//------------------------------// // Eternal 11 - Celestia's Kingdom Part 2 // Story: Those Forty Years // by Spell Writer //------------------------------// "NO! You IDIOT!" Unity yells out as the beam crashes into the magical artifact and spell. Wreaths of light and strands of magic swirl into the magic and surround it. Glowing glyphs and dangerous energy begin to spark and shudder through the barrier containing Luna and Discord, who stand up in surprise as the swirl of magic begins to crack the barrier. Chips of glass-like magic begin to shave off the surface of the torrent of magic as the ribbons of magic tightly wrap around the sphere, shattering it in an instant. Discord and Luna are quickly pulled out of the artifact's grasp as the solar alicorn raises a barrier with her magic. The sphere shatters after a moment, releasing all the contained magic. Unity rushed over to the artifact and tried to hold it together with her magic. "NO NO! You idiot! Without the spell going, we can't get back anything that the spell stole! You RUINED EVERYTHING!" With that, the spell explodes, destroying what was left of the castle except the front keep. Celestia, Luna, Discord, Twilight, and Unity all raise or hide behind a barrier as the magic explodes. Particles of white magic shine outwards as they float in the sky, each little dot of energy bashing on the magical shields like a sledgehammer to concrete. What happens next is worse, though, as all the particles start siphoning into the remains of the artifact, imploding with deadly force. A massive shockwave of magic, creativity, and history bursts out. Thousands of years of progress, centuries of knowledge, gone in an instant. Celestia grunts as the barrier she put up is hammered by more and more energy. A little growl escapes her mouth as she yells out. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" With a dark gold flash of her horn, the barrier is reinforced with more magic. Celestia has to protect her sister. She HAS to do this! Luna would stand up and glow her horn, the barrier suddenly gaining a bluish tint, a perfect yin and yang of day and night hardening the magical fortification. "You don't have to do this alone, Celestia." She says with a smile. The pair smile a little as Discord shakes off his injuries briefly. The Draconequus would stand up and roll his eyes at the sight so hard that they pop out. "Oh, fine. I suppose I should get us out of this mess." He then snaps his fingers as the ground beneath them gives away, being turned into a cheese block. His eyes jump back into their sockets as the implosion's shockwave finally launches them out of the building, barrier and all. The trio is fired out of the crumbling mage tower like a cannonball. Crashing into Equestria Mountain, the prominent landmark at the center of Equestria. With a loud CRASH, the group slams into the mountainside, the barrier easily consuming the impact's force with a loud DING noise. The mountain behind them now has a large crater from their crash as they see the extent of the devastation caused by the magical implosion. Not only was their castle no longer visible underneath the large canopy of the encroaching forest, but the entire train system was entirely eradicated! However, the three do not have much time to think about it as Twilight and Unity suddenly appear, the duo blasting the heroes with their magic. The barrier shudders and shakes under the impact of the pure magic firing at them. Celestia and Luna struggle to keep the barricade up. Discord was entirely helpless in this endeavor, his magic being sealed by his sister's presence. He could help had he learned any sort of pony magic, but his reliance on purely chaos magic resulted in his downfall, both now and in the fight he had earlier, unlike his sister, who was more than versed in using mortal magic. Unity screams, "Once you three are out of the way, I'll fix everything!" She says as she whips her horn. The magic twists and shapes into a cleaver as it slices through the barrier as if it weren't even there. "AHHHHH!" The trio yells out as they're launched to the side. The shield shatters into shards of light, which twinkle and crackle as they bounce along the floor. The impact of the blade was too strong for anypony to hope to defend against. "No more Mrs. Nice Unity!" The Spirit says in a guttural growl. As Unity lands, she begins stomping toward Celestia, Luna, and Discord. Her horn glows a bright green as the black ooze drips from her magic. Twilight follows behind wordlessly. Discord grunts a little bit as he helps his allies stand up. The trio looks ragged and tired from the explosion and the fights they've been in. Only Celestia is in any fighting condition, and with Philomena nowhere to be seen, she no longer has her infinite source of healing and stamina. Still, she steps forward