//------------------------------//
// 25 
// Story: Slave of Eternity 
// by Secrets and Lies 
//------------------------------//


(25)






        With each step, Discord’s presence drove more fear into the group of ponies before him. “This is not a time of fear,” he said with soothing articulation, “but a time of joy. The wielder of the Prevailer is dead! Peace can truly be born now from the ashes of this tainted world.”
“No,” Pinkie shouted back, “he isn’t dead! You can’t kill Zachary just like that!” Discord looked over at the little pink pony and rose an eyebrow in annoyance.
He began to tell her, “But he is... even your Element of Magic could tell.” The pink mare looked over at Twilight with frantic eyes.
“Is it true,” she asked Twilight, “is he... is he...” Twilight couldn’t bare to see or even look at her friend, so Pinkie turned to look at Applejack and asked, “Somepony tell me the truth... Applejack, is Zachary... dead?” The orange earth mare trembled and sighed, nodding her head in affirmation.
Twilight finally spoke up, “You could sense his magic and his life force once... but now he’s... I’m sorry, Pinkie.”
Pinkie looked back over towards the purple unicorn as her eyes began to fill with new tears upon the news. The pony collapsed to her hooves as she could no longer bare the pain of the loss. Pinkie moaned and sobbed, crying out loudly for her Zack to return. Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity knelt by her side and wept with her, however Twilight glared at the draconequus with her teacher and friend Celestia. Shining Armor brought his head down low with dismay as Valiant placed a wing around his companion. Gale trembled in sadness next to the stallion pegasus whom she rested beside; and though she hardly knew of this Zachary, she mourned for him. Celestia was still on the verge of attack as nearly everyone else was captured by their emotions.
Discord cringed as he witnessed the sight unfold saying, “But... but you fools don’t understand... A new world of peace and prosperity is on the rise. Can’t you all see I’ve done a wonderful th–”
Pinkie pounced unexpectedly on the draconequus with a force that drove the god off of his feet. She latched her hind legs around Discord’s neck and began punching his head furiously. Her eyes beamed with the intent to murder the beast as her flattened hair blew back in the mountain wind. Pinkie Pie’s words jumbled together in a mess of profanity, wild animal cries and surprisingly olrugena at some points.
“I’ll kill you–you big, no good, rotten, stinking, ugly, dumb, mean, awful, nasty... firugfabor golwilpenrsin!” She threw hoof after hoof following each word she said as Discord looked up at her and warmly smiled at the raging mare. Discord reached his paw over and back handed the mare off of his chest, sending Pinkie hurdling back towards the group. Twilight caught her friend in mid-flight, using her magic to bring her steadily back down. Pinkie trembled as his hit had broken her pink skin across her face and left behind a large gash.
Discord rose back up and crossed his arms telling Celestia, “You might as well tell these brats they’re useless against my power. You might as well give up...” He turned towards Pinkie and looked down at her with a grin. She returned his expression with a look of disgust and hate which he admired from the mare.
“Oh, I’ll kill everyone, everyone except you, pink one. I’ll spare you. You’ll be my entertainment for eons to come. Suffering and wishing for death as I twist your mind in pains you cannot even fathom. You will wish you never struck your new god.” He bent over and placed his paw atop her head, letting his claws drag through her now long, pink mane.
“Well, it’s been fun,” he said as he rose back upward and took towards the skies. “It’s time to end this. Now come before me and receive your deaths. We can do this the easy way... or the hard way.”





        The world below the fog burned on as Rainbow laid her head on Zachary’s stomach, sobbing into it and wishing to be in days she never knew with Zachary. She began to wonder how she had lived her life, always complaining about the small things. Now that she looked over the cataclysm which overcame Equestria so quickly, she couldn’t bare to think about how all of that seemed so meaningless now. The mare couldn’t even comprehend her own friend’s deaths; her pet, her home, her life, her career and her dreams–everything was so far gone now, never to return again.
Dash’s ear–which was pressed up against Zachary’s chest–heard something awaken. She brought her head up and realized Zack was breathing again. Her eyes lit up with hope as she trembled with jubilation. His hand rose slowly and rested on the mare’s back, patting her gently and rubbing his fingers through her blue fur.
