I think I can see Canterlot’s mountain ahead of us. We’re not far now, I hope.
I glance back, Twilight is watching our progress. She’s so frail… I can’t even tell if she knows how injured she is.
Hold on Twilight, we’re almost home. I don’t say it aloud, it would only worry her.
I consider my plan again, to time travel back before Despair created the curse. Am I a good enough spellcaster to cast such a complicated spell? I don’t know. If I had the Alicorn Amulet, yes.
Then I consider my mask. My working theory is that it was created using the Amulet itself as material. If I’m right, did it inherit any of those spellcasting enhancing abilities?
Twilight gasps as the cart hits a pothole. I glance back again, she’s trembling, eyes shut from the pain. I have to hurry, no time to speculate now.
I’d give my cutie-mark and my wings to be sure she lives.
I’m afraid I might have to give more.
Despair’s howl is drowned out by a new thunderbolt. Luna angles her flight to take her back into the storm-clouds, hoping he didn’t see her escape.
“That was too close.” She hugs the mask close, the fact she has it is the only thing preventing Despair from consuming Stardust entirely.
Lightning claps again, not far away. She shields her eyes from the bolt, but it doesn’t fade. It grows and forks and spins, a constant stream of energy pouring into the storm. Electric charge sparks off her crown and peytral, and even the mask in her grasp. That isn’t only natural lightning, it’s coming from Despair!
Thunder cracks continually, a rolling boom that wipes out all other sensations. The bolt comes too close, and she curls herself behind a shield. The strain is immense as the current of energy crashes over her barrier, crackling and cracking. It only lasts a moment before the lightning wanders away, leaving a heavy buzz in her ears and her skin tingling all over. Her shield drops, and she coughs out the ozone she had inhaled, thankful he didn’t know where to direct such a force.
Luna’s had enough of letting him have his way against her. She reaches out with her magic, directing the direction of the wind and strengthening it down towards the origin of that continual bolt. Clouds spin and spiral, building to a hurricane gale. The traveling bolt whips around and disperses into the storm when the winds hurl Despair about like a doll.
New lighting leaps from one cloud to another, supercharged by all the energy Despair pumped into the storm-clouds. She gives up her control of the winds and hurries to get some distance from the worst of it. But now the thunderstorm is uncontrolled, building up its own power and lashing out at random. Bolts and sheets of energy flash all about while the winds she drove to near-tornado speeds thrash her about in the sky.
Somehow, behind all this noise, she hears a pony calling her name. Or was it just the wind howling? Then she hears it again, her name shouted, barely audible. She shields her eyes from the rain, so cold it’s numbing her skin, and searches for the origin of the voice. A small white speck in the distance, illuminated only briefly as the lightning flashes darts from one beak in the clouds to another.
Dodging a fresh lightning strike, Luna swoops towards it, trying to identify the newcomer. As she approaches, she barely makes out the pastel mane being tossed about in the wind, with her own nearly blinding her.
“Luna! Where are you?!” It’s Celestia! She must have come here immediately after Luna tried to wake her, she isn’t wearing her regalia.
“I’m here! Tia!” She almost collides with her sister, and she has to shout for the other Alicorn to hear her clearly. “Tia!”
“Luna, what’s going on?” They have to lock arms together to avoid being blown apart. “This storm isn’t supposed-”
“Twilight’s monster!” Even this close, she can’t see Celestia clearly enough to read the confusion on her face properly. “He’s here!” One of Celestia’s eyes is shut against the driving rain, the other opens wide in shock.
A pulse of energy ripples across the sky, a wide shock-wave of flame-tinged neon-blue. The wave warps the storm as it passes, but misses the sisters by a wide margin. Both Alicorns look towards its origin. Past the rain, Luna can see the shining cracks on Despair’s wings, and the glow from his face casts a bright shadow on a cloud across from them. The only reason he hasn’t spotted them is he’s facing the other way. Celestia pulls away, diving towards him, her face contorted into determined anger.
“No! Don’t!” Luna speeds to block her way, her limbs spread wide to make her intentions clear. “Don’t attack!” She pushes back against Celestia, trying to force them both into one of the thick dark clouds before a bolt illuminates them.
“Why?!” Celestia’s eyes are locked on the other pony in the clouds before he disappears.
“He’s…” Luna hesitates, uncertain exactly how to explain in so short a time. “He’s my responsibility!”
“We can do this together!” She shakes her head. Luna cringes, there isn’t time to explain everything. Despair might stumble on them at any moment.
“Take this!” Luna shoves the mask to her sister’s arms, she nearly drops it in the slick rain. A lightning flash sets the filigree shining for an instant. Celestia looks at it, confused again. “He’s here for that! He mustn’t get it!”
