//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine: Opaline's Tale // Story: Generational Divide // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Opaline's Castle Twilight and Sunny were the first to burst through the castle doors. They both immediately covered their noses upon entering to block out the smell of burning hair. As their friends poured in after them, their eyes swiveled around, taking in everything in the room. First, there was Sparky, lying on his back on the floor. His chest rose and fell, indicating that he was still breathing, but the breaths were shallow. Upon seeing him, Twilight immediately lit up her horn, engulfing the baby dragon in magic and pulling him over to them. Hitch reached out with both forelegs and grabbed Sparky out of the air. "Sparky? Buddy? You okay?!" he said, frantically rocking Sparky back and forth. Sparky continued to breathe, but his eyes didn't open. Second, there was Misty. The blue unicorn was laying against one of the massive stone columns that surrounded the room. Evidently, she'd been hit by some powerful magic lightning, as faint sparks of purple electricity still danced across her body. A large burn mark marred her flank, and she looked like she was fighting to stay conscious. Izzy rushed over to attend to her. "Misty! Are you alright?!" she implored, using her magic to prop Misty up. Misty turned, her eyes barely open. "Izzy..." she wheezed, "sorry...so sorry..." The final noteworthy sight in the room was the magenta-colored alicorn mare currently flying above the throne. Her mane was white with cyan streaks, split into two braids that framed her face. Unlike Sunny, her horn and wings were organic, instead of magic-formed. Her eyes took in the eleven new ponies and one dragon that had arrived in her throne room. "Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle," she said, as her lips curled into a smile. "What a pleasant surprise to see you again after all these years. Not that I've missed you, of course, but why speak ill of the dead?" "Who are you?!" Twilight demanded. "What did you do to Sparky and Misty?!" "Oh, you're not going to get those answers out of me," Opaline snarled back. "I want you to die ignorant and unsatisfied. It'll give me some closure after what you did to me. However, I will at least give you the honor of knowing my name: I am Opaline Arcana." "That voice..." Sunny muttered, with a twitch of her ears. "I know that voice..." Her eyes locked onto Opaline. "You were the one speaking to me through the alicorn mirror!" Opaline put a hoof against her chin. "Hm. Perhaps you're not completely brainless after all, Sunny Starscout. At least you can take consolation in that." Her horn began to spark with purple electricity again, and Twilight's eyes widened in fear. "EVERYPONY MOVE!" she shouted, grabbing Sunny with her forelegs and yanking her to the side. Everypony else charged in different directions, and Opaline's lightning blast merely burned a black mark into the floor. Twilight responded with a magic beam of her own, but Opaline raised a shield to intercept it. Undeterred, Twilight kept her beam going, forcing Opaline to keep blocking it. "Sunny! Listen to me!" Twilight shouted again. "Take your friends and get back to the Marestream! Go back to Maretime Bay! We'll deal with this!" "What?!" Sunny shouted back. "No way we're leaving you alone! We can help!" She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will her alicorn wings and horn out. The glowing gold appendages did appear, but only for a second. Sunny groaned in frustration. "You're not used to fighting!" Twilight insisted. "Sparky and Misty need medical attention! Get to the Marestream, now!" Sunny opened her mouth again, but whatever response she had died in her throat as Opaline poked out one hoof from behind her shield, and launched a ball of electricity towards the group of ponies. Sunny hurriedly stomped the ground with one green glowing hoof, causing a small hedge to burst out of the floor to absorb Opaline's attack. While the plant did what it was intended to do, it burned up immediately from the magical strike. "Izzy, get Misty! Pipp, Hitch, and Zipp, follow me!" Sunny called out. While her friends looked reluctant, they nonetheless obeyed her command, racing after her through the front doors of the castle. Hitch held the weak Sparky in his forehooves, while Izzy levitated Misty onto her back. Opaline watched them go with a smug look on her face. "Sending your new friends away, I see," she said, clearly taunting Twilight. "Don't worry, I'll get to them as soon as I'm finished with you. Or perhaps I won't even need to, all things considered. Once I eliminate you, Twilight, they may just vanish from existence." "I don't know who you are, Opaline," Twilight shot back, "but we're not afraid of you. We've