//------------------------------// // The Battle for Equestria Part 3 // Story: The Abundance // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "May you live in interesting times" -Ancient Chinese Curse Equestria was not a land known for boredom. Even the ponies that would be called dull by their neighbors were seen by those of other nations as living lives full of adventure and excitement. The wild side seemed to call this place home and any that set a foot or a paw or a hoof upon it were quickly infected. Indeed, the greater challenge was not finding danger and excitement but avoiding it. Every pony that lived in that country had some sort of tale to tell, one that would seem farfetched to those that had never seen the depths of the Everfree or the shores of Capricorn Bay. Equestria was a land of magic. It was the home of thrill seekers and dreamers. Magic was all around, the very earth trembled with power, and the rainbows in the sky were the product of pony-power. They said that down south 'there be dragons', and across the Mareatine 'griffins this way'. But those that dwelled in the far spread lands pointed towards Equestria and whispered it was the Land of the Impossible, where gods trotted and the unlikely was mundane. For the ponies that now stood in the streets of Manehattan, craning their necks and twisting about, they found themselves riveted. These fair folk had seen the return of Nightmare Moon, lived through the Second Reign of Discord and watched as the Changeling Horde attempted to take Canterlot. In recent months they had learned of the Fall of Twilight Sparkle and the Redemption of Lord Faith. The alicorn sisters had been overthrown and the Queens had taken their place. But now, at this moment, as they watched the sky go dark and the raw chaos magic of Doubt, Spirit of Chaos, flow down like hail, they trembled in fear. This was something new. This was something to truly fear. Princess Celestia looked up from the pony she had been restraining, staring upon the purple-tinted sky and blue lightning with dread. She could taste the old magic in the air.... magic much older than her own. Princess Luna felt the energy racing along her flank and for a moment wished she were Nightmare Moon again. The Nightmare wouldn't have feared the sight of their enemy revealing that ancient magic. The Nightmare would have done something more than stop and stare. It was a mixture of fear and remorse that filled Twilight's friends and their respective elements. They lowered their heads and shrank away, seeking shadows to hide in as the memory of what they had become when Discord had ruled returning full force. The abstracts stared at this unholy union of chaos and doubt and wept bitter tears that they had allowed themselves to be swayed by such a monstrosity. These ponies, who had shown such bravery… trembled in terror and wept bitter tears in the face of this new foe. The rebellion stopped in their tracks and those ponies that had been under Doubt's control were little more than statues. All of them were suddenly aware of their place and felt so utterly small and helpless. What were they but foal in the face of such might? From Spike to Shining to Flim and Flam to the Cutie Mark Crusaders to Cadence to Derpy to all the rest, they each and every one of them had the sensation that they had been suddenly shown a great map of the world, with every connection lit up... then shown a small, blurry dot and told that it represented them and all they had accomplished and lived for. Only two held their emotions and thoughts in check. Only two weathered the storm. Only two. One… who had bonded with the power of doubt once before. The other… had taken the name once, long ago. "Am I supposed to be impressed?" Twilight said, eyes narrowed and dark as the deepest dragon cave. "Is this show supposed to frighten me?" "What should I care about how you feel?" Doubt teased, flexing her taloned-hand. "Why does a god care what an ant thinks?" "Good question," Faith said, flapping his wings and sending a barrage of silver feathers at the madcreature. Doubt twisted out of the way, only to catch Faith's right hoof in her mouth. "Why should I care what you think, ant?" "How cute," Doubt said, batting Faith away before sticking out her paw and creating a ball of black magic. She fired it at Twilight, the alicorn darting away just in time to avoid the strike. "You still play games and make your cute little taunts. You think this will be like the happy little adventures you've gone on, don't you?" Twilight turned, letting out a yelp when she found that Doubt had warped beside her. The madcreature grabbed her by the throat and squeezed, Twilight gasping as she struggled. "You never understood why you beat Discord, did you?" Faith launched himself at Doubt, only to be backhanded into a building for his trouble. Doubt watched this, smiling as Faith struck the building with a sickening crunch, before turning back towards Twilight, a smirk on her face. The purple alicorn tried to fire bolts of magic at Doubt, but the twisted monster merely wrapped her paw around Twilight's horn, giggling as the magic tickled her. "You won because Discord was playing with you. He was a cat toying with a mouse, batting it back and forth before swallowing it whole. You tasted only a portion of his power because, even though he claimed to love chaos and disorder, he still had his own twisted sense of honor and rules of play." Doubt leaned in and Twilight's eyes went glassy as Doubt squeezed her throat a touch harder. "But the problem, Twilight Sparkle... is I have no desire to play. I have no need. Why hold myself back? Why not cut loose and just... destroy you all." Doubt's talon crackled with magic and with a smirk she turned, melting the building Faith had been blasted into, trapping the abstract in a prison of molten steel. She lifted her eyes up and took hold of the stars… Twilight’s stars… and ripped them down and sent them at Manehattan, screams of fear filling Twilight’s ears. "There