//------------------------------// // Sunset... // Story: Pony POV Series Dark World Gaiden: Sirens vs Nightmares // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Princess Ashima, Minty, stained manuscript with her tears. "Starsong Melody... were you really born from such awful ponies put together?" Princess Minty shivered, remembering the pony who had sacrificed herself to save Pinks from being erased by Anarchy. Minty steeled herself and continued reading. The six Nightmares crashed down back in the universe only a little ways from where they'd left, really here for the first time since each of them had been taken. “Now what?!” Banneret asked, still having to restrain Whisper. “Seal the portal and cut the tether! It'll take forever to make a new one but let's see them cause us trouble again floating in the void between universes!” Eclipse ordered, giving Twilight's 'I just solved a problem' smirk. “What?! B-But Flutternice!” Whisper exclaimed, frantically trying to get away from the Nightdrake and go save her daughter. “I can't just leave them all there!” Manacle replied, then held her head like something in it was chaining her mind. “Don't get sentimental! They're just NPCs! We can get you nine more where each of those came from!” Eclipse ordered, as if asking them to leave a doll collection in a burning building. “...And we'll get you a new Flutternice, Fluttershy,” she said, like a parent consoling a child over a lost pet. “...Yes, Twilight...” Nightmare Manacle's face looked grimly resolute but tears continued pouring down her face. 'I'm sorry, Scootaloos...' “If one of us goes, yah just gettin' a replacement too?” Nightmare Mirror asked with a small glare Nightmare Eclipse seemed not to notice. Nightmare Eclipse gave a laugh. “Don't be silly, girls, you're all unique. There's only one of you.” The six Nightmares combined their magic, firing into the portal and forcing it closed. Inch by inch it sealed until it was only a few milometers in diameter. “Enjoy the void between worlds!” Eclipse cackled in elation. They'd done it! They'd gotten the last laugh on those monsters! Right before a loud sonic note blew the portal wide open and knocked all the Nightmares flat on their backs. = Aizen's Theme - Bleach = “Nice try, but did you really think we'd fall for that?” Adagio chuckled, the Sirens floating down from the rift in the sky, back lit by the burning home of the Nightmares. Eclipse snarled in absolute furry, the six Nightmares firing everything they could think of at the trio. Energy beams, fire breath, glass butterflies, chains, lightning, crystal spikes, everything...only for a long sonic note to sound. Their eyes went side as a massive pillar of black ice the size of a skyscraper sailed through their attacks and slammed in Eclipse dead center but still wide enough to catch the other five as well, plowing them backwards and crashing through the landscape. By the time it finally shattered, the six were left in a deep trench and partially buried in the rubble. Eclipse groaned, trying to get back to her hooves, finding one of her legs bent completely wrong and pinned under a piece of the ice, her friends in much the same condition. “T-Time stop...You will wander forever.” “We're on top, Time come to a stop. Let time come untethered, You will wander forever.” Eclipse's eyes widened, the Nightmares went back just in time for the ice to hit with the exact same result. Adagio merely chuckled as Nightmare Eclipse emerged from the rubble with nothing changed. “This has been fun, but I do think it's time we ended this. Girls, I'm feeling nostalgia, so set wings to Utter Flutter.” Nightmare Eclipse snarled, mane and tail erupting several hundred meters into the air. “That's it!” “She's gonna rage quit!” Manacle yelled, the group taking cover as the lead Nightmare charged up a massive sphere of energy so huge it'd shatter the world if it landed. Summoning their Avatars, who were now so large it made Banneret look tiny, the Siren trio and their shades spread their wings and flapped them. Glittering magical scales caught in the wind and buffeting the Nightmares like a hurricane. Eclipse's eyes went wide as her sphere of dark magic fizzled out against the Flutter Pony magic. Singing one long note and adding sonic waves to the onslaught, the six were finally sent flying, sailing and crashing with six thuds back on the roof of the Castle. Nightmare Eclipse growled as the Sirens drew closer and teleported to the other side of the planet, charging up the same spell again to try and unleash it...only for Adagio to teleport right in front of her. “I could track you to place beyond existence, what made you think you could get away?” the alpha Siren said, opening her mouth and singing one long note as she formed a massive energy sphere identical to Eclipse's over her horn, only much faster and larger. As the alpha Nightmare let loose her attack, Adagio fired hers as well. The two collided...and Eclipse's eyes widened as her's was effortlessly swallowed up. The sphere detonated in her face, leveling a large portion of the hemisphere. “We're on top, Time come to a stop. Let time come untethered, You will wander forever.” Eclipse found herself a few seconds earlier, this time Adagio merely fired a titanic energy beam that punched straight through her attack and atomized