to meet her mom and Unity, glaring daggers at the Spirit. Celestia glows her horn, holding her wing up to block the view of Luna and Discord behind her. Unity smirking. "Oh, a little stand. How quaint. What do you expect to happen? I'm the Spirit that gives heroes their preferred outcome. I'm the one who sets up all those reversals through the 'magic of friendship.' I'm the one that gives that sudden power-up when things go badly! What can you do without my support? Huh? NOTHING." She says as she fires a blast of magic at Celestia. The alicorn's barrier shattered instantly on contact, sending her flying back, all the memory shards and the Stone of Hope rolling out of her bags. Yet she still stands up afterward. Stumbling a small amount, "You don't get it, do you?" Celestia says. "I'd do anything for Equestria and my family. This is nothing." She says as she holds up her wing again. Panting a small amount. Unity, stunned, stands there for a moment. Before she bursts out laughing. "You are seriously stupid! You know that? Equestria is done for. Your little explosion sent that magic spell everywhere. Not only did you send Equestria to the Stone Age, but every single contingency spell in there for all the other races just went off, too." She smirks as Celestia's eyes widen in horror. "That's right. The dragons? All their magic was just siphoned away and slammed into one staff. The griffons just lost their lucky idol. All the yak villages? Gone, all that's left is Yakinsan. The Kirin? Well, guess who can't control their emotions anymore? Once we're done here, I'll be the savior of all those countries and people. You have no chance of defeating me, Celestia. The terrors are only just beginning." She says with a smile. "I cursed this land to forever be beset by monsters, terrifying villains, and horrors beyond your wildest dreams. Ponies will never live in harmony because you REJECTED MINE!" She says as she rears back to fire a beam at Celestia. "AGH?!" It never comes as a blast of magic hits Unity from the side. The two Royal guards that evacuated from the castle earlier. Those two injured guards smile as the Unicorn's horn sizzles a small amount, the earth pony rushing forward and slamming Unity away. The following beam is blocked by Twilight's wing with ease. "Princess! Don't worry about us. We're your shield! Do what you need to do!" The earth pony says as he struggles with Unity, his strength barely able to fend off Unity's overwhelming physical power. Meanwhile, the Unicorn stumbles as she teleports to avoid Twilight's magic blasts, explosions, and beams. "Just please do hurry up!" The Unicorn says quickly as she vanishes with a pop, appearing just out of range of Twilight. Forcing the controlled alicorn to make chase. Unity is unable to give different orders at the moment. Celestia nods as she quickly rejoins with Discord and Luna, the pair sorting through Twilight's memories. Discord also finds the stone of hope, looking at it with dismay. "Disgusting, she used an ancient artifact from before we spirits came here. No wonder your mother is completely under her thumb now." Discord says with a glare towards his sister. "Unfortunately, I don't know how to undo this. I'd need at least ten minutes to break past this barrier." A still silence settles in the hopelessness of their situation as Discord continues. "On top of that, Unity is blocking my chaos magic at the cost of her harmony magic. So I can't fix Twilight." He says sadly. "I'm sorry." Luna gulps and then looks at the fight. Before she rushes forward. "Well, if we're stuck, I'm at least gonna go down fighting!" She says bravely as she runs forward towards Unity and the Earthpony guard. When she arrives, the blue alicorn slams into Unity's side with great force. "LUNA!" Celestia says as Discord sighs. "May as well join her." He says as he grabs some rocks from the ground nearby. "Nothing to be done, Celestia. We just have to hope that something knocks some sense into your mother." He says as he rushes forward. Joining the Unicorn in fighting Twilight. Celestia looked down at the gemstones and the Stone of Hope. Celestia thinks and thinks, trying to figure out a solution, something she can do. But nothing came to mind. Celestia felt utterly lost. She didn't have the fast thinking of her mother. What could she do if even Equestria's strongest and wisest pony was already defeated?! Everything was falling apart around her. Equus was already decimated by the pacification spell's explosion. Equestria would take decades to recover from the damage done. How could she possibly think straight right now?! There has to be something she can do. In the dark space where the spirits reside, the three spirits reconvene with worry. The three spirits watch the battle. Luna and Discord were both losing their respective fights. Screams of