//------------------------------// // The Ending of the End, Part 1 // Story: Guarded Emotions: The Final Season // by Alabenson //------------------------------// “—and so help me, if I EVER hear so much as a suggestion that you’ve repeated this behavior with anycreature, let alone one of Princess Twilight’s personal friends, I will see to it that the Tambelon observation station is reopened for the express purpose of posting you there! AM I UNDERSTOOD?” The guard on the receiving end of Moonwhisper’s tirade let out a terrified whimper in response. “Good. You’re dismissed. NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” The unicorn promptly rushed out of the office Moonwhisper had commandeered as his temporary Canterlot workspace, nearly colliding with Silver Streak in the process. “Another discipline problem, sir?” Silver Streak asked as she popped her head in the doorway. “What is that, the fourth one today?” “Fifth, actually,” Moonwhisper snorted as he slumped back into his seat and poured himself a glass of water. “That one got caught mouthing off to Applejack, of all ponies. It’s bad enough that every unicorn in the Canterlot garrison has seemingly decided to descend into tribalism, but now they can’t even be bothered to pay attention to the VIP intelligence I had distributed. Please tell me that the pegasi aren’t having the same issues.” “No more than usual, sir,” Silver Streak replied. “We’ve had the typical amount of grumbling from the Cloudsdale set about taking orders from wingless ponies, but nothing that’s reached the point that it required discipline.” “Good, though it sounds as though I’ll have to speak to Captain Fearless Blade about drilling the Cloudsdale out of some of the recruits. I don’t care how ‘traditional’ any of it is, that sort of attitude has no place in the guard.” Before Silver Streak could reply, a pegasi guard charged into the room. “Sir, you need to come with me to the throne room immediately! It’s…you need to hear this for yourself.” ********* The impending invasion of Canterlot had sent the city into a blind panic. Most ponies had responded to the threat by barricading themselves in the sturdiest structures they could find if they couldn’t flee altogether, while guards could be seen rushing about in every direction. Against a backdrop like this, the sight of Greater Good cheerfully prancing along seemed even stranger than usual. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), nopony made any effort to question Greater Good’s presence until he reached his destination, Moonwhisper’s office. The door to the office was closed tight, with Silver Streak and Sharpshooter standing outside. “Good morning, lieutenants,” Greater Good said in his most irritatingly chipper tone. “Is the captain in? I need to have a quick word with him. Nothing important, just how we can avert Equestria’s pending annihilation.” “I understand the urgency of the situation, sir,” Silver Streak began as she shared an uneasy look with Sharpshooter. “However, I feel it’s my duty to warn you, the captain did not take news of what’s happening well.” “Oh, I’ve seen Moonwhisper throw a fit before, I’ll be fine,” Greater Good said. “With all due respect, y’ve never seen the cap’n angry,” Sharpshooter replied. “Ah thought Ah had, but then Ah saw this. And Ah can tell y’, y’ ain’t seen the cap’n angry before.” “Just open the door and let me speak to him,” Greater Good snapped, abruptly dropping his carefree persona. Reluctantly, Sharpshooter cracked the door open. “—RUTTING SON OF A TWO-BIT DIAMOND DOG WHORE! WHEN I GET MY HOOVES ON THAT MISERABLE MALFORMED IDIOT I’M GOING TO SHOVE A SPEAR SO FAR UP HIS—” “Welp, the good news is it sounds like the cap’n’s calmed down a bit since last time we checked on him,” Sharpshooter said as he quickly closed the door. “He’s usin’ actual words now and everythin’.” “We really don’t have time for this,” Greater Good sighed irritably as his horn flared up and a pale green glow enveloped his throat. “Moonwhisper, I know you can hear me. I need you to put a pin in your screaming fit and get out here. We’re activating the Nightmare Protocols.” Greater Good’s statement was met by several seconds of silence before the door swung open to reveal an icily furious Moonwhisper. “You’re not—” Moonwhisper began. “I’m absolutely serious,” Greater Good interrupted. “This is the exact situation the protocols were created to deal with. We have three highly dangerous threats, each one at least as powerful as Sombra, if not stronger, bearing down on Canterlot as we speak. And you couldn’t even handle Sombra by yourself, not to mention what happened the last time you tried fighting Tirek.” Moonwhisper was forced to look away at the mention of this last incident. “You need a reminder of that last bit? Alright, after Tirek drained your magic, you kept trying to fight him, at which point Tirek proceeded to break nearly every bone in your body. And the only reason he didn’t kill you outright was the fact that Discord, of all creatures, intervened. So, if you’re done throwing a temper tantrum over the situation, you need to—” “We have another option,” Moonwhisper said.” The