“Zack!” she yelled happily as she nuzzled his nose with her snout. She didn’t care anymore about hiding her feelings, all she cared about was him and his well being.
Zachary opened his eyes and whimpered back, “I’m glad I’m not dead...” he moaned and continued, “...but still dying it seems... Help me up, Rainbow Dash.” She hopped up immediately and got behind Zachary on his command. She bent her head down and eased his back and head upward. Once he was sitting properly, he held his hand on his stomach and gritted his teeth, letting out a breath of discomfort.
Rainbow hopped back around upon hearing him in pain once more and asked, “You’re still hurt! Is there anything I can do to help?”
He placed his free hand to his side and began to bend his knees to get up saying, “No, there’s nothing you can do. I’m killing that chimera today.” As he placed his feet flat on the boulder below him, he was pushed back down on his rump by the pegasus who had placed a hoof on his chest.
“Zachary,” she firmly implied, ignoring the painful grunt he made when she pushed him back down. “I’m going to help you! You’re injured and you need all the help you can get. You can’t do this alone... you need a partner.” Zachary looked up towards the mountain and then back over across the inferno which was Equestria.
“...I’m sorry,” he sighed with eyes cast downwards, “You’re right... I’m just so, so very tired of all of this. You have no idea what I’ve been through, but I plan on stopping all of this like I intended.”
He looked towards Rainbow Dash while getting back up, wondering how a mare like her could smile during a time like this. She was struck with tenderness towards the gangly creature before her and her past emotions washed away as the tide in her mind brought forth a hope that overcame both her and Zachary.
He bent over and said, “Rainbow... when this is all over, we’ll make something of this.”
“What do you mean, Za–” Her voice was silenced as he bent over to kiss the mare on the lips. It wasn’t a long, drawn in and passionate kiss, but one to show his affection towards her. Rainbow Dash was awestruck and frozen in place, in total disbelief as to what had just happened. Her face was rose red as her knees shook and wings were hung out in an awkward display. The stability of her mind was breaking as a mix of fantasy driven ecstasy and passion broke through. He pulled back and rose high onto his feet, peering skyward as the monolith of a mountain rose before them.
“Let’s go, Rainbow,” he said while limping over to the mountain and placing his hands in crevices along the cliff side. Dash’s daydreaming and paralysis was broken by Zachary’s words as he hollered out, “Rainbow Dash!” She turned on alert and was embarrassed as she tried to sweep away her dazed and distracting feelings.
Zachary continued, “I know you can’t carry me, but we’ll climb this mountain together, you and me. Let’s not waste anymore time.” He reached his hand down and offered to hoist up the mare. She could have easily flew by his side, but reached back for Zachary’s hand as he yanked her up off her hooves. As she went airborne, her wings started to work again and she floated next to Zack, helping his hands find holes and crevices along the dangerously vertical mountain side. As Zachary and Rainbow Dash began to traverse the sprawling cliff, Rainbow wondered how Zachary could have even survived such an attack from Discord. After some time of pondering on the thought to think of a reasonable answer, she finally had to ask him.
“Can I ask you something?” Zachary gave a heavy sigh while stretching his arm out above him to pull himself higher. Rainbow took it as a 'uh-huh', so she proceeded saying, “How did you even survive the last of Discord’s attacks? He completely obliterated you–well, almost obliterated you.”
Zack himself wasn’t sure how he managed to endure such an onslaught from the draconequus. After he was stabbed, he tried his best to force his magic through his body to try and sustain the wound, but Discord almost sapped him of all his magic in that maroon, lightning spell. Though he still had enough magic left to keep him living, so Zachary did the smart thing and masked his magical energy, making it seem like he was dead. He never planned to get thrown off of the mountain side, what he wanted to do was when Discord was turned around and thought Zack was dead, Zack would get up stab him in the back. It would have been a sly tactic, but he didn’t see the point in keeping up the fight any longer or making it look good–he just wanted Discord dead at this point. Now that he was far down the mountainside, away from his opponent and sword, he didn’t have a clue as to what he was going to do next.
