not compatible with the others! Normally, I don’t even think she could have used it… That must be why the rest of the Anima Viris went flying off of Moon’s hand when she forced it into herself…”
“Just give us the short version…what does that mean?”
“That’s just it…I don’t know exactly, but it’s definitely not something good! At the bare minimum, I think upstairs is showing that it means she’s not going to be in control of her power like Nightmare Moon was, and that she’s not going to have the same powers she had either! These ones are worse!”
The entire room gave a violent shudder to the tune of something massive falling down upstairs. It sent bits of mortar raining from the ceiling as an echo resounded. Seconds later, chills ran down everyone’s spine as another inhuman yell bellowed.
As soon as it died down, Twilight continued. “If what’s happening upstairs is any indication, she’s not going to be happy with Light Eaters and a slowly moving shadow! She’s going to turn the Nighttouched into…into whatever those things are up there and they’re going to burn everything they can!”
The six had gone a little pale. Even bold ones like Dash and Applejack couldn’t hide their anxiety. The upper floor shook again and more bits of stone rained from the ceiling. Both Rarity and Fluttershy started to turn into themselves. Even Pinkie swallowed and began to whisper a prayer.
Rarity finally looked up slightly. “I…I think tonight was enough for one night. Let’s just focus on getting out of Equestria while we still can…”
Twilight shook her head. “That’s not good enough! Don’t you remember? Nightmare Moon said she was doing everything she did on purpose! She might have been crazy, but the reason she didn’t kill us all years ago is because she didn’t want to! Whatever that…that thing is upstairs is, it could just want everything to go up in flames! And daylight isn’t going to stop her or her monsters!”
The group was silent again. They looked to one another uneasily.
Applejack looked back at the mage. “We’re on our last legs, Twilight. Even if we weren’t, we’d be barbecue long ‘fore you could get close enough to do that bindin’ seal again. What can we do?”
The ceiling shook again. When the roar sounded it seemed a bit closer. An odor was beginning to waft from upstairs. It stank not only of ash but of something more foul, like brimstone. Twilight trembled a bit at the scent alone before staring at the floor. She did so for several seconds.
Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath.
“I want you all to get out of here as fast as you can.”
“Okie-dokie!” Pinkie chirped, nearly getting up, but then freezing. “Wait…what about you, Twilight?”
“Yeah,” Dash threw in, “what about you?”
She swallowed but didn’t look up.
“Twilight,” Rarity asked, “what are you planning on doing?”
She exhaled again. “There’s one chance left. That orichalcum dagger that she used to draw out Moon’s Anima Viri still has to be somewhere upstairs.” Stiffening, she began to push herself up to stand again. “If I can get it and stab her hand with it, maybe…maybe I can draw out that unstable Anima Viri.”
“Are you nuts?” Dash shot back. “You’ll burn up long before you get to it!”
“It could be lyin’ in a puddle o’ lava by now!” Applejack shouted. “And there ain’t no way you’ll get around whatever the hell she is now without her spottin’ you!”
“I have to try!” Twilight shot back, forcing herself a little. “I can’t let her get out of this castle! I can’t let her ruin Greater Everfree after so many people died already! After we all tried so hard to save it!”
“But,” Fluttershy timidly spoke, “if you use that dagger on her…won’t…won’t you get her Anima Viri? What if…um…it’s not compatible with you either?”
Twilight was quiet a moment. Her eyes fell toward the floor. Her voice became quiet.
“I think the five of you can kill an out-of-control Promethian Sigil bearer with only two Anima Viris much easier than someone who has six…”
The six were stunned. They realized what that meant.
“Twilight…you can’t be serious…”
She swallowed again. “Just get away from here. As fast as you can. I think if you can make it to forest you have a chance…”
“Nuts ta’ that!” Applejack retorted.
“Yeah! If you’re going, we’re all going!” Dash threw in.
She immediately looked up. “No…no, you’re not. Not this time. This is a one-way trip for me.”
Rarity swallowed, flustered a little, and then began to loosen up. “Then it’s a one-way trip for all of us, darling!”
“No!”
Twilight shouted so loudly and fiercely that the others stopped just as they were starting to rise. She stared back at them with an almost pleading look.
“I don’t want you to come with me! For eight years, aside from a visit once in a while to Shining Armor, it’s been no one but me and Spike! I thought I was alone in the world! This…this…” She stiffened, stammering a little. “This is the first time since all of this happened that I feel like I’m not by myself anymore!”
Her eyes began to water. She was quiet a moment, but when she forced herself to speak again her voice began to break.
“You’re the first friends I’ve ever had! I can’t let you die now! Not here! Not like this! I told you all to come here! If you all end up dead because of it, then…then…”
No one could say anything. They didn’t even react when the ceiling shook again. They stared at Twilight wide-eyed and speechless at her confession.
The moment was broken when the roar sounded again. Definitely closer this time.
Worse yet, the twisted demonic voice almost seemed to say something.
“Schhhhesstyaaaah…”
The six looked up fearfully. Twilight felt the same, but she also saw her moment.
“I’m sorry.”
She didn’t even wait for the others to look back at her. She turned and ran back out the door as fast as she could.
If they called to her, it was drowned out by an even larger tremor soon after. This one shook the very foundations of the castle. Twilight stumbled a bit but she didn’t fall. As soon as she regained her balance she kept running. She tried to ignore any more shaking within the castle, to say nothing of the fact that the fiery glow from upstairs was far brighter now. The stench of sulfur was stronger and smoke was beginning to run along the ceiling. Up ahead it looked like the lower floor was on fire. Nevertheless, she grit her teeth and boldly turned to run out into the hall.
