You'll never beat me. My Mark inspires victory and that is something you can never change for destiny is on my side, so I have won, and always will win. I always win in the end, Ender. Not even you or Celestia could change that. Not even the Lunar Knight could stop me from escaping true death and eternal rest. Whether indirect or personal, I always win the fights I have thrown at me, or the fights I start.
Vision blurred, Overcast squinted through the haze of forms as darkness edged closer over his eyes.
"We'll -cough- see about that..."
One horn glowed. A telekinetic grip wrapped over him applying painful pressure.
The darkness edged closer.
He blinked...
Heart pounding, thumps echoing in his ears, Overcast felt reality come rushing with adrenaline to meet him as he felt Celestia drop him to the bridge below.
Every move is important now.
What happened? Sunburst called. What's going on why are you so nervous? What's happening?!
He ignored Sunburst's question. And with a thud, Overcast landed on the bridge, galloping forwards towards Primus he conjured two blades of pure magic. They clashed, a metallic hiss and magical sparks flew through the air around them. Pulling his blade back and conjuring another, Overcast struck with two at different sides.
Again, he was parried.
Every thrust, every slash easily blocked. At this point he was merely following the motions. It was useless to try and stab at him, Primus had overcome the infinite duels they had before this in different alternate realities, in different whens, where's, and in the real world, in the present he would most likely overcome this too. Muscle memory had grown from every timeline he had experienced that started out this duel but through every timeline he had come no closer to besting Primus in close quarters. It was a delay, a chance to think up alternative options, pushing his mind to move at speeds that Sunburst would not entirely be able to process resulting in his own mind just filtering out Overcast's thoughts like they usually did unless either one of them willed the other to listen.
With a thrust, Overcast stabbed and fell forwards on the dodge, followed by Primus with a back swing that forced Overcast to swivel offensively on all four hooves to parry. The move was a mistake.
Unable to move quickly enough to move back a few steps Overcast stumbled, and Primus took the opportunity, aiming for the throat on his swing forward--
Metal clashed with a metallic clang and Celestia glared silently as her polearm blocked the blade's path to Overcast's throat.
The moment stunned him. Time almost slowed as the Princess of the Sun's burning ethereal mane and tail, illuminated wings and cold infuriated eyes seemed to cast a shadow of light that pushed away the chilling cold blue-green light that was responding all around them.
Then time picked back up. The double sided spear snapped in half just like it was supposed to and Celestia aimed a swing down that forced Primus to retreat his advantage.
Overcast collapsed on his rump, breathing heavy.
"Are you alright?" Celestia asked, landing in front of the unicorn, her eyes kept on Primus who checked the small cut on his cheek.
"Y-yes," Overcast heaved just as Sunburst sighed with a projection of himself to match his relief. "Thank you Princess."
Tia did not reply. She merely clicked her spear back together, and advanced towards Primus. "...He's aiming for you... I need you to be ready--"
Primus launched towards them, gliding, barely touching the ground, a blade ready to crash down in his next assault.
A burst of wind played with his mane and both Overcast and Sunburst could do nothing but watch as Celestia moved to counter. There was a metal clang, and the two began dueling. Primus swinging two long swords, Celestia using a double sided spear, connected by chain.
We have to do something! If he's aiming for you then let me go help!
The words leaped to his tongue but stopped at the roof of his mouth. Time and time again Sunburst would ask and he had denied him, allowed him in the moment, or the mental projection of his host once made physical would leap in at an inopportune time when excitement overcame him. But this, a slip-up in combat that hadn't turned detrimental almost instantly after?
This was new.
He hadn't seen any of those that turned good. But what if- what if trying to control the madness, was going about this all wrong?
With a bit of concentration and some effort, the image of Sunburst only he could see became physical. Illusion made reality. Sunburst flashed into existence in a nanosecond and the moment he did, he turned to watch the fight.
"What do you plan to do?"
"I have no idea, but I'll come up with something on the fly."
These words gave Sunburst obvious pause as he turned to look at Overcast with incredulity. But, he felt the seriousness in those words, could sense the devotion in Overcast that this was going to end one way or another. The grit that he would see their deaths than see this end in failure.
