//------------------------------// // Voldemort // Story: Defence Against the Dark Arts // by Everythingpossible //------------------------------// The three were gathered in the main hall, orange sun dying quickly in the western sky. Without a word, the spell began, the two sisters’ horns glowing with a magic aura. The yellow point of light appeared, and began to rip a hole in time and space down to the floor, when suddenly there was an unexpected interruption. “Oh, Luna,” a voice said, seemingly from nowhere, “You had one job.” All looked on in shock as Discord’s erratic figure emerged from the rift. Celestia shuddered, a primal angst reemerging at sight of the serpentine creature. Luna’s reaction was not as severe, but still startled. Dumbledore merely raised an eyebrow, not certain if this occurrence was expected. “Discord,” Celestia hissed. “Yeah, nice to see you again,” he said, turning his attention to her sister. “I told you not to re-open the portal, and what do you do?” He sighed audibly. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. You were lucky that I got here before you did any permanent damage.” “This isn’t my fault!” Luna retaliated. “She found the spell,” she said, nodding to Celestia. “Me!?” Celestia gasped, insulted. “It’s my fault that she came here? I was just doing what’s right.” “Who is this?” Dumbledore calmly asked the feuding sisters. “Don’t you recognise him, Headmaster? It’s Rich—” Luna said, her muzzle suddenly covered by Discord’s claw. “Shhhh…” he whispered, “Not now.” “He’s a scoundrel, that’s who he is,” Celestia said. “Oh, Celestia, always the downer. Old habits die hard, I see. Did Luna not tell you?” “Yes, I heard it all,” she said, “but I don’t believe it. Why are you here?” “To keep you lot from doing something stupid,” he answered. “If you open that portal again, it could possibly rip apart the universe.” “Equestria is in danger.” “Equestria?” Discord snarled, “Equestria!? You think risking the fate of the entire universe is worth saving your little sugarcoated fairyland?” “It is my…” “Our” Luna corrected. “Our little sugarcoated fairyland, Discord,” Celestia said, “And we must protect it.” “From what, exactly?” “Lord Voldemort,” Dumbledore said. The smile disappeared from Discord’s face. “Thousands could die,” Celestia petitioned, “If you don’t let us go.” “Why should I care about a few ponies?” he asked. “Don’t think about them,” Luna said. “Think about Tom.” Discord thought long and hard about it. He stroked his goatee, wearing a face of deep contemplation. “….Alright,” he said, after a long pause. “But we’re doing this my way.” As he effortlessly snapped his serpentine fingers, a door appeared in midair. Luna recognized it as the one that was once in her office. The door flew open, revealing the infinite void, the very foundation of reality. “Right this way, monsieur et madames,” Discord said, respectfully bowing before the open portal. The three looked at each other. Without speaking, it was decided that Luna should go first, her being the most experienced with inter-dimensional travel. Spreading her wings, she gracefully soared through the doorway. Celestia followed her, her attempt at a similar exit slightly ruined by her front hooves catching the base of the opening, sending her long, slender body tumbling backwards into infinity. Luna laughed as her sister struggled to regain equilibrium, flailing her legs wildly in the vacuum. After Celestia came Dumbledore. Discord lowered the door to the ground, seeing the Headmaster’s lack of flight. After he had stepped out at began floating, Discord himself slipped through the portal, drawing the door closed with his tail. “Oh my,” Dumbledore said, seeing the never-ending violet-black sky expanding in all directions, no star twinkling in the infinite night. “This way, this way,” Discord said with all the impatience of an underpaid tour director, soaring upwards from the navy-blue door floating in the void. Luna followed closely behind, using her wings to gain traction in the thin atmosphere. Dumbledore propelled himself using a wide breast-stroke, his long robes flapping behind him. Celestia, still upside-down, pushed herself forward, her dignity less important than the lives of her subjects. Discord stopped at a set of ornate white double doors, and respectfully opened it in