Her timing couldn’t have been “better”. She only managed to catch a brief glimpse of the stone ceiling dropping molten bits down onto the first floor before it gave a massive crunch and crack, then fell in entirely. A wave of heat came over her as the melted remains sprawled out like thick mud; instantly igniting everything nearby that was flammable. It cast the whole floor in a hellish light.
A second afterward, a very large shape gleaming like flame dropped down behind one of the still-standing larger columns.
Twilight gasped. She stared in terror momentarily, too petrified to do anything, before she forced her hand to fumble for her last wand and hold it up. She began to inch toward the stairs, hoping she could get in there without notice…
She froze again and nearly screamed when she saw a monstrous set of red, crooked talons round the edge of the column and dig themselves in. Blazing like an iron in a furnace along the back of the clutching, twisted hand was the one rune of the Anima Viri Sunset had stolen, burning like a fire and still belching black smoke. The column began to crack and crumble as the figure behind it slowly pulled herself around.
Twilight tried to scream but the terror choked her voice out. The thing…the demon…she was looking at was hard to imagine having ever been human. For one thing, it was lanky, twisted, and over three and a half meters tall. The skin had turned dark red and heat issued form it. The remains of Sunset’s armor and clothes had turned into what looked like a garment of dripping, hissing magma. Like Nightmare Moon, it had wings, but these ones weren’t feathered. They were great and bat-like, with a black layer on the upper edge giving way to more gleaming, burning fires beneath. The bottom was serrated and, combined with a tail of flame stretching from her backside, the likeness of a demon was unmistakable from that alone.
Yet her head was the worst. The jaw had grown so enlarged it misshaped and deformed the face, which itself was full of nothing but jagged teeth in a cruel, sadistic grin. The ears had grown long and pointed and her hair now seemed like a true blaze fanning in the air behind her. The only sign that this monstrosity had ever been Sunset Shimmer at all were the colors of the retinas of its enlarged eyes. Even then, the rest of her eyes were nothing but blackness.
“Schhhhesstyaaaah…”
“Hey Sunset! I’m having a birthday party this weekend. You’re invited. We’re going to have lots of fun! We’re going to play all kinds of games and we’re having the best baker in town make our buttercream frosting cake!”
“Stop being so unsociable! Maybe if you would play with more children your age people would like you in school better, and you’d spend less time making a nuisance of yourself in this house! Go to the party! With an attitude like that, you’re lucky you even got invited! She sounds like a nice girl for wanting you to come!”
“What are you doing home so soon? And…and look what you just did! You ruined your shoes and tracked mud all over the house! Ugh! Can you keep from wrecking something for one day?!”
“Oh…heh…I’m so sorry! Did I say come in at the front door? I meant the back door. We…hehe…we couldn’t hear you’re knocking at the front over the music. Gee, you must have gotten all wet from all of that rain, didn’t you? Hope you didn’t get stuck in the mud walking home!”
“I just can’t believe she actually showed up! What a dummy!”
“She actually thought someone would invite her anywhere?”
“These are some new children your age, Sunset. You should get along with them just fine. Now…I’m warning you…I want you to be good around them. Understand? Be good. You cannot act up around these children. They’re the kids of my partners and they’re doing me a big favor bringing them here to play with you during the event. Just stay good and stay out of trouble.”
“So I hear you’re the freak kid of that bumpkin my dad keeps around the bank. Look at her. No wonder she’s an idiot. Her grandpa and grandma were redneck peanut farmers. She’s a hick just like her dad. Oh? What are you gonna do about it? You touch me and your dad’ll never work in this town again, and your mom can go make her paintings out of trash she finds in the gutter.”
“That’s where she belongs.”
“The trash or the gutter?”
“Heh, why not both?”
“Nah, she belongs in the looney bin. They need to stick her in the nuthouse and dunk her in the ice water a few thousand times. Maybe that’ll get her to stop burning things.”
“Hey, look at me when I’m talking to you, you little freak. I want a good look at you. All my dad ever talks about is how much your dad must be inbred for having a kid like you.”
“My dad says she came from a whore. He’s trying to keep it a secret. That’s why they didn’t dump her in an orphanage a long time ago.”
“They should shove her in that pencil shop downtown. Put her to work putting erasers on pencils all day. She might as well bring home a couple bucks.”
“Nah, they should use her as a doorstop.”
“What’s that? Wanna say something to me? Better watch your mouth if you know what’s good for you and your family.”
“I…have…had it with you! You…you…you damn little brat! I can’t stand it any longer! I’ll be lucky if I’m not out of a job tomorrow after what you did to that boy! Who do you think is going to have to pay to fix his two teeth and his broken nose? Do you think after everything of mine you’ve ruined I’m just made of money?! All you had to do was play nice! Why can’t you…why…”
“Silver…just…just let it-”
“Why can’t you just be normal?!”
“Everyone was so happy before you were born! You don’t do anything except make trouble for everyone! I wish you would just die or run away!”
“I wish we could send you to an orphanage, but that would never work! None of them would want you! No one wants you! You’re good for nothing! All you do is make everyone angry and sad!”
“She’s just going to be a problem child… We’ll have to take care of her forever… She’ll never be able to do anything for herself or make anything of herself…”
“I hate you!”
“I hate you!”
“I hate you!”
An instant later, with a casual move, the demon shoved the entire column out of the way like it was a stack of tin cans. Her infernal wings spread as her heat began to do the same to that floor as it did to the one above, and she flapped once to put herself in the sky.