It gave Sunburst pause. "Overcast...what happened when we were flying up here? You went silent after talking to the Princess, what's wrong? Why do you feel so...scared?"
He snorted. Fear? Impossible.
"It's not impossible," Sunburst sighed, turning his attention to the fight ahead as he pulled back his cape and dug a hoof in to pull out a necklace with three identical gems. "I'm...I guess, surprised. I didn't think you could feel real emotions." Was the sincere remark.
It silenced the sense of annoyance at the suggestion of being afraid and was replaced with surprise at the genuine cutting remark. Albeit, that surprise was quickly stomped down. Sunburst glanced at his doppleganger who slowly rose and said nothing, keeping his grey eyes focused on the fight ahead.
"What do you plan to do?"
Sunburst glanced up, or at least as up as his head would allow him. "Buy the Princess and you some more time."
"Meaning?" The other inquired with a hint of annoyance that Sunburst was sure he wasn't just imagining.
"Meaning I'm going to be a sharp shooter." At this the gems resting on his chest glowed. "I can keep my distance and make sure I can provide you back up where needed. Besides, if I get hit, you'll feel the feedback. Better we're not together."
He didn't say anything. It was a fair point anyway. Whatever the Elements had done to subdue his magic and bind him to this Scholar it would be better they stayed at a distance when doing this. Thinking this by the time he was about to consent, Sunburst was already galloping down the bridge and shooting at Primus, giving the Princess timed moments at random which she used to follow up with a press in advantage.
Till a shadow caught Overcast's peripheral.
Pegasus!
Sunburst whipped his head to the location in surprise just as the specter came flying towards him.
Horn glowing, the specter popped as grey-black magic sandwiched the poltergeist with a slam. I'll take care of the pegasi, focus on Primus!
Nodding Overcast turned his attention back to the fight-- only to be shaken when the whole bridge shook with a sudden force. Turning on a dime, he watched as the two alicorns collided on the bridge. The collision broke with both backing away and Primus sending out a spell that was deflected.
Shadows blocked the skylight as Overcast eliminated specters with his conjured bladed while Sunburst took out specters from afar to cover him. A blur of seconds or a few minutes might have went by but the turning point came when he saw the Princess take to the air and stab at two specter guards, while Primus took the advantage and sent a blast of magic pointed in Celestia's direction, zooming towards her to deal a knockout blow- that she countered with a beam of her own.
No Overcast snarled. The sign that things were bound to get worse was that coronal beam-lock. Every single instance had led to something terrible. He had to break it somehow.
"Sunburst! Can you get a lock on him from where you are?!"
The response he got was the flash of light.
It seemed the Tower however was going to make certain he couldn't intervene.
Specter guards flowed from the depths in groups of twenty and dove to attack. Blocking Sunburst like a wall. Overcast, now enraged by the circumstances, charged forward only to have the circling crowd of winged specters charge at him.
Blades conjured he pushed on. Stab, slash, blast, he ducked under swoops, leaped over spears and bounced of specter bodies with his hooves where they crumbled into gas. The onwards charge forward slowed with every new group he was confronted till he was eventually surrounded with the Princess in the distance pushing in a hard effort against as Primus was.
Horn flaring to life from sheer frustration, Overcast raised his head and channeled a wave of energy out his horn. It spread out like fire and consumed the specters above and around him and without haste, feeling just a bit closer to being exhausted he pushed forward and was met with another blockade. Again he performed the same spell. Again he was blocked and this time archers were sent to attack, so again he cast the spell that burnt all spiritual obstacles in its path.
That nagging tug of harmonic energy knocked on in his head and already he knew the migraine would be coming soon to impede him further.
Just as he was about to cast a spell and hurl it at Primus, a specter slammed into him from the side, then another sandwiched him on the flank, then a third and a fourth and a fifth and sixth collapsed around him. All applying pressure to keep him off balance, pushing and shoving him to keep him from gaining stability.
Ears perking at Primus' laugh, Overcast looked to the Princess and watched as the beam slowly pushed towards her. It wasn't much, but it was a sign. This couldn't go on forever. This had to end. He had to end this somehow. Someway. He had to.
