//------------------------------// // To: The Tower of Prime // Story: One Last Letter // by Black Hailstorm //------------------------------// Being the occupant to a memory was like catching a ride from one destination to the other. Everything you saw and experienced was through the lens of the host, the host's body acting as the medium for you to experience what that memory held; their feelings, what they said, how they felt, their state of health in that time frame, the interactions and experiences; memory reading in many ways was the deepest form of understanding another because for a brief period of time, you were that other person. Every action they performed was an action you felt, just like everything they experienced you got to experience also. And in this case there was no stopping the sensory overload that came as time sped back up. With no control over the motions and actions, Twilight and all the others were carried on the ride as Overcast's body moved suddenly and jerked into a roll, jostling everyone's senses as he violently rolled to the side. Seconds after he rolled, a wave of warmth and the brief glimpse of fire flew over them as they could felt the skin under his pelt tingle with discomfort from the sheer heat. Rising again, no one was given a second to recover. The group felt Overcast's body move with adrenaline as he gave chase to a figure up ahead who was running up the same wide array of dark brown steps. There was a keen awareness of just where they were and in that moment a answer popped up. The Tower of Prime. Instantly, knowledge some of the group knew and didn't know bubbled into their mind. Overcast's thoughts becoming open to their ears. The Tower of Prime was a tower that had been built by the nation's legendary war hero, an anonymous pony by the name of Gallant Primus who's equinal tribe shifted constantly in various historic poems, sonnets and writings. It was a fact that The Tower of Prime had not aged a day since its completion and reveal to the public. Never collecting a spec of dust or aging one day throughout all the centuries of weather; it was both a historic architecture of mystery to the citizens of Prance and also a call back to the era where the nation had first found its roots in the worship and praise of alicorns. History said that Primus had been a distant descendant of alicorns from the days where Discord's reign had drawn the ire of more than a few. Both he and his company of seven councilheads that had joined him in his travel to the warring lands that would be Prance and there, both he and his councilheads established the noble system of Prance. History said Primus had united the tribes within the region and decades later, commissioned the building of this tower. A landmark of unity. The first landmark of unity. But, history often said many things, and all the occupants were drawn to the scene they were in as Overcast galloped through the hallway, chasing after somepony. Metal clanked, hooves pounded, the tower was an echo of noises and this was magnified by the strange illumination being emitted from all its walls and ceiling. Entering a open walkway that granted view of the atrium, light shined through the skylight and a shadow floated by from above. Overcast's ears rang with the sound of conflict in the air as he ran towards the fray. Attack after attack was being knocked aside by a tall slender, unicorn stallion in the distance as he did battle with the magical pegasus launching projectile attacks at him from the sky. Every few steps Overcast made seemed to spring some sort of trap into action to slow him down. Only reflexes and agility seemed to let him escape with only a scratch. He had to keep dodging rubble that seemed to just materialize and fall towards him, while on top of countering deflected attacks the Unicorn kept redirecting his direction. Every furrow of attacks that were being rained down upon him from above by the Princess herself, bounced back to the unicorn's pursuers. It was all so fast paced, so quick, so reliant on instinct and reflex that Sunset Shimmer had to admit- "I'm amazed he's able to keep up with them at all." "What?" Rainbow Dash yelped when there was a sudden jump. "The guy who could keep up with me and Applejack-" and the disbelief was strong in this next one "in a ground race and his speed is what surprises you?" "Not him. Him." and there was an immediate understanding of what Sunset meant as they watched the pale green stallion raise a second shield right after a spell from the Princess instantly shattered the first. Not even a moment's hesitation from the feedback pr the push back, and the shield was perfectly crafted without hesitation. Levels even Shining Armor would have to admit were truly impressive. Look out! Everyone flinched at the sudden bellow of another voice as if it were shouting in Overcast's ear. Then all of a sudden something very strange and very uncomfortable happened that filled everyone, including Discord, with a sense of nausea. They had been running forward- eyes focused on the unicorn- then all of a sudden it felt like Overcast had just been violently slapped and his whole body had endured multiple sudden ariel flips or had just been violently shook to the point you were really dizzy. A tingle came immediately next. A excruciatingly painful tingle in the