There were these seven characters now, lying in the dust while trying to digest what they thought has happened.
They felt the sensation of having not fulfilled their duty, their responsibility. This utter feeling that burned in their mind; this feeling, already causing them to think that they have went through was all in vain, must have put pressure of unimaginable extent on these very young heroes.
Like I mentioned before, a monumental failure can influence the path of a story in a way that will change the outcome for the worse. The question now is: “Is what the group did really so monumental; or was it never a mistake?”
Well, we will understand by deepening into the events.
========
The agitated diamond dust wore off as the light and the earthquake expired and sinister silence ruled the whole area, even the minds of the attendees. Fortunately, the elements have been blown away as well and lay right ahead of the bearers.
Though they stood up slowly, looking very peaky, they put on their belonging element without hesitation and prepared to combat the monstrosity they accidentally have unleashed. They bared their teeth, focused mind and soul and shifted into a fighting position; everyone but Fluttershy and Spike who hided timidly behind the rest.
The only sources of light that lit the cave were the shattered crystals that cumulated at the outer brink. All what remained of the gigantic crystal and the altar that surrounded it in the center of the room was a crystal-stump that stuck out knee-high of the podium.
But that was not all. The apparent origin of the harrowing scream sat on the remains of the former shrine, but it was not what they have expected it to be. It was not a monster at all, it was just a young pony; a colt to be precise; barely as old as Twilight.
But this colt was not just a regular male earth pony; he was one-of-a-kind. His coat was jet-black and his eyes were a dark and diminish purple. His Mane, colored in dark and dim lavender, shared similarities with the mane of Spitfire, but it also covered up his forehead with pointed streaks. His tale also shared a similar appearance with that of Spitfire, but was spikier and a bit shorter.
---[An image of Radiant Eclipse ]---
The group, slowly walking towards the stranger, still deaf and a bit numb, wondered what happened and who he might be, though they had a bad assumption. The unknown pony, obviously fallen into pondering silence, stood up very slowly, causing the group to immediately scare stiff. Standing on his hind legs, he did nothing else but looking towards the ceiling.
Then, he raised one of his forelegs into the air and a dark, grayish-lavender magic aura that emitted sparks, lacking all radiance of common magic auras, enwrapped his hoof. A magic projectile formed itself in his hoof and actuated by a pulse wave, it careered towards the ceiling. The impact of the energy blast with the ceiling resulted in a glaucous explosion and the pressure wave freed the group from their deafness.
“Don’t move!” Twilight shouted at her friends as boulders fell from the top of the room and shattered on the ground.
Just before one of them hit the group, Twilight’s horn glowed in its usual red violet color and a force shield, similar to the one of Shining Armor’s, protected everyone from the rock that broke into thousands of little pebble stones.
As the dust, dispersed by the falling detritus, faded away, the group opened their eyes again and fathomed what happened. The magic burst blasted the whole hilltop away and the only evidence that the mountain top has ever existed was a wide hole in the ceiling that filled the once gloomy cave with the warming light of the midday sun.
Then, the stranger began to speak, taking his foreleg down again. “The light is nothing more than a mixed blessing. Those who were born in its symbol persist in it to the point they lose their freedom and self-determination, though they disavow it. By a cruel twist of fate, you are abandoned by the light and no matter how much you wish and beg for the benison of its love, it will always leave you forlorn, barred from all hope you once had. Boon and bane, like light and darkness, are very alike, yet very dissimilar.”
His voice was a bit low-pitched, like he was in puberty; but in contrast, it was very soft and had a cordial tone, like his body was too young for the voice to fit in, though it still was very manly.
“What the hay are you talking about?! And why did you do this?!” Rainbow Dash asked without dread and abrasively.
The black colt turned his head, looking directly into the rainbow colored pony’s eyes. Though not showing that clearly, everyone, even Rainbow Dash, felt a freezing shiver down their spine as the frigidity of his gaze pierced their eyes and froze their blood.
“The air in this cave is stale. I wanted to replenish it.”
He jumped in front of the group and landed on his hind legs, folding his forelegs, looking chillingly into the ponies’ and the little dragon’s eyes while they backed off some steps.
“What I am talking about? Life; Pegasus. Just life.”
“Rainbow Dash is my name, hardhead!” She replied sulkily.
“Fine, Rainbow Dash.”
He analyzed the group and felt wonderment by what he saw.
“The Elements of Harmony. You, six teenage fillies, barely 20 years old, are the guardians of harmony? Assisted by a dragon-child?”