"PRINCESS!" he cried out, horn throwing sparks as he pushed against the ones restraining him. "DO YOU TRUST ME?!"
She couldn't look at him, if she looked at him it was over. Overcast, mouth barely agape watched in silent petrification as the seconds ticked and the push and shove continued, eyes focused solely on the beam as it inched at a glacier pace in Celestia's direction.
"...yes" he barely heard her whisper. "I do."
She smiled just a little.
He hesitated. He didn't know why he was hesitating. It was easy, simple. Cast tbe spell and everything would be over. The more time he wasted, the more the stakes rose. There was a horrible pressure somewhere in his body, the place where a heart might be and a lump in his throat that felt uncomfortable and hard to swallow.
Overcast charged his horn and in the distance he heard Sunburst shout "WAIT! What are you planning?!"
The doppleganger blinked, his grey eyes narrowed, and reaching for his magic, Overcast's corona doubled, tripled, crackling with purple, black, and grey energies with a mixture of various colors.
"STOP HIM!" Primus yelled, desperation clear. The Tower vibrated and to his command a hundred shadows rose from the depths and rushed towards the entangled unicorn.
Overcast snarled in pain as his light headache suddenly increased to a migraine, pushing through it he dug deep and found something- a source of power that fed into his magic. Drawing on it he pieced together a flame of purple, then released a blast of magic towards the wave and every specter turned to butterflies.
To his surprise, the harmonic magic didn't lash out instantly within him. The headache did not magnify but stayed consisted, his body did not burst into static discharge to restrain his movement, whatever he had just found as a source to boost his magic it seemed Harmony would allow him to use it. If only for now.
Before Primus could shout another command, Overcast kicked, dislodged himself from his captors and with a nod forward as he fell backwards, he landed with a grunt and with insane speed as he dug into this knew well of strength that fueled this odd sensation of pain in his chest he crafted a ball of magic. Lobbing that ball of pure chaos right towards the center of the beam, it streamed forwards.
Primus screamed, Celestia watched in concern and uncertainty, and Sunburst stared in horror as all the specters rushed to block the ball. If their attempts did anything, it just added butterflies to the swarm.
The ball of magic touched the center of the beam, popped, and for a moment nothing happened.
For one brief second, sparks flew from his horn as everything in the tower froze and he collapsed to the ground. In the instant that silence fell, Overcast wished he could rewind time, stop himself from using the spell he had just cast.
But it was too late.
A ball of light blossomed from nothing, like a visible black disk that radiated light the ball sent feedback of black static to both alicorns. Primus was struck at the same time as Celestia and instantly his concentration was destroyed. He collapsed, sputtering, eyes bloodshot, dazed and Celestia followed shortly, collapsing, hacking as black static crackled across them both. The disk didn't cease, it pulled at them, tugging on them, yanking repeatedly on the static discharge that trailed their bodies till the static became two separate strings that crackled and connected the disk to the alicorns.
"What did you do?" Sunburst asked mesmerized.
No answer. Just silence. For the first time in existence" Overcast found that he could not watch this unfold.
His eyes shifted, jaw tensed, gaze turned downwards, but his ears remained alert.
Primus laughed a bitter wheezing sound, and then said "What did I tell you!" He crowed loudly for all to hear. "Once a Ender, always a Ender!"
The dark vacuum between the alicorns glowed white on its outer ring and before Sunburst could voice his concern at Primus' statement the two Alicorns suddenly dropped, unconscious, silent and the disk that had pulled the static into itself expanded with a screech and howl before it too erupted into flames that burned itself out of existence.
The tower rumbled immediately, the butterflies froze, specters turned simultaneously to look at the two unicorns then everything from the butterflies to the specters turned into blue-green dust that faded with the tower's pulsing light before everything went deathly still and cold.
Sunburst- stunned and blinking to regain his vision, rubbed his eyes before adjusting his glasses. He walked first to inspect what had just happened. He moved past his double whom he could sense was feeling a cocktail of confusion, a mixture of emotions he wasn't sure he wanted to understand right now because understanding meant that Overcast had just done something unthinkable.
Carefully, he checked the Princess's still form.