her. “We're on top, Time come to a stop. Let time come untethered, You will wander forever.” This time...Adagio simply sped forwards, punching her in the gut so hard it instantly made her vomit up blood and dissipate her attack. “You're not the game master anymore,” Adagio hissed in her ear. Singing another unique song, she created a portal and grabbed Eclipse by the horn in her teeth. She spun with such force she ripped Nightmare Eclipe's horn off in the process of hurling her through and sending her crashing back to the roof. = Live and Die – Xai = As the group struggled to get up and Nightmare Eclipse's horn started regenerating, Mirror looked to her wing, seeing a frightened filly staring back at her. After a moment, she finally broke it, ripping out a specific shard. “Go warn Twilight. She's our only hope left...if nothing else she can protect yah,..Ah can't anymore. That's the hard truth Ah'm facin' right now.” With that and tears running down her face, Mirror threw the shard into a stairwell. It bounced downwards and at the bottom a little filly tumbled out of it with an 'Oof!' Looking back up with concern and worry, she slowly turned and galloped off. As the group finally got to their hooves and claws, shards of black ice flew in and impaled each of their wings and limbs, nailing them a castle wall it raised just for its new mistresses. The ice proceeded to freeze over their limbs and much of their bodies, holding them far more securely. “Game, set, match to the Sirens,” Aria said with a chuckle. The still watching crowd, and the entire world at this point, cheered like their team had just won the Super Bowl. “You...you won't win!” Nightmare Eclipse roared defiantly as she tried to free herself. Despite literally being on fire, she couldn't break free. It was almost like the ice was feeding off her to sustain itself and remain rock solid. “Win? Oh, little Tragedy, we've already won,” Adagio said before the three sirens lowered their jaws and opened them. The Nightmares each screamed in agony as a stream of energy colored like a darkened version of their own Element of Harmony streamed out of their chest and into the gullet of the Sirens. Slowly, their bodies began to shrink as the Sirens began to grow. As the group discussed the situation with her mentor...Sunset merely sat still and silent. She'd spent every waking moment since she left planning a grand return where she'd claim what was rightfully hers...and instead she'd ended up that idiot mad scientist or archaeologist at the beginning of a horror movie that accidentally unseals the monster or opens the real bad guy's tomb and can only watch what they released approach helplessly to finish them. She wanted to think there was some way she could've beat the Sirens and save the day...but they'd shown just how far out of her league they were within minutes of introducing themselves. And worse? It wouldn't have mattered if the Sirens had never shown up. It would've been Discord if it weren't them. If not him, then the Nightmares. She'd left for a few years, and come back to find a world of gods and monsters waiting for her. It was abundantly clear that even if she had returned as a villain, Twilight had a millennium of experience on her now and she'd probably not have lasted very long had they actually been fighting her to kill. But absolute worst of all? All her scheming, all her planning, everything...was for nothing anyway. Celestia had hugged her and wanted her back on sight. She'd never thrown her away or replaced her. In fact, from the look of things, she'd have spent the last thousand years as Discord's lacky instead of Twilight if Celestia hadn't reacted naturally to her actions. After years of feeling like the world revolved around her...Sunset realized she was just...insignificant. The world hadn't cared she'd been on the other side of the mirror planning. It hadn't revolved around her, it'd moved on without her and not looked back. And she had no one to blame but herself. “This isn't good...” Celestia muttered. “I sent the mirror to Cadence when it became clear Discord couldn't be stopped just before he turned me to gold. I had no idea it might serve as a way for the Sirens to return, let alone that was the world they were banished to. They are among the most dangerous enemies we ever faced, and if they are allowed to feed on enough energy there's next to no limit how strong they can become. The only way we managed to beat them is throwing them into an alternate dimension where there wouldn't be enough magic to sustain them. Clearly that's failed.” “So the Elements can't beat them?!” Rainbow Dash asked in shock. “No, not without something else. We had to disrupt their false Elements with Shady's Element of Hope last time,” Luna replied. “One of the Elements of Chaos.” “We have the other six, will that work?” Rarity asked, grasping for straws. “That's helpful, but it'd need to be Hope specifically, as that's the one they're missing, and as powerful as they are, that might not even be enough,” Celestia replied, thinking. “So...anypony have any ideas to fix this mess then?