legs, before there was a strong awareness of all four legs going completely numb, as if there were no longer anyway to feel them or even be aware that they were moving. But move they did. The legs made a leap as if they had a mind of their own and as soon as Overcast leaped a significant foot or so into the air, a spear of transparent energy materialized from the wall, stabbing in the direction his tail hairs were just now leaving. In that same instant that disturbing, invasive feeling vanished, and Overcast managed to regain control of his legs in midair long enough to brace himself for the landing and fall into a series of sloppy rolls. The last one, ending with his chin violently hitting the ground and gnashing his teeth together in a painful electric tingle that luckily missed his tongue. Groaning Starlight, Rainbow Dash, and Discord were the quickest to recover but it was Starlight who asked: "W-what in the world was that?!" Overcast seemed to give them an answer. "I told you to warn me when you are going to do that Sunburst! You know I am still adjusting to having a body, let alone a equine based one!" Out of nowhere the voice from earlier replied: Well, excuse me for saving our lives! It's lucky enough for both of us I have a 360 awareness spell on myself at all times. "Whoa, that is Sunburst's voice!" Pinkie chirped and then proceeded to gag when nausea hit. "W-blrh-wait, so he-he w-wasn't being possessed like w-we thought?" "It d-doesn't seem so..." Twilight muttered back as she nursed the small headache she could feel from Overcast."But...how?" Turning to face his attacker Overcast ducked under the hurled javelin and with a nod to his right and a flick of his head forward, he sent out a blast of kinetic energy that slammed into the image of a unicorn guard in armor on the wall that looked very much like the one getting ready to charge him. The image was struck, the ancient painting chipped, cracked, then spider webbed and with a silent pop, the poltergeist was gone. What in the world is happening to this tower? This is just like those scary stories Starlight used to like when we were young. "Yes I recall that. She really did go for the power hungry villains. You seem to forget I had to go through your memories to figure out how to communicate with you. Or, did I not mention this before?" The odd sensation of being glared at suddenly manifested. "Oh stop being upset", he said, to which Pinkie had the unique feeling he was trying to suppress a grin. "I had no choice" Overcast continued. "I wasn't certain what language your kind spoke in this dimension and you can't blame me when you kept suppressing and blocking all my attempts at communication in the Night Realm!" He ducked under a swinging blade, with a toss of kinetic energy the Diamond Dog creature was slain like the pony. A hole in the wall art and it was gone. When you end up fighting in a showdown to give your friends the chance to save everyone, only to end up losing the fight halfway when a legendary centaur turned demon, starts summoning all sorts of monsters to break your mental constructs so he can gain enough power in your own mental dimension to turn you into his puppet then you can tell me how you would react to something trying to invade your mind, in your sleep! "...Wait, what?" was the only thing anyone but Fluttershy and Discord could say at this remark. "I told you", Overcast said to the now mental projection of Sunburst that had appeared before him. "I never invaded your mind." Raising a shield to block a line of phantom arrows from painted archers Overcast frowned, and then began dispatching the Pegasus archers before they could fully emerge from their walls. "My essence was bound to your mind against both our wills when Tirek created that rift in reality with Discord's magic during my attempt at esca--" Escape from what, exactly? Where do you come-- "Besides" the taller stallion cut in, smiling slightly at Sunburst with those odd teeth, "you do yourself unjustly." He stated, returning his attention to the fight ahead. "You were doing quite well till he tried to summon something more powerful to do his bidding. And Tirek's greatest mistake was underestimating the very nature of Chaos Magic itself. It does not like being told what to do or made to follow the orders of others, it simply does what is needed without much, if any, thought. And mastering that is a lot more difficult than you could ever hope to imagine. Why do you think Discord is the only one who can utilize it? Magic, has will. Chaos is simply the least likely to obey if given a instruction." "And, to answer your earlier question," Overcast rose another shield to block the array of arrows coming from the living art on the ceiling and the fireball that had just been deflected towards him, "I believe the alicorn controlling Eudes is using this tower as a summoning center for the souls of all his past servants." How- How do you know that?! Gritting his teeth at the barrage of attacks from above Overcast expanded his dome shielded and then focusing on creating a force, popped it while sending out a telekinetic wave so that all the arrows embedded in his shield would be knocked away from his host's body, and sent minor cracks that destabilized the ghostly soldier's forms. Or would do so long enough for him to get some distance. "Reality," Overcast