"...Sun and Moon" the scholar gasped in horror, then looked at the motionless Eudes who no longer looked like an alicorn but a unicorn. "Y-You killed them!?!?"
They all blinked. Twilight, Starlight, Sunset, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Applejack, Discord, Spike- they blinked as the light faded their vision and the tinted grey left their sight to return color back into the world.
"Girls" Fluttershy gasped, "look!"
There he sat, staring at them in his broken, battered form. The dented armor, the bruises, the cuts, the burnt hairs that came from contact with raw energy. The bags under his eyes.
For a moment everyone froze, stunned. Then Discord moved his talon digits together--
"Whatever you are about to do, it won't work" said the battered unicorn. Overcast's image flickered, like a projection going unstable his image flickered then shifted briefly from a his battered state to a cleaner form before swapping back.
"What's going on here...." Sunset questioned carefully.
"My message has been delivered. The final message was to show you all this."
"Why?" Starlight asked with a lot less hostility than her usual meetings with Overcast had went.
"Because that was always the aim. You have questions. Sunburst can't answer them all. I can, because I had the means at the time" again his image flickered, this time he became a deer- again he swapped back.
"Why are you doing that?" Pinkie asked.
"Doing what?" He flickered, image changing to a dragon then swapping back to the battered unicorn.
"...that" Rainbow Dash whispered, earning stares, stares she ignored as she looked at him. "Cast..." Her melancholy turning sour she glared, "how do we know you aren't tricking us?!"
To that he looked at Discord. Again his image flickered, this time he was a Diamond Dog before he changed back.
The draconequus chose to ignore the obvious staring he could feel in his direction. A red dot appeared on his lion paw as he filed it and then began to leave the scent of burning hair.
"Ow!" He hissed and then dunked his paw into the lemonade pitcher on the table. "Phew! Close one right?"
"Discord!" All except Overcast shouted.
"UGH! Fine!" He turned to shoot a glare at specific unicorn. "He isn't lying. There was never once any attempt at meddling with any of your minds through the whole process, I would have ended the spell if there was, there! Happy?"
Twilight turned, looking at the zebra that now stood before them with a knotted mane that covered his eyes. "I... I don't know what to say" her expression a mixture of emotions, and looking to the girls there was no immediate help.
At least till Applejack said "Except, if you really could have cast that spell before- why didn't you do it from the beginning? Why did you wait till then to use whatever that was?"
"It's not that simple."
"Really?" Green eyes narrowed.
The projection sighed. Becoming a Minotaur. "Really." The now-Pegasus frowned as green eyes looked into his grey.
There was silence for a long pause here as farmer and dimensional hologram from beyond showed off in a staring contest, Applejack pulling a signature solid ten level glare that was backed by Pinkie's silent questioning raised brow and augmented in drama as Discord continued to file his talons nonchalantly while both of his ears worked a miniature speaker and recorder in the air to get all of this more clearly.
"Hmph" Applejack snorted then looked away, Pinkie joining her after a second as their attention to the group was returned.
"So...?" Rainbow Dash let the question hang.
Pinkie and Applejack glanced at each other and then AJ sighed. "It doesn't seem like he's lying. I can't feel anything from him, as far as I can tell he's been 100% honest with us."
"And my Pinkie Senses aren't acting up at all either." Pinkie gently added. "I think he's finally come clean here girls."
"Discord?" And just as Spike turned his attention to Discord, he paused to watch one of his ears cram a microphone back into Discord's head before settling back on the right position.
"Uhhh, right. Um, what do you think?"
"Me?" Discord enquired. "Why?"
Spike shrugged. "I...I don't know. It looks like you two seem to know somethings about each other we don't. So, if anything I thought you might have something to add or say about this. He did trick you also, y'know."
"Trick me?" Discord laughed. "Oh Spikey-Wikey", the young dragon smacking his talon away as it neared his cheek, "no one tricks the trickster." He proclaimed with a proud medal appearing with the title.
" Except us when we beat you the first time--"
"What was that Twilight?"
"Nothing."
"Oh. Well, good" Discord blinked then grinned. "Of course, if you really want my input- he's not lying."
