//------------------------------//
// Finish The Job 
// Story: Strange Bedfellows 
// by BRBrony9 
//------------------------------//

Malaranth the Infinite looked on with an expression that showed a mixture of disappointment, glee and a little confusion. This turn of events was rather unexpected. It had wondered what the purpose of the diadem that Chrysalis wore actually was; now it seemed to be in the possession of a rather diminutive purple pony down on the street below. This was not a pony it had been aware of before now. Nor did it know of the other five who gathered around the purple unicorn. That was quite intriguing to the Daemon. Was this some well-kept secret which it had been unable to find out any information on?

If so, it was clearly something that Princess Celestia wanted to hide, either from Malaranth, Chrysalis, or both. The fact that Chrysalis had found herself in possession of the crown now worn by the unicorn suggested that she was aware of the potential for exactly what Malaranth had just witnessed, and had taken steps to prevent it happening. The Changeling Queen had been struck by the blast of rainbow-shaded magic, which had quite simply turned her to a large block of stone, which had fallen to the ground below with a loud thud. That seemed to be the fate of whoever was exposed to this new form of energy or magic.

Malaranth was unaware of what exactly it was now facing, but Chrysalis had seemed to be aware of it. It must be something that had been used against her in the past, or perhaps against some other foe which she had learned of. The ponies down below, six of them in total, each seemed to be carrying some kind of amulet around their necks, with the exception of the purple unicorn which wore the crown instead. Could it be that these trinkets were the source of the power which had just ended Chrysalis's plans, rather than the ponies themselves? Unicorns, Malaranth knew, were the only race of ponies that could use active magic to attack others, and while there were two unicorns on the street, the other four ponies were not of the same race. Unless Malaranth had missed something rather important during all of his preparations regarding the interplay of different races, then the crown and the amulets must be the real source. That would explain perfectly why Chrysalis had been in possession of the crown- either she had stolen it from the ponies, or she had always held it and the ponies had been seeking to take it from her. Either way, her loss of the item had resulted, directly it seemed, in her downfall.

Would it now prove crucial in the fight against Malaranth? The Daemon did not know, but it knew that it would not be particularly wise to simply sit there in the sky any longer, acting as a target for the cluster of ponies still standing in the street below. Something would have to be done about them, of course, but perhaps it was best to use an expendable resource in the attempt, rather than immediately risking its own skin to do so. If the expendable resource succeeded, all the better. If it failed? At least Malaranth wouldn't have to bother with ridding itself of that particular thorn in its side. Or, perhaps, its other plan would come to fruition finally- only time would tell.





'We did it!' Twilight gasped, turning to her friends. 'We...we did it. It actually worked!' She laughed happily. Chrysalis was gone, the threat she posed now fully contained in the same way that the Elements had once been used to seal Discord away in stone. The city was not safe yet, but they had taken a very large and very important step toward ending this war once and for all.

'We always had faith, Twilight!' Rarity assured her. 'If not in the Elements, then in you.'

They had done the job they had been tasked with, but it had come, potentially, at a heavy price. Twilight and the others galloped over to where Princess Luna had fallen. She had been caught square in the blast of Chrysalis's magic, and now she lay in a crumpled heap in the street. She was badly burned, steam rising from her horn and large black and red scars across much of her body. Her wings were singed and shrivelled, many of the feathers burned away. Her eyes were closed.

'Is she breathing...?' Fluttershy questioned timidly as they approached the fallen Princess. Twilight tried to check her over, but found that instead she started shaking when she looked at Luna, the wounds she had received, the suffering she must have gone through. It was all her fault- the only reason Luna had been hit with Chrysalis's magic was because she had to buy time for the Elements to assemble. If Twilight had never lost the Element of Magic in the first place, none of this would have happened. Luna, and her sister, would have never suffered like this. Had Equestria lost its whole royal leadership in one fell swoop, because of Twilight's inattentiveness all those weeks ago in allowing herself to be captured?

Applejack and Rainbow Dash took over, checking Luna's body. The squad of soldiers who had been escorting Pinkie Pie galloped over to them as well. There was a medic attached to the unit, and she hurriedly examined the Princess. 'I'm not finding a pulse...I can't tell if she's breathing or not. There's too much burn damage. Can we get her into the palace? To the field hospital...'

'I-i can teleport her!' Twilight called out, suddenly snapping back to reality. She had to do anything she could to make things right. She had to act, or else she might go out of her mind entirely. Her friends and both Princesses had told her not to worry herself in that way, not to consider that any of this might be her fault, but no matter how many times they repeated that, Twilight still felt that little voice at the back of her mind, whispering to her. This IS your fault, Twilight Sparkle. You have failed everypony, whether you know it or not.