Spike appeared from behind his cover and positioned himself next to Twilight, while Fluttershy remained in a defensive position, covering behind one of Rainbow Dash’s wings.
“I am not a child. I am a man.” He replied courageously.
The dark pony fell on his forelegs, standing on all his four legs and looking right into Spike’s eyes with a nasty smirk. “You are right, dragon boy. Age is not determined by the body and mind, but by the heart. But the question is, how robust is your heart?”
Because Spike immediately took a step backwards after the dark pony finished his question, he got the answer. “Obviously not very much.”
He raised his head again and faced the group normally. “What happened to Celestia and Luna?” He asked in bewilderment.
But he was not the only one in this room who was astonished. This creature, though it spoke in a cheerless, but also calm and prudent fashion, was doing nothing but conversing with the heroes and the dragon. Did Fluttershy’s valid criticism have a true core after all? Twilight was not sure, but she knew that a precipitant hostile behavior was no use in this situation, so she stood calm, trying to make the best of this chance and took a step forward.
“Celestia and Luna are the princesses of Equestria and govern it. They lost contact with the elements after they were lost for more than thousand years; and we were the once to find them again.”
“They ‘lost’ the Elements of Harmony? How fatuous ignorant.” He commented, seemingly stunned cause of the purple unicorn’s words.
Rarity felt the drastic urge to defend the princesses, but she pulled herself together, knowing that these moments were of vital importance.
“Nopony is unflawed. Mistakes occur. There is nothing we can do about it.” Twilight continued, indirectly trying to convince him from her opinion and gaining his trust.
“But some mistakes have substantial repercussions, and they may impose agony on innocent that never did anything wrong…”
The black colt stocked for a second, but he picked up courage again and remained seriously and relatively unemotively for a pony.
“So, they have become princesses? Tell me, how much times has passed since I have been imprisoned here.”
“In 2 days, it will be exactly 1250 years.” Twilight replied.
Once more, a faint shimmer of incertitude overcame him, but like before, he shook that off and focused on the group, wanting to know who they were.
“Who are you? What are your names?”
“My Name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight answered courteously.
“Rainbow Dash; the best flyer in Equestria, like you have probably noticed.” She replied, only displaying visible disrelish.
“Rarity is my modest name.” Rarity responded graciously.
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” She said joyfully as always and without hesitation, she took one of his hooves and shook it racily; so powerful in fact that the he lifted up from the ground, giving the black pony a good shaking.
She let go of him and he fell on his 4 hooves, gently holding his head to get rid of his dizziness.
“They are callin’ me Applejack, but AJ is fine with as well. How-d'ye-do?“ She replied self-confidently.
“I am Spike; personal assistant of Twilight and at times adviser for all sorts of things.” Spike introduced himself.
The colt gazed confusedly at the yellow Pegasus, Fluttershy, who still hid behind one of Rainbow Dash’s wings. As he made a step forward to her, she took a step backwards, leaving him in utter surprising.
“What is your name?” He asked solicitously.
“My… my name is Fluttershy…” She answered typically quiet, barely for the black pony to understand what she said.
“Fluttershy? Did I get that right?” He asked and she nodded.
He backed off, facing the group like before, but he turned his head and starred rapturously into the blue sky.
Twilight could not stand this total silence and she needed liberating certitude, so she asked him the inevitable. “And… what’s your name?”
Still looking into the blue sky, he answered quiescently. “You know the answer; I can see it. Your heart reveals everything; yet, you ask me to give the last spark of hope in your heart a right to exist and with it, purpose for your words.”
He turned around uncomplimentary and walked back to the crystal, stroking it while still focusing on the splendid summer sky and losing himself in his thoughts.
“W-what…?” Twilight stammered discomposedly, but Rainbow Dash jumped forward and turned unhesitatingly to the colt, her spirit filled with anger like once before when she fought the timberwolves.
“Hey! Don’t turn your back on us!” She yelled at him.
“No. Don’t do it.” The others begged her, but she did not listen.
“You have no idea what we have gone through, only to reach this forsaken piece of rock! Stop behaving like a melancholic and stop talking so cryptically with us! Give us a straight answer!”
He turned around once more and the two stood right in front of each other, looking seriously into each other’s eyes.
“Not bad. No one did ever talk with me in that fashion. You are a very… vivid pony, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah. Maybe. I am hot headed sometimes, but that doesn’t change anything. Just answer Twilight’s question already.”
“Well then.” He replied and then, he jumped back onto the remains of the once ginormous, purple crystal.
