//------------------------------// // 17- The Weight of Regret // Story: Sun Never Sets // by CrownofDissonance //------------------------------//     A small, strange bunker stood out in the Everfree Forest, concealed by trees and other naturally growing plant life, none of it the magical variety Twilight had come to expect. It was just one room; one room with an elevator lift behind a sealed door. Down it one would find the entrance to a secret SRAPH research facility, indicated SRAPH by the insignia written inside the lift and implied secret by the fact that it was underground.     More sealed doors would lead inside, where smooth, clean, blue-ish grey corridors led to various parts of the facility, but the primary path leading straight across its length.     It was here that Twilight chased the SRAPH agent that carried Fluttershy away, slicing through the bulky, sealed doors with her ignited katana as they locked in her face in an attempt to slow her down. The elevator platform sped down at an angle, carrying the soon-to-be diced sack of meat and the struggling, bound Fluttershy away from her. Not wanting to waste time waiting for the lift to return, Twilight mounted her hoverboard and jumped into the open shaft, grinding down the lift's central guide rail.      She accelerated faster than the lift, and soon the facility's entrance was in sight. The lift lacked a roof, and so the agent could shoot at her as she came down, but Twilight deflected the bullets as she slowed herself. She was coming in too fast, she wanted to land on the platform, not crash into it.     It shifted direction, stopping moving downward and beginning to move across to the facility's entrance where it connected to it just as Twilight made contact, rolling off her board and coming back up just in time to see the agent tearing through the next set of sealing doors. This time though, an entire squad of agents were waiting behind them; all women in similar grey combat suits, faces concealed, and wielding rifles. As soon as the door opened, she had half a dozen guns trained on her.     One of the agents gave a warning, identifying themselves. "Siren Division, stand down!"     Siren Division. Twilight knew the name—they were an elite SRAPH task force that was formally shut down three years ago. These ones were either still operating in secret, or had defected all together. It didn't matter. Regardless of how good they were, Twilight was better.     The moment Twilight made a move toward them, the agents unleashed a barrage of bullets that she had no problem deflecting or dodging. Her momentum was slowed, yes, but still she moved gracefully, cutting straight through the first's armor with her still ignited katana blade while immediately drawing one of her pistols to blast another, smashing in a third's helmet after switching to her enchanted quarterstaff and tripping a fourth up at the knees to then switch weapons again, jabbing them both with a multitude of her explosive sewing pins.      Another weapon switch. Her demonic stone gauntlets hit hard enough to make their armor useless, knocking the last one up against the wall and, pistol still in hand, shooting her down as she recoiled from the hit. As the two with pins in them managed to stand up and fight again, Twilight simply clapped her hands. With a small smoke cloud, the pins promptly detonated and blew the last two agents back across the hall.     There was little time for her stop. She followed the chase down the main pathway, making a mess of any others that got in her way while only slowing gradually. Her target slipped away through another sliding, sealed door; one leading to an area marked "TESTING-MAIN".     Focusing, Twilight activated her Demon Reflex, decreasing the time it'd take to get to the door before it shut completely. From her perspective, the two halves slowly rejoined each other from either side, and Twilight had just enough room to slip through as they slammed shut behind her.       On the other side, she found herself in a wide, square room with another door across from her, and five, clear paneled, human sized restraining pods, four of which holding one of her unconscious friends in a half ring around the center. A fifth would join them as a woman in a black leather trench coat with curled orange hair and long, streamlined sunglasses took Fluttershy from the agent, somehow pacifying her struggling and rendering her unconscious, then strapped her into the last pod.     Twilight looked on in shock. This woman had all of her friends? She took a step in to intervene, but immediately sensed a piece of hot lead twirling towards her. Stepping in time with the crack of a rifle shot she literally dodged a bullet, identifying a sniper with a blue ponytail to the left of the circle of pods hiding behind a set of worktables with various devices strung across them. Facing the threat, Twilight felt another movement behind her following three rounds going through her back without an accompanying gunshot. Spinning again, she saw another purple haired agent with a suppressed pistol rushing her from the other side of the room, hiding behind various heavy machinery there.      