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy let Fluttercruel out for a moment (though held her back) to raise her hoof. “Any ideas that don't involve freeing Discord?” The demi-draconequus pouted and lowered her hoof before retreating back into Fluttershy's mind. “Having the complete Rainbow of Darkness might be enough, but with as powerful as they've become, even that might not do the trick,” Celestia suggested. “Halflight!” Apple Pie blinked, turning as she heard her own nickname called for Twilight from nearby...right as her mirror image skidded to a stop directly in front of her. “...Are yah a Changeling?” “No...Yah must be meh...” the other Apple Pie muttered, eyes wide. “Ah'm AJ-Ah mean Nightmare Mirror's Apple Pie! The Sirens beat 'em!” “...So is that good news or bad news?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Bad...it means now nothing's stopping those three from taking over the world and they're stronger than ever,” Twilight muttered, seeing their Apple Pie trying to touch her alternate self and stopping her. “Don't touch her! She's you from another timeline, there's no telling what might happen!” “P-Please...Ah...Ah know this is kinda sound backwards...” the other Apple Pie said, Twilight feeling her heart break just looking at her. The laughing, joyful filly she knew...wasn't in those eyes anymore. Well, part of her was...but she'd stopped being innocent a long time ago. Thinking of what Nightmare Eclipse had said she'd done, it didn't take her long to figure out why. “Please save 'em.” “What?! Why?! They were just trying to kill us and erase the world!” Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief. “Ah know...believe meh Ah know...Ah've been in Mirror's wings all this time...Mirror wouldn't say it, but Nightmare Eclipse was the one tah have 'em all turned into Nightmares,” the filly, one of the last of her timeline, said, tears welling up in her eyes. “Ah hate her! Ah hate her for turnin' AJ into that! She erased mah family and everypony else from mah world! She ate mah Halflight! B-But, please...Eclipse made the others into monsters...Please save AJ...” Something felt alien and wrong hearing the words 'hate' out of Apple Pie's mouth. From the mouth of one of the most forgiving fillies the group had ever met. “...She didn't brainwash you into thinking the Nightmares are right?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “Mirror knows what they're doin' is wrong...she's told meh a million times Ah should hate her for what she's doin'. She wants meh tah hate all six of 'em. All she's ever taught meh is not tah lie. When Eclipse made the Golden World, AJ said she was draggin' 'em all tah Tartarus herself and leavin' meh tah enjoy it...Please...save her...” Twilight could read between the lines. She didn't just mean to save her from the Sirens. “...She's telling the truth,” Rarity confirmed. “Nightmares are such of their own choice...but they are also insane by nature,” Luna explained, showing sympathy. “While their evil is far greater than ours was, we'd be a hypocrite to not think them worth saving.” Their Apple Pie slowly walked over to her alternate self, but heeded Twilight's advice and didn't touch her. “...We can try, can't we girls?” Her alternate self looked dumbfounded...and sad. Like she was looking at a missing part of herself staring into her own eyes. Pinkie Pie, not held back by time warping insanity, didn't hesitate to give Mirror's Apple Pie a hug. “...You said these Nightmares still have Elements of Harmony, correct?” asked Celestia, looking over but not leaving Sunset's side. Twilight nodded. “Yes, they do.” “But they didn't work! The Sirens just ate 'em up because of what they did tah make 'em work!” other Apple Pie exclaimed. “Our Mother would never lend her power to them,” Luna replied. “They must have filled in the missing piece with their extremism and raw dark magic. Things the Sirens can readily consume.” “...I may have a plan that will give us a chance of defeating the Sirens,” Celestia replied thoughtfully. “But we will need those six to do it.” “You're asking us to team up?! With those six Nightmares?!” asked Rainbow Dash in disbelief. “That seems kind of crazy, even by my standards,” Pinkie Pie admitted. Celestia gave a shrewd look. “I never said we'd be teaming with Nightmares...” The Sirens finally closed theirs mouths as the energy bled dry, now so massive that the Nightmares could fit in the bottom of their hooves. Eclipse and her Nightmares groaned, falling to the ground as they shrank down to the size of normal ponies, or a normal, though emaciated, adult dragon in Banneret's case. Armor and barding that no longer remotely fit sliding off. “I feel like a Slurpee after I finished it...” Granfalloon muttered, laying on the floor. Eclipse glared up at the Sirens. “I hate you!” “You hate us because you lost,” Aria replied with a chuckle. “But how did we lose? We're the good guys?” Manacle muttered, too weak to stand. “Well girls, time to finish this show. We've got a world waiting to adore us,” Adagio said with a smirk. “Yeah, remember our old island villa? Hope some of that is still standing,” Aria remarked. “Eh, we've got subjects to rebuild it now.” Sonata nodded. “And I can play dress up with our new subjects! Oh, Adagio! Can I have Mexicolt as the place for my personal palace!” she called before looking down at the exposed chamber...and noticing the scroll Eclipse had lost in the initial confrontation, laying next to Discord's statue. Floating it up in her telekinesis, she examined it and slowly