He once more straightened up on his hind legs and turned to the 6 ponies and the dragon-child with a hostile posture.
“My name is Radiant Eclipse. As the departed soul I am, a ray of darkness in a world filled with light, you can call me by this name as well. Just Ray; and nothing more.”
He took a short break, but then he smiled viciously and stared right into Twilight Sparkle’s eyes. “But you probably know me under a different name, as my title describes the nature of my very existence. I am the one that lives in reclusion, the one that has been exiled from the lush green grasses and the crystal clear waters of the place I once called home; this world.
I am… Pariah.”
Hearing this name, although they knew it, sent another shiver down their spine, but they stood their ground in a line and showed that Radiant Eclipse-guy that they were not afraid of him; well, Fluttershy tried at least.
“Wait!” Spike demurred. “You neither have 4 wings, nor a horn.”
“You have a keen mind, Spike.” Ray noted favorably impressed. “I lack these because I miss a part of my existence.”
He folded his forelegs and looked into the sky. “You see, being born in this world as a being like everyone else, 3 major entities should normally define my existence and give it balance and the possibility to actually linger on. These entities are also the core-idea on how to control magic and perform spells, am I right, Twilight Sparkle?”
“Body. Mind. And Soul.” Twilight hesitantly gave explanation.
“Very good. You see, your precious princesses have taken one of these away from me and have sealed it in a specific item. Without it, I can’t gain my full power, though the darkness inside me has filled that hole so I was able to proceed.”
He sank his and gazed at the group. “You haven’t seen it, didn’t you? It looks like a crystal on top of a black altar. A chain is likely to have been attached to it, so you can carry it around like an amulet.”
Still, confusion flooded Twilight’s mind, because she remembered the hidden page in the historical tradition she realized to have lost in the explosion along with the artifact. It must have been around here, lying somewhere under the crystal shards and the pebbles, but she thought that this was nothing he need to know at the moment, as the description of Ray fitted to the design of the artifact.
“Was that rainbow-colored shimmer his…?” Twilight asked herself in her mind, but her process of thinking got interrupted by a familiar, angelic voice.
“What did they take from you?” Fluttershy asked him, commiserating with the expulsed colt.
“My soul…” He revealed dolefully and his grief slowly encroached on the ponies’ minds, inflicting sympathy even on the hard-shelled Rainbow Dash; and Twilight’s thought was ultimately confirmed.
“Y-Your soul?” Rarity asked Ray, appalled by what the princesses might have done.
“Yes…” He answered deeply grieved. “A spell of unconceivable ferocity took it away from me. It was a spell created by Celestia and Luna, the former guardians of harmony. How do you think they managed to banish me here, into this secluded place of nothingness?”
“By weakening you?” Pinkie Pie asked him, having a faced marked by sorrow and Ray in return confirmed her rhetorical question with a simple nod.
Fortunately, Ray was not able to completely throw Rainbow Dash and Applejack off the track.
“Hey! Stop foolin’ us around already. We aren’t as half-baked as you think we are.” Applejack snubbed him abrasively.
“AJ is right!” Rainbow Dash continued, shooting her mouth off. “This punishment was maybe a little over the top, but that doesn’t mean it was unjustified.”
“You did some very terrific things in the past and got what ya deserve. They had all right to lock ya up.” Applejack finished explaining their position.
But Ray did not react like they have expected. He simply looked unaffectedly and groaned with antipathy. “If you say so, I suppose so. Far be it from me to deny it.” He replied collectedly to the shocking surprise of Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
This was the moment they comprehended that he was different from any foe they have ever faced. He lacked the vivacity and slight lunacy of Discord; the manipulative vein of Luna’s transformation, Nightmare Moon; the wariness, but also carelessness and arrogance of Chrysalis; and the pure desire for cruel entertainment and dictatorial control of Sombra.
Radiant Eclipse, or however they were supposed to call him, seemed like nothing more than an empty vessel that suffered from its own existence. He was cold inside, freezing outside. He understood and accepted everything he has ever done and ever was, not even giving the slightest hint he wanted to defend himself, as he would live on or not care. The question was; would all of this make him unperilous, or even more hazardous than any opponent ever before.
There fell a deep silence, the ponies preserving in the stone-cold, badly-lit cavern. But there was no time to rest, because Twilight still had questions in her mind and he might change his attitude soon.
“Ray, can I ask you something”? He asked him, Ray still standing with folded arms and stable posture.
