"You built this fast," was all Pinkie could say.
"What can I say? It's been a long time since I last put my talents to use, but I'm finally getting the hang of them once again," Cheese said. He and Pinkie were both standing outside of a large hut made out of wood, large palm leaves and a number of items that Pinkie didn't know were on the island. Somehow her husband had managed to craft stools, a bar and a number of beds for the Pie family and Star-Swirl. All in the span of a day.
'Are you sure you yourself are not magical?' Nabu asked.
"Nope. It's just whenever I set my mind to something I get it done. Now come on, the family's waiting." Cheese opened the door for Pinkie and bowed for her, getting Pinkie to giggle as she batted her eyelashes at him. The both of them entered into the hut giggling, interrupting Star-Swirl and Lil' Cheese from the game they were playing.
"I am glad to see the both you in such high spirits," Star-Swirl said. The couple walked past him and to the bar, where Pinkie sat on one of the stools while Cheese slipped behind the counter.
"What can I do for you, miss?" Cheese asked Pinkie.
"I need something to take my mind off the world," Pinkie replied with a southern drawl. "Life has been getting me down and I need a spirit to raise my spirits. Tell me you can help me, Mr. Bartender."
"I think I might have something for you," Cheese replied. His hooves were a blur behind the counter and a moment later he placed a triple fudge, ice cream float with sprinkles on the counter. "This oughta cheer you up."
Pinkie picked up the float, examined it thoroughly, before taking a simple sip. She nodded her head in approval before a smile crossed her face. "It's just what I needed. I'm much obliged."
"Are you two done being silly over here?" Lil' Cheese asked as he popped up next to his mother.
"Never," Pinkie giggled. She picked up her son and placed him on her lap, Cheese giving them a second straw so that Lil' Cheese could help himself as well. "Where did you find all of this stuff? I didn't bring any of it with me when I teleported us here?"
"You're not the only one who's good at hiding things on their pony. I had been planning this not long after we settled in with Star-Swirl. Sorry again about your home, Star-Swirl," Cheese called over.
"I have traded a home for good friends. I clearly came out of that exchange a winner," Star-Swirl laughed. "Do not tarry long, young Fire's Mane. For if you do not take your turn soon, the beast of the Eldin pass will surely devour you whole!"
"I would like to see him try, considering I'm wearing the armor of triforia!" Lil' Cheese replied. He slurped down the rest of the float, getting both parent's to raise their eyebrows, before he hopped off the stool and raced to Star-Swirl. "I cast befuddle and this time I'm using my passive!"
"You know, despite all of the danger and chaos that this has been, it's nice to see him having so much fun on this journey," Cheese said. "we could never have given him any of this back at the rock quarry. So, despite the danger, I think we've come out of this, as Star-Swirl said, winners in the long run."
"But the journey isn't over yet," Pinkie said. She picked up the helm and placed it on the counter, it's gold light dim with the night sky overhead. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow I face Tirek."
"Are you scared?" Cheese whispered.
"Yes. Not of him. Nabu is too powerful to let anything happen to me. But I'm scared of what I might do...what I might be forced to do," Pinkie revealed. "And then, even if I defeat Tirek, what then? The world still needs a leader and we both know I could never do that. Maybe I could free the princesses?"
'That will not be necessary,' Nabu said. 'Tirek has already freed the three princesses and has turned them to his cause. They will most likely stand against us tomorrow.'
"What?" Cheese and Pinkie both asked. "How can that be? Why would the princesses ever side with him?"
'It seems that he has told them about how this world came to be and that I will be the cause of it's undoing. He is right. For once all this is over, I will restore this world to how it was supposed to be. Tirek never having come to power. Pinkie becoming a champion of harmony. Equis as it is was meant to be. Order.'
"Right, the other world that Pinkie told me about," Cheese muttered. "So, in this other world, Pinkie and I are still married? And we still have our son?"