terror and pain ring out towards them. Mist winces, Cleo gasps, and Equus closes his eyes in sorrow. Cleo's ears flatten down as she says. "They're… going to lose." She mumbles, "Unless we break the contract." Equus shakes his head. The contract was everything. It was the binding laws of Equestria and beyond. Equestria would never be the same if they were to break it, and any other world they've touched would change with it. They could not risk everything for one measly planet! Yet. The spirits all wanted to. They did not want a world snuffed out simply because one of their own rebelled. They never wished for another disaster like this to happen, But it did. It was their responsibility to handle it. It is their fault for all the chaos Equestria has gone through. A failed test here and there created Grogar. A failed experiment resulted in the main hero being whisked through time, which allowed one of their own to cause all these problems. Mist simply raises her hoof. "In favor." She merely says as Cleo repeats the action. Equus looking between the two. He had the final vote. Without it being unanimous, they could do nothing. Yet. His hoof/claw/hand is raised. "In favor. The contract is broken. Mortals shall design their own destiny now. Choose your vessels, and then we shall begin." Just as Unity charges right towards Celestia's back, Twilight blasts Discord and the Unicorn away. Time starts to slow down before crawling to a standstill. A tick-tock of a clock ringing out, Celestia opens her eyes as she sees everything and everyone frozen entirely, the flash of light from time stopping having blinded her. As she turns, she sees Unity's hoof frozen in front of her face. A scream escapes her lips as she falls back in terror. The terror, however, was not directed towards Unity. Instead, it was directed towards three newcomers. A Yellow Unicorn, a Red Kirin, and a Pink Kirin stand in the center of the battlefield. "NO NOT MORE SPIRITS." Says Celestia with a whimper. She could barely handle the two they already have. Even if they were allies, she'd never sleep at night if this happened again. But the Red Kirin just chuckles as he suddenly changes to that of a teenage dragon. "We aren't here to help Unity. She has broken the laws of the spirits enough where the contract has been broken by vote." Says the red dragon with a shake of his head. "As such, we must all go our separate ways. I simply wished to see the world we created with the goddesses of creation and imagination one last time." He sighs a little, wistfully thinking of times before. The Pink Kirin smiles a little as she suddenly becomes very elderly, to Celestia's surprise, "But per the contract. We must pass on the guiding of Equestria to others now. Normally, we would do this once mortals reach a proper level of technology and mysticism. However, thanks to our folly and rules, we unfortunately must do it now." She sighs a little as she bows to Celestia. The Yellow Unicorn, who eerily looks similar to Twilight, smiles. "But, we've seen how much trouble our co-worker has and will cause you. So, we're bending the rules a little bit. Consider it our final meddling." She says with a nod. "Rather than giving the future of Equestria to some deity, we decided." They all say in Unison. "That ponies deserve a chance to command their own destiny. You have changed our outlook on mortals, Celestia." Celestia winces a small amount from the loud booming. Twilight starts slowly shaking off the time-stop magic in the background, causing the Pink Kirin to look at her with a wry smile. Celestia looks at the group bewildered. "Wait… what do you mean by that though? Like. Being in control of our own destiny?" She says with a confused mumble. "And who are you guys?! Like really? This is so weird and doesn't make any sense." This causes the three to look at each other in bewilderment. "Wait, they don't teach about us in schools or anything? How rude!" Says one. "Well, that does mean we get to do the intro sequence." Says another. "Oooooh! Let's do that! Alright on three. One, Two, Three!" One counts down before they both take a 'cool' pose. The trio, smiling before the yellow one, says. "My name is Mist~! I'm the Spirit of Magic, and my chosen vessel is Celestia Sol Sparkle~! I hereby bequeath all my strength, energy, and power to her. To twist the destiny of magic itself from now and unto the future!" She says with a smile. "I hope you use it well." She says with a wink as she starts to glow. The Spirit of magic shakes a small amount as she becomes a small yellow orb. The orb bursts into a shower of light, and all the light is suddenly absorbed into Celestia's body with a loud wooshing noise. A little grunt escaped Celestia as she felt everything. Magic, knowledge of it. She can feel the laws of magic and the twists of it beneath her