The same voice had been nagging and repeating ever since she lost the Element, perhaps even before that. She couldn't really remember any longer. She didn't know when it had started, but she knew that it was getting worse. It had been getting louder ever since the city came under attack again. Perhaps that was because she once again had clear visual evidence of her failure- collapsing buildings, bodies, flames, blood, death. The Elements could had ended Chrysalis's threat as soon as she had appeared, and perhaps they could do the same to the Daemon. She looked up, looked around the sky, but the Daemon had seemingly vanished. Scared away by the display of power from the Elements and the fate of Chrysalis?

'We're ready. Get us inside the palace. Everypony else stand back,' the medic called, kneeling beside Luna's body. Twilight stepped up, her horn glowed, and then she, the medic and the Princess appeared inside the palace, as close to the field hospital as Twilight could get them. The medic called for help, and there were gasps from the medical staff who came running out to assist her. Part of that was down to the fact that they believed Luna had vanished; that had been the last report that had done the rounds in the palace corridors. But another part of it was down to the fact that this wasn't meant to happen. Alicorns were immortal. They weren't supposed to come into the hospital ward disheveled, burned and not even breathing. Such a thing wasn't even possible! Yet here was the proof, lying in front of them.

A stretcher was brought out, and they hurried Princess Luna into the field hospital to do whatever they could. Twilight, however, could not stand around waiting to find out the results of their efforts. She had to get back out to her friends; as long as she was apart from them, the Elements were useless, and the Daemon was still out there somewhere. She teleported back onto the street where the others were waiting for her, still exchanging their own glances of disbelief and confusion as to how Luna could have succumbed. 

Yet there was little time to ponder that now. A bright flash filled the end of the street, down against the palace shield wall, and suddenly there were figures there where the road had been empty a moment before.

'Contact!' one of the pony soldiers called, and the squad scrambled for cover. 'Hey, get down!' they urged the Elements, and with a glance Twilight could see why. 

A squad of large, imposing, hulking armoured warriors stood before them, led by a tall figure holding a staff and wrapped in a cloak. It was not the Daemon; it was Parthax the Infidel, the Sorceror Lord and the initial commander of the Chaos effort to conquer the planet and destroy the Imperial fleet in the process. It seemed he had returned for his revenge. His first effort had failed, ending with the loss of his entire fleet. Superficially at least, it seemed this latest effort was going to end the same way for him. The second Chaos fleet had been wiped out by Princess Celestia, its ground forces knocked from pillar to post and now concentrating all of their remaining efforts and resources on this one final battle for Canterlot. It seemed unlikely that they could succeed from this position, unless, of course, either the Daemon or the Sorcerer Lord themselves were powerful enough to defeat all of the forces arrayed against them.

The pony soldiers opened fire with their rifles, flicking chips of paint from the armour the warriors wore, but doing nothing else to them. In response they swung their mighty weapons around, bringing them to bear on the ponies. Twilight and the other Elements scrambled into cover in the buildings that lined the street, as the soldiers had instructed them to do. They were not going to get separated this time; not again, after the near disaster which had come so close to befalling them. Without Luna's sacrifice, the Elements would have been destroyed before they could be activated, because they had all been apart when the Element of Magic was returned to Twilight. This time, they all stuck together, galloping into a cafe.

The pony soldiers valiantly engaged the enemy, but it was a futile effort. Those who were caught in the open were gunned down ruthlessly, explosive shells tearing through their bodies. Others crouched behind rubble, providing a little protection, but the fire from the enemy warriors was accurate enough that they could strike an exposed head just as easily as a whole body. It was the work of but a few moments for the street to fall silent again, the pony squad wiped out without mercy, unable to harm their enemies. No mere rifle could puncture the armour they wore.

Magic, however, was a different matter, and the first Marine to advance in line with the cafe found a hole burned straight through its chest plate. It staggered back, but stayed on its feet, at least until another blast struck it in the same spot and sent it tumbling to the cobbles. The rest of the squad moved up, with Parthax accompanying them.

'My, some horse-aliens do know how to fight, it seems!' the Sorcerer Lord laughed. 'Pray tell me, who exactly are we dealing with in there, hm?'

Another trooper tried to force entry to the store, raising a gauntleted fist to smash the door, but a ball of light, rather akin to a plasma cannon shot though composed of quite different matter, struck its helmet and dropped it, stone dead. The rest of the squad opened fire with their bolters, smashing wood, glass and masonry, churning up the interior of the cafe, ripping tables and chairs to shreds and all but annihilating the bar, long since emptied of its alcohol by the first Chaos occupation force. But they did not harm anypony who remained inside; Twilight's magic had erected a shield, keeping the Elements safe from the heavy barrage. None of the Marines possessed las-weapons, instead being outfitted with the standard issue sidearm of both the Astartes and these, their traitorous cousins. While their explosive bolts could slice through both pony and Imperial body armour, and even that of relatively thin-skinned vehicles, with ease, magic was something else entirely, resistant to ballistic attacks.