smirked. “Adagio! Look what I found! It was that spell she was trying to get Twilight to cast!” Eclipse's eyes widened. “No...” Adagio flew over, looking at it. “The spell that'd let her change the past?” “Yeah!” Aria smirked. “So if we figure this spell out, we could change history?” The alpha Siren gave a smirk. “Not just change it! She's been ruling the timeline however she wanted!” “...So we could get Tempo and Oratorio back?” Sonata asked, showing a spark of hope. Adagio was silent for a moment, as was Aria. “We can have whatever we want. We can make a timeline where everything we ever wanted is reality.” “Give it back! That's mine!” Nightmare Eclipse roared, eyes wide in abject horror, running at them only to get lightly shoved on her back by a massive hoof. “Not anymore,” the alpha Siren replied, looking down at her. “You kept telling Twilight how you wanted to make a Golden World? Well guess what? We're going to make one. For us.” “NO!” Eclipse roared, trying to fire a beam only to cringe as her horn sputtered out. “You had your chance, now you'll just have to sit back and relax as we take back what the world took away from us, tenfold.” “So what are we gonna do with these six?” asked Aria. Sonata picked up Banneret and pet his head like he was a pet iguana. “Aww, they're kinda cute when they're this tiny.” “Hey! I'm not cute!” the Nightdrake growled, snapping at her hoof before being plopped back down. “Twilight, what are we gonna do?” “Given what she said happens to the rest of the world, we'll leave 'em here and let them join every creature they've erased in the big nothing. I'm sure they'll get a nice warm welcome there,” Adagio replied before the group examined the spell and began figuring it out. Eclipse...just stared, face full of absolute fury and anger. Several hundred million years of this. All the work she'd done. For her friends. For her family. For everypony! To live in a world where every single person was safe from the wolves and vultures! Where the wicked were punished and kindness and mercy weren't wasted on the evil! And now...these three were just going to steal all of it? It wasn't fair! She'd...she'd make it fair! … She'd make it fair! … How...how could she make it fair? As the Sirens turned back to the spell, suddenly a massive explosion of light went off, blinding everycreature. When it finally faded, the Nightmare Gallary were gone. “Dang it! They got away!” Aria snarled. “Let's sniff 'em out!” “ We don't need to.” Adagio turned to the castle. “Search yourself for them, if you find them? Kill them.” The castle nodded its towers and began searching inwards. “Oh! Can we take some of our adoring fans with us to the next timeline?! They were doing it!” Sonata asked with a smirk. “Why not? It will keep us nice and fed while we design our perfect world,” Adagio said with a chuckle as the three floated into the air. She looked over and saw Sky Ocean, causing her to smile. “And we're definitely taking our kind with us. No way we're overlooking that.” “Why don't we just take ;em all? Nothing's stopping us. There's an entire pocket dimension right up there, all leveled and ready for us to rebuild however we want to!” Aria replied with a chuckle as she pointed over her shoulder at the rift in the sky. “Yeah, we tore it up a little, but there's still plenty of room and we're stronger than those six now, if they can make it bigger, so can we. Anything they could do, we can do better.” “Good idea...” = The Sirens Call - Magpiepony = “Listen to our song Don't turn away. Our magic is so strong. You will obey. Led astray. No pony can resist the charm of a Siren's call. Our melody will capture and enthrall. Forever and ever... There's no escape... Forever and ever... Now or ever! Forever and ever... Heed our Siren's Song! We feed from hate! There's nowhere to run! No pony can repel us!” Their enchanted thralls all marched towards them in droves, the Sea Ponies all gathering at the edge of the water just to get a look at them. “Soon you'll sing along! It is your fate! Divide and conquer all time! And we will rule all! Our time's come at last... All bow down.” All at once, all over the world, and now spreading even to the moon as Mother Deer fought against it as hard as she possibly could (and was slowly failing), their thralls all bowed together. “Soon we'll reign supreme, You will fall... To our scheme! No pony can stand up to our combined power! Every last creature to us will fall! Forever and ever... You will fall! Forever and ever... Heed our Siren Song! We feed from hate! There's nowhere to run! No pony can repel us! Soon you'll sing along! It is your fate! Divide and conquer all time! And we will rule all!” All across the world, every creature began to march towards Equestria to present themselves to their new rulers however they could manage. “You can try to hide! But nothing can spare you, From our enchantment! Now we will rise to our glory! Our destiny awaits! Heed our Siren Song! We feed from hate! There's nowhere to run! No pony can repel us! Soon you'll sing along! It is your fate! Divide and conquer all time! And we will rule all! We will rule all! We will rule all! We will rule all! Forever and ever... Forever and ever...” The trio laughed as their new subjects marched to them and they began studying the scroll diligently in preparation to remake the timeline in their own image. While the Chaos Castle was looking for them, the group had been smart enough to get out while the getting was good and instead teleported several miles away the moment they had grabbed their new passengers. Celestia, Luna, and Sunset suddenly held their heads as their eyes flickered green with the Sirens' song. “Free Will!” Rainbow yelled, letting Granfalloon go and touching all three and freeing them quickly. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash...it's worse than we feared,” Luna replied, looking back to the now titanic forms of the Sirens looming in the distance. “They're growing strong enough that even divines are no longer safe. It's possible even Tiamat and Bahamut are either under their power now or on their way to battle them to protect their children... We honestly cannot be certain which outcome is worse.” “You...you saved us?” Banneret muttered as Spike slowly lowered them down. “The kid wanted us too,” Spike replied simply. “Well, at least we know touching ourselves from another timeline won't make the universe implode...” He'd had to risk it by virtue of being the only one who could carry Banneret. The group looked upon their evil alternate selves for a moment. They didn't have time to ask many questions they hadn't already asked while fighting them, but the fact they were themselves was naturally unnerving in and of itself. Not simply themselves from alternate universes, versions of them from this universe from timelines that no longer existed. No longer existed because they'd destroyed them. It was enough to make their skin crawl. “AJ!” yelled the other Apple Pie, hugging Mirror. “...Apple Pie, we weren't worth it. Yah shouldn't have saved us,” AJ's Nightmare said sternly. “You're wrong...Ah don't care how much yah think it, you're still mah AJ and Ah still love yah!” the alternate Apple Pie yelled. She slowly looked over at Nightmare Eclipse. Only the fact they needed her right now held her back. Nightmare Mirror looked as disturbed as anyone when she saw the filly trembling with rage as she looked at the one who'd caused her so much pain, barely holding herself back. “Twilight, thank goodness! Look, you need to reset the timeline! Now!” Nightmare Eclipse begged, grabbing Twilight by the shoulders. Not demanded. Not ordered. Begged. For the first time she'd seen her, Twilight saw pure terror and desperation in her evil future self's eyes. “The Sirens have the spell! They're going to rewrite the timeline to make the world the way they want it to be!” Twilight gasped, the group staring in shock. “Come on! There isn't time!” the Nightmare ordered. “Can't you see? You're so busy playing a glorified video game you're going to let it kill everypony!” *Would she be any better?* Twilight paused, thinking about it. The Sirens were going to reset the timeline and turn it into whatever they wanted...but... “...No.” Eclipse growled. “Stop being so attached to the NPCs! This is more important!” Suddenly, a swift kick sent Eclipse flying into the nearby cliff side. “A-Apple Pie?” asked Twilight, eyes wide...only to find her Apple Pie next to her. Mirror's, on the other hand, had tears running down her face and was practically snarling. “SHUT UP! SHUT UP, YOU MONSTER! THEY WEREN'T NPCS! THEY WERE MAH FRIENDS! THEY WERE MAH FAMILY! AND YAH WORSE THAN KILLED 'EM!” the little filly screamed, millions of years of bottled up rage and anger overflowing and finally erupting. Nightmare Eclipse...seemed almost impressed. Like a part of her suddenly saw Apple Pie as a 'potential person'. "What are you waiting for? Kick me again, and again, and again, and AGAIN until the kicking is all I can think of, all I can remember!" Hot air snorting out her nose, the filly, one of the last of her world, prepared to do exactly that to her world's murderer...until Nightmare Mirror held her back. “Let meh go! She deserves it! She deserves all of it!” she screamed. "THIS ISN'T ABOUT HER!” Mirror screamed, suddenly...looking sad, guilty as she pulled the filly around to look her in the eye. “She deserves a lot worse! It's about you! Ah'm not letting you turn yourself into another her! Not because 'she's the bad guy', because... Ah'm not watching somepony Ah love be turned into somepony who cares more about revenge then helpin' others AGAIN!" Her Apple Pie looked up at her wide eyed, before suddenly staring at her own hind leg she'd kicked the lead Nightmare with, horrified at the realization of what she might have done. What she wanted to do. She slowly hugged her auntie and buried her face in her shoulder, not wanting to even look Eclipse in the eye. “I'm disappointed, she almost became one of us there,” Eclipse said, sounding more annoyed than anything. “Yah got meh. Yah got all of us, and Ah've seen yah kill her more times than Ah can count...you're not getting' her that way,” Mirror said, giving Eclipse a death glare that made the alpha Nightmare pause. “...Ah can't lie. Ah'm the one who filled her little head with this much hate. Just another link in mah chain of sins.” Before the conversation could continue, Twilight cleared her throat and looked Eclipse in the eye. “As I was saying...you're going to keep resetting the timeline over and over again if we put you back in control just so you can keep torturing Discord...but