advance. The three flew through it, and as gravity took effect once again, they landed on an elaborate marble floor. Princess Celestia approached too quickly, and landed hard on her back. “Ow…” she said. As she got up, and Discord shut the door behind him, Luna noticed that they had arrived in Canterlot’s throne room, just in time to hear a slow, dry clap echo through the hall. They all turned around quickly to the source of the applause. Lord Voldemort, wearing a cape blacker than the night, was lying lazily in the tall, gilded throne, bony hands clasped together. “So nice of you to return,” he said, his deep, croaky voice amplified by the tall ceiling. “Whom do I face?” Voldemort darkly jested, surveying the four. “Two unicorns, an old man, and their pet dragon?” The sisters growled. Dumbledore remained unscathed. “I am no pet, Tom,” Discord said. Voldemort frowned. “Who told you my name? Ah, it matters not. You shall be dead soon enough. But why does your voice seem familiar?” “I would say that I am an old friend, but you don’t seem to have any.” Voldemort let out a horrid, dry, and heartless laugh, throwing back his head at the novelty of his foes. “And Professor Dumbledore,” he said, “So nice of you to come.” “This must end, Tom,” Dumbledore said, as if addressing a student. “On the horses’ side, are you? And do not call me Tom. Tom Riddle is dead, and from the ashes has risen Lord Voldemort,” he corrected. “You are an old fool, Dumbledore.” “Don’t call him a fool!” Luna exclaimed. “And what have we here?” Voldemort said, looking up at her. “We have met before.” “The pleasure is all mine,” she replied through gritted teeth. “You were the one that stopped me at the Ministry….” he remembered, “And sent me to this… hell.” “This is my home,” Luna said, “and I want you out of it.” “Oh, I will soon leave,” he assured her, smirking. “But this place is powerful… It has an energy, an energy I have never before seen. Once I have taken that energy, I shall return to Earth, more powerful than ever.” “That energy you seek,” Dumbledore said, “You could never comprehend.” “The one magic you never mastered,” Luna continued, “Love.” “Silence!” Voldemort shouted, launching a spell in their general direction, which they dodged. He flew from the dais onto the smooth, polished floor a few meters from them. “You have said enough.” With these words, he extended his wand, streaks of lightning shooting from it, and striking all four directly. Three did not flinch, but Dumbledore collapsed. Discord and Celestia helped him back to his feet as Luna moved forward to face Voldemort. “That was only the beginning,” he said, pointing his wand like a schizophrenic orchestra conductor during the climax of Mahler’s fifth. Suddenly, the wooden stick was thrown backwards out of his hand by a blue mist. It penetrated one of the tall stained-glass windows and flew outside. “You underestimate me,” Luna said. “Perhaps,” he said, “but you have also underestimated me. Avada Kedavra!” Voldemort lunged forward, and a green bolt shot from his fingers. Luna swerved to the left just in time to avoid it, but it continued to fly, striking Celestia directly in the face. She moaned, and was struck down, Dumbledore falling with her. “Sister!” Luna turned around. “You are sisters?” Voldemort noted curiously. “Interesting. Look where love has gotten you.” “I’d think twice about that, Voldy,” Luna remarked. Slowly, Princess Celestia opened her eyes again, and raised her head, alive, but weakened. “Uuughhhh…” she moaned. “Impossible,” Voldemort said, aghast, taking a step back. “Like I said,” Luna scorned, “You have underestimated us.” “It matters not,” he said. “If I cannot kill you, I will damage you beyond repair.” He began to send a flurry of spells at her, all of which she dodged, or absorbed without recoil. She in turn replied with a faster salvo of magic, knocking Voldemort to the ground. “You are yet to see what I am capable of,” Luna said defiantly as she stood over him. “Go ahead,” Voldemort goaded, “Show me your worst.” She lowered her head, tears in the corners of her eyes as they closed. When it seemed she was surrendering, they suddenly burst open again, now turquoise and snakelike. “Luna!” Princess Celestia futilely shouted from afar. “It is all right, sister,” she said, voice deep and twisted. “It must be done.” A black