'Perhaps you believe you can defeat me?' Parthax laughed from outside. 'Come out and face me, then, pony! Let me see what you can do!'

Twilight did not rise to the bait. She knew that Princess Celestia had fought Parthax before, but she had not, and she did not know what capabilities the Sorcerer Lord might possess. The Elements might prove effective against him, or they might be useless. Either way, she had to keep them safe, as well as their bearers; her friends. That was what she had been entrusted with by Celestia.

Or had she? She still couldn't shake the feelings of discontent, or the voices in her head that were telling her to abandon her quest. To forget about the Elements; after all, the Elements were just a pawn in Celestia's long game, just like Twilight was. But she could be so much more.

Celestia had always told her that she had hidden power, hidden strength. Maybe the Princess had only told her those things in order to get the Elements in working order, but perhaps it was true. That was what these voices were telling her now. Twilight could be more than just a lacky for the Princess, to hang on her every word, obey her every command like some indentured servant with no free will. She didn't need to do that any longer. She had learned what she needed to know, how to exploit her real strength, that which lay within herself, not that which others handed to her. She carried an Element, yes, but she didn't need to limit herself to just one. Celestia had proven that their powers could be wielded by a single pony, and a pony with all that power at her command would be unstoppable. She could forge her own path, they told her. She could lead the way. After all, Celestia and Luna were gone, weren't they? Dead or at least incapacitated. Who would rule Equestria in their absence? Discord? Cadence? No, no.

Twilight Sparkle.

That was what the voices had been whispering to her for weeks, and now, she knew that they were telling the truth. The voices were guiding her all the way to this point, just as Celestia had been guiding her to activate the Elements and rescue Luna. If nothing else, why should Twilight continue to follow the Princess if she had been using her all along? Now, it was time for her to step up and seize the opportunity presented to her, in the same way that Queen Chrysalis had attempted to do. It had not ended so well for her, but she had come damn close to succeeding. Twilight would go all the way.

'Girls!' she called to her friends. 'We can't get out of this building without going through those soldiers. If I teleport us out, the Daemon will see us. Give me your Elements, quickly!' she encouraged them. 'I can't risk all of your lives. I have to keep the Elements safe, and I have to keep you all safe, too.'

Her friends reacted to her call, having no reason to doubt her sincerity and her actions. Each of them tossed their necklaces over to Twilight, who caught them with her magic and threw them around her neck. In a matter of moments, she was in possession of the ultimate power in Equestria now. That meant she no longer needed her friends- which, maybe, she had known all along, ever since Celestia had sent her on her quest to find friendship. It had all been a long and twisted lie, after all, and while she certainly had feelings for her friends, who had stuck by her through so much, she knew that they would likely turn on her once they saw what she was going to do. But it had to be done, didn't it?

Yes, Twilight. It has to be done.

You are the only one who can take this opportunity, Twilight.

Do what must be done.

Take your rightful place. Celestia was grooming you to be a leader, a future Princess, wasn't she?

Why not take the next logical step? Instead of being a Princess, you can be the Queen!

Your friends will understand- one day.

'Wait here!' Twilight ordered her friends. They nodded grimly, hunkering down in the back room as best they could while the Marines reloaded their weapons. Twilight stepped forward, broken glass and wood cracking under her hooves. The enemy took aim at her, but Parthax gave a shout.

'Hold your fire!' The Marines lowered their weapons, and Twilight advanced toward them.

'My my, what have we here, hm?' Parthax chuckled. 'Such a...diminutive creature. Not like your Princess, though equally brave, it seems. Or perhaps foolhardy. What is your name, little one?'

'My name is Twilight Sparkle,' she replied simply. 

'And what are you, hm? Are you a soldier?' Parthax asked. 'You have no weapons. Are you royalty? You certainly have enough trinkets and jewellery for that.'

'What I am is the Element of Magic,' Twilight replied, 'but what I represent is everything. What I represent is the future.'

'What a grandiose claim!' Parthax cackled. 'What makes you speak like that, little one?'

It is simple,' Twilight answered. 'Would you care to see for yourself?'

'By all means!' Parthax smirked, a twisted grin on his weathered features. 'Let us see what gives you such unmatched confidence.'