She readied her katana to strike, but another sniper shot behind her corresponded with a pain shooting through her hand and causing her to drop the sword, resulting in the closer agent moving in and landing a solid punch on her jaw, then shooting through her again. Twilight brought her pistols up, but the agent vanished as she tried to line up a shot. Moving in behind her was the sniper firing a different weapon from her wrist as Twilight took her katana back up. A small, pronged cable stuck into her arm, and instantly recognizing what it was, she yanked it out of herself, then yanked it again, pulling and dragging the sniper to the floor.      Closing in on her, she found the stealthed agent reappearing and firing at her from behind, giving the sniper time to get back up and get another line on her. With her sword out, Twilight backed away, eyeing both of them as they closed around her. They thought they actually had her surrounded? Funny.     "Sonata, Aria, that's enough," the woman in the center of the room said. "You don't need to put yourself at risk for my sake..."     "She's gonna kill us, Adagio," the stealth agent said, in a dry, irritated way.     "She already killed all of Alpha squad!" the sniper added, in a much more passionately annoyed tone.     The one grey armored Siren agent near their leader, the one that delivered Fluttershy, also closed in, but didn't have anything to say.     "We don't have to fight, you know..." Adagio said. "I think we can be of help to each other, actually. I'm Adagio Dazzle, head of the now defunct SRAPH Siren unit."     Twilight turned. "What do you want with my friends?"     "Their magic can be harnessed in ways that grant great power," she explained. "I wish to do away with Nightmare Moon, and these girls are the key to stopping her. But you already know that..."     "Does that justify taking them without consent?" Twilight asked.     Adagio laughed in a knowing fashion. "A little bird told me you didn't ask for their consent either when you stole their magic."     "I-" Twilight stopped. She was right, and Twilight couldn't come up with anything to say to that.     "Don't paint yourself out like a hero, honey..." Adagio's voice turned dangerous again, but with a subtle adjustment of her sunglasses her face shifted to tell a different story, settling on a sly, knowing smile. "I have a deal for you."     "What's that?"     "I know those girls don't have their magic, and I know you only have a portion of it." Adagio paused, watching as Twilight nodded a confirmation. "I know you're off to destroy Nightmare Moon, so if you can get the rest of the Elements, defeat her, and bring them to me, I'll release your friends."     "Why do you even need to keep them?"     "As a safeguard," Adagio explained, her expression showing that of perfectly sound reasoning. "If something were to happen to their current carrier, their magic will eventually return here to their original holders."     "And if I refuse?"     "Well..." Her smile widened, but her voice betrayed her face with a tone of a threat. "I can arrange for something to happen to their current carrier right now."     Twilight glared at Adagio. She checked on the two other agents on either side of herself, watching their movements as they kept her at gunpoint.     "But," Adagio continued, hostility fading slightly. "I thought I'd offer to make this easy on both of us."     Resigning herself to a sigh, Twilight nodded and sheathed her sword. "Deal."     "Excellent. Originally, I planned to confront the Dark Sister, but now, I'll just stay here, and make sure your little friends are safe."     "Yeah, whatever," Twilight turned to the door.     "There's a lift connecting this facility to the castle's west wing, you'll want to take that to get there..." Adagio pointed to the opposite door. "Go through that door. Dreary, show her the way."     The grey armored Siren, designated "Dreary," nodded, motioning for Twilight to follow her. Reluctantly, she did, keeping all feelings over the entire kidnapping thing held back as much as possible. Dreary escorted her to a pair of smaller elevator cars on the facility's far end, these ones entirely enclosed.      As the car departed from the facility, she began to think through her next plan of action.     Do you really think she'll honor her end of the deal? She heard the voice of Fluttershy's demon. It was cold and mean, directly contrasting her original host. You should've ended her right there.     I know, but... I didn't want to risk hurting their bodies if a fight broke out.     I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that she's lying to you somehow, though. Applejack's demon said.      I know, but if she needs them alive, she won't hurt them. They'll be safe while I deal with Nightmare Moon, at least.     How will you get the rest of us together? Rarity's demon asked. You need to find Sunset and deal with her too.     Dealing with her will be easy. Twilight replied. And finding her?     She laughed to herself, knowing exactly what she'd do.     "She won't be able to resist a proper rematch." -----     The castle's lowest level was a single, circular room, dimly lit by clean, magical torches that illuminated the aging grey stone of the basement chamber in a soft blue light. A five-pointed star pattern spread across the floor, encompassing other circles and marks, all corresponding to the rooms overall connection to the demon realm's gate.     It was here that Selene suddenly warped into reality. This room was familiar to her, she knew it to be directly beneath the castle's throne room, two levels below. The entire core of the castle was built around the one central tower and its function as the gate to the demon realm, and this room was the very base of that tower.     "I brought us in as close as possible," Discord said, assuming a comfortable floating distance about Selene as she made her way to the room's only exit. "Something was interfering with the spot I was trying to open the portal though."     "Likely the Dark Sister's magic. Worry not, we're close enough..."     As if to contradict her intentions, a stone panel slid shut in front of the chamber's exit, locking them within. Following that, a dark, foggy mist formed around the walls of the room, and out from them a great swarm of demons poured, mostly of minor varieties already encountered. The black robed Reapers came first, more than she could count readily, but backed up by the much larger Scythes. The room was suddenly very full of hostility, and Selene found herself back in the center of the room.     "'Worry not', she says..." Discord complained. "You just had to open your mouth!"     "Stay close to me."     "I hope you know what you're doing."     Leading with her machine pistol, she quickly switched between targets, taking down each approaching enemy as quickly as she could. Sombra and Discord held in a close formation, and waited for Selene's command to take action. She glanced at Sombra, then indicated a Scythe demon for him to target. Stomping his hooves down, a crystal spike shot up from the ground and impaled the demon, holding it in place as Selene fired at it with her burst pistol.      Discord, floating behind her, fired a set of missiles from his bow at the same target, taking out a Reaper next to it in the explosion. Sombra charged in towards another demon, tearing into it with his horn as Selene gave him covering fire. They moved around like this, with Discord covering Selene, and Selene covering Sombra, until Sombra missed a beat and got hooked by a Scythe out of the back. Two Reapers rushed for Selene, and easily beat them back with a change of stance and well placed gun-punches, but Discord was having more trouble. His primary method of attack was time-consuming, and with a mob of swords harassing him, he had to continually relocate himself to avoid taking hits.      "Little help over here? I don't do closeups!" Discord had his bow put away, and was now wielding a spring-loaded boxing glove that fired out of an otherwise normal looking banana to fight back his attackers. The giant red fist did incredible damage to its targets, knocking them all the way back to the wall on impact, but it was slow firing and only hit one enemy at a time. As the demons surrounded him, Discord couldn't thin their numbers fast enough.     Selene put her pistols away and brought out her bladed rifle, stabbing forward and using its length to keep the attackers away. The weapon's edge burned against the demons, stunning them as she swung in quick, hard to counter motions. With proper cover, Discord drew missiles into his bow again, five this time, and arced them up over Selene and rained them down on the slowly dwindling crowd of demons. The line of missiles crashing down cut a line through their circle, and Selene took aim with her rifle to shoot out those that remained.     "Any more tricks?" Selene asked.     Sombra eventually reformed up behind them, his growl alerting them to enemies behind. Reaching behind his neck, Discord created yet another bizarre weapon, a huge, two handed throwing star made of ordinary notebook paper. He tossed it in a curve, and it spun right along the edge of the demons surrounding them, slicing right through them and returning to his paw cleanly. Most of them split in half, then disintegrated, and he smirked.     "How's that for a papercut?"     In his moment of pride, a series of fireballs would hit him over the head, immediately reducing him to a mess of purple and black energy, melting him onto the floor in the same manner as Sombra. His attacks were powerful, but he couldn't take much damage before being knocked out. Selene and Sombra would have to buy him time to recover.     The fireballs came from some of the last demons in the room; a group of skeletal Phantoms guarding a tall, axe-wielding Battlemaster. Sombra dove right into the smaller demons, dodging their fireballs as he scattered them aside, his body shaping into various dangerous shapes and piercing the demons with his crystal powers. His hooves smashed their bones into dust, and the rest of his body ripped them to pieces. Selene engaged the Battlemaster, her anti-tank rifle taking chunks off its shoulder and getting its attention as she moved in to stab at its legs.      She rolled out of the way of its axe, not wanting to call Sombra to her, and she put a round in the demon's chest. Getting close, she drew her machine pistol and unloaded into the demon's face before driving the blade end of her rifle through the chest hole she just made. The demon stumbled back, the blade's blue glow burning it from the inside out, and she finished it off with another rifle shot that pierced the demon through all the way.      With Sombra finishing off the last of the Phantoms, the room appeared to be clear, but a new entity was forming through the center at the very spot they'd arrived. It was a dark, ethereal shapeless mass, the color of deep space, and it floated in the air for a moment before taking a roughly humanoid shape. Selene gasped- she was well acquainted with this entity, and she'd gone to great lengths to ensure she could capture it. The entity too knew her very intimately, and as it raised its head, it stared at her with its terrifying, emerald green eyes.     "The Tantibus..." Selene muttered. "It knew I'd be here. The Dark Sister knows we're coming."     "Didn't expect to see that thing again. Nightmare Moon must really have it out for you." Discord said. He'd recovered, and relocated himself behind Selene, looking off at the demon as it prepared to fight.     "Yes, it would seem so." Keeping her eyes on the Tantibus, Selene neared it, holding her rifle at the ready. She wasn't strong enough to take it down last time, but this time, things would be different.     Without a word, she directed Discord to fire his bow missiles around the Tantibus, surrounding it with the explosions. As it shifted, Selene took a shot guessing where it would move to and hit it around its shoulder area. Its fluid mass blasting off of it, the Tantibus rushed forward, attacking much more aggressively than it did before. Selene got another shot on it, and before it reached her Sombra intercepted it, turning his body to needles as he threw himself onto the nearly liquid state creature.      It was cut into more than expected, but it kept moving forward, going straight for Selene. She adjusted her grip on her rifle and thrust it out, only making the Tantibus split itself apart and bring itself back together clear of the weapon's reach. Backing away, Selene slashed at its arms, severing the limbs as they shot out towards her. Sensing her vulnerability, Discord stepped in to cover her, using his boxing glove to splatter the Tantibus apart, forcing it to reform further away.      This dynamic went on for a long while, with Selene actively avoiding the Tantibus while her two demon allies attempted to keep her covered. Curiously, the more of it she cut off the larger it got. It wasn't noticeable at first, but after a few minutes of leading it in circles it was now Discord's height. She was worried, she knew what could happen if it got too close, but... her demons wouldn't keep it away forever. Selene could only run for so long. It would eventually catch up with her.     A subtle, startling revelation was had as she watched the Tantibus further grow in size, disposing of both Discord and Sombra for the third time in a row. She shot it with everything she had, sliced and stabbed and slashed at it, but it only grew darker, larger, and more insurmountable. With nowhere to run, the demon's eyes peered into hers and she froze up, feeling a single emotion build within her. Regret. It forced her worst fears and memories to the front of her mind, mentally paralyzing her as it slapped her weapon out of her hands and closed in for the kill.     It wasn't just in Canterlot, Selene had been running from this thing all of her life. She ran, tried to hide from it, tried to erase it, all futile attempts that only led it to destroying more cities, taking more lives. Nobody else could fight it for her. Because it was her problem. This creature, the Tantibus, was a demon born of her own mind.     Not just a nightmare, but her nightmare. Her own fear and innermost sorrow made manifest.     Her breath quickened, her chest heaved against the Tantibus's vicegrip as the corners of her vision went dark. The blackness spread, consuming everything in her sight save the Tantibus's eyes—she couldn't look away from its eyes. She wanted to struggle, but her body wouldn't respond. She wanted to scream, but her voice failed her. She wanted to cry, but this thing wouldn't even let her do that. Every horrible memory she went to the trouble of locking away burst out from its tight chains and flooded back to her in a sickening and twisted violation of her mind.     Her vision suddenly suddenly returned, but not in the way she wanted. She wasn't in the castle's basement anymore, she wasn't anywhere in the Everfree Forest. She was now in an old, abandoned country house, not any kind of fortified structure, but a home. The front doors were closed, and the only light came from a set of candles lit around the fireplace. Above that hung a huge, dusty painted portrait of a woman with red hair, wearing a tan hat and vest and with her arms around two younger girls. One of the girls had light pink hair and a white dress, and was smiling, the one with light blue hair and a dress of darker navy looked a bit more reserved. Around each of the girls' necks was an amulet, a red-gemmed sun-shaped one to go with the white dress, and a blue-gemmed moon-shaped one for the navy one.     Despite their drastically different features, Selene knew these people to be a family. This was a portrait of her mother holding her two beautiful daughters; Selene's sister, and Selene herself. This family was her family. This home was her home.      And in this scene she was placed into, she found herself wearing only tatters of clothing, weak and beaten, and with a heavy sense of failure on her mind. She stood with her arms outstretched, gripping the handle of a huge demonic dadao sword that radiated the complete dark essence of the night. Its thick, pitch black blade had a slight curve at the tip, and its spiked, short crossguard held the shape of a crescent moon, just like her amulet. It was almost bigger than she was, but with her arms held high she managed to bring its point towards herself.     