shadow began to overcome Luna, beginning at her hooves, working up her legs, across her outstretched wings and up to the tip of her horn. Enclosed by this darkness, she grew taller; her small wings became long and menacing; her mane disappeared into a cloak of stars. Nightmare Moon laughed wickedly. “What have you done?” Celestia exclaimed. “We have learned to control our anger,” she said in a booming voice that echoed through the open marble hallway. “We shall use this power to defend the ones we love.” Dumbledore, Discord, and Celestia all tried to approach, concerned, but were pushed back by a ring of electric-blue fire surrounding the two. “Do not try to interfere,” she warned, “our work shall be swift and just.” The black robed figure was now lying in a near-fetal position on the floor. “Tom Marvolo Riddle,” she said to the cowering Voldemort, with the inflection of a judge pronouncing a sentence. “You have destroyed hundreds of innocent lives, and crippled many more. You have become an outcast and a menace, both in your own world and in this one. You have wasted your entire life in the pursuit of power, at the cost of your own soul.” “You cannot kill me,” he angrily croaked. “Death would be a punishment far unsuitable for one as vile as you,” she replied coldly. “And your horcruxes would ensure that you would return, in some form.” “I am invincible,” he said. “Unable to die,” Nightmare Moon scolded, “yet not invincible.” “What will you do with me?” “What must be done,” she said, eyes already glowing blindingly white. Sparks flew from her dark body across the room. Her long, black horn became a blade of light. “What are you—” Discord began to say. “We have modified the portal spell,” she explained. “You shouldn’t have— You could—” “Death is not enough for one was wicked as he,” she argued. “He must be eradicated.” Before Discord could retort, a ray of burning light came down upon the figure hunched on the floor. The fabric of his cloak, and then his flesh, burned off, and dissolved in a lustrous blaze. Voldemort screamed, howled like a small child as every atom of his body was torn apart and ceased to exist entirely. A rift opened up, and soon there was nothing left but the sound of air rushing into the vacuum where he once was. Lord Voldemort was destroyed. Princess Celestia, Dumbledore, and Discord could only gape in terror at the scene. Princess Luna had transformed back into her normal self, charred and smoking on the formerly clean marble floor, drained of all her energy, breathing heavily. It was several minutes before anyone spoke. “Are you…” Celestia hesitantly asked, “Are you alright?” “Yes…” Luna panted, “I’ll be fine.” “What have you done?” Discord curtly interrupted. “Voldemort… is… gone,” she said. “You could have destroyed the entire universe,” he said. “That kind of magic…” “You say that he’s been…” Dumbledore surmised, “completely destroyed?” “Pretty sure,” Luna responded. “Even the horcruxes?” “They were a part of him,” Discord said. “That spell… it removed him from existence. Every scintilla.” Luna smiled. Discord looked down on her, a disappointed frown on his face. “Are we safe?” Celestia asked no one in particular, not used to being the one asking questions. “As far as I can tell,” Discord answered, “it didn’t do any further damage. But the rift is still there. We’re safe, but only for now.” “What do we do now?” “Now,” Discord said, looking out the windows broken by the battle out to the tranquil hillsides, “You will stay here. Dumbledore and Luna will return to Hogw—” “Now wait a minute,” Celestia interrupted him, “That wasn’t the plan.” “I know you want Luna to stay here,” he said, “but I need her on the other side. To monitor any strange activity.” “And she is still my employee,” Dumbledore added. “It’s not fair,” Celestia complained. “Sister,” Luna consoled, “We all must make sacrifices. This will soon be over.” “One way or another,” Discord grimly said. Devoid of anything else to say, Princess Celestia hung her head, and proceeded slowly to her throne. Taking a seat and sighing, she addressed the other three. “Go, then. I will put right what has been done here.” Nodding, they looked to Discord. With a sigh, he snapped his fingers, the doorway opened again, and they proceeded back to the other dimension, leaving Celestia alone in the empty chamber.