taken down Equestria conquering villains before. You're no different!" "Yeah, you big meanie!" added Pinkie. "You and your horrendous manestyle won't be the end of us!" said Rarity. Opaline gave one more chuckle. "I wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you," she replied. Sunny and her friends raced out to the Marestream. Though Sunny was in the lead, she kept turning her head and looking back at what had once been Twilight's castle of friendship. The second they'd gotten out, bursts of explosive magical light had begun to shine through the windows, bathing the surrounding area in a purple glow. "Twilight..." Sunny breathed. Her ears had swiveled back, laying flat on her head, ever since Twilight had told her to flee. "Sunny!" called Izzy. "Come on! We need to get Sparky and Misty to a hospital!" Sunny kept her gaze on the castle for a few more seconds, before turning to follow her friends. Zipp started up the Marestream, and soon, they were flying back towards Maretime Bay. Opaline's horn fired three different streams of lightning at once, aiming to reduce the seven individuals in front of her to ashes. The ponies and Spike were forced to split, all rushing in different directions at once, in order to evade the attack. Twilight responded with another magic beam, which Opaline dodged quite nimbly. However, the magenta alicorn ended up flying right into the loop of Applejack's lasso. On the other end of the rope, Applejack and Rainbow both yanked as hard as they could, pulling Opaline out of the air, and causing her to slam into the floor. "Everypony get her now!" yelled Applejack. The six mares and one dragon all charged towards the fallen Opaline, but she stopped them with a stomp of her forehooves. She channeled her earth pony magic into the ground, causing several long roots to bust up through the floor. The new plant tentacles swung in a wide arc, forcing Twilight and her friends to jump up to dodge them. This gave Opaline time to flap her wings and take to the air once again. She powered up her horn for another lightning blast. "Oh, no you don't!" shouted Rarity. She lit up her own horn, focusing her magic around Opaline's mane. Her braids came undone, and wrapped around her face, obscuring her eyes like a blindfold. Opaline immediately ceased her build up of power in her horn, and instead reached up with her forehooves, trying to pry the hair away from her eyes. "Insolent little wench!" she snarled. "You dare interfere in the affairs of your superior?!" "Wench?!" exclaimed Rarity. "How dare you! Have you no—" "Rarity, focus on the important stuff!" implored Fluttershy. Twilight hadn't lost focus, fortunately. She launched yet another magic beam at Opaline, catching her opponent in the side, and sending her plummeting out of the air. Pinkie Pie was waiting on the ground, and jumped into the air, kicking so that Opaline bounced off her. Opaline was sent flying towards Rainbow, but before the pegasus could strike her, she managed to recover, remove the hair from her eyes, and blast Rainbow out of the sky with a quick beam. Twilight used her magic to snag Rainbow out of the air before she hit the floor. "Now, where were we?" asked Opaline, grinning like a mad mare. A quick pulse of magic restored her mane to its original style. She raised one hoof, charging another ball of electricity in the center. She took aim at Twilight, preparing to hurl the sphere, but before she could, Fluttershy zipped in front of her. "Listen to me, lady!" the timid pegasus snapped, putting on the voice of an angered parent. "You can't just use alicorn magic for evil like this! You have a responsibility to use your powers for the greater good! Now say you're sorry this instant and stop fighting us, or so help me, you'll regret it!" Fluttershy then gave one of the most intense Stares she'd ever fired off in her life, boring into Opaline's head with her eyes. "Oh...oh no..." Opaline whimpered, shriveling back under Fluttershy's gaze. "No...please don't do that..." She turned around, planting her forehooves on the ground. "I can't take it..." Then she bucked outwards with her back legs, kicking Fluttershy in the face with both hooves. Fluttershy was sent spiraling backwards, crashing into both Twilight and Rainbow. The three ponies fell into a tangled mess of limbs. "Or not," Opaline continued with a smirk. "Honestly, if that's your best effort, this battle was over before it started." Rainbow and Twilight got to their hooves. Fluttershy, meanwhile, remained on her back, a blank look on her face, as though she couldn't quite believe what she'd seen. "The Stare...it failed?" she asked. "Why...why didn't it work?" "Forget that!" shouted Twilight, yanking Fluttershy away from another lightning bolt. "We're in trouble!" Twilight returned fire with her own magic beam, but Opaline