“What-”
“Keep it safe! Go!” Luna pulls back, the air is so thick with rain that even a few wingspans away, she can barely see Celestia clearly. The other Alicorn is hesitating. “I don’t want to let my friend fall the way I did.” For a moment, a brief one, the rain calms enough for Celestia to see Luna unobstructed. She hopes her sister can read her well enough to understand. “Let me do this, please!”
They hover, as best they can, just out of each other’s reach, as Celestia judges her. The other Alicorn looks down at the mask, and then out where they had seen Despair. Her eyes meet Luna’s, seeing what could be tear-streaks lost in the rain.
“Be careful!” Then Celestia turns with Stardust’s mask held close, and dives for the edge of the storm.
“Thank you, sister.” Luna knows Celestia couldn’t possibly have heard her through the screaming wind.
Still buffeted by the heavy winds, she turns her mind and body towards where she saw Despair. Her shoulders tremble at the effort to stay in the air, especially after pulling out of that spin. How can Despair keep flying through this? His wing spell, fragile though it may be, doesn’t require any real muscle to function. As long as he can keep it running, he’ll be able to stay out here longer than she can.
She could shoot out his wings, but can she catch him in this storm before he hits the ground?
Something huge looms in the air nearby, a massive black shadow, coming her way. She swings around it easily, realizing it’s familiar. It looks like the highest tower of the palace. She wipes her eyes clean, a futile effort, and looks again. It is the palace tower. The storm must have drifted right over Canterlot and carried her with it! She dodges another tower, her sense of motion in the dark and the gale utterly ruined. She climbs higher, trying to keep clear of any other structures.
Hopefully, she hasn’t harmed anypony out in the city by whipping the storm to a frenzy. If she shoots out Despair’s wings, he’ll hit the ground or a building in instants. It’s too risky unless she can get right next to him.
She glances at her vacant hooves, the mask is safe now, but won’t he just leave if he sees her empty hoofed? He’ll flee to find the mask, that’s his real goal. The wind whips her mane into her eyes again, and she pushes it clear. Her eyes focus on her hooves and her shoes.
Quickly, she removes her left shoe and studies it. It looks nothing like his mask, not on closer inspection, but out here in the dark and the rain? Then she casts a quick illusion on it, making it shiny and reflective. It only has to confuse him for moments, not for long. Cradling it like she had the mask, she spins to search for Despair himself. Still, what is she going to do to stop him?
Thunder booms and lightning flashes, so near and so rapid it feels like war-drums. The flags atop several towers flare brightly as the lightning incinerates them. Forks of power spark from new and unexpected angles. Her shields protect her, but the storm is growing more intense and unpredictable.
Somewhere out in the raging storm, Despair is gathering power to himself. The energy in the air feels just like his magic. Something glows atop one of the palace towers, bright enough to be seen even past the rain and the clouds, a neon-blue and flame-red beacon. Lightning courses through the air around it, leaping from the light to the towers and clouds around it. It must be Despair, supercharging the storm yet again.
This power is too dangerous, she needs to put an end to it. Time to get his attention.
A pale-blue beam, surrounded by a darker aura only barely visible in the storm, streaks from her horn towards the figure at the core of the building spell. It passes him harmlessly; she shot wide on purpose, intending to only grab his attention. Past the rain, she can barely see his red glowing eyes turn towards her from where he hangs off one of the flagpoles.
“Well, at least that worked.” She doesn’t see the mask anywhere on him, he must have discarded it. Despair points at Luna and all the energy in the air focuses on her. She darts away from him, dodging forks of electric power and deflecting shock-waves of unstable fire-tinged energy. For a moment, she ducks behind a tower, nearly slammed against it by a gust of wind, hoping for another moment to think. The force of the wind is so strong it holds her against the stone, and she can nearly stand upright against it. He’ll attack from above again, to knock the ‘mask’ from her grasp. She needs to get away from the palace.
Struggling against the gale, she leaps from the wall and back into the air, climbing hard to gain altitude. Wind thrashes at her, pulling her off course. Lightning blasts all around her. She keeps a shield up at all times, the bolts too quick or unstable to predict or dodge. All the thunderclaps make it impossible to hear anything.
A fresh boom rattles her core instead of really hearing it, and she looks up to find Despair teleporting into the air directly above her with energy flashing across his scars and up his horn.
She dips her right-wing, sending her into a roll that allows him to fall past. His hooves scrape down her still-active shield, and the two combatants split apart. They circle in the air, somewhere above Canterlot, attempting to guess the other’s action.
A lightning flash blinds her as it cracks through the empty space between them. Despair will charge while she’s blinded, it’s an obvious tactic.