'Correct.'
"But...it wouldn't be us, right? It would be...different versions of us?"
'Better versions. Happier versions. Versions that never had their families wiped out. Versions that never had to raise their sun in despair and pain. A world where he knows nothing but happiness. That is the world I seek to restore.'
Cheese looked up at Pinkie, who gave him a soft smile before placing her hoof on his. "I've thought it over myself, and I believe this is the best path. A world like this...full of suffering and devoid of magic...it is better to fix it. To make sure nopony has to suffer."
"But...what about those who only came to being because of this world? What about those like Jack, who only exist here?"
'Do not worry about them. Should I see them to be kind and righteous, I can easily transplant them onto the world that was meant to be. For those who are not...they made their choice.'
"So they will be erased?"
'As I said. They made their choice.'
Cheese clearly looked like he wanted to say more, but he dropped the conversation when Star-Swirl sat down next to them. "What's the matter, having some trouble with Fire Mane the Unstoppable?"
"If by trouble you mean the little warrior has fallen asleep on my game board and has halted any more progress that we might make, then yes," Star-Swirl chuckled. Pinkie and Cheese looked over at Lil' Cheese, who had crushed the beast he had been fighting not with his skills or weaponry, but by landing face first on top of the model. "I cannot blame him. It has been a long day."
"I'll get him in bed," Cheese said. He left the bar and picked up his son, placing Lil' Cheese on his back and taking him to a side room that Pinkie still couldn't believe that he had made in such a short time.
"Tomorrow, huh?" Star-Swirl asked. His horn glowed and a moment later he was holding a cup filled with tea. "Tomorrow you battle with Tirek."
"Maybe it won't come to a battle. Maybe he can be reasoned with."
"Hmm. You'd have to be a god to reason with somepony as power hungry as him."
"Isn't Nabu a god? So, with Nabu, I could get him to see reason?"
"Outwitted by a miner. You truly are far more dangerous than your kind nature lets on," Star-Swirl chuckled.
"It's amazing what others let you get away with when they don't think you're smart," Pinkie smiled in reply. "But...I know what you mean. You wouldn't happen...to have any last minute advice for me, would you?"
"Expect the unexpected. A battle between magicians is not who has the greater amount of power, though that does play a part. It is who can be more creative, who understands their own abilities to the fullest and who truly has the drive to unleash all they have. You have the power and creativity. Tirek understands his own power and has a drive that eclipses yours. But when it comes to belief, I believe he will shatter when he sees your power."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then you'll most likely have to erase him from existence. Or completely crush him. But trust me, he will try to do the same to you. That's who he is. All he cares about is power."
Pinkie looked up through the small hole in the ceiling after hearing this, looking at the stars as they illuminated the night sky. Crushing Tirek. Erasing him. It was so easy to say it. To imagine the act. But could she trust herself to do it when the time came? And if she did go through with it, could she ever trust herself again? Could see be the hero to Lil' Cheese that he always had seen her as?
'Whatever your choice, I know you will choose correctly,' Nabu said, only so Pinkie could hear him. 'So do not worry. For Fate is on your side.'
†
"I just love what you've done with the place," Discord said. Aside from a grunt, Tirek didn't pay him any mind.
He led the three princesses, Twilight and the god of chaos into his throne room, ignoring the gasps of disbelief that came from them. "I have kept the Elements or Harmony in my throne for the past couple of decades. It was the safest place that I could think of."
"Of course you would take the greatest tools of harmony and friendship and turn them into ornaments," Cadence spat. "You're still the same egomaniac that I read about all those years ago. I do not know how you got Celestia and Luna to work with you."
"Because they have wisdom, something you clearly lack," Tirek spat back. "They understand what is at stake and they are willing to do whatever it takes to save their world. But if you are perfectly fine with everypony in this world being erased and while you sit by and watch, then please, turn around and leave. I will not stop you."