Before she could move toward her, the mage snapped out of it enough to quickly cast a spell. She had little mana left as it was but she still had more than enough to send a spear-like crystal of ice flying at the monster. Not waiting to see what the result would be, she spun around and ran full tilt for the stairs.
The demon clearly didn’t have the intelligence of Moon. It simply hovered there and let the tip strike it in the shoulder. Instantly it shattered apart and quickly melted before starting to boil into steam, but not before splashing some of the cold water and ice on it.
Twilight cringed a moment later when it let out an ear-splitting noise of pain. She turned her head briefly and saw its toothy grin turned into a snarl. However, she didn’t try to exploit this newfound weakness any further; especially as no actual damage had been done. She reached the stairs and began to dash up them as fast as her robe would allow.
Still screeching the demon turned back to her. It stretched out its talons but didn’t fly after the Caster. Instead, it twisted its arm around and curled up before making a fist.
Twilight suddenly heard a crackling all around her, before crying in alarm as most of the staircase around her was telekinetically ripped right out and yanked into the air. She was brought along with it, and cried out even louder, this time in pain, as the fragments of stone broke smaller before being drawn together and crushing around her body.
A second later the demon snapped her hand down. Twilight yelled one last time as she was flung to the ground with the debris. One particularly large chunk of rock was slammed down on top of her as she collided with the ground, and an instant later her middle was pounded beneath a 100 kg slab.
Twilight’s cry was turned into an aborted gag as she felt something break and the agony left her crippled even without the fact of the huge piece of stone now pinning her down. She grasped it and tried to push herself free, but not only was it hopeless in her current agonized state but doing so only made her realize her hands were empty. Opening her eyes wide in terror, she looked around through her trauma only to see her wand was now lying four meters out of her grip.
The woman began to panic. She looked back and saw that the demon was already flying toward her with its grin returned. She put her hands on the slab again and tried to push but it was still futile and she only felt more pain in her chest from trying to move. Fearfully, she looked back at the closing monster, unable to do anything as its maddened eyes looked hungrily at her.
Yet when it had only closed half the distance, she heard arcane syllables being yelled before a much smaller stream of ice crystals shot out and pelted the demon in the face. This time, Twilight saw steam and heard a crackling like thermal stress before it growled angrily and reached for its vision, flying backward in retreat.
Twilight gaped and looked to one side. Rarity was moving out and onto a fallen column, keeping her blade aimed at the demon and quickly generating another ice spell. She pelted it with a pair of crystal knives soon after, making it hiss and sneer before flying further back.
“Rarity…!”
Before she could call anything else, she saw a pair of shadows fall over her. The slab that was on her body was forcefully seized and, with a grunt, Applejack hefted it and threw it aside. She nearly dove down to pick Twilight up, but the other one with her, Fluttershy, held out a hand and quickly bent down over her.
“Don’t move her yet! Give me a moment to patch up any internal injuries!”
“Make it fast! Rarity, Dash, and Pinkie ain’t gonna hold her long!”
Hearing that, Twilight looked back up. As Fluttershy began to chant over her, Rarity had managed to throw a third spell, but at that point she was panting and sweating before letting her blade fall. However, she had help.
Darting in like a flash, Dash ran around and seized up whatever cool piece of rubble she could find before punching it at the demon. The monster recovered from Rarity’s attack by the time she knocked her first at her, but, unlike Moon, the stone connected and shattered. It only seemed to irritate the demon more than anything and she quickly raised her claws to rip apart the ground where Dash was. Unfortunately for her, the Disciple was far too quick and was already lining up another shot by the time the demon was ripping up the ground where she had been.
After three of these, the demon was getting very angry, but before it could attack again an explosion went off on the side of its head. It hissed and looked at where it had come from. Pinkie, the last few bombs in her hands, was bouncing around again and throwing in her own attacks. At that point, Rarity was strong enough to start generating another ice spell while Dash kept making herself a moving target.
“Hurry up over there!” Dash shouted as she hefted another boulder. “We can’t get any closer to her! I feel like I’m in an oven just from here!”
Luckily, at that moment, Fluttershy removed her staff and nodded to Applejack. By now, she had rushed over and taken her wand back up. She practically threw it in the mage’s hands before she grabbed her under her arms and started to lift.
“I told you all to get out of here!” she protested as she was set back on her feet. “Why are you-”
“’Cause we don’t want you to throw your life away either, ya’ damn fool!” Applejack cut off. “Now stop talkin’ and start gettin’ upstairs!”
Putting a hand on her, the Warrior practically yanked her back to the half-broken staircase. After a moment Twilight stopped resisting and followed after her. Fortunately, although half of the stone stairs were gone, the remainder were solid and Applejack began to lead her and Fluttershy up.
They had just begun to pick their way around the damaged portion and approach the first bend in the stairwell when they heard a piercing, horrendous cry behind them. In spite of the urgency, Twilight looked back as Applejack kept pushing her on, but when she heard her gasp the Warrior looked back too.
The demon was “calling for backup”. No sooner had it finished its squeal than the flaming bat monsters began to swoop down from the opening, extend their talons and jaws, and fly to the nearest of the women to start attacking. Rarity let out a yelp as she quickly orientated her icicle to one about to seize her while Pinkie was forced off course to evade two sweeping out for her. Dash herself greeted the first one to come at her with a punch; causing it to shatter like a burning log into embers. Nevertheless, Fluttershy let out a gasp of her own on seeing Dash recoil in pain from the blow. Even touching them had to burn her.