will be no games. I am not going to turn you into a weapon to destroy your friends or set up some impossible task for you to complete. I already did all that and found it lacking. "No... I am going to break you down, Twilight." The lavender mare screamed in agony as magic flooded her veins. It felt as if every part of her had been connected to fishing line and was being tugged in a thousand different directions. "Part by part... cell by cell... atom by atom. You are going to feel yourself spread across this entire land, pulled and pulled, growing thinner and thinner but never breaking, never-" Twilight's eyes widened as cold air filled her lungs. It actually hut to breathe and for just a moment she wished for Doubt's claws around her throat once more. But as more oxygen flowed into her and her vision cleared, the fog that had overtaken Twilight's mind cleared and she was better able to look upon the battlefield and comprehend what was happening. Fire was pouring from Doubt's nostrils and her eyes glowed with black magic as she stared at Twilight's savior, the one that had launched the attack that had freed her. The air was thick with chaos magic and Twilight felt the heady mist affecting her like some hard cider. She blinked, trying to gather herself, before turning her attention to Faith. But no... not Faith. Not this time. Twilight's hero was not Faith at all. It was the only pony to care for him as much as Twilight did. "I am so sick of you abstracts!" Trixie roared, her horn glowing a pale blue. Doubt spread her arms wide and sent 3 bolts of lightning at the blue mare's form. The moment they struck, however, 'Trixie' was revealed to be nothing more than an illusion. "All you do is talk. You talk about how powerful you are! About how you are better than ponies! How you know better than us and how we are foolish to fight you and doomed to defeat!" Doubt twisted around as hundreds of Trixies began to appear, each one with the annoyed sneer on their face. "Talk talk talk talk talk! Is there an abstract of annoying babbles? If there is he must be very BUSY!" Doubt grit her teeth and sent out a wave of magic that shattered all the illusions... but still Triixe kept talking. "You talk about your strength and your grand plans... each and every one of you!" Doubt grunted as Trixie, only now looking like a mixture of herself and Nightmare Moon, slammed her hooves into her back. Another Trixie with Celestia's coloring appeared and punched Doubt in the jaw. "You boast and you brag, but when it comes to backing up your claims, what do you do?" Doubt sneered as she charged up her magic. "NOTHING!" Doubt twisted her hand and the very earth itself rose up, forming a mighty fist that caught the two alicorns, shattering them and revealing them to be nothing more than illusions as well. "I look at you and I see everything I hate about myself," Trixie whispered. "You and all the other abstracts are what I once was, Doubt... a charlatan. You’re all confidence ponies, rolling into town with your snake oil and your music boxes and claiming to be all powerful. You are magicians pretending to be gods. The Great and Powerful." "Shut it," Doubt snapped. "Make me," Trixie mocked. "But even though there is so much of me in you, and realized that there are still parts of my soul that are my own and make me better than you." Doubt twisted about, calling upon the rage of the hurricane and the strength of the tornado. The Abundance shuddered and tried to steady itself as a maelstrom 10x greater than the one Faith had summoned over Cloudsdale tore through the sky. "Unlike you, when I do my act everyone is in on the joke. I know it isn't real and they know it isn't. For some they want to believe and hold onto the dream that all my tricks are real. But for those that don't see that... they aren't hurt by the knowledge. They are strengthened because they learn to look for the wire and the rubber sword. And I wouldn't have it any other way... because if they question my act maybe they will question other things... laws and traditions that have been in place for a thousand years and the rule of creatures like you. They learn to question and debate..." "No..." Doubt screamed, even as the skyscrapers shuddered and the clouds were torn asunder by her storm. She rushed about, trying to find Trixie, even as her words hung in the air. Doubt pressed her paw to her chest, as if afraid her heart was about to burst. "NO! DON'T YOU DARE-" She turned, eyes narrowed as she found Trixie, the real Trixie, flying just a hundred feet away. A Trixie whose coat was shining with a metallic sheen. "I... inspire... doubt," Trixie said slowly, a smile on her face as the magic swelled, the last of her feathers falling away from her now steel wings. "NO!" Doubt screamed, rushing her and grabbing the mare. She slammed her into a building, her talon glowing with the heat of a hundred volcanoes. But Trixie didn't burn. "You said it yourself, Doubt...” the new abstract said coolly, “you are no longer an abstract. You took Discord's power and title..." Trixie grinned, despite the pain. "And now your name is up for grabs." "THIEF!" Doubt screamed, slamming Trixie into the skyscraper again and again. "THIEF! BURGLAR! ROBBER!" "Madmare," Faith said coldly, grabbing Doubt by her mane and yanking her away. He flicked his wings, sending bits of the molten metal from his prison flying. “Trixie… go get Twilight… time to finish this.” “…Faith, whatever happens,” Trixie called out, a slight hitch in her voice, “I-“ Faith smiled. “I love you too.” All happiness left his features as he turned his attention to Doubt, Trixie flying down to help Twilight back up from where she had fallen. “You… and me.” Faith began to fly around the enraged spirit, ignoring her attempts to destroy him with blasts of magic. The world seemed to grow utterly peaceful around him and Faith looked upon the land that was his home. The sky was distorted and cracking like an eggshell. Fires burned and smoke rose to meet the clouds. And yet