She panicked, but realised that she wasn't in control of her body. Her mind screamed out for her body to stop what she was doing, that she didn't want what she thought she did, that hurting herself like this wasn't the answer. But... nothing changed. She could only watch, trapped inside her own head.     Tentatively, she held the sword's point to her stomach, left exposed by holes in her ruined top. Blood began to drip from her as her uneasy hands shook, the razor sharp weapon just ever so slightly cutting into her. With a deep breath, she steadied her hands, and then quickly sank the sword through her own flesh until it stuck out of her back.         Pain raced through her senses, her body felt like it was on fire, and yes, it indeed was. A blue flame filled the gap from where her blood began to spill, slowly incinerating her from the inside out. Unable to alter this horrific memory, Selene could only feel agony as she gradually dragged her sword up through herself, cutting into her chest and spreading the flame into her heart and lungs. She struggled to breathe, she just barely kept her balance, doubling over onto the massive blade sticking through her and only causing more damage.     The burning within her only intensified as deep blue flames began to overtake her entire body. The sword's energy pulsed again and the fire spread further, bursting from her skin and setting the wooden floor beneath her ablaze. She screamed in pain, holding tightly to the sword, twisting it within herself until she could no longer bear it and fell onto her back.     Looking up, she realised that she didn't just fall, she somehow fell out of herself. She was now staring at her own bloodied back, her own deep blue hair, her own burning form, still standing upright and impaled on her blade. But she was now on her back, outside of her body, completely naked, only able to helplessly watch herself and her home be destroyed. A small fragment of the demon sword had broken away, the tip of it embedded into Selene's stomach. It was completely numb and didn't bleed, but other than that there were no injuries on this new body.          While Selene backed herself away from this horrifying scene, the screaming of her old body died down, and in turn was replaced with bone chilling, maniacal laughter. Louder it grew, and as it did Selene saw the body begin to change. Her skin paled to unnatural, deathly tones, her stature grew in size and a pair of feathered wings sprouted from her back.     Before a burning portrait of her only family she was watching herself transform into the most wicked, nightmarish creature she'd ever seen, while a blazing blue inferno consumed everything around her. And still without control of her human body, she curled up into a cowering ball on the floor, feeling nothing but the ocean of terror in which she'd been submerged.     Her old body, now a monstrous and terrifying demon, flapped her wings and shot up through the burning roof, leaving the home to burn with Selene in it. Feeling the beginnings of smoke in her breath, she pushed herself to crawl to the door, slowly rising to her feet as she escaped into the garden out front of her home. The once tranquil place was long since abandoned, vacant of beautiful flowers that once grew proudly. Above her, she saw the bleak, empty sky of the demon realm, pitch black with no sun, moon or stars present to guide anything. She wasn't in the human world.     She ran, but when she got to the center of the garden she saw another demon. It stood in her way along the stone path and Selene in the moment couldn't describe it's spaceless mass, but the Selene still that watched on recognized it as the Tantibus immediately. This was the first time she'd ever seen it and it terrified her then just as much as it did now. It reached for her, surely with the intent to harm her, and so she turned back, settling for finding another way out of this.     Back into her home, where the ground floor was mostly in flames, but the staircase by the door was untouched. Holding her breath through the rising smoke, she ran up, turning down the hallway, and running for the room at the furthest end. Her bedroom, in childhood. She hadn't been here in years, but she knew that the window in her room faced the back end of the house—it was how her child self was always able to sneak out at night.     Smoke crept into her room and flames licked at the floor. Hopping onto her bed, she ran her hands along the old, dust covered window that gave a view of the backyard. The latch was stuck, and she hastily attempted to work it open, she felt something on her bed jab into her knee. Beneath her pillow, there it was; her journal, and atop that, her moon amulet, sparkling innocently with its necklace chain tucked between the pages of the book. It was an empty vessel, containing nothing but sentimentality, but she took it with her, along with her journal.     The memory continued to play out, with her journal and amulet in hand, she jumped out the window and fell into total darkness. It was like falling in a dream, endless and disorienting, and as this was a nightmare, suffocated in fear. But she held tightly to her journal and secured the amulet around her neck and tumbled on through the nothingness, the blade sticking out of her brushing uncomfortably against her bones.     And as she was forced to relive this torturous nightmare, Selene folded. The Tantibus had her, and soon her demon half would be free to spread terror throughout this world and the next. All because her selfish desire for more power, and her inability to trust her sister.     