Flashstone Amulet. The amplification factor is at least tenfold, probably substantially higher, and it doesn’t have any corrupting elements either. If we give it to Princess Twilight, she’ll easily be able to overpower—” “The amulet’s been destroyed,” Greater Good snapped. “Apparently, Discord ‘borrowed’ it as part of whatever it was he thought he was doing and it was destroyed right before his magic was stolen. Face it, we’re all out of options here. There’s simply no other way you’ll be able to protect Princess Twilight.” Moonwhisper silently stared at Greater Good for a moment before replying.” The case is still in Ponyville.” “I picked it up before I came here,” Greater Good said, reverting back to his irritatingly cheerful persona. “We’re all set to get started right away.” Moonwhisper let out a deep sigh. “We should head down to the caves. If this works then distance won’t be an issue, but something goes wrong…” “Fewer potential civilian casualties,” Greater Good said. “Well, whatever cuts down on my paperwork. Let’s get moving, it won’t be that long before the guests start arriving.” ********* Several minutes later, Moonwhisper and Greater Good found themselves standing in one of the larger crystal caves underneath Canterlot with Sharpshooter and Silver Streak looking one. “Well, no time like the present,” Greater Good stated as he produced a small sturdy-looking wooden box held shut by a half-dozen latches from under his cloak. “Let’s get this little party started.” Greater Good pushed the box over to Moonwhisper, who placed his hoof on its top and charged his horn, causing all six latches to come undone. As Moonwhisper removed his hoof, the top of the box flipped open, revealing the sinister grey, black and crimson amulet inside. “Dang,” Sharpshooter whistled as he watched Moonwhisper levitate the amulet out of the box. “So, that’s the Alicorn Amulet, huh? First time Ah’ve ever seen the thing up close like this. Hard t’ believe that little thing’s as dangerous as everypony says.” “It’s even more powerful than most ponies realize,” Greater Good said proudly. “And that’s why it’s the centerpiece of the Nightmare Protocols. Step one, take a unicorn with extensive magical training and who’s been trained to resist magical mental intrusion. Step two, slap the Alicorn Amulet on them and point them at whatever happens to be threatening Equestria.” “Step three, hope for the best,” Moonwhisper grumbled. “We’ve been over this already. The spell on the amulet’s latch has been adjusted so we should be able to unlatch it remotely. Even if you can’t stop yourself on your own, I’ll be able to get the amulet off you before you call all “I am the Law” on us,” Greater Good said. “Besides, even in a worst-case scenario, you’re still less likely to be a major problem then what we’re looking at now.” Moonwhisper sighed in resignation, knowing he wouldn’t be able to offer an argument that could dissuade Greater Good, particularly under the circumstances. Taking one final deep breath to steel his nerves, Moonwhisper secured the amulet around his neck. And then he started to scream. “What the hay’s happening?” Silver Streak yelled as she watched arcs of magical energy crackled across Moonwhisper’s body. “I’ve got no idea, the amulet’s never reacted like this before,” Greater Good said as he tried casting the spell to release the amulet’s clasp. Almost immediately, however, a jolt dark magic blasted out from the amulet, striking Greater Good in the horn and knocking him to the ground. “Oh, that’s not good,” Greater Good groaned. “And it looks like its about t’ get a whole heck of a lot worse. Look!” Sharpshooter said. As the three ponies watched helplessly, Moonwhisper’s shadow began to twist and convulse until it managed to peel itself off the ground. Once it was standing side by side with Moonwhisper, the animated shadow started to walk forward, momentarily merging with Moonwhisper as it went. As the shadow passed through Moonwhisper’s neck, Alicorn Amulet was somehow carried along with it, becoming briefly insubstantial as it passed through Moonwhisper’s neck. Once it had completely passed through Moonwhisper’s body, the shadow proceeded to pull each of its hooves off the ground as if it were yanking them out of tar, detaching itself from Moonwhisper entirely in the process. “What in Celestia’s name is that thing?” Greater Good asked as he pulled himself back to his hooves. While Silver Streak and Sharpshooter could only nervously shrug and shake their heads, the answer to Greater Good’s question came in the form of a bout of deep, evil laughter that seemed to echo from the walls themselves. “I knew if I waited long enough, I’d eventually be able to recover, but I never expected I’d be back this quickly,” a deep, arrogant voice emanated out from the shadow creature. “I suppose I should thank you for providing me with this little trinket.” As the shadow spoke, a pair of glowing, red and green eyes erupted onto its face as the rest of its form reshaped itself into an all-too familiar figure. As the new threat leered at the assembled ponies, Moonwhisper was the first to respond, uttering a single word. “Sombra.”