hooves… And then it's all gone. Like the powers never existed in the first place. "What did… what?!" She says, confused. However, the spirits do not stop. The pink one speaking next. "I am Cleo, youngsters. The Spirit of Time. I officially." She then changes to the form of a filly. "Decwee that, my powahs." She then switches to the state of an adult. "To manipulate, change, and write the laws of time shall go to my chosen vessel, Twilight Sparkle. With this, the Alicorn barrier is broken. Alicorns will experience time no differently than other creatures. Though their long-lasting lives will ring on." She says with a smile. "A final gift to my best friend's favorite pony." She then glows bright pink as the orb flies into Twilight. The memory crystals begin shaking and shuddering with great intensity as they fly up. Spinning around the Queen of Equestria before they slam into her body. The Stone of Hope follows suit, shuddering and shaking as it cracks down the center, turning to dust. Twilight shivers as she stands in frozen time, the surge of power and the return of her memories giving her a massive headache. Twilight raises her hoof to rub her head a little, looking around in confusion. "I'm… back?" She says "I'M BACK!" Twilight laughs happily as she scoops up Luna, Celestia, and even Discord in a big hug. Laughing and crying a little bit as she holds onto the trio. Even if Luna and Discord are still frozen in time. Equus smiles as he watches the moment before sighing and saying. "Ahem." Twilight blinks and looks over to Equus, her eyes going wide. "You're-" Equus smiles and chuckles. "In the flesh. Equus at your service. As my final decree for all of the world. I leave the planet's fate to Ponies, Griffons, and all other mortal creatures. You shall all dictate your own destinies and the destinies of monsters everywhere. Twilight Sparkle, Celestia Sparkle, Luna Sparkle. You three shall carry the majority of my strength. Use it for the good of the world." He says with a bow. The red Spirit glows gently as he disperses, gentle lights entering into Twilight, Celestia, and even the frozen Luna. With the spirits disappearing, time slowly returns to normal. Unity's punch is blocked by Twilight's wing with ease. A loud booming noise rings out. The Spirit of Harmony's eyes widen as she sees the fury on Twilight's face. The sheer anger for having DARED to steal her best memories away, for having DARED to manipulate her into damaging Equestria, and most of all, for having DARED to force her to hurt her daughters! Eternal and Twilight move in sync as she throws a magically charged hoof punch at Unity. A loud CRACK rings out as she breaks the Spirit's shoulder. "Nice shot, Princess. Didn't think you had it in you." Eternal says as an invisible ghost behind Twilight. Twilight's mane sparkled gently with stars and a passing comet, her eyes sharp but not piercing like her alter ego's, and a large scar adorning her left shoulder. There is some hope that Unity would perk up and say this was a test in the back of Twilight's mind. However, Twilight knew how farfetched that hope was. This creature was no better than Tirek regarding how blatantly malicious she was. Even as the Spirit yelled out loudly from the pain, there was hardly any remorse in Twilight's eyes. "UNITY! As Queen of Equestria, you are SO under arrest!" She roars, the two guards fighting with them, pointing their spears at Unity. Who just starts giggling slightly to herself, sounding extremely deranged. "It was perfect. My plan was perfect. But no, you just had to ruin it. There was no reason for me to lose. I had everything. EVERYTHING. THE ONE THING. The one thing I didn't expect to happen, the one thing that could have saved you all. Of course, it happened. Of course! They broke the contract. We're stuck here now, Discord. Stuck here forever." She says with a laugh as she yells, grabbing her arm with her magic and forcing it back into place. "Fine." She says with a deranged laugh, her smile growing widely as she lets out a guttural scream from the pain of setting her arm back. "If you want a villain, I GUESS I can play the part. I hope you enjoy your little peace without me, your Majesties. Because HARMONY is playing for the other team now!" The insane Spirit glows her horn bright green. A massive teleportation spell starts to form as Twilight tries to shine her horn to stop it. Eternal yelling out. "TWILIGHT YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO CONTROL THAT MAGIC!" She yells to the Princess. Unfortunately, the loud noises of the teleportation spell mask the words. Who's horn starts to sputter and sparkle before doing nothing. Her magic flow is too pure to be concentrated into simple magic spells like the Princess is used to. "GOODBYE Equestria! I'll be leaving and taking my family with me. Don't worry, though. They