Nevertheless, she aimed her claws for another one. “What are you doing? Keep going!”
Twilight kept lingering on, but Applejack soon yanked her onward and Fluttershy charged up with her.
The two crossed to the upper floor, only to see it looked like a volcano interior. Fires had spread everywhere now. Part of it was melting and the rest was red hot. Even with the open ceiling the smoke was getting thick enough to start coughing. Twilight had no choice but to pause long enough to generate a wind spell to blow some of it away when Applejack and Fluttershy both began to choke. Fortunately, doing so revealed their route. One side of the hall had been destroyed by the combination of Nightmare Moon and the demon. The other half, while broken and fragmented, to say nothing of aflame, was their only shot to the staircase up to where Sunset had stabbed Moon.
Unfortunately, they didn’t take off for it right away, for that wasn’t all that the wind revealed.
The demon had been busy. There were now dozens of those hellish bat monsters and a few bird monsters perched all over the broken roof or hovering in the air. Perhaps they had been spreading the effect on them to the others, but it hardly mattered. All that did matter was with the smoke cleared they immediately looked down with gleaming, burning eyes at the three of them. A second later, the sky filled with a chorus of hisses and screeches as they all took to the air, and then arched down and dove for them.
Twilight quickly raised her wand while Applejack hefted her hammer, but both of them knew there were too many of them already. The air began to grow hotter yet just from them approaching, and all it would take is more than one attacking at a time to leave them burned or dead…
Yet as they neared for their final dive, all of the ones in front gave aborted cries. Others spasmed, and some of them stopped flying so abruptly that they dropped right out of the air. Still others screeched and struggled in midair. Twilight was surprised for a moment, before she noticed something. All of their eyes were open wide and not blinking.
She spun around and saw Fluttershy, shaking like a leaf, but also pulling her hood back and staring as hard as she could at them.
“I…I can’t…hold them all…!”
Applejack, not waiting for any more prompting, quickly clapped her hand on Twilight’s shoulder again and shoved her onward. The Caster looked at Fluttershy one last time before turning forward and charging into their midst.
FSome of them managed to break loose and go after the two of them. Applejack quickly hefted her hammer and smashed apart each one; breaking it into molten fragments. Twilight winced each time one of the red-hot embers sailed past her. One, at length, tagged the hem of her robe and it instantly caught on fire. In spite of the protection it was offering from the searing heat, she quickly undid it and let it fall behind her as she focused on running.
They had closed half the distance to the opposite side when their path was aborted. A pair of monstrous, flaming birds, looking like they had been owls at one point, landed right in front of them and dug into the ground with their hooked talons. Applejack and Twilight skid to a halt as they cracked their beaks open wide, belching flames from their throats, and stretched their flaming wings out menacingly.
Applejack, however, hesitated only a second before she barreled right at them. In spite of the fact they were nearly her size and radiating searing heat, she leveled the head of her hammer in front of her and smashed it into one enough to rip it out of the pavement and send it colliding into its partner. She kept pushing, ignoring the fire, as she drove both of them into the masonry nearby.
“Keep runnin’, Twilight!”
Swallowing, Twilight sprang to life and kept going past her. Soon she and the swarm were left behind as she zeroed in on the intact staircase up ahead.
She only managed to close the distance another quarter before the voice echoed from beneath her.
“Schhhhesstyaaaah!”
At that moment the walkway in front of her erupted, forcing her to halt and shield herself. She only did so long enough to weather the initial eruption of stone and masonry before lowering her arms. She gasped again on seeing, to the tune of a plume of smoke and unfurling great wings, the demon rising up in her path. Moments later, the infernal creature raised both of her hands. Either one began to gleam even more brightly, like a red-hot coal, and the mage realized she was going to use the same beams that she had used while still in the pillar. She began to raise her wand to try and defend herself, but even then she realized she was stuck on the walkway. The monster had taken out the only way onward...
"Twilight!"
Before either one could attack, though, the mage turned to the sound of a voice to her right. She caught a few moments of Dash pulling off another one of her wild moves: leaping up along the remaining intact columns once again until she got high enough to land on the same path as Twilight. The Caster nearly gasped as she was seized and practically thrown over Dash's shoulder, right before she leapt back off for the nearest column.
By then, the demon fired off its beams of dark fire, cutting away where Twilight had been with one and shooting after Dash with the other. While it missed the woman herself, the ray sliced up the column she landed on--causing it to give way at her feet before she could jump off of it. She ended up making a much smaller bound while still carrying Twilight, this one onto one of the flaming bats that were rising up from the lower floor after her. She touched on it just long enough to jump off to one more, losing a bit of altitude with each one, before half-throwing Twilight away and onto the walkway on the opposite side. As soon as she left her grip, Twilight, through the vertigo of being cast away, caught another demonic creature rushing up and striking Dash in the back. She nearly cried out to her, but collided with the walkway a moment later—knocking the breath out of her as soon as she touched down.
Sore and in pain, and growing increasingly worried about the others, she nevertheless saw she was clear and the stairwell was just in front of her. Gritting her teeth, she got up to all fours and started to crawl after it as fast as she could while trying to pull herself up to run. At the same time she could hear the demon snarling behind her. It was right on her heels and she knew she couldn't get away now, but nevertheless she tried to hold out for as long as she could. She only hoped the next sound she heard wasn't it firing at her back.
"Whee!"