stated calmly, "is like a book you read as it is written. When you have the freedom of reading enough stories with enough time, you eventually see a pattern where things occur differently in some stories but are ultimately still the same." "Eudes!" Their eyes swiveled to look at the Princess. "Eudes, please stop!" The unicorn with the a shield and sword slicing through it for a cutie Mark, surprisingly, stopped. "...Eudes" Princess Celestia said in a motherly voice, barely a whisper but still it echoed. All around them the tower had grown silent, ghosts and spirits of the undead had all stopped their motions, the ethereal glow had died as Eudes's next spell diminished also. "Eudes", Princess Celestia said gently yet again. "Please, stop. I don't know what he told you--" "He told me nothing, Princess. Nothing at least I have not thought by myself. How long has le grand joyau been allies to le pays de la lumière?" After a pause, with motherly patience and equal calm Celestia replied: "Eudes, I don't know what Gladiolus has told you, but you must understand he has always seen it necessary to manipulate--" "IT!" Eudes declared loudly with a stomp and every painting in the tower glowed brightly, casting long shadows and filling the large foyer with a cold blue light. "It" Eudes said gently in a softer volume, "takes one, to know one. Doesn't it Princess? How long have you been our hero? The Guardian of the Lowers? When I was forced to meet with the noble heads of the Council, were you not there to see the division? Prance still holds riots in its streets. You have seen the reports. You saw how little I managed to do and even more, how little the earls and barons were willing to listen. "These ponies are the exact same ponies that revolted against you and the Lost Princess Luna all those eons back. They are the current ones the Prench wish to remove. And how did you and your sister answer that problem?" The Princess remained silent. Floating in the air, hundreds of feet without a flap now she just hung there, watching. Eyes watching the unicorn stallion before her with a look of both sadness and disappointment. Eudes snickered, and in doing so a single bang from his tied back, dirty oily olive and lilac mane fell across his slender muzzle. Too distracted by the Princess, Overcast took the chance and began using the tower's lull To begin moving closer to his target. "To destroy the noble system with force, is the only way they will listen. Historians may say in Early Equestria the princesses were a tad more prone to violence but I see now that violence is the only answer sometimes when there is no other option. And you" he snorted derisively, "are stopping me from helping my own when you couldn't. How hypocritical." At those last two words, the temperature in the room began to rise. "You don't understand--" "I understand" Eudes countered in equal volume, "that--" "Silence!" The whole tower vibrated, the air itself pulsed with her scold and if it had not been for the Sticky spell Overcast had affixed to his hooves, the slide back they had just endured would have been a tumble. "NO!" Eudes snapped back, and when he yelled the paintings began to ooze a ghostly blue mist that faded into the air. "I will NOT play these games with nobles ever again! I do not care what your past with him is, I am bringing my ancestor back no matter what! Because if they will not listen to you with your refusal to forcefully remove them from their status as our former guardian, then they Will Listen To HIM. The First Emperor!" Horn glowing, Eudes turned, eyes white with residual magic to face Overcast who now stopped. "Your presence oddity" two voices poured from the tall pony's mouth, "is a surprise. I had figured she would have dealt with you sooner, but I see that the Light still enjoys playing with those her rays touch no matter where they crawl out of. Ever arrogant and prideful as always to believe you can handle any situation after all this time, aren't you Celestia?" "Release him Prime!" Overcast shouted. "Do not drag your descendant through these unforgiving fires just for the sake of your return!" "A Ender, lecturing me?" The tall unicorn laughed and his horn rekindled with light, "such strange times I have returned to. BEGONE from my tower filth!" A beam of concentrated energy flew from the unicorn's horn, and with milliseconds till impact, both Twilight and all the others flinched just as Overcast did when his eyes began burning from the intensity of the light. Instinct, thought, reflex, whatever it was, he casted without thinking and a dome formed instantly around him. Cracks immediately began to form and just like the others, they immediately felt a sharp pain and wetness dribble from their nostrils. Celestia took this moment to strike, but the second she tried, hundreds of arrows were sent flying right at her by archers painted at the top of the walls. Initially intending to just tank it, some supernatural sense in the Solar Princess' mind warned against it, so she crafted a shield and when the first array of arrows struck, they pierced through instantly. Stunned, wincing at the feedback, Princess Celestia vanished in a flash of light before the first array could hit her. Shutting one eye now that the Princess was gone Overcast could feel the shield fracturing from the pseudo