“There is nothing that prevents you from doing so, isn’t there?” He replied snootily.
“You know that it wasn’t out intention to release you, right?” She asked him reluctantly
“I had major doubts about it, but your question delivers the unequivocal revelation.” He answered when a hint of a smirk covered his face for a second.
“Pariah or however you are called!” She shouted at him with a dead-serious ton. “To be completely honest, we were here to find a power to stop you that already stopped you once before. We are aware of that the Elements of Harmony weren’t enough to stop you, maybe not even the supposed stealing of your soul; so then, what is that power and where is it?!”
He raised an eyebrow and gazed in confusion at the lavender unicorn. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
She backed off one step uncertainty of the whole situation they were in flooded her mind. “W…what?”
“The former guardians of harmony weakened me with the spell I told you about and then used that moment of frailty for my part and pulled of the final blow by trapping me in that crystal, leaving me in the presumably eternal dream I was imprisoned in.”
“No! This can’t be true! The historical tradition, the reason why we are here, clearly stated that we have to bring the elements of harmony and the ancient artifact to find a power that would save the world, a message given by the tears you shed, given by you!” She yelled at him, being on the brink of crying in exasperation.
“Stop compensating your emotions by trying to find a way to deny it! There is no such power and whatever the ancient artifact is, it is probably totally useless! What you just said must be caused by the fancifulness of some creative narrators. You must know; information becomes vague and deceptive the longer they are passed on. What would say? Shouldn’t more than a millennium be enough for impeaching the validity of the context this so-called tradition has given?” Ray asked her and the whole group rhetorically, tensing up their minds on purpose.
“By the way; without a soul, you lack nearly all emotions but sinister sentiments, but usually, you are in cold blood. Do I look like I could cry? Do I seem alive and kicking like Pinkie Pie does?” He asked them rhetorically once more, pointing at the gaily looking, constantly teetering pink pony.
When she realized everyone was staring at her, she instantly stopped what she was doing and blushed. “Hehe… sorry.”
But Twilight did not care. She just held a hoof on her head and suffered in her misapprehension. Fortunately, her friends recognized that and they collected themselves around her, hugging her and consoling her in a way only best friend can do.
“Just forget it.” Rainbow Dash said. “We will wear him down anyway. No doubts about that.”
“It’s not the first time we got into such a wild ride, ain’t we?” Applejack noted funnily.
“You are not going through this all on your own. We are there and we will find a way to stop… whatever is going to happen.” Spike responded eloquently, leading everyone to assist him by nodding
A smile graced Twilight’s faced and she nodded in agreement. “You are right. I should take my own words more serious. As long as we have each other, nopony can stop us. Still…”
She gently pushed her friends away and took some steps forward. “There is one more question I have to ask you.”
“Ask away, but I won’t be responsible if you collapse because of the answer.” He replied gloatingly.
“Don’t worry about that.” She replied. “In the historical tradition, there was a hidden last paragraph; a paragraph in which
Celestia and Luna speak. It said: ‘Forgive us Radiant Eclipse… We had no other choice, we had to arrest She’ol. There was no other opportunity. Please forgive us young colt. And please forgive us sister. We miss you and we will never forget your self-abandonment. Farewell’ “
Suddenly, the black pony was lost in his thoughts, not reacting to the break Twilight did. Though this was only speculation, the group thought that this paragraph has touched him deep in his heart.
“Are you ok?” Fluttershy asked him solicitously.
“Yes.” He replied, reattaching his wall of gloomy graveness, but Twilight was too tensed up to wait any longer to wait for his answer any longer.
“So, what are you saying about that?” She asked him full of expectations.
“That is no concern of yours. Some things… should stay in the past. Besides, these things are irrelevant in the current situation.”
“But!” Twilight interrupted him, but she did not manage to dominate this conversation.
“No ‘but’, Twilight Sparkle. This is my business and only my. Don’t tamper with things you can’t understand and you shouldn’t take a hoof in anyway.” Ray explained her sulkily.
“Ok. I understand and respect that.” She told him insightfully.
Again, an awe-stricken silence filled the room with a feeling of despair. All relevant questions seemed to have been answered, so the frightening thought of having to proceed came into their mind, but Ray, who couldn’t await the next steps.
“And…” Rarity uncertainly turned to Ray. “What will you do now?”
He smirked and fell on his 4 hooves, jumped down from the remnants of the crystal and walked towards the group, causing his adversaries to back off.
“What I am destined to do. I am going to take revenge on Celestia and Luna and I will cover this world in an eternal eclipse so everything on it is going to pay its debt to nature.” He answered with a somber voice.