Instead, the sound she heard was from Pinkie. As she got to her feet, she looked behind to see that, somehow, she had gotten onto the same level as her. The demon had spun around and moved to fire on Twilight, only to see Pinkie now standing between the two of them. On pure instinct, it fired away at her instead. She quickly dodged to one side and primed herself to dart out of the way again.
Unlike Moon, however, the monster didn't go for it. As soon as she was out of the way between her and Twilight, her eyes flickered back up to the Caster. She snarled and extended her talons, nearly flying toward her again...
Yet, again, she was distracted by another explosive hitting the side of her head. Moments later, Pinkie moved back on her path with her hands in fists. It took the mage a moment to realize they were clutching her last two explosives. More than that, she quickly backpedaled as she readied them again. Even she couldn't stay close to the flaming monster long, but she had at least recaptured its attention.
Twilight spun fully back around and pushed herself the rest of the way to the stairs, hurrying up them as fast as she could. More of the flaming bat creatures flew up from the depths and screeched out as they dove toward her, but they gave out additional screams soon after and faltered. From the floor below, Rarity was still firing away with her rapier. As much as it was winding her, she kept the icicles going to pick off the monsters that got close to the mage, and her aim was steady enough to keep them off long enough for her to finally cross to the top of the foyer.
She stopped for just a moment to assess the area. It was almost totally ruined by now. Much of it was gleaming like a crust of rock over running lava and she didn't feel too terribly safe about moving on it. She raised her wand down and quickly began to cast a new spell. Moments later, she aimed it at the floor as it blew out a fierce wintry gale. She swept it over her path to cool it further before risking stepping out onto it, and kept spreading it as she began to search.
It was almost impossible to make anything out between the rubble, the fractures, and the smoke around her. She hoped the light from her wand would at least illuminate the dagger. Realizing there was a good chance it was still embedded in Moon's body, she orientated her wand toward the railing as fast as she could. She soon found a puddle of half-burned bloodstains...only to see there was no body among them.
For a brief moment, her mind was puzzled. Had Moon's body burned up in the inferno? Or...?
Her train of thought broke when she saw a glimmer of icy blue reflecting her wand's light. She quickly looked that way and spotted it. It was protruding halfway from the molten floor, but the handle was exposed of the orichalcum dagger. Not worrying about how it got there she quickly ran for it.
Sure enough, on reaching it the floor was hot again. Enough to where she felt it beginning to jiggle under her feet, and her bare skin felt like it was going into a furnace. Wincing and hearing the sounds of the others crying out behind her as well as one of Pinkie's remaining explosives, she quickly pulled away, aimed her wand again, and generated another icy chill. Once the ground had solidified, she quickly broke the spell off, stepped forward, and seized the handle.
Much to her dismay, cooling the floor had cooled it around the handle. Now it was stuck firm. She quickly seized it with her other hand and yanked harder but it held solid as a rock.
Another explosion went off, followed by a cry from Rarity. A pained one this time. Starting to sweat, Twilight released the knife, aimed her wand at the ground again, and quickly generated a fire spell—hoping it was enough to melt the rock without making the orichalcum expand. After letting the flames rush for a moment she cut them off. The handle was burning now, but she seized it anyway, grit her teeth, and pulled. Slowly, she felt it start to come out...
Just as she felt the air around her rise in temperature dramatically. She spun around, and screamed on seeing the demon not only flinging Pinkie behind her like a rag doll but flying right at her with jaws open wide and eyes filled with violence. In her panic, she spilled backward and landed on her rear end. With that, her hand snapped up and yanked the dagger the rest of the way out, only for her hand to slip in her panic and let it slide out from her fingers. The force flung it away from her, back to the stairs, and down them, but she could hardly focus on that. The demon was so close to her she felt like she was already burning and it reached a red hot hand for her.
A sharp whistle went through the air, and Twilight caught a flash of silver, before she watched as a rapier blade sailed right through the demon's wing. With a hole now in its body, it again arched back and cried out horribly, and the Caster realized Rarity had to have flung her weapon at it. It must have retained her aura just long enough to actually inflict a wound to stun it. It wasn’t working long, though. A moment later it was already snarling and looking back down...
Twilight forgot about the dagger and did the only thing she could. She raised her wand, drew a new symbol, and nervously took the two seconds longer to make it stronger this time. As the demon cracked its mouth open wide and brandished both sets of its claws, she drove her wand forward and executed the new symbol. A much larger icy gale, this one spreading out to generate icy shards the size of thumbtacks, erupted from the end of her wand and blasted over the thing.
It was, fortunately, far more effective than Twilight had hoped. It hissed in a mixture of anger and genuine pain. The cooling effect washing over it chilled the molten parts of its body, making them brittle and fracture. It pulled itself back, sweeping its wings up and over itself to try and shield its body. That, unfortunately, only made things worse, as it exposed more flaming portions of its body to the icy mist. It screeched even more loudly before it dropped down out of the sky all together, touching down on the foyer and crouching to shield itself as best as it could.
Twilight kept aiming the wand as she forced herself back up to her feet, continuing to blast the demon for all she was worth with the spell. At this point, her face was desperate and straining...not only to keep casting the spell but realizing she was only desperately buying time. The demon was only in pain—not dying or being seriously injured. And it was still in front of her, keeping her from moving any farther. The dagger was nowhere to be found and the others were tied down or incapacitated. She needed to keep blasting the monster with this spell just to keep her from being incinerated from being this close to it. And she was already feeling severe strain from the spell. She had worn herself out from fighting Nightmare Moon. She was getting more exhausted every minute trying to keep her pinned down. As sweat mounted on her brow and she began to breathe heavier, she knew she couldn't hold...