But seeing it all again made her think. She had the restraining capacity of her amulet, the supportive words of her poetry journal, and a piece of the demon's sword. She had a chance to end this. She could make this right. She would make this right.     Breaking out of the memory forced upon her, she came back to reality and met the Tantibus's eyes, holding her mental ground as she defiantly held both of her hands up. It lifted her, right in front of its face, but Selene's resistance made it shudder and shrink.      "Enough! No longer!" Selene shouted, trembling. Her amulet pulsed beneath her clothes as she spoke in both fear and confidence. "You sided with her, because I would not accept you..."     The Tantibus's grip on her loosened as she addressed it. "Because I would not accept my own wrongdoings."     Gradually, Selene felt her feet touching the floor, and the Tantibus's form retracted, only holding her arms now.      "But my remorse will no longer control me!" Selene declared. "And neither will you!"     It was again back to its normal size, and as it became still Selene could clearly see the shape that the Tantibus took was of herself. The eyes that she now gazed back into with understanding were her own, emerald green eyes. Not the eyes of a monster, but the terrified eyes of someone in pain. Eyes that needed not rejection, but compassion. As it withered away, Selene found herself holding onto the Tantibus's hands, pulling it closer, wanting it to hear her words.     "The world we've lost has turned to ash,     These things we'll not undo...     But here we stand, forgiven past,     To start ourselves anew."     In that moment, she did what she had neglected to do all this time. She pulled Tantibus's form into a tight embrace, but instead of resisting, it quietly began to merge into her. Not to consume, but to become one with her, absorbing into her body until they, as one being, were finally at peace.     And without a single scathing thought, she solemnly forgave herself. The mistakes she'd made were unrepairable, but starting now, she wouldn't stand to let another happen. The feeling of relief was overwhelming, but so was the weight of her jarring mental shift. Her trauma wasn't healed right away, it might never heal completely at all, but this was the first step towards recovery.     Standing, she just breathed for a moment, but felt a new energy within her body. She approached the closed stone door, and focused. The energy in her pulsed, and her hair began to glow, turning a spectral shade of deep blue and glimmering like the stars in the night sky. The Tantibus's form appeared at her will, forming into a bulkier form that shoved the sliding stone door open, allowing them to exit. It looked to her, nodded it's compliance, and then faded away, and her hair returned to normal as it did.      She was in control of the demon that plagued her for so long. Now, there was only one more to face before she could end this all for good:     Nightmare Moon. -----     The door responded to the power of the Sister of Light's sword.     It silently slid open, but then resealed itself behind her.      From the bottom of a wide, curving staircase, a single pair of heeled boots echoed to the high ceiling of the castle's throne room, until a long shadow was cast from the orange glow of the chandeliers above. Sword drawn in a low guard, Celestia approached the Sister of Darkness for their final confrontation. She noted that the length of spacey hair around the demon's helmet was not present, but her armor still pulsed with a demonic blue light. The huge, dark knight stood away from her, staring out the tall window at the moon hanging just beneath the layer of bloody red clouds. Behind the knight were two thrones, the thousand-year old seats of power held by Sisters of Light and Darkness when they actively ruled on earth. Rain was falling, a storm was picking up, and as Nightmare Moon turned her head back to look at the intruder, a bolt of lightning blackened the sky for a moment, flushing the entire room in false shadow before returning to normal.     "You've returned..." Nightmare Moon said, fullying facing Celestia and stepping between the two thrones. "The Platinum Knight. Celestia."     Before the steps up to the thrones, Celestia stopped, standing in the center of the circular portion of the floor with a star of five points clearly marked out in it. It encircled the primary floor before the thrones, and was in line with the castle's central tower structure. She met the Dark Sister's eyes as she stood at the edge of the highest step.     In her loud, booming voice, the demon spoke, projecting each word with malicious intensity. "You dare approach me in such a weak, pathetic form?"     "Look who's talking." Celestia's stern expression held strong. "Have you seen yourself a mirror lately?"     "I have become the most powerful demon in the underworld!" A gauntleted hand pointed threateningly in Celestia's direction. "Your insults are meaningless."     "But at what cost was your power?"     "What was the cost not?" Nightmare Moon replied, slowly and absolutely. "To obtain all, you must relinquish all."     "Even your humanity?"     "Especially my humanity!" she hissed, her fist tensing shut. "Only by cutting it away did I discover true strength... And because you cling to yours, you shall perish!"     "I don't think so, little sister."     "Little!?" Nightmare Moon shifted, standing at her full height and looking down on Celestia with infuriated scorn. She pulled off her helmet, tossing it on the ground, and allowed Celestia to see the anger on her face. Her skin was a sickly pale midnight blue, drained of color and with heavy scarring and jet black veins showing through, and her hair was of similar condition, loose and stringy, faded to almost white. Solid white eyes carried a thousand years' worth of built up rage in a face twisted up into absolute disgust. "Look me in the eye and tell me you truly believe you stand a chance against me. I hold all the power you could hope to have in a worthless trinket!"     Pulling the chain from her neck, Nightmare Moon presented the sun amulet containing the Sister of Light's power. Celestia was still silent, unphased by this.     "But so be it. If you refuse to accept your birthright..." Nightmare Moon's fist closed over the amulet, focusing on it, and taking in its power, exclaiming her intent as it began to rush into her. "I will gladly take it from you! And with it, I will have it all!" A golden orange glow surrounded it, combining with her own silvery blue, but the golden light was snuffed out and consumed by the Dark Sister's power. Nightmare Moon's hair shifted, changing back to the softer blue swirl of light, and her armor buckled as she grew larger, her shoulders widening and her muscles strengthening while her armor fell away in places it was no longer needed. The portions around her chest, arms, and legs that remained morphed with her body, becoming suitable for her new form.     Dropping the empty amulet on the ground, Nightmare Moon took up her sword, which was a little less ridiculously sized. She now stood twice as tall as Celestia, and she spread out her wings and walked down the steps.     "No, you won't have it all," Celestia said, her head tilting down into a disappointed, resigned gaze, and her lips curling into a frown as her voice began to waver. "No matter how hard you try, you'll never have it all..."      Very slightly, Celestia shook, because inside her heart was breaking. Nightmare Moon's transformation didn't phase her, but her hands still gripped her sword a little too tightly as she came to terms with what she was about to do.     "Because you just lost your only sister." -----     Sunset's pistols fired off rapidly as she ran along the inside of the castle walls. The firebird made passes, shot fireballs, and grabbed at her as she rolled and jumped around the courtyard. The bird came straight for her as her feet kicked off the wall, narrowly avoiding two talons smashing into the stone. As Sunset landed, she drew Pinkie's party cannon, blasted the firebird up against it and broke more of the wall apart.      The rain around them was picking up, and before long there was a mild storm overhead.      Righting herself, the firebird spun, igniting her wings in flames and breathing a straight stream of fire down on Sunset. Charred grass sizzled beneath Sunset as she ran out of the way, leaping atop a tall fountain and bringing out Rainbow's guitar-axe. She played a long, repeating riff, going up and down the neck of the guitar to create a consistent bolt of lighting directed at her flying opponent. The electricity struck right as the firebird swooped in again, and she was stunned and pushed back as Sunset readied her party cannon again.     She fired, but in the time it took to bring the weapon up, the bird recovered and evaded the incoming shell.     "Sunset!" Pinkie's demon chirped, the voice emanating from the weapon.      "What is it?"     "I've got a new trick for you, twist me apart from the center!"     "Is now the time, Pinkie?"     "It'll help, I promise!"     Doing as instructed, Sunset gripped the weapons two handles and turned them in opposite directions. The cannon screwed apart, splitting into two pieces, slightly changing shape to become a balanced pair of smaller cannons. Each handle formed an L-shaped grip that Sunset wielded like a pair of batons, each barrel running parallel to her forearms.     Raising them up, Sunset targeted the firebird again, and the cannons fired a spreadshot of bright, pastel colored bits of sharp metal that burst in the sky with sharp, high pitched cracks. Sunset understood. In this form, Pinkie's demon became a confetti-flak cannon. Now, the bird had much more dodging to do as Sunset's cannon shots became faster and blanketed a larger area of the sky.     Fireballs rained down on her, but Sunset could move around much easier with her weapon in this form. She landed a solid hit on the bird, stunning it as she continued to light it up and bring it closer to ground. When it was close enough, she pointed both cannons at her feet behind her, and blasted herself up towards her feathered opponent     Drawing her sword, she twirled mid-air, slicing up multiple spots on her foe as she passed the great burning bird. Continuing the arc of her jump, she landed on a rooftop over the main walkway into the castle, and looked down at the falling bird. Her wings suddenly spread, catching herself last second and pulling back up into the sky, making one last attempt to take Sunset out with a howling screech.     The attack came too quickly; the bird slammed into her, perching firmly on the walkway roof and tossing her down into the ground below.      "I thought not!" The bird cackled, breathing heavily and obviously worn out from the battle. "A true child of Celestia would've-"     BangBangBangBangBangBang!     