Cadence narrowed her eyes at Tirek, but said nothing. Figuring that she was done arguing, Tirek approached his throne and grabbed hold of the Elements. With a grunt he ripped the six items of friendship free from the throne. He held three in each hand, though their original shape had been long since lost. He approached Celestia and Luna, holding out the six jewels.
"Here they are. Now infuse their power into me," Tirek demanded.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other before nodding. They reached out with their magic and the Elements responded in kind. Three of the Elements surrounded Luna and three surrounded Celestia, both of them alighting as the magic of the Elements coursed through them. A blinding light filled the throne room as the Elements returned to their owners.
"It has been such a long time," Luna said with a smile.
"Yes. The Element's power are ours once more," Celestia nodded.
"Yes, glad that they still work. Now hurry and infuse their power into me," Tirek demanded. Celestia and Luna shared a look. "Do not hesitate. Must I remind you of what is at stake? We must combine our powers to crush this magical force that has arisen! If we do not, our world will be lost!"
Luna narrowed her eyes at Tirek, but Celestia held out a hoof to her. "Tirek is right, sister. Their is a magical force out there that Tirek considers a threat. An enemy that threatens him...I would very much like to meet this enemy that scares him so. It sounds like...we would get along well."
"What?" Tirek asked.
"Yes sister, I see what you mean. After all, Tirek is our greatest enemy. And the enemy of my enemy...is my friend," Luna finished with a wicked smile.
"You dare?! Tirek roared, channeling his power into his horn. Yet before he had the chance to act, bands of chaos wrapped around his limbs and held him in place, getting him to snarl as his spell was broken. "Et tu, Discord?"
"What can I say? I love nothing more than ruining a well laid plan," Discord chuckled. "It's just the chaos in me."
Tirek bellowed as he struggled with all of his might, which was great enough to begin to snap the bands that Discord had made. But then Cadence and Twilight used their own magic to wrap chains around Tirek, chains that dragged his arms down and nearly forced him to his knees. They couldn't hold him for long, as his strength was that great, but as Celestia and Luna combined their powers with the six Elements circling them, the group knew they wouldn't have to.
"You fools! You do not know what you are doing!" Tirek roared at them. "If you do not stop this magical threat here and now, it will draw his attention! The attention of-"
"You wanted our powers so badly, Tirek?" Celestia roared. Her royal voice completely drowned out whatever Tirek had to say. "You wanted the power of the Elements so badly? Then let us see if they find you worthy!"
Celestia and Luna unleashed the full power of the Elements into Tirek, who staggered back as their harmonious power flowed into him. He felt his magic being ripped from him, along with any chance he had at stopping all this. So Tirek threw his head back, let out a scream of rage...before he was enveloped by an explosion. The ponies and Discord covered their eyes at the explosion, but opened them again as the smoke cleared to reveal...the giant form of Tirek completely trapped in stone.
"And with that, it is done," Celestia said.
"Well that was easy," Discord said, leaning against Tirek. "Of course, I don't know what he was thinking, trusting all of you after what he did. And ponies call me insane."
"That was smart thinking on your part, Twilight," Luna said to the unicorn. "To be able to come up with such a plan so quickly...I can see why my sister wanted you as her student."
"So you're the unicorn I have to thank for coming up with this scheme?" Cadence asked. She nodded with an impressed smile. "Pretty cool. Maybe you have the makings of an alicorn in your future. Would you like that?"
But Twilight didn't say anything. All she did was stare at the stone statue of Tirek, something in the depths of her soul telling her she had missed something. She had been waiting for Tirek to roar about his power, how they would never defeat him, how this was his world...but he never had. All he had spoken about was the being. The being that he never named. The being that he believed would end everything. Even with the Elements overwhelming him, the fear she had seen in his eyes was still the same. He had not feared the princesses. He had not be afraid of the Elements even as they consumed him. No, what he feared, Twilight began to realize...
Was what was to come.