She stared to look around fearfully, but all of the flaming flying monsters were still attacking. It was a miracle none had come to her yet, but the others had to still be struggling to even stay alive. No one was able to help her...
"Yuuu..."
The sound of the demon's voice made her look back. While she was still crouched and still shielding herself, she could see her face. It was no longer enraged, but while it was still showing pain it seemed to be something more than just physical agony.
"Yuuu..."
The thing's eyes suddenly shut, and its face tightened further.
"Yuuu...lyeed tu meeee..."
Twilight began to feel her arm starting to seize from the exhaustion, but on hearing what the monster said, she couldn’t help but look at her in bafflement. "Wh...what?"
The little girl with fiery hair sat in the same spot she always sat nowadays—the one place no one ever gave her a dirty look or glared at her like she was an unwanted creature. That was the garden around the manor house her father had purchased three months before marrying her mother. There was a tall swing out there with two seats. She was seated in one, hands folded in her lap, head bowed, and slowly swaying to and fro.
She hadn’t looked up since the carriage arrived almost two hours ago. She knew full well why it was there when she had overheard her parents a week ago, and since then she had headed outside often to make sure she didn’t overhear anymore. Normally she was dismissive of whatever carriage or steam coach arrived at the house, but today how splendid this one looked caught her eye. It was even grander than the one Pound Note had. And with the beautiful horses drawing it, it looked almost like it belonged to a landed noble. Nevertheless, she retreated and ignored it by the time she heard its occupant dismount and start talking with her parents; especially when she heard that she was there about her “future”.
An occasional breeze came by and blew at the wildflowers of the garden. Her parents never hired a proper gardener or landscaper to beautify the property, and neither would have any time to appreciate it if they did. It wasn’t even fully cut anymore since the children spent so little time out in it. The Manehattan asters swayed in front of her with the breeze as lazy, fat bumblebees tried to land on them only for the wind to constantly blow them out of their path.
She wasn’t aware of when she heard the door open behind her, but at some point she knew someone was outside and staring at her. And she knew she stood there and stared for some time before she approached. She never looked up, not even when the footsteps became audible.
The sun was to the girl’s back, so when the person neared she caught her shadow in her peripheral vision easily. It was quiet. Even the house was quiet behind her in spite of being the afternoon.
“Hello, Sunset.”
The girl didn’t look up. She didn’t change her swinging, or give any indication she had even heard. The voice was definitely softer and gentler than what she was normally used to, but she had heard it before from others. And it never stayed that way long.
The voice was quiet a long while before speaking again.
“Would you like a little push?”
For a brief moment, Sunset’s swinging paused. While her face didn’t change, she was caught. She had been expecting all sorts of things for the woman to say next. An introduction…an explanation of who she was and why she was there…the standard “how are you” that people always said out of politeness when they couldn’t care less about how one was doing… What all the “nice” adults usually said at first. She hadn’t expected that.
As a result, in spite of her intent to give the woman the cold shoulder, she couldn’t stop herself from shaking her head before she started swinging again.
“Alright. Let me know if you change your mind.” A pause. “And speaking of that, you look like you have quite a lot on your mind right now, don’t you?”
Sunset was caught again, at least mentally, by that question.
“About what’s going on at school? At home? And with your parents?”
Sunset still wasn’t looking up, but she had unconsciously stopped swinging again. This time she stayed for a moment.
“Would you like to talk about it at all?”
Now Sunset’s face did change, just a little, in spite of her best efforts. It wasn’t intentional. It was the only reaction she could have.
She couldn’t recall when, if ever in her conscious life, anyone had asked her how she felt about something.
Nevertheless, she didn’t answer. Part of it was still the desire to shut this woman out. Another was a mixture of not knowing what to say and being afraid to say anything at all. She started to swing again soon after. And the woman nearby stayed quiet a good long while this time.
“Do you mind if I sit in that other swing?”
A pause yet again. Adults didn’t ask her permission for things; they just did what they wanted around her. It was such an odd question to her that just the slightest hint of confusion painted her young face. Her lips clasped a bit, and she looked down again and kept swinging.
Taking her silence as a negative, the woman walked around and sat in the swing nearby soon after. Her lips parted briefly but then shut again. The girl realized, in spite of saying nothing, she didn’t mind.
She sat quietly for a few moments. Sunset watched her in the corner of her eyes, but couldn’t see much. As the time turned into minutes, eventually the woman began to swing slowly next to her, much as she did. When that happened, the girl finally glanced over just to see what she was like.
Definitely a tall woman. She couldn’t swing freely like Sunset, but only push herself along with her legs. It almost looked like she was wearing some sort of uniform, but it was unlike one she had ever seen in her brother’s books or in the newspapers. And definitely not a color for the army. Her hands were folded in her lap as she slowly swung to and fro.
“I talked to your parents for a long time,” she finally said. “They told me a lot about you.”
Again, the girl said nothing.
“About how things had been going. About school and your classmates.”
She still said nothing. She resumed looking at her lap.
“I’m guessing that you probably know what they said too.”
Sunset kept swinging, but she felt herself draw a bit more into herself.
“However, I had my suspicions that they weren’t telling me the whole story. So I wanted to ask you about it.”
Again, Sunset stopped swinging and nearly looked up. Another first. This had been the first time she had ever encountered an adult that didn’t simply take her parents at their word. That actually was asking her for her side.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t bring herself to speak. She only drew in a bit more and clutched her legs. She didn’t swing again, however.
“They told me that, when you were younger, you would start fires with the candles in your room. Is that true? Or was it something else?”