These ruthless, cold words saddened the minds of the young adventurers. How could someone say that so easily, so unemotively and deadly serious, especially when this someone was a pony, even worse, still a child? No, the creature in front of them was not a pony.
It may have been one before, and though it might have a heart and a soul, both of them were surely empty. Everything inside of him was pure darkness; and not even a single ray of light was there to give evidence of ponyness or even the slightest spark of hope. Everything good inside of him probably died away eons ago and all that is left was an empty vessel of gloom.
The thought that the princesses may have caused all of this tore Twilight’s spirit and her believe in the goodness inside every pony apart. Seeing this being, totally dead inside, made her feel like it was unjustified to resist his intention to devastate not just Equestria but the whole world.
While Twilight remained in her state of being inwardly broken, being consoled by her friends as usual, Fluttershy got up the nerve to do what she was willed to do after the conversation with Twilight in the Everfree Forest.
“Mister Ray. It doesn’t have to be like that. I know you feel empty and forlorn, but you don’t have to do this. Come with us, let us show you the light of Equestria and convince the princesses that you aren’t evil to get back your soul. You just need some friends who come to the aid for you and help being on the right path. We don’t have to fight; and we don’t want to.” She offered him cordially, causing her friends to smile like always when she displays pure kindness.
“You would call yourself a friend of my?” He asked her doubtfully after he took some time to think about her words.
“But of course. You are a reasonable pony. You are eerily powerful and too serious, but I am sure we, as your friends, can bring a lot of joy into your life.”
“Oh yes! We could start with a big welcoming party! Uh I can imagine it. A dark colt redeems himself and loves partying all the time! Oh that would be so much fun! Yes, yes, yes!” She raved excessively about the possible future with Ray.
“Just ignore her for now.” Fluttershy commented about Pinkie Pie’s usual behavior. “But think about it. Wouldn’t it be better that way?”
Unfortunately, all what Fluttershy got from Ray was a gentle laughter. “Oh trust me, Fluttershy. This is completely impossible.” He replied to the shock for her part.
“As much as I appreciate your offer, there is nothing that can change what I am and what I have to do. I am a creature of darkness, the harbinger of the end, the ultimate life on this planet and beyond. There is nothing I could do to change my existence. I would, but as much as you cannot change the fact that you are ponies, I can’t change that I am not.”
“You… you ain’t?” Applejack asked him confusedly.
“Didn’t you realize it? I am not bound to the horn, the sky nor the earth. I am free from this predestination and thus, my entity is as well. Don’t you remember? I used magic, dark magic to be precise; but did you see any horn on my head?”
“Right!” Twilight responded, coming to the conclusion that there is really something different about the black colt. “You channeled magic energy without a horn, nothing a… a pony could ever do…”
“Hehehe. You see, I am not like the ponies of your kind.”
Though Fluttershy was frightened by his behavior, she pulled herself together once more and tried to convince him. “It doesn’t matter, if we are the same kind or not. There is nothing that prevents you from coming with us and embracing the light of our world like everypony else!”
“But there is!!” He shouted at Fluttershy, making her pule while she slowly walked back and got consoled by her friends who looked at Ray with an irate gaze.
Ray was not surprised at all and explained himself with and for him unusual aggressive and loud voice. “There is nothing left for me in the light; and there is no way for me to return! The darkness is my existence and there is nothing no pony can do anything about it. Look!” He told them and pointed at his Cutie Mark.
His Cutie Mark was far from anything they have ever seen before. It was cryptically, nearly indescribable, but they were sure it resembled some sort of a dragon totem with a purple stone in the head. It astonished the group, but also frightened every single one.
---[An image of his Ray's Cutie Mark ]---
“This is my one way ticket to oblivion. This cursed symbol of darkness, burned into my skin, is the lesson I have been taught. A lesson I will never be able to forget. The symbol of my existence will forever be there. The ponies are a superficial race that only focusses on the Cutie Marks. This is the dogma that describes the journey of their whole life; and so does mine.”
He breathed in and out multiple times, constantly recovering his peace of mind and his manners.
“So that is a no, right?” Fluttershy asked him after waiting till he was completely himself again.
“Yes” Ray answered slightly annoyed.
“So you will join us?” Pinkie Pie asked him blithely.
“No, I am not.” He replied in bewilderment.
“But you just said ‘yes’!” she remarked confusedly.