He stopped his ascension and looked behind him towards the cyan mare answering, “I used my magic to protect me, but I didn’t know that Discord would throw me off the mountainside.” Zachary felt a twisting pain throughout his chest as he placed his hand on his bloodied ribcage.
He winced and said, “We need to be quicker though, I’m beginning to run out of magic to keep me alive. The pain’s increasing and if I don’t hurry, I won’t last much longer.” He turned back around and began to scale the cliff side faster. The two journeyed higher and soon broke through the layer of smog.





        “Well?” Discord blurted out in agitation. “Somepony come forward! Let’s get this going!” No one from the herd would step up and offer themselves to death. Everyone’s saddened emotions turned sour towards the merciless, self-proclaimed god. The draconequus looked over the crowd with his yellow eyes while scanning each face, waiting for one of the ponies to do something.
Discord took a deep breath and began again, “If I may reiterate: I’m going to kill you all eventually, might as well get it over with now.” He opened his arms out to the herd and spoke offhandedly, “I’m offering a quick and painless death to all of you. But if your pride blinds you, then you will die much like that fool you placed your faith in not too long ago.” He pointed a finger over to where the Prevailer was lying in the dirt.
His eyes then noticed someone moving forward in the crowd and soon brought his attention back towards the ponies. The large, white pegasus stallion, Valiant Steed, limped forward with his head held high. With wounds from battle, a torn off wing and a tarnished coat and mane, he hobbled through the ponies emotionlessly. The downcast herd couldn’t bare to watch him as he made his way closer to Discord, keeping his eyes affixed on the draconequus.
Discord clasped his hands together and beamed with delight. “Oh, this is wonderful. Our first volunteer! Give him a hoof, everypony!” They were all silent and sorrowful as Discord merrily clapped and cheered on Valiant.
The stallion stopped to look up at the draconequus and asked in a deep tone, “I have final words, don’t I?”
Discord rolled his eyes and replied harshly, “Sure pal. Get it over with.”
The stallion turned back towards the group of ponies and addressed them loftily, “A long time ago, I offered my allegiance to Equestria. To seek peace and to uphold justice, and till my dying breath, I will do this. I offer my life to protect my Princesses, my Elements of Harmony, my friends and my lover.” He looked directly into the eyes of Gale as those last words came forth from his lips. There was enough strength in those words to set her loose as she desperately tried to fly over to Valiant. Celestia caught her with her magic as she tried to fight back, screaming out towards Valiant not risk his life.
Valiant still couldn’t understand how he was so willing to give it all up for this mare he hardly knew. He had only just met her today, yet he yearned for her more than any other mare he had ever known. Something about Gale made Valiant set his sights on a brighter future, a future with promise and fulfillment; yet it all seemed to crash around him during this horrible time. He had built up a fantasy in his mind, some false invention of a better tomorrow, where he had moved to Ponyville, settled down with his mare, had a couple of fouls and lived happily without a care in the world. Gale would tend to the children as a stay at home mom while Valiant worked doing whatever job he could find and settle into. The stallion had never thought like this, nor had he ever been as crazy as he was for any sort of mare. With today’s events like water, and his visions of a hopeful future like fire, the two tirelessly fought. Though he knew his passion–the inferno which gave him strength–could easily be extinguished, and he prayed continually that it wouldn’t. Discord snickered at Gale’s attempts to reach out towards Valiant, which brought Valiant’s focus back to the real world. 
“You’ll get your turn soon enough, pegasus pony. Be patient.” He looked down back at Valiant and questioned in annoyance, “Are you about done here?”
The white stallion stiffened up his posture and returned a smile towards Discord saying, “Yes, yes I’m done.”
“Valiant! No,” Gale cried out, “Kill me instead!” She began to make her way towards him again, though this time no one stopped her. Celestia had no reason to, separating obvious lovers. Marestorm came before Valiant and the two held each other in front of Discord. Gale couldn’t take her eyes off of the beast before her, but a hoof came and diverted her vision away from the monster. She now looked over at Valiant as he smiled, reassuring her that this was not the end. Through streams of tears and reddened eyes, she pressed her head into his shoulder as the two held each other closer. Valiant began whispering to her only words she could hear, words that conveyed safety and peace in her mind.