if they take control, that means they reset the timeline once. To make an awful world, yes, but how is that any different than what you're going to do?” the lavender unicorn asked, glaring at her evil future self. Fluttershy, meanwhile, had to have Rainbow Dash help her restrain her body as Fluttercruel wanted to pounce on the Nightmare with intent to kill. “I'm going to make a Golden World! A perfect world! A world where everypony is happy!” Nightmare Eclipse replied, sounding like Twilight did when somepony simply didn't understand what she was saying. “...When?” “When Discord's been punished enough!” “And when will Discord be punished enough?” Twilight asked. She looked to Mirror. “You can't lie, so how long have you been doing this?” “Several hundred million years,” Mirror answered without a moment's hesitation. The lavender unicorn looked at Eclipse. “So, when will he be punished enough?” The Most Vengeful Friend snarled. “...Not yet.” “Why not?” “Why not?! What do you mean why not?!” asked Eclipse in disbelief. “You've lived through his Hell! You've lived through everything I've lived through!” “Yes, yes I did...but not enough to think he deserves to suffer another several hundred million years. And certainly not enough to make everycreature suffer with him!” Twilight looked over the group of Nightmares. “Whether we beat them or they reset the timeline, no more.” "EVERYPONY IS NOT SUFFERING WITH HIM! They're just mindless puppets! Memories! And as long as there's enough left of the monster that he can feel pain and put two thoughts together, HE. HAS. NOT. SUFFERED. ENOUGH!" Eclipse roared at the top of her lungs, her voice becoming a countless chorus, sounding like a feral beast for a few moments. As her voice echoed, everypony, Nightmare, and Drake could only stare at her, the clearing becoming silent. “If you want to defeat the Sirens, listen to me,” Celestia finally said, still not having left Sunset's side. but taking advantage of the sudden silence. Sunset herself just stared at Eclipse, listening to her nigh bottomless hatred...and shivering. Eclipse spun around and stared in blind shock. “Teacher?” The Princess of the Day looked at Nightmare Eclipse, eyes saddened at what this version of her student had become. If nothing else, it made Eclipse shudder a bit. There was so much that Celestia wanted to say...part of her wanted to cry. Her older brother Morning Star, Discord, her sister, and her first student, had all fallen in one way or another. Now here she stood, looking into the mad eyes of Twilight as a Nightmare. True, she came from a previous timeline and her Twilight hadn't become her...but at one point, this had been her Twilight. Celestia remained outwardly composed and continued. “Nightmare Eclipse,” Celestia said, the Nightmare and everypony else noticing that she used her Nightmare name for more reasons than just to tell her and Twilight apart. Inside Nightmare Eclipse, a little filly quivered before her mentor. ”I'm ashamed for you...but we need you. Twilight and her friends have the Elements of Chaos. At the dawn of your species, they were created to work united with their sister, the Elements of Harmony. While yes, they do have both full sets, it would be far too dangerous for them to use both of them at the same time, like mixing matter and anti-matter in their hearts, and even if it did work it'd be far weaker than twelve separate bearers...but if you use your Elements of Harmony alongside their Elements of Chaos, together, their power will be united and magnified exponentially. Enough it might be able to defeat the Sirens.” “In case you didn't notice, our Elements got eaten by those fish,” Nightmare Manacle muttered, not having moved from looking at the portal ripped in the sky. 'Please be alright, Scootaloo. All of you.' “While you're corrupted they can eat it because Celestia's Mother will never support what you're doing.” Twilight gave Eclipse a look that made it clear what their plan was. Twilight admitted, part of her imagined that Fauna Luster agreed with her on which of the two groups was the lesser of two evils. Nightmare Eclipse stared for a moment. “No...You can't be serious!” “If you're all purified, then your Elements will be positive aligned again. That means they'll work against the Sirens and we can combine our sets to defeat them,” Twilight explained. “I'm not giving up everything I've spent millions of years working for!” “You don't have a choice,” Luna replied, marching over. “It's our only option with how powerful they've become at this point. It's even possible now that they have your spell and have gotten so powerful that resetting time may no longer stop them. We admit, it is a long shot. If we had the complete versions of both sets then we'd have a far better chance.” “Complete versions?