blocked it with another electric attack. Before she could blast Twilight again, a burst of confetti, courtesy of Pinkie's party cannon, hit her from behind. Opaline was knocked off her hooves, small bits of paper fluttering all around her, getting in one of her eyes, and in her mouth. Rarity and Applejack took the opportunity to give her a double buck from behind, sending her flying into a wall. "Everypony regroup!" yelled Twilight. The others followed the command, coming together in a semicircle around the fallen Opaline. Twilight and Rarity's horns were both blaring with magic, ready for when their enemy got to her hooves again. Opaline coughed, spitting out a few pieces of confetti. "You will pay dearly for that," she sneered. She took off with another flap of her wings, lighting up her horn yet again. Instead of firing more lightning, however, the magic began to mold itself around the bony appendage, forming a long, curved blade of solid magic. This did not escape the notice of Twilight, who began casting the same spell around her own horn. "Rarity, Pinkie, Spike," she whispered under her breath, "I need you three to be ready to immobilize her." Both mares and dragon nodded. Opaline didn't waste any more time on words, opting instead to lunge forward and slice downwards with her magical blade. Twilight responded by tilting her head to block it, resulting in the two locking swords. Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie circled around the two of them, attempting to jump onto Opaline's back and pin her down, but she flared her magic, creating a shock wave that knocked them away. Twilight was barely able to avoid being blown off her hooves. "Will...you...just...stop?!" she grunted through clenched teeth. "Not this time, Sparkle!" Opaline growled back, putting more pressure on the blade. Twilight began pouring more magic into her horn blade. She slowly stood up to her full height, pushing harder and harder against Opaline. Opaline was forced to drop back onto the floor, planting all four hooves to try and push against Twilight. In an attempt to catch Opaline off-guard, Twilight tried to cast another spell in the midst of their sword lock. This spell would allow her a quick glimpse into Opaline's mind to predict her next move. But as her horn powered up, the magic she was already casting interfered. Then their horns touched. "Wait a minute, what are you—?" Opaline started to demand. A magical spark zapped from Twilight's horn to Opaline's. Twilight blinked, and saw no more. I was born Opaline Arcana. I was born into a family of relative wealth in Canterlot, a few hundred years following Princess Twilight's ascension to the throne of Equestria. I never knew the exact length of time. Being the powerful unicorn that I was, I applied to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, instead of Princess Twilight's ridiculous "School of Friendship." I quickly rose through the ranks, impressing Princess Twilight herself so much that she decided to appoint me as her newest personal pupil. She'd had many over the years, beginning with Luster Dawn, but none had ascended to alicorn status. I was determined to break that trend. I threw myself into my studies, learning all the most powerful magical techniques and skills that I would need in order to become Queen of Equestria. Though Twilight kept up some idiotic notion of humility with her subjects, I knew better. Alicorns possessed the abilities of all three pony tribes, and magic beyond the capacity of any normal pony. Alicorns were destined to rule over all ponykind, and all other ponies should bow down to them out of obligation. In fact, normal ponies didn't deserve magic. Once I had my alicorn wings, I would strip my new subjects of their power, and teach them to respect their superiors. Of course, Twilight didn't see it that way. She kept going on and on about "friendship" and "equality" with other ponies, how true harmony could only be achieved by working together. Hogwash. Friendship is a ruse, merely a tool to get other ponies to do what you want. I'll admit, it had its uses, but overall, friendship is something for lesser ponies to concern themselves with. Still, I endured. I followed Twilight's "friendship" lessons, memorizing her pathetic morals until my ears bled. I studied those blasted "Unity Crystals" that symbolized the idiotic cooperation between the three tribes. But I never lost sight of my end goal. Eventually, I convinced Twilight I was ready to gain the power I'd craved. She transformed me into Equestria's newest alicorn, and told me that I'd soon take her place as ruler. And then, I began the next phase I'd been planning. I'd studied Equestrian history extensively, of course. I remembered how strong ponies could be if they managed to work together. Hearth's Warming reminded me of it