alicorn's might as he neared. All he heard was the scream of heat and cracks forming in his shield. "You poor pathetic fool." Primus stated with calm and a measured edge to his two voices. "To think all those millennia ago we once feared your kind, but look at you? Trapped in the body of a mortal and not even a powerful one at that or one whose body can handle true power for you to really cut loose, then again you don't really have that problem do you." The beam pulsed and the strength of the blast grew stronger causing a ache to travel up Overcast's horn, "You could force the limited into overheating and kill your host in the process but then I guess you wouldn't have a vessel anymore, would you?" Eudes smiled. "You must -nrgh- be- mmmrh- Gladiolus Primus? Correct?" Overcast strained with a pain filled smile. "You would be correct. Unlike you, I am spared from the nonsense of sharing my distant grandson's consciousness with his body. A slave to a mortal when your filth are seen as enders and destroyers of realms and you can't even eradicate the very thing that keeps you on a leash" Primus laughed. "Then again I sense the Elements magic has lingers over whoever you have turned into your vessel. I suppose you have them to thank for our meeting at all." Any other unicorn shouldn't have been able to respond with this level of pain, of that Starlight, Twilight, Rarity and Sunset who were sweating from the exertion and stress bleeding off Overcast's body was sure. Sunburst's voice sprang to life in the struggle as one knee gave out and Overcast crashed to the ground. Focus! he kept shouting. We'll die if you lose even a bit of concentration, the need to focus on maintaining the cracking shield as it was hammered with attacks now by paintings also. Somehow despite this, Overcast choked out a chuckle that came between a grunt and a scoff. "I su- suppose so." And somehow the shield didn't instantly shatter. The unicorn smiled. "Funny." The cracks in the dome grew larger. "I'll be sure to make a note of that on your tombstone." Overcast chuckled, the shield continued to hold and crack but did not shatter as seconds ticked on and it became more like a shield of very broken glass. Primus, surprised by this turn of events frowned with a look of intense displeasure and in that same instant, phantom wings of energy sprouted from his back, increasing the corona on his horn from one to two. "I don't know why she hasn't slain you already, considering you filth are the reason we can never return home, but- do not worry Ender." Primus assured gently, "I will find the name of whomever this poor individual is that you have seized under your control and I will be sure to bring praise to their name once I have taken back my kingdom, and once you are dead." The moment he finished speaking, the shield began to finally fall apart. Pieces chipped and fell away but the front half remained as Overcast focused on it and it alone. "Goodbye Ender. You have no idea how many alicorns daydream of this chance even if we once thought your kind to be nothing but legend. So I will say: Thank you, for at least making this dream a reality." Boom! An explosion of heat and wind came rushing forwards, followed by a shout of anger and through the blinding light of the beam, the searing heat that was causing him to sweat up a storm, and the dizziness he was feeling- Overcast caught a brief glimpse of Princess Celestia materialize with an explosion of wind emerging out from all around her. The gust grew stronger and stronger and stronger with every passing second, air pressure cracked walls and paintings, wind speed blew everything away from the arrows being launched at her to the ghost Pegasus soldiers flying towards her, to eventually...Eudes and Overcast himself. The Princess flew like an arrow straight towards the dark orange unicorn while Eudes phantom wings grew solid and he flapped madly to stabilize himself in the insane winds that had been created. For one brief second, Overcast blacked out- and so Twilight and the others knew no more. ...Open your eyes... They were flying. Sore, a headache that seemed to radiate its own heat, there was the odd sense a fraction of his goatee had been burnt from the smell of charring hair and that his armor was battered in a few places. In a quiet apologetic voice, "I'm sorry, Sunburst. You never should have had to been put through this." And just like that, they were now Sunburst. Only the phantom feeling of pain remained but none of the real injuries Overcast had stayed. Groaning the unicorn brought his legs in closer for more of a sense of comfort if anything else. "I wanted to be here, Princess. None of this is your fault." "Oh but it is" Celestia said sadly. "Equestria has taken more and more of my attention since Luna's absence and I have not been able to pay much attention to the other regions that once sought my guidance. I'd known Prance would undergo a shift of some sort for a long time, I just never expected things to play out like the way they have now. To the point where it would require Equestrian intervention like this?" The Princess sighed exasperated, and Sunburst squirmed uncomfortably. Unused to hearing the Princess ever talk in such a dejected way. "But Princess, this wasn't your fault. You didn't know- you- you couldn't!!" "Sunburst- thank you, but--" Another