He murmured over and over again, “It’ll be okay.... It’ll be okay... It’ll be okay...”
“If that’s the way you want it,” Discord leered, raising a claw towards the two, “then that’s fine and dandy by me.” 
In that moment, a narrow beam of amethyst-hued magic shot forth from his claw and pierced the two. A blast of roaring fire erupted over them and the two pegasi were no more. As the gray haze blew away from the explosion, nothing was left of the two ponies, and this delighted Discord greatly. What didn’t delight him were the annoying sounds of the ponies’ cries behind him, it only made him want to kill them quicker.
“Okay,” He said with lighter enthusiasm, pivoting around on the heel of his foot to face them. He looked over the herd and asked, “Who’s next?”
Applejack stamped her hoof and demanded, “Stop this, Discord! This won’t bring about peace!”
A voice called out from behind Discord and added, “She’s right!” The draconequus turned and noticed that Spitfire was still alive. She stood overlooking him with great malice emerging deep from within her eyes. She stood in a widened stance, sporting a slashed and burnt coat as well as a singed and scruffy mane.
She panted out, “For eons, rulers and emperors from all across the world have sought for peace, and none have ever achieved it. They’ve killed and butchered tens of thousands to acquire their desires, but never have they attained it for themselves or for their people. You will not find peace in killing. I implore you Discord, stop this while there’s a redeemable world left!” He was irked by all of this useless chatter and rose his arm up to finish off Spitfire. Then a new, quieter voice got his attention as he listened to what was behind him.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Fluttershy spoke up, “it would be nice if you could, I don’t know, stop all of this. Can we just talk and... and have some tea? Wouldn’t that be nice?”
The draconequus couldn’t stand it anymore as he threw his hands down and stressed, “I’ve told all of you this before and I will not tell you again! I’m so tired of this, I just want to kill you all now! I don’t see how any of you fools can stop me, you all are nothing to me but–”.
He was cut off by an encroaching sound, a noise which sputtered and spat loudly over the herd and draconequus. Discord slowly turned to face the rising uproar, seeing what it could possibly be. Upon noticing what was making the sound, his ears dropped and his wondering expression changed to a weary one.
Discord breathed with disgust, “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
In that moment, a fiery airship scrapped along the mountain’s surface and slammed into the draconequus. Upon impact, the ship fell apart and tumbled over itself multiple times in large heaps, engulfing the contact point in a blaze of flames. A multitude of explosions blasted across the remains of the ship when barrels of gun powder ignited with the blaze. The ponies watched in disbelief, trying to piece together what had just happened before them. It wasn’t until a single silhouette of a stallion emerged from the inferno, seemingly unscathed by the impact and fire.
The pony rose his hooves up and shouted victoriously, “A captain always goes down with his ship!” 
In that moment, Discord broke through the fiery wreckage behind Neighmo on the verge of killing him. With his maw opened wide and his claws unsheathed, he profoundly desired to send this pony to the grave. A quick burst of purple magic shot forth from the herd which nearly took everypony off guard. The beam hit Discord and pushed him back away from the stallion, giving Neighmo time to flee from his grasp. Twilight Sparkle then produced another burst, and then another, trying to suppress the beast as long as she could. Celestia joined her to aid with her more powerful magic. Shining Armor and even Rarity joined in as well, and together the four held back nothing and delivered countless blasts into the wreckage. The fire grew greater around the crash zone, spurting flames of multiple hues high above the mountain. The others cheered the four on as they pushed themselves to try and take the life of the beast away.
It seemed too good to be true that they were winning, and soon they realized this as the monster flew through the fire towards them. He was all too quick for the eye to perceive as he swatted away Twilight, Shining and Rarity with his claws and magic, leaving only the Princess behind. When she had become the only attacker left, he devised a special plan for her. He grabbed the alicorn’s horn with his paw and with nearly every bit of his magic, he sent wave after wave of devastating energy through her, draining her of her magic and life force. It only took a few moments for the draconequus to sap the alicorn of her magic, returning her continually flowing magic mane to a long pink mane. Her coat had become a gray with age as she fell to her side, helpless and nearly lifeless.