this was all like a painting to him… not a sound could be heard and there was a strange stillness in the never-ending chaos. “You and me,” Faith repeated, the tips of his wings catching the light of the setting sun. Even with all of Doubt’s actions, the spell the Queens had cast to keep the sun and moon in motion was still in effect. It lacked to flair of Celestia and Luna… but it worked. The moon was rising, the sun was setting, and for one brief moment the world was in balance. “You and me. We’ve been dancing around each other for quite some time, Doubt. We are the cause of so much misery in each other’s lives… no… that’s not true, is it? We are the own makers of our failures.” “You stole my name, just as your little whore did,” Doubt snarled, sending out a blast that would have ripped Faith’s heart from his chest. “Everything is your fault… everything that happened is on you!” The lord of the gray’s eyes flashed silver and he batted it away. “No. We could go round and round about this… I stole your name… but you made Celestia doubt in her ability to control the elements and thus allowed her to forget mine… but I would have never come to the battle if I didn’t have faith in myself… I wouldn’t have had to if other ponies didn’t doubt their strength in fighting Discord… on and on like some twisted merry-go-round. I see now, at long last, that no one is to blame but ourselves for allowing the cycle to continue. So I accept my failure and move on. “Now… more than ever… we are the opposite sides of the same coin.” Faith hovered before her and for the first time Doubt saw that he was glowing with magic. She sent out living shadows that would prey on his fears but they shriveled up and died in the face of his determination. “Did you really think my master plan was making an army of alicorns?” When she just stared at him, Faith pointed down. “Look at them… all those ponies you tried to destroy… who you blame for things that they had no hoof in… look at them now.” Doubt did just that. Down below, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight, Cadence, Celestia, Trixie and Luna were channeling their magic together, creating a great interlocking web of swirling energy. One by one, the members of the rebellion save for those mares gave up their alicorn status, smiling as the power they had wielded flowed into the web, which was then channeled into the elements of harmony that now spun about in the air. They all watched, without fear or dread, as the magic grew larger and stronger. “Do you see them now?” Faith asked. “I gave them a gift… I showed them there was hope… and they took it and nurtured it and made it grow. They held ultimate power and realized that it didn’t change them. That they were still good and noble… and they now see that it isn’t about the type of strength you have, but the way you wield it… for good or for ill. So they took that magic and they added their own to it by simply… having faith… and they made it expand a hundredfold. I had faith they would return these gifts, just as they had faith that I would provide them with the strength to fight. And our faith has been rewarded and now that magic is being tuned to the weapons that will bring about your downfall.” Doubt laughed. “Is that so? You think you can fire off the elements of harmony and encase me in stone like Discord?” When Faith shrugged the mad spirit laughed. “You will never get off the shot. Even assuming Rarity and Fluttershy can find it in themselves to accept the mantles of bearers again-“ she looked down at the two mares in question and even Faith could see they had been shaken to the core by the ramifications of their actions, “-the elements won’t work. I tainted them… corrupted them… and a few kind words from Twilight Sparkle and the forgiveness of some silly fillies will not undo the damage I’ve done. The mighty Honesty forced to lie to himself… Loyalty dead and his replacement a child who is better at hero worship… Laughter gone and her replacement to silly to claim the title… Kindness is broken and Generoisty left weeping.” She threw her arms out wide. “THESE are your champions?” “No,” Doubt heard Twilight call out. “But Faith is.” The spirit of chaos turned, eyes widening as she saw the magic Twilight and the other alicorns gathering being sent towards Faith, surrounding him in rainbow light. “The elements…” Faith said softly as the power flowed through him, “they seek out what is inside and bring it out. A good mare turned to darkness is returned to the light. A being of chaos with no harmony is rendered little more than stone.” Faith shut his eyes. “And one who sought redemption… finally finds it.” The silver abstract shed a single tear as the hopes and wishes of Equestria filled his veins. Doubt watched as Faith’s body began to grow, his legs stretching out, muscle filling, until he reached the height and size he had once held when he’d first received his body… when HE had been Doubt. But instead of his coat darkening, the silver only shone brighter. His wings spread and his horn grew longer as power flowed through him. Equestria itself had answered For all his crimes… his misdeeds… at long last… Faith was forgiven. “So…you want your revenge? That’s what this has been all about… getting your pound of flesh from me.” Faith eyes snapped open, a maniac gleam that made even Doubt shudder. The combined power of harmony joined with the power of faith and hope and the silver stallion laughed. “Well come on then! Take it! Have it, baby! Come and get it! YOU COME AND GET IT!” With a primal roar, Doubt launched herself at Faith, only for the abstract to grab onto her and, with a burst of speed, launch the two of them away from Manehattan. This was no longer a battle for the city. Now... Equestria would be the stage for their final confrontation. “Come on,” Twilight said, spreading her wings. “Are we just going to stand here and let him do it by himself?” The rebellion, as one, hurried back towards the Abundance. The battle for Equestria wasn’t over yet.