blink, another sense of numbness, another change. "You know he's right." Overcast's voice finished for her in a weak state. "You know you couldn't have foreseen this till it was too late. For all that talk and worship of these ponies seeing you and your sister as gods, for all the ways you are this nation's maternal figure, you've -cough- come to internalize that goddess concept they have been calling you since Discord's defeat...haven't you? And because you've accepted it," he went on, "or because its shaped so much of who you are now, that's why you try to micromanage everything. Isn't it? You care, but you can't leave things you've involved yourself in alone. You have to manage it all in the shadows and let things play the way they shall with the best cards you have at your disposal. That's why Twilight and the others are watching those statues, isn't it? Because you were afraid if you couldn't stop Eudes- and somehow, your instincts ended up right- that the Seven Aides of Prime would be free from the prison the last Lunar Knight placed them in. Am I wrong?" There was no response to that but just the gentle beat of wings. Finally, she looked at him. It was not the look of anger one might expect from being called out. Not the loving, motherly, kind mentor Twilight knew or the symbolic god of culture that Rarity secretly worshipped; not the wargoddess that aided Commander Hurricane in stories Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had heard in old pegasus tales at Flight Camp; not the wise, diligent hardworker most sensible Earth Ponies respected with their mouths wisely shut. No what they saw looking back at them was not the symbolic perfection the world knew her as, but something that was both familiar and hard to understand. It was defeat and acceptance, mixed into one with just a hint of surprise. They floated like this, gliding on the upper currents of heat she had created in her earlier windstorm attack, and then after she had had a long look at the stallion she was holding in her magic- Celestia pursed her lips and turned her head away. "Reading me just like he used to be able to." She said, eyes now looking up, watching for signs of the unicorn with wings of magic. "Just like him." To which Overcast could only blink at a mismatched pace in confusion. "Who?" He rasped. "When we first met" Celestia continued, ignoring the question, "I made a decision about you. Something I'm sure you picked up overtime." She said as they began to descend. "I..." she hesitated, there was this sense of delicious internal struggle that was bubbling to the surface in a cocktail of ambivalent emotions, and through Overcast, they sensed it. The emotional uncertainty behind an action . "I was wrong to judge you so quickly." Interest piqued judging by how he hummed, Overcast asked, "and just what were you wrong about, Princess?" She smiled, then it turned into a frown. "I told myself we wouldn't get along. Just like Discord and I don't really get along. Never truly have, maybe never will." "I thought--" "No. I have, I try, but I cannot forget even if I tell myself and know in my heart he has good in him. I will always feel wary of him after seeing him at his full power...just like, I cannot help but be wary of you." Saying this, she looked back to him and they met eyes for only a moment before she looked away. "I told myself at the slightest sign you tried to hurt Sunburst or do anything untoward to my subjects, my little ponies, I would make sure you were sent to the deepest depths of Tartarus I could find- and leave you there just like we had to do for Tirek." "...Well--" "And" she cut in, because what was statecraft without interruptions, "I must say, I'm glad I was wrong...I- I've found that despite our differences Overcast, I've come to grow quite fond of you. And Sunburst, well, I saw to his lessons myself back when I was more free to teach in The Gifted. He would warn me someway if you overstepped the boundaries he had set for you. And if not him, Starlight would--" "Attempt to rip out my very essence and turn it into paste once she discovered there was a soul trapped in her best friend's mind and practically taking over his life. Don't ask me how she would know even if I could replicate his quirks perfectly, she would figure it out eventually. I think that's one reason she's never liked being around me." "Exactly." "Such terrifying students you make Celly." She beamed. "They have to be for what I sense might be waiting for them ahead." Chuckling that turned into a cough, then spit, Overcast sighed. "I'm fine now Princess." In the distance a pony figure took wing and zipped off towards the skylight. "And we should hurry. We'll never stop him in time if you look over my body like an overprotective marefriend." The snort in amusement he got was good enough to make him crack a small smile. "Hold on tight." The Princess whispered in his ear as she brought him closer to her side. "This is going to be bumpy for you Sunburst, if you can hear me. Overcast--" "I'll be sure to make sure you both are safe." Flapping her massive wings, Princess Celestia turned, righted herself and then shot upwards after the twinkling blue-green star. Upon reaching the final floor, the battle had continued anew. Celestia and Primus who had full control of Eudes body, clashed magic instantly