Sunset still didn’t answer. She swallowed again. Her lips moved, but she couldn’t part them. Inside, she felt a struggle: part of her saying to keep quiet and that it would only bring more trouble, and the other wanting to risk taking the chance.
“They also said you don’t try to make friends at school. You don’t try? Or you’re unable?”
She clutched a bit harder. Her lips moved again.
“They said you picked fights with other children and then you tell lies and say that it was them. Are they wrong?”
The girl was nearly twisting in the swing now. Her lips parted, but she couldn’t force anything out to make sound.
“And…there was something about a classmate’s birthday party you went to. What happened there, Sunset? What went wrong?”
The girl’s throat was tight. She winced and cringed further. Her face wrinkled. At last, she closed her eyes, cracked open her lips, and spoke in an inaudible whisper.
“I’m sorry?”
She swallowed, paused, and then did it again.
She felt the woman lean in closer and saw her shadow come over her. “You can keep it quiet if you want. Just whisper it.”
Closing her eyes again, she spoke just the smallest bit louder—forcing it out again.
“They don’t want me.”
The woman sat quietly back. When she spoke again, she was whispering too. “Who? Your parents?”
She nodded.
“Why do you think that?”
The girl hesitated. Another first…someone listening to her and not immediately going off on a different conclusion or, more likely, telling her straight up she was wrong. She swallowed again, and whispered a bit louder.
“They never listen to me. They never smile at me. They just want me to stay quiet and out of the way. And all they care about is work and my other brothers and sisters. They think I’m stupid. My whole family does. They hate me.”
“Hate is a very strong word, Sunset. Why would they hate you?”
“They’re scared of me.”
“Why would they be scared of you?”
Sunset was quiet. She looked back at her lap.
“Sunset, why would they be scared of you?”
She looked there a bit longer, before her face and throat began to tighten. She sniffed once as her eyes closed again.
“Because of this.”
She turned her hand over, revealing the hexagonal marking on it.
“Because of your hand? That mark on your hand? Why would they be afraid of that?”
Sunset sat there a moment, but finally frowned a little. She covered up the symbol on her hand and turned her head slightly away. She meant to do it enough to present her shoulder to the woman, but, between her kindly voice and the way she spoke to her, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“It doesn’t matter. You don’t care. Not really.”
The woman leaned up a little. “I’m sorry…?”
“You’re nice, but you’re just like all my other teachers. That’s who you are, aren’t you? Mom and dad said they were going to send me to a special boarding school. My brother said it’s for retarded kids.”
“You shouldn’t use that word.”
“It’s for stupid kids then.”
“That’s…not much better.”
“All my teachers act nice when I meet them, but they never believe me either. They just act like they do. You won’t believe me either. And if I tell you, you’ll tell my parents, and then they’ll get mad.”
“I promise I won’t tell your parents anything if you don’t want me to, Sunset.”
“My last teacher said that and she lied. And once my parents found out they got mad and asked if I wanted to go live at the nuthouse, because saying things like that was how you get sent to the nuthouse.”
There was a period of silence from the woman. The longest period yet. Sunset didn’t start swinging again, however. She sat there and waited, never moving.
“Yes, Sunset, I am a teacher,” the woman finally answered. “A headmistress, to be exact. I also can promise you that I believe you and that I do care. I don’t think you were lying about the other children. I don’t think you started those fights. I don’t think you were treated kindly when you went to that birthday party. Most of all, I don’t think you set any fires in your room with any candles, matches, tinder, or anything else. I know you might not think that’s true and I don’t blame you. After talking to you and your parents, I can tell that you haven’t had many people in your life that you could trust.”
She shifted on the swing, leaning in closer. Sunset hadn’t turned fully away, so she saw as she turned her knees to Sunset enough to see her hands on top of them.
“Maybe this will change your mind.”
The girl was looking down just a little and saw when the woman raised a hand. Moments later, she extended two fingers and, working them independently, did something on the air. Like she was writing on them. She whispered something even more softly than Sunset had spoken a moment ago at the same time. When she was done, she pushed both fingers forward.
She turned her hand over afterward, and a small sphere of fire the size of an apple was hovering in her palm.
Sunset straightened up at last. Her eyes bulged and she let out an audible gasp. She was transfixed on the fire in the woman’s hand, but it didn’t move. It stayed right there and burned steady, but her flesh wasn’t singed or consumed. After a moment, she turned her hand over and gestured. The flame vanished.
She continued to gape and stammer momentarily. “H…how…?”
“You’re not as alone in this world as you think you are, Sunset.”
With that, the woman turned her other hand over—revealing the same pattern that the girl had on her own hand aside from six runic symbols on each point. It made the girl gasp even louder than she had for the fire. At last, Sunset broke enough to look up at the woman’s face.
She found a beautiful woman smiling back at her. Her eyes radiated warmth and kindness. Perhaps even more than that. Her hair had been tied back, but some of it still was free to move just a little in the wind. It seemed to flutter, and with the way the sun hit it she nearly gasped a third time. It was shimmering with iridescence. She looked both old and young at the same time—wiser and stronger than anyone she had ever known, and yet still so youthful and graceful.
The girl had never seen such a wonderful woman.
She took her hand back and folded it in her lap, but kept smiling at Sunset.
“My name is Celestia, Sunset. My school…well, it isn’t the kind of school that your parents think it is, or that anyone else thinks it is. It’s a special place for special individuals. People like you.”
The girl gave another start, but by now her attention was fully focused on the woman.
“Special…? Me?”