every year, annoyingly enough. So I decided I'd make sure that ponies would never stick together, in order to secure my rule as much as possible. Then there was the matter of those filthy other creatures who'd started integrating into Equestria. I began by spreading rumors. Rumors that pegasi were snatching grounded ponies off the earth and grinding them down. Rumors that unicorns could read minds and disintegrate ponies they didn't like. Rumors that earth ponies would hoard all the food they grew to themselves if they caught so much as a whiff of trouble. Rumors that dragons, yaks, changelings, buffalos, griffons, kirin, and hippogriffs were only befriending ponies as part of a plot to eventually seize control and divide Equestria up between their kingdoms. I even created incidents with my new magic, disguising myself as a pegasus or unicorn to abduct some worthless earth ponies, in order to scare them. No one would miss those earth ponies, anyway. I eliminated some pegasi and unicorns as well. Given enough time, it began to work. The pegasi began to isolate themselves in their cloud cities. The unicorns retreated into the woods. The earth ponies fled near to the coast. All the other races withdrew entirely from Equestria, severing ties. Of course, the fear and discord caused the return of the windigos, but I was far beyond their power by then. I destroyed them with little effort, and I soon began work on a spell that would give me all the magic in Equestria, leaving everypony else powerless. The Unity Crystals would be the conduit, channeling all the magic into me. Unfortunately, that was where I got careless. Twilight revealed that she had deduced my plan, and intended to stop me with the power of the Unity Crystals. Being the all-powerful alicorn that I was, I would not go down without a fight. Twilight and I battled across Equestria, leveling mountains through our sheer magical might. I managed to mortally wound her, but she had the last laugh. She forced me into her old castle in the ruins of what was once Ponyville, long since abandoned. Using the Unity Crystals, she stripped me of my magic, placing a seal on the castle that prevented me from leaving. She told me that the spell could only be undone through the magic of dragon fire, and separated the unity crystals. She promised me that, before she succumbed to her wounds, she would put the crystals in safe places, to be passed down, and ensure that I would never find them. But I would never give in. I would find a way to reclaim my powers, and take back the magic she'd stolen from me. With a pained scream, Twilight wrenched her horn off of Opaline's, breaking the magical mind-meld and causing both alicorns to drop onto their rear ends. "Twilight!" shouted Spike, running towards his sister figure. He propped her up with both arms. "Are you okay? What happened?" Twilight blinked a couple of times, shaking her head clear. Then, her eyebrows shot upwards, presumably as her brain processed exactly what she'd seen in Opaline's mind. "You...you..." she stammered, pointing at Opaline with one hoof. Opaline rolled her eyes. "You're...a monster. And I enabled you. You're my Sunset Shimmer..." "You said those exact same things centuries ago, Twilight," Opaline snarked. "And it was just as pointless back then. You're pathetically predictable." Twilight didn't respond. She just trembled even more. "What did you do to her?!" demanded Spike. He took in a deep breath, launching an emerald fireball towards Opaline, who nimbly dodged it. "I did nothing. At least, not on purpose," responded Opaline. "I suppose I've wasted enough of my time now. I'm free from the seal you placed on me so long ago, so I'll do us all a favor and end this now." She powered up her horn one more time, and everyone braced themselves for the next attack. However, instead of blasting at them, Opaline directed her attack towards the ceiling. Her magical attack busted a hole in the roof, sending chunks raining down onto Twilight and the others, while she, who'd known what was coming, dodged every one. Once Twilight and the others were sufficiently buried, she smiled to herself. "There," she declared. "Even if that didn't kill them, it should give me enough of a head start." Turning around, Opaline took off and flew through the newly created hole in the castle's roof. Under the rubble, a faint, raspberry-colored glow began to emerge. Suddenly, a powerful pulse of magic shot outwards, shattering the rocks and pushing them away. Twilight and the others were revealed, unharmed, beneath a dome-shaped shield of Twilight's magic. "Good move, Twi," said Applejack. "Dang, that pony is tough. We hit her with everything we had and it didn't do anything!" "That doesn't matter now," said Twilight. "We need to get back to Sunny and the others. They're in terrible danger!"