once in firing range of each other. Spells were traded, shockwaves created and Overcast found that he had to be literally thrown to the bridge in the enter of the last floor. The final floor, was a bridge floor. At the center of the bridge you could stare outside the skylight and see the entire landscape of Prance' s southwestern border that stretched off into the Celestial Waters. The new addition however was the glowing rune symbols at the center of the floor, where one massive hoof print waited. Pulsing a blue-green light that pulsed in tune with the tower. Overcast leapt in moments later, acting as an assist but still Primus despite being pushed back, maintained his standing. "You are making a mistake Celestia." "My mistake was allowing this tower to remain!" "Your mistake was sending a student and her friends to do your dirty work when she found she couldn't just kill a god" Primus roared that last word more than said it. Magical blades formed in the air, then clashed. Flying past each other blades connected and magical sparks soared. Spawning a second sword, Primus deflected the grey dagger launched at him and turned his glowing eyes to Overcast who stood in front of the mechanism that he sought access to. With a horselike snort, Primus folded his magical avian wings, and descended, crashing into the bridge and cracking the surface of its fine floor work. Raising one blade he slashed down, instantly Overcast popped his own into existence and deflected. Pain shot through his horn, into his skull, but he ignored this. Primus was relentless though now. He caught sight of Celestia's support and then with one sword facing her, and one sword facing Overcast they clashed and he deftly began dueling them both. "Defeated by a Unicorn!" He said over the back and forth of their combat. "And not even one of our own blood Celestia!" He struck for a lunge, she deflected, aimed for a stab, he deflected it. "I AM A PRINCE! To use the Elements against me, the very few remaining alicorns of your kind, and you thought. I. Wouldn't. Hold A. GRUDGE!" He yelled, each attack slamming both his blades into Overcast's and Celestia's causing painful tingles to travel up their horns. But Primus didn't stop there. Casting a spell his shadow expanded to the size of a building, and shot out tendrils of darkness towards his attackers. Swiftly, Overcast threw a shield over him and Celestia both, and with a crack, the thorns knocked them both backwards, rolling in balls of grey energy till his headache magnified and he lost focus. Eudes horn glowed a sickly green and in the same instant his unicorn shadow gained wings of black skeleton bones. The shadow grew eyes of purple light and with a stomp of his hoof it charged on a mass of black cloud towards the Princess and her support. Grabbing Overcast in her magic, Celestia took to the air as the shadow construct given life lashed out, screaming a ghoulish violence. Quickly, Primus flew to the center of the room, he landed, planted his hoof on the hoof mark imprint, and then his glowing white eyes, became a growing blue-green. "Ego sum Deus--" "NO!" Celestia cried, slashing at the construct with a beam of pure sunlight she dashed through its open wound to the other side and sent a beam of magic towards the pseudo unicorn's body. The beam of light that forced Primus to raise a shield a stop his ritual, the bolt deflected and went sailing off somewhere else. Overcast, meanwhile began finishing off the reforming construct. Turning his own shadow into something of a giant with a mouth that began battling to devour the other. "Eudes!" Celestia grimaced, "fight him, please!" "Why don't you just kill us?!" Primus sneered. Two beams of energy slammed into each other as alicorn and psuedo alicorn now locked each other in fatal combat. Every push requiring extreme focus and concentration. It would have been simple with a regular unicorn, but for a unicorn whose spirit was virtually bonded with an alicorn's and thus just, if not a bit more powerful due to the added magical boost? Celestia began to sweat, Primus began to grin through his own exertion. With a dying cry, both of their eyes turned to the edges of their perception and they watched as the shadow of a stallion limped through shadow mist towards them, teeth gritted as he tried to increase his steps. Eyes squinted, trying to see through the blinding light their beams of magic were giving off through the collision Overcast shouted, "Just hold on! I'll stun him while he's occupied and then we can put an end to this!" To which Primus laughed even as his hooves began to skid the first inch back. "You think that will stop any of this?! No no no, as we speak the others will be freeing their bodies from stasis in mere moments! My son has done his part by allowing me access to his body, this was set the moment I had full control. If you wanted to-nrgh!" A burst of magic pushed his beam back just an inch against Celestia's, "--you won't have just me to deal with anymore!" Primus shouted. "As long as I'm still here, you can't stop this! Soon it won't be one alicorn, it will be seven!" That last sentence echoed, and Overcast's eyes barely was able to catch the way Princess Celestia's body stiffened at those words. "Twilight..." His ears picked up. And in that moment, his eyes widened in realization. "The statues..."