'As you wish.' Twilight stepped forward. Her horn glowed, and magic tore through half a dozen of the assembled Marines, sending them tumbling like bowling pins. Only one of them got back up again, and Twilight finished him off with a bolt of purple energy to the helmet. The rest of the Marines turned their guns on her again, but she was gone. She reappeared above them on the rooftop of the building, hurling more magic down at the surviving armoured troops. More went down, leaving just Parthax and a single Marine alive.

'Ah, very impressive!' Parthax laughed. 'You certainly take after your princess, don't you? Where is she now, hm? Why is she not here to face me herself like she was before?'

'The Princess is gone,' Twilight replied calmly. 'She was the past. I am the future.'

'You, little one?' Parthax sneered. 'A few flashing lights do not qualify you to be the future of anything. You need more than that if you want to rule. You need an iron fist- that may be tricky for one such as yourself, who lacks hands...' The Sorcerer Lord chuckled.

'Believe what you wish. I shall show you,' Twilight replied, her voice having changed subtly. Those who did not know her might not notice anything unusual, but her friends would be able to detect it. The emotion had drained from her voice, replaced with an almost monotone sound, like a machine instead of a pony. Something inside her had broken, whether or not she even realised it. Something fundamental had snapped.

Her horn glowed again and she casually dispensed with the final surviving Marine, who found himself cut in half by a sweeping blade of magic, like a giant ephemeral sword. Parthax swung his staff around, and when Twilight fired her magic once again, he was ready, and blocked her attack, deflecting the bolt before replying with a burst of warp energy from the tip of the staff. Twilight dodged aside, then teleported behind Parthax, who heard the pop of air displaced by her reappearance and began to turn to face her. But he was slow compared to her, encumbered by his armour, and Twilight fired at him from behind. Her magic struck him and tossed him to the floor with a grunt.

Parthax's armour was singed and smouldering, but it had not been breached. The kinetic energy of the blast had surprised him and knocked him off his feet, but he was not injured, and quickly scrambled back to his feet. 'Time to stop playing around and end this!' he laughed. 'I hope you have enjoyed your brief fantasy, little one. It is time for you to return to reality once again.' He swung his staff around, but again Twilight was faster, and another blast of magic left her horn. Parthax had to throw up a protective barrier, deflecting her shot. She tried again with the same result, and so she changed her approach. No longer did she bother with her own magic, but instead turned to the Elements she carried around her neck and on her head.

Not since the distant day when Celestia had been forced to banish her sister had a single pony tried to utilise all six Elements by themselves. If any one of the other Elements had tried to do so, most likely it would have failed. But Twilight was the Element of Magic, and while that particular Element was not exactly in command of the others, it was the one Element that tied all of the others together. It had been the Element which only came into being when all of the others were together, and now Twilight controlled them all.

She focused everything in her mind, focusing on the Elements and their powers, their strengths. She channeled them all, using her control of the Element of Magic, and each Element began to glow, one by one, rapidly in turn, until all six were illuminated. Parthax turned his staff to sweep it across a wide arc and unleash another blast of warp energy at her, but the Elements were already activated.

A burst of colour leaped from her tiara, engulfing Parthax before he could do anything about it. His staff could no longer help him, as he was swallowed by the powerful magic, the fundamental forces that the Elements represented. Unknown to humanity or to Chaos, the Elements did their work once again, and the Sorcerer Lord, the Infidel, the scourge of countless worlds, was rendered nothing more than a block of stone, just as Chrysalis had become.

As the light from the Elements faded away, Twilight approached her defeated foe. She turned, and took a page from Applejack's book. She raised one hind leg and kicked out against the newly formed statue as hard as she could. it shattered, crumbling into a thousand pieces, tumbling to the floor.

Her friends hurried out to congratulate her. 'Wow, Twilight! That was awesome!' Rainbow announced.

'You were magnificent, darling!' Rarity exclaimed.

'Ah knew ya could do it, sugarcube!' Applejack smiled.

'Ooh, that calls for one heck of a party!' Pinkie giggled.

'Um...that was...inspiring...' Fluttershy added.

Twilight turned her backs on all of them. She didn't need them any longer. They were in the past. She was the future. It was that simple; maybe it would take time for them all to see the reality, but they would, eventually. Just as she had seen the truth. It had been drip-fed to her, perhaps, but she had long heard those voices in her head, whispering to her. Only now did she see the truth, and it was a glorious truth indeed. She was the one who would take Equestria forward. That was what the voices had told her all along. She had been ignoring them for so long, but it all seemed to come together here. Chrysalis had made her see the light, and Parthax had been the test case to prove it to herself and to everypony else. 

Twilight teleported away from her friends, leaving them dazed and confused. She was gone. She was the future.