“Sunset, you’ve been given a marvelous power. A unique one.”
“Unique…?”
“You know now that there are other people in the world who have the same power you do, but what you don’t know is that yours is something much greater than that. Unique even among the rest of us. You’re special, Sunset. You have an amazing gift.”
She leaned in closer to the child, still smiling at her kindly.
“One that could even save the world one day.”
The girl was speechless. She looked barely able to comprehend what she was hearing. Not after having heard every day of every week of every month of every year for as long as she could remember about how unwanted she was. How much trouble she was. How valueless she was.
“I…” she half-stammered, “me…I’m the one who can save the world? With…with this power?”
“I’d like you to come to my school, Sunset. You can live there if you like, and however long you like. I want to help you learn about your power. Help you embrace it and help you appreciate it. I want to help you be everything that you can be. Far more than this little cantrip I showed you just now. In fact, I would like it very much if you would accept my offer to become my personal student.”
Sunset stared back speechless. Yet a light was growing in her eyes. One she never had before. A look of someone who, for the first time, wasn’t dreading the next day of their life.
“You’re capable of doing such great things, Sunset. Such amazing things. You have a great destiny ahead of you. I’d be honored if you’d let me help you reach it.”
The child’s jaw was hanging again. She was almost gasping at all of this news, trying to process it all. Yet she hung on the woman’s words. She stared on at her encouraging face. Warmer than any of her teachers had ever been. More accepting than any of her so-called ‘friends’. More compassionate than any of her siblings.
More encouraging…more trusting…more believing…than her parents had ever been.
Her eyes began to burn and feel hot. She would later wonder if something was wrong with her, or what she had been thinking. She didn’t know it was possible to cry out of happiness rather than sadness.
With a sniffle, she felt the corners of her mouth oddly twist on their own. The first time she had genuinely smiled in a very, very long time.
“Yuuu…lyeed tu meeee…”
The eyes of the thing opened again. Twilight was stunned on seeing them. They were filled with a new look. One of sadness. To Twilight's surprise, she saw steam rising from the eyelids and cheeks of the monster.
She was crying.
"Yuuu sayd...ah waz spechiahl..."
Twilight’s tense face eased ever so slightly as she watched the thing speak those few words. Between the tears, she almost sounded like she was actually sobbing them…
The sound of a dog barking rang in Twilight’s ears. In an instant, she snapped out of it and looked in the direction of the stairs.
A moment later, she heard a scampering along the stone, right before she saw a familiar purple and green dog come bounding up them. The orichalcum dagger was in his teeth.
“Spike!”
The mixture of shock and surprise on seeing her dog there, and carrying the blade, caused Twilight’s focus to finally break. She lowered her wand and the power cut off. She realized her mistake an instant later, gaping and wheeling back around to the demon. Too late. She felt the heat wash over her again as the monster’s face reverted into full wrath and violence. It unfurled its wings and let out another hideous cry. The horrendous fire that surged from within it was so intense Twilight actually cried out from the burning sensation. She could smell her own clothes start to smolder. She’d be burned to death in seconds…
Spike, heedless of the danger, ran at her as fast as she could with the dagger in tow. As the demon wheeled its head back down to her, it opened its jaw wide and aimed its claws at Twilight’s heart. The wings gave a mighty flap back just to give it some momentum as Spike reached Twilight.
She didn’t look away from the monster. Her hand reached down instinctively and grasped for the mouth. By some happy chance, it clasped the hilt of the blade a second later and seized it from Spike.
Screeching one last time, the demon dove at Twilight to rip her in two. With all the strength and fortitude she could muster, the Caster rolled up onto her feet and forced herself to rise right into the midst of the flames. Crying out as best as she could on the hot air, she drove the dagger upward almost blindly.
The hand of the demon came down at the same time, talons extended for her, only to bring her palm right down on the orichalcum blade and drive it all the way through.
Twilight felt the force of the demon instantly sprain her wrist and nearly dislocate her elbow, but it didn’t go all the way as the monster froze. Its face twisted into a grotesque parody of alarm as its huge eyes turned to its now pierced hand.
The symbols that were on it immediately began to gyrate fiercely. Far more fiercely than before. The one rune that had been burning and smoldering now ignited so brightly it was almost impossible to look at. Twilight herself could barely see it as it gleamed and smoldered bigger than ever. She began to hear the air around her crackle and hiss. The last thing she was able to see was the burning emblem suddenly snap into the blade, run along the hilt, and slide down underneath the demon’s outstretched palm toward her own hand…
As towering and awe-inspiring as the pillar of moonlight had been, it was nothing compared to the towering inferno that ignited a moment later. In an instant, it shot even higher and scraped the heavens, growing tall and blazing enough for some on the borders of Equestria itself to be able to see. At the same time waves of fire, heat, and light exploded from the castle.
In less than a quarter of a second, the remains of the Castle of the Two Sisters were annihilated into dust. In a half a second, the forests surrounding the castle were stripped bare and turned into ash. Moments later, the last of the remains of any of the soldiers or officials who had been present in the castle eight years ago were pulverized and cast to the nine winds. By the time a full second had passed, the entire mountaintop went with it. Nothing but clouds of fire and towering smoke followed in its wake.
The roaring thunder of the explosion rang for miles. Half of the resident population of the northern half of Greater Everfree craned their heads to the source and saw the even greater light than before. Yet it faded soon enough, giving rise to nothing but a cloud of black smoke. As time went on, the wind swept that away. The echo died, and all was calm.
One hour later, dawn broke for the first time over Equestria in eight years.