“No; that was the answer to Fluttershy’s…” But before he could continue, he got interrupted by the hyperactive, pink pony.
“Now you say ‘no’, but you just said ‘yes’. Do you have decision making problems or something like that? Can’t you decide what do?” She said, finishing her speech and leaving nothing but a shocked black colt.
“Yes, I can…” But once more, Pinkie Pie interrupted him immediately.
“And now you say ‘yes’ again! Didn’t you just shout your reason for being a bad meanie at us? I would seriously recommend you to do something against your low assertiveness.”
He stood there, with a wide opened mouth and an expression of utter shock, maybe even a trauma. Nothing but bafflement and consternation was in evidence and his gesture perfectly portrayed his frame of mind. Not even Twilight was so shocked when she saw Fluttershy beating the laughter out the bears face, though it later became clear for her that she misunderstood the situation when Pinkie Pie told her that Fluttershy held a tea-party with all of her animal friends, including the bear, the day Pinkie Pie cloned herself multiple times.
“How do you function?” Ray asked her, still remaining in a state of discomposure.
“Trust me.” Applejack explained him. “She is always that way; always bein’ herself in every situation. That what’s makin’ her so special; and the Element of Laughter. The best thing to do is not questionin’ her. Got that?”
He did not reply to her explanation and only pressed a hoof on his forehead, groaning in shame while losing all respect for the guardians of the light. “I can’t believe these infantile fillies actually impose a threat on me.”
“I have no time to waste with the childish likes of you.”
“Hey! Don’t insult us for being happy. Besides, what do you mean with ‘I am not like the ponies of your kind? Only because of your Cutie Mark that allows you to use magic at your will? Who, or better said what, do you think are you anyway?!” Rainbow Dash asked him pushily.
“Something less; but also something more. I am just; and nothing else.” He replied provokingly.
“Oh I am going to give you ‘something more’ !” Rainbow Dash replied and she tried to ambush him, but got held back by her friends.
“Rainbow!” Spiked told her supportingly. “Did you forget? Push forward but not recklessly; always in the right direction. Don’t do this!”
“This smug jerk can’t speak plaintext for 2 words! He is always in this wannabe mystery modus and whining about his ‘unfair’ situation, but you are not fooling me! I won’t hold myself back if I have to fight you. It doesn’t matter for me what you have gone through!”
Suddenly, realizing that Rainbow Dash is in a unique moment of wisdom, they let her loose. “You don’t just want to revenge yourself on the princesses; you also, if not only, seek destruction of everything. Our friends, our family, Equestria and the rest of the entire world. They mean nothing to you. You wouldn’t feel any remorse for eliminating everything we love and care for; and I will not just stand there and allow you to do what you want!” She yelled at him, standing her ground like a true blue hero.
Twilight comprehended these words and realized that she was right. They made him an offer, they wanted to be reasonable. Everypony would have probably accepted, but the black colt chose his fate and wanted to continue walking his path of destruction. They got in line, ready to fight their new opponent. Even Fluttershy and Spike held the line, though they were aware of that they were not good fighters.
They stood strong and brave, but everything Ray did was cackling. “You don’t understand me, Rainbow Dash. I don’t just want my revenge. I do not only seek destruction of this world. I will get my revenge; and I will destroy this world. There is only one thing that you are able to change. Do I have to do it without interruptions, or do I have to go through you first. You know, it is not in my interest to get rid of you, but if you stand in my way, I will show no mercy and wipe your existence out without hesitation. And this is surely not in your interest, is it?”
But his gruesome words did not make the ponies take flight. This actually impressed him a bit, thinking that there is more in these kids than he thought. But ultimately, he moaned and accepted their choice.
“Of course you resist. As the bearers of the elements, it is your responsibility, right? But know this. You cannot prevent the inevitable; barely delay it. Caducity is the only constant in life that every being has to accept, even you, guardians.”
Then he mumbled something scarcely audible for the group. “Everyone, but me…”
But like always, he shook of his thought and focused on the actual situation, so did his opponents, facing him with valor and in full strength.
“Fair Enough! You want to behold a legendary power!? I shall fulfill your wish!!”
========
Blind courageousness; nothing I would ever support. But these ponies did not act with their mind. They did it with their heart.
Maybe that was the big difference. Maybe that was the reason they were the Elements of Harmony. They always consoled each other, always standing in a row and pulling; always together.
Though, I am honest, that day, I thought their acting against me was just asinine. Heroic, but misguided, as they have only seen the tip of the iceberg of my full potential; but to my surprise, I did the same with them.