Despite the pain, she forces herself to keep her eyes open, hoping to spy a pair of red eyes swooping towards her. Even with the storm in her way, at this range, she’ll be able to catch him when she shoots out his wings. Still, the afterimage of the bolt makes it a challenge to see. Power builds around her horn as she readies her attack, trying to measure it just strong enough to take out his wings.
Behind the afterimage, something moves, a red blur surrounded by uncertain lines of neon-blue. Aiming just to his side, she releases her magic. Just as the spell flashes, she can see him move, evading… but not away.
He lurches right into the pale-blue beam, and it hits him in the dead center of his mass. His shriek of pain is faintly audible through the wind and the rumble of the thunder.
Luna can’t stop herself from blinking as he tumbles uncontrolled through the air. Had she seen that right? Had he tried to intercept the beam without a shield in place? Why? No, it had to be that he hadn’t seen it coming or that he had misjudged her aim.
He’s still falling, unable, or unwilling to recover. Luna dives towards him, arms outstretched, her fake mask forgotten, but the delay of her stun let him fall too far. She can’t catch up!
Rain stings her eyes as she rushes towards him. There’s a structure ahead, he’s falling towards it. Clenching her eyes shut, she targets a teleport between Despair and the oncoming tower.
His body crashes into her the moment she reappears, and she clutches on to him with everything she has. The tower is so close, she can’t pull them away. A flash of lightning reveals they’re going to hit a huge window. Desperately she tries to form a shield around them.
Glass shatters as they slam into the window, mixing real shards with the magic wings disintegrating from the impact. Her shield finally finishes enclosing them, just in time to smash into a sizeable crystalline object in the middle of the room. Rain and sand and slivers of smashed glass flicker in the air, reflecting the glow of both her magic and his lightning scars. Their bubble bounces off the floor, sending them ramming them into the banister of a staircase on the far side of the chamber. The stone post punctures through her shield, and she loses her grip on Despair.
Luna is fortunate enough to crash into the wall, halting her tumble. Despair isn’t so lucky, and he rolls down the steps like a discarded rag-doll.
Her eyes are locked on his body, her breath coming in shallow gasps. She aches all over, and she’s soaked to the bone, but her thoughts are for Despair. Did he survive? For a moment, they are both prone and still, and slowly her hearing returns. The storm still rages outside, the howling wind tossing the rain and gritty sand into her face.
Gathering her legs under her, she slowly stands and realizes they’ve somehow crash-landed back in Stardust’s tower. The thing they hit was the hourglass. Her wings are so tired and her shoulders so stiff she can’t fold her wings yet. It’s a minor miracle she didn’t break anything when she hit the banister.
Despair coughs and gasps for air. Luna’s shaking legs don’t let her do more than stand there. It’s clear he’s just as exhausted as she is, he slips several times as he struggles to get back to his feet. The delay gives Luna a chance to think about everything that has just happened.
Since the moment she woke him, he’s been trying to anger her. Trying to dodge questions and giving misleading answers. Telling her just what horrible things he’d done. He must have known he couldn’t match an Alicorn princess in direct combat. Why didn’t he ever try to flee?
Despair finishes climbing back to his feet, shaking his head and turning towards Luna. She can clearly see the mark she made on his chest, a bad burn right over his heart. He coughs and gasps again, his eyes nearly shut from pain. His limbs shake visibly, the fight and the storm must have drained him as much or more than it did her.
Electric energy builds on his horn again, sparking into his eyes and across his blazing scars. All his magic, it was loud, bright, threatening, but how much of it was really aimed with the intent to harm? She has to know. Bracing herself, she sucks in a breath and holds it.
When he fires, she doesn’t dodge or block. The neon-blue blast with the red aura hits her in the chest right over her peytral. There is pain and heavy pressure, but nowhere near as intense as she expected. She grimaces and nearly falls, spreading her legs to stay upright. Excess energy from the blast washes over her and leaps from her limbs, singeing the walls and the floor.
Had he wanted, he could have easily killed her.
But he didn’t.
Still catching her breath again, she meets his red gaze. His eyes are wide, and his jaw loose. It’s clear to her he didn’t expect the attack to hit. Then he scowls. More magic builds around his horn.
Luna stands tall, wings up, and stares down at him. His second blast hits her right in the face, she can’t stop herself from flinching. It stings, but not nearly as hard as she knows he can cast. She blinks to clear the after-flash and then focuses on him again.
Now she understands.
“I’ll kill you!” He fires another beam at her, wide and bright and loud. There’s almost no force to it, it doesn’t even burn the stairs.
“I’m not going to give you what you want.” The wind howls, it’s not clear if Despair heard her. She tries to keep the anger out of her voice, but she knows she can’t. Not anger at his actions, but his intent.
Despair is trying to incense her into killing him.
Stardust is trying to commit suicide.