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking over with a raised eyebrow. “Both sets are missing a piece. The Element of Hope for Chaos and the Element of Trust for Harmony,” the Princess of the Moon explained. “...Is Discord still alive?” “He should be, he's petrified back at the castle and the Sirens don't care about him,” Twilight replied. “I would've finished the job if you hadn't protected his demon spawn,” Eclipse muttered, glaring at Fluttershy, or rather who was inside her. Fluttercruel's colors took over and it was clear it took all of Fluttershy's will to keep her from trying to summon a sword and stab Eclipse to death. The Nightmare rolled her eyes. “Your father didn't give a flying feather about the first few hundred thousand of you... I have no idea why he's gotten so sentimental about these versions of you.” “Then I may be able to acquire the Element of Hope if he'll cooperate in his dreams,” Luna replied, ignoring the alpha Nightmare and thinking. “After all, Shady used it to disrupt the Sirens after his defeat, so it still exists. Discord must have tracked down its essence somewhere in the last several hundred million years. It has...personal meaning to him. Considering what Eclipse did to him, he might agree to help. I'm stronger than him in the Dream Realm, so it can't hurt.” Twilight patted her Apple Pie on the back. “Well, we've got an obvious Bearer right here if you can get it.” “Yah think so, Halflight?” Apple Pie asked, staring up at her with her usual smile. “I know so. You restored hope to me, there's no pony who could be more worthy.” “Good, But that still raises the issue of the Element of Trust, which is a larger problem,” Luna explained. “Discord destroyed it, reduced it to atoms and scattered them to the winds. We tried for a thousand years to restore it and couldn't. Barring a miracle, I fear it's beyond us and using a lopsided mixture of Chaos and Harmony may be dangerous.” “...Did yah say Element of Trust?” asked Mirror's Apple Pie. “...AJ, didn't Eclipse swallow that Shining Armor fella who had the Element of Trust a few timelines ago?” The Most Vengeful Friend snarled, scar visible for all to see from her destroyed helmet. “I told everypony not to speak of that timeline ever again!” Mirror's eyes widened. “She...she did.” “Miss Eclipse, please,” the alternate Apple Pie looked Eclipse in the eye. No, not Nightmare Eclipse. Deep down inside of her where she knew her Twilight was chained up somewhere. She had to. Accepting she couldn't just go berserk and beat her face in was one thing, letting go of several hundred million years worth of hatred wasn't easy to do. “Halflight, if you swallowed him up, can't you throw him back up?” “No way! I'm not letting him out!” Eclipse yelled in disbelief. “This is insane! You've all gone insane! Listen to yourselves! You're talking about working with bucking Discord and letting a mary sue who pretended to be Twilight's brother and brainwashed Cadence into thinking he was her high school crush out!” “Wait what?!” asked Rainbow Dash, eyes widening. “...If he was that bad, how then he did become the Element of Trust?” asked Celestia. “The Elements wouldn't work for him unless he was truly worthy of it.” She then looked to Mirror. “Who was this Shining Armor?” “...Nameless, Pandora's son. But in that worldline...he turned out different. He grew a soul. Yeah, he inserted himself into their lives, but in the end he went down giving all he had trying to save Twilight, that's why Eclipse had to swallow him,” Nightmare Mirror explained. Eclipse snarled at her friend for contradicting her. “Yah wanted the Cruelest of Truths, you got it.” “Why is everypony going crazy?!” “Eclipse, stop and listen you yourself,” Twilight replied, getting in Eclipse's face now that the Nightmare had been drained to the point she could barely move let alone fight. She wanted to know who this Shining Armor was...but there wasn't time. They had to act quick or the world would be erased. But needless to say, she would have so many questions for later. “There's a chance to save the world right in front of us, and you're too caught up on hating Discord to care!” “I'm too focused on what's important to care about crazy ideas!” Twilight sighed. “I was hoping we could talk you down...but Nightmares are insane...girls...formation.” Eclipse...actually looked uncertain. “Girls, formation.” The two groups took their places, Mirror gently pushing her Apple Pie to safety. Both groups floated into the air, but this time there were no boulder sized Elements of Harmony to summon. Just six plain, ordinary Elements clashing. This time Apple Pie decided to let Pinkie Pie handle Element duty this time while Fluttershy chose to stand aside and calm Fluttercruel down, making the layout this time Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. “Sister, go talk to Discord,” Celestia advised, shielding Sunset with her wing. Luna nodded and vanished into mist. With a small rainbow shockwave, the Rainbow of Light erupted and struck itself from another timeline, fighting back and forth, both trying to consume the other. “I don't get it, shouldn't ours be stronger?!” Manacle asked. “It's because those blasted Sirens weakened us!” Eclipse replied. “But we'll still win!” Twilight grit her teeth, their Rainbow pushing back but it reaching a stalemate. “Keep going, everypony!” Sunset kept her eyes on Nightmare Eclipse...noting how the magic of her light and Twilight's differed. Something in her shuddered when she realized how...familiar Eclipse's magic felt. How similar to her this mass murdering monster with trillions of victims felt to her. It wasn't just the sheer fury and rage that filled her...it was something else. Something deeper. The terrifying version of herself that was reflected in the world mirror flashed long ago through her mind. She'd