Laid out on her back, Sunset's pistols fired off rapidly, catching the bird mid gloat and punching her full of holes. With a weak squawk, the bird reeled back on one leg, spun about in an exaggerated daze, and fell back off the roofing in a dramatic fashion.     Sunset rose, and went over to the feathered demon. She lay still, but was still breathing, and had a few words for the demon hunter.     "You really are..." She wheezed, "I am free from Nightmare Moon's servitude. As the guardian of this place, you have my blessing. One who could defeat me so easily could certainly defeat her..."     Sunset paused. Where normally she'd end a battle with a witty line, or some cocky insult, this felt different. This was the first demon she ever fought that had expressed regret after losing. Other demons fought without thinking, but this one didn't. She was forced against her will, and Sunset was probably making more of this than she should have, but the bird had her sympathy. Having to kill her was... regrettable, if otherwise, it could've been avoided.      "Thank you," the bird said, and then promptly burst into flames, burning away until she was only ash.     No time to dwell on it, there was a bigger demon to fry. She would've liked another lollipop right about now, but she had just finished her last one as she walked off.     With her sword slung over her shoulder, she entered the castle, stepping into its main hallway and looking down either side. The hall stretched longways in both directions, but right across from her there was another, wider door, already slightly open.      Going through it, she found herself at one end of a long hallway, evenly spaced windows on either side showing interior courtyards in the now pouring rain. At the far end of the hallway there was a door with five indents on it, arranged in a star pattern around the centered indent, but in front of that, a woman blocked her path.     Purple hair, purple eyes, and purple coat. Square glasses, and a katana sword held in one hand. The sight of her eternally serious face made Sunset feel every emotion at once, from relief, to resentment, to sadness, to hope.      This was Twilight Sparkle. Both her best friend and worst nemesis.     There was a tense silence between them for a few long moments.     "Sunset." Twilight began, her voice echoing through the hallway. "The throne room is just beyond this door, and inside, Nightmare Moon."     "That's where we're headed then, right?" Sunset said. If they could get through this without a fight, maybe convince Twilight to stand down...     "That's where... one of us will be headed." Twilight replied. "That door requires all five of the Elements of Harmony to open. You have two, and I have three."     Something was different. Before, Twilight was much more hostile in tone, more condescending. She must've had some kind of change while Sunset was asleep. Did she get better or worse?     "And let me guess, you still think you're the one who needs to destroy the Sister of Darkness, right?"     Twilight nodded. "That's right. It has to be me. I need the magic you've taken."     There it was again, that difference. She wasn't saying it like she was desperate, she was saying it like she was regretting it.      "I..." Sunset felt a lot of built up anger towards Twilight, but this change of tone was challenging all of that. The idea that Twilight might've been like the firebird, it just didn't seem right to have to fight her now. But she wasn't, Sunset reminded herself. She made these choices, and the only reason any of this was happening was because of her. Sunset's fist tightened. "I'm not giving you more magic. You've destroyed everything in your path because you wanted more power!"     "Yes. I know. But I can't turn back now, either."     The anger was washing over her again, taking over her thoughts. Sunset tried to control it, but in no way did she see this ending peacefully. But even through her anger, a heavy hesitation fell on her.      "Only one of us can go forward and possibly stand a chance against Nightmare Moon, only one of us can be Celestia's strongest." Twilight said. "And if it's not me... well, I never did stand a chance, did I?"     The angry feeling was there, but now it was different, it wasn't aimed at Twilight anymore. It was aimed at what she was doing. How she was destroying herself in the pursuit of power. But in waiting for her here, right before the door to the final confrontation, Twilight was entertaining the idea that she might be wrong. And if Sunset defeated her, she would have no choice to but to accept that she was wrong.     So, of course, one more fight would be the only way this saw conclusion.     Her gaze lowered for a moment, and a smile fell across Sunset's face as she laughed softly. "So this is it, huh? Our rematch."     With an amused huff, Twilight smiled as well. "That's right. You and me, settling the score for good."     They both gripped their swords, slowly nearing each other as they prepared for a battle that may very well determine the course of history. But to Sunset it was about the fact that, if she could beat Twilight here, there might be hope for her. For the two of them. Her heart raced in anticipation of possibly saving her friend, but was betrayed by the excitement of a duel with someone whom she was so close.     "Come on then, Twilight! Give me everything you've got!"     "With pleasure."