already loved me for who I was." She says with a grin. "They longggg hated all of you anyways, so this will be an IMPROVEMENT." Unity laughs a little bit, looking up at Twilight with a grin. "Good. Bye. Stupid Alicorns!" She then vanishes with a burst of magic, the shockwave of the massive teleportation spell causing a small explosion, no doubt a gift from Unity as a final profanity. Twilight blocks the shockwave with her body, protecting everyone behind it until Celestia and Luna squirm free! The duo jump to the side and raise their shield together as Discord joins in to assist. "UGH! I'll do it!" Says Eternal as Twilight nods. Swapping frames of mind with her other self. A gentle glow of magic bursts out as the scar on her shoulder vanishes. Eternal standing up as the cosmos and stars in her mane gently twinkle in both forms, their cutiemark fully restored. With a glow of her horn, she projects her own barrier to help, the pure magic strengthening the group's shield as they invert it, trying to contain the explosion. "No more damage to Equestria." Says Celestia. "We will protect it! One way or another." Says Luna. "Ugh. This is so cheesy. Who's the writer of this thing?! Fine, but only this one time. Ahem. Know this, Sister. I will find you." Says Discord with a grin. "Okay, that WAS fun." Twilight smiles as she steels her resolve, Eternal returning control to the Twilight after casting the spell. She can easily sustain the magic after it's released, but the insane magical formulas for casting them will take practice. Twilight can't help but feel elated, even in the face of the danger. Even without her friends, even without everything, she had her family. She was home. So she yells out like the others, even if it is something silly that you would in a cheesy novel. "I won't let you hurt another one of My Little Ponies," Twilight says with her soft smile, her horn glowing in intensity as the barriers collapse in on the explosion spell, snuffing it out entirely. The group would cheer and jump, smiles and tears on every face as the relief washes over everyone. Even Discord seems relieved and ecstatic, pulling out a whiteboard with "Unity | Discord" Written on it. Unity's side has several uniform tally marks. Discord grins widely like a teenager as he puts a duck sticker on his side. Celestia and Luna hug tightly with each other. Twilight smiles at the duo before they rush over and tackle her to the ground. The two guards hug each other in relief of their victory. Ponies across the land dig each other and themselves out of the rubble of their homes. Others come out to see the damage done. But they're all alive. Cheers ring out as relief washes over the country. In the griffon lands, the chaos from the pacification spell stopped. The country is at its weakest since ancient history. Yet, they were alive. They could rebuild. The Yaks, no longer restrained by the spell, could rebuild their settlements, and the Dragons decided on a single Dragon Lord to wield their magic. Not all were happy. The Kirin were in Mourning at the loss of their leader, and the griffons were still missing their idol. But the world, for once, seemed safe. It seemed like it was happy. Their destinies truly felt like it was theirs. As Celestia, Luna, and Twilight look off the mountain. Twilight giggles a little bit to herself. "Ya know, I always wondered by Canterlot moved up to the mountainside. I guess we know now, huh?" She giggles lightly as she looks down at the forest. “The Everfree forest. Guess I did cause the worst event in Equestrian history, huh?" She mumbles Celestia and Luna lean into Twilight. Celestia smiled a little. "Welcome to the 'we messed up' club. Party of three." She says with a smile, "It'll be alright, Mom. It's a new day, finally." She says as she watches the sunrise. Twilight's horn glows gently as she instinctually raises the sun. The trio watches the sunrise on a new day, the ball of plasma shining rays of light all along the ground. The illumination of the world brings hope for a better tomorrow. They had won. Equestria. No, Equus was saved. Elsewhere, a disgruntled spirit says, "For now." Unity sighed a little to herself. Thinking constantly about the plan and where she went wrong. She would be back, but for now, she'd let the ponies enjoy their peace. Twilight is crippled, and Equestria will never be the same. She may have lost, but the war will continue. Unity joins with her family. Her husband and three foals walk with her as they leave for places unknown. The Forbidden West will be their home for the time being until their return to Equestria. "Repose, Hearthfire, Gentle Light, time to go." She says quietly as her foals run ahead to places unknown. Dust flies up as the young foals excitedly run forward. Their parents give each other a hug before they run after them.