seen it as an Alicorn, but... “...Celestia...is Nightmare Eclipse what you were afraid I'd become?” the yellow unicorn asked, looking pale. “...Yes, something like that. You can feel it, can't you?” Celestia asked, knowing directly interfering in the clash would likely accomplish nothing. “Her Element of Magic has been twisted into something dark and evil. She'd never admit it, but her friendship become Domination long ago. She's forced her will on this timeline and everycreature in it, even her own friends, for several hundred million years. If that's not Domination, then what is?” “...This is all my fault...I opened the portal, I let the Sirens in...” Sunset stuttered, tears welling up in her eyes. “Eclipse...she was everything I wanted to be...” “And now?” was Celestia's simple question. Sunset's paling face answered for her mouth. The two sides kept fighting back and forth, neither gaining a decisive edge. “Stop this foolishness, myself! We're running out of time!” Eclipse yelled. Twilight could see the Sirens in the distance, studying the spell...and preparing a large group of slaves to be sent through the portal. She was right, there wasn't much time. She needed something to disrupt Eclipse's focus and their Rainbow. Something to make them falter and give them the chance to overcome them. But what? The two rainbows kept fighting and fighting, neither side gaining a decisive edge...until they noticed a flash of red light cover the world. Ponies vanished, ferried away through a rift in the sky, leaving the heroes and Nightmares on an empty world, silent world. Celestia reached out to hold onto Sunset as Entropy came to claim them...only to find her gone. “SUNSET!” she screamed, tears starting in her eyes as she realized her filly was gone. She'd lost her again. The Sirens circled the rift so fast they generated a crimson tornado, singing a song. “Time reverse thyself. Let our power shine! Make the clock reverse! Bring back what once was mine!” The groups gasped, seeing the world begin to fade into light. “No! No!” Nightmare Eclipse screamed, seeing her friends fade from existence one by one. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” she screamed, finding the shades of Oblivion grabbing onto her as she faded onto their realm, having long awaited her. Twilight and company merely resolutely accepted their fate with grim resolve, hoof in hoof, as they vanished into Oblivion as well. “Let Ages revert! Rewrite fate's design! Save what has been lost! Bring back what once was mine! What once was mine...” the Sirens completed, flying into the rift as the world with vanished into light. “Welcome to the show! You're all ready we know! The time is now You can cast off your doubt Cause it's time to start out!” sang the five Sirens, floating above their palace. Each having the horn, wings, and Earth Pony might of an Alicorn. The green eyed crowd cheering all over the world in constant praise... As the cameras rolled and took the show beyond Equus to an empire reaching the stars, all bowing down to worship their names. Well, in most places their banner covered. Some entire planets were kept in states of constant negativity and conflict as a sacrifice to keep their beloved monarchs well fed. As it'd turned out, actually ruling an Empire was more complicated than conquering it, and they couldn't let their needs interfere with the infrastructure needed to keep them living in a life of perpetual luxury. The Second Age had ended, but the Third Age would be known as the Age of the Sirens, the time scroll long ago burned once their golden reality came to be so none could take it away from them as they had taken it from Nightmare Eclipse. It'd taken the Concepts incarnating in mass with species in deep space just to hold them back and contain them at this point. The Sirens didn't really care anymore, they had enough of an Empire to adore and sustain them until the end of time. They merely kept the conflicts going to have an extra source of food. In the front row, their faithful students sat and cheered. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer's power had been obvious, and thus the Sirens had seen them as the perfect ones to be the first of their sire race. The Sirens as Adagio, Sonata, and Aria had been when the Second Age ended. Or rather, how it'd ended in a time that no longer was. Their army of Scootaloos, now their 'angels,' held up the cameras and signs necessary for any performance. Practically their stage crew. Flutternice sat in Sonata's room, with a leash like a glorified dog, well taken care of and in bliss, but a pet none the less. Melody and the Rocking Beats had lived out their days as the pampered pets of the Sirens. Adagio had commissioned a personal statue of Melody to remember her by. As for Melody's descendants, they were now the Sirens' devoted acolytes, following their word like law, with or without brainwashing. Some had even been chosen to join the ranks of 'lesser Sirens.' They had quite the school now. As for their subjects ferried away, they now spent their time as the personal keepers of the Sirens' own 'divine' realm that was once the Stable. Building it grander and grander with each day to be their personal retreat. Sonata was always surprised to see the new additions when they visited their own little, personal world. Bad End