"But how do we know he didn't do something to you also?" Fluttershy gently prodded.
"HahahaHAaaa!" Discord giggled. "Impossible my dear Fluttershy."
"And why ever would that be dear? Tirek--"
"Took my magic, which, I might add- would have eventually returned to me....just not in any time soon enough to stop him. So, yes, while for a moment I briefly understood how absolutely terrible it is to be...well no offense to any of you but, mortal--"
Many eyes rolled, only Twilight huffed in annoyance.
"--I can assure you, he doesn't have the power. No one in the world could corrupt the Spirit of Chaos. No item is powerful enough to. Not even the Elements. The only one that can do that here, is me, to myself.
Which gave pause. Before Discord continued, "At least I think" he considered. "Why change what's already better than perfect right?"
"Your opinion, Discord?" Starlight pressed with a straining smile.
"Right right, got off track. Oh! Well I guess it doesn't matter anymore."
Through grit teeth and increasing sparks from the horn. "And why is that?" Starlight asked gently.
He pointed.
They looked.
Overcast was barely visible now.
Eyes widening the group moved like rushing water around the table towards the stallion at the hall. "What's happening?" Dash was the first to ask.
"My message was sent. All the letters are being erased. Which means this is truly my last letter." The projection flickered, then became the battered unicorn they had seen before.
"But we still have questions!" Pinkie yelled. "You can't just vanish, again! Without answering all of the important ones!"
"I already have" came the distant voice.
"It's not good enough!" Twilight snapped.
"Do you all really hate me this much, to not be satisfied with what I have shown you?"
"No!" They all cried, then after shared confusion there were different responses from each mare and a dragon. "Yes, no, maybe, I don't know, I'm not sure--"
His chuckle silenced them.
"I'm sorry" he said in a voice that sounded so far away. "I'm just... I'm sorry, he, I felt terrible about what I had done." Something wet stained the floor, a drop of water that Spike's eyes caught first and then one by one so did the others.
"Are you, crying?" Rarity asked breathless.
"Am I?" The distant voice sounded farther away. "I wouldn't know. Its one thing to watch others go through the predictable cycle of emotions...a whole other experience to go through it...yourself..."
Seconds went by. Every ear was perked. A tick of someone touching down caught everypony and like watchtower lights their ears swivelled towards the source.
Discord wasn't smiling as much as before. His amusement was sober as odd as it was. "He's gone."
The others shared a look.
Rainbow Dash however. She couldn't look away from those few drops that marked the floor. A gaze that once
followed, made others feel...odd. Sad perhaps. Maybe even pity.
"...Have any of you seen Overcast cry before?" Was the question no one expected Starlight to ask.
They all thought about it.
Then Fluttershy voiced the answer: "No."
"He's been angry, happy, thoughtful, even has a sense of humor. But he's never been sad. Never in a way I felt was genuine...at least till today" Pinkie added.
"Are we even sure that this wasn't another trick?" Sunset asked.
They all looked at each other. Then looked at Discord, who floating there did nothing but shrug his shoulders off and watch them hop back on.
"I've told you my opinion Sunny." Discord answered. "The memory was real. No alterations or shifts. Everything seen, happened the way it did."
"Then all those alternate realities? Those were actual possibilities? Not just really good illusions inside of a memory?" Twilight pressed.
Discord's smile dropped just a little but came right back up. "At least we got lucky."
Silence. They looked at Discord. Looked at the few droplets that showed signs there had been someone else there aside from them and this wasn't a intense hay fever dream.
"What...is an Ender?" Spike asked drawing attention.
"I...don't know actually?" Starlight said. Then looked to Sunset who shook her head and Twilight, who frowned in thought.
"Discord?" Fluttershy turned to her companion. "Do you know what a Ender is?"
"Well from context alone based off what that Primus lout was saying, I think--"
Firmly, "Discord?"
Discord chuckled. "No Fluttershy. I have no idea what they were talking about."
A single stare lasted a few seconds longer, and when Discord's composure didn't shift or change. Fluttershy sighed and turned to the others. "I guess we'll have to ask Princess Luna?"
"...yeah, good idea." Twilight said. And for the last time they all couldn't help but glance back at the tears.