The other ponies immediately began to gallop towards Discord to try and stop him, and he noticed this without the need of looking around. He let forth a shockwave of chaotic magic that swept over the mountain itself, turning the approaching ponies to stone. As they dropped and sunk into the earth, he finally looked around to fully see his doing. The mountain was now silent, excluding the fires from the airship and Celestia’s frantic breathing.
His eyes came to look into hers and he said in a scoffing manner, “And you thought you all had a chance. Pathetic.”
Celestia–the last one not turned to stone–watched as Discord walked away towards the mountain side. The alicorn could do nothing, her strength and energy was taken from her; all she could do was watch as he walked away. He knew he wanted her to watch whatever he was going to do–she also knew that his patience had run dry and that now only left was a mad spirit with nothing left to lose.
As he finally came towards the mountain side, he swiped his paw out in front of him, pushing away the smog from below completely. The lands below glowed from wild fires and devastation that he and Zachary had caused. His yellowed eyes flickered with the red planet below as it boiled and burned, and this made him all too happy. He began to lightly chuckle, which grew to a mild laugh, and soon he was hysterically roaring with laughter as he held his arms up high with his fingers outward, as if he was holding something above him. The clouds twirled far above them all, as high as even the stratosphere. They encircled the draconequus and funneled downward in a slow turning tornado. The dirt and dust from the mountain began to fly towards him, and even the flames from the airship streamed over above the draconequus. All of these elements came together in a single, concentrated orb or dark magic that grew larger every second.
The light around him began to darken and even the colors from the world around them were being snuffed out and decolorized. Discord began sapping every bit of energy from around him, amassing it all into one ball of concentrated chaos. The energy became so great as he sucked more and more life force and magic from around him that the orb now reached a size comparable to Canterlot itself. The deep hum of the growing death ball vibrated the mountain itself, creating tremors even throughout Equestria. It radiated with corrupted energy that burned Celestia’s soul from even being in its presence. It was nothing she had ever seen and could not even conceive the damage it could cause on the planet, nor could she understand how Discord could control such a god-like energy. In one swift clasp of Discord’s hands, the massive sphere funneled downward in a great pillar of light, and miraculously it vanished. Yet the color was still extracted from the mountain and surrounding forest, and the light was nearly absent from around the draconequus still.
He brought his hands downward, still shut tightly together with fingers interlocked. He slowly unfastened his hands as a dark purple light blazed forth over him. A piercing, high pitched screech became known to Celestia’s ears as a ball of light floated gently floated upward above Discord’s open palm. The orb–no smaller than a marble–gave off a magic that absolutely terrified Celestia as Discord turned and held his hand outward, revealing the magic before the alicorn from afar. All of Discord’s magic, all of the life force and energy drained from the plants, animals, trees, rivers, oceans and skies had come together in one concentrated apocalypse orb. All of it, set off at once at such a condensed state would not only destroy the planet a thousand times over, but bring all life in their galaxy to extinction. He he created none other than a bomb, a trigger that would create the greatest of all chaotic means–a black hole. Why Discord would do such a thing to a star system was beyond her; to him, however, madness made sense of it all.
Discord knew of this as he gave a wide smile and turned his back towards Celestia. Before he threw the ball towards the planet below, he stopped and looked over the tiny sphere one last time. His eyes grew fond of the device that would bring about the destruction of countless worlds, and he was affixed to its otherworldly brilliance. He had become captivated by his own creation and stared deeply into it as if searching for a loved one.
Celestia couldn’t bare to watch as she shut her eyes tightly, praying that something would happen to stop all of this. She closed her eyes for what seemed like an eternity, but something from far beyond the limits of reality told her to open them one last time. She slowly did so and to her surprise she saw him limping forward, the one who’s sword glowed in a white light that could not be extinguished by Discord’s strange magic. She saw the back of Zack, dragging the Prevailer through the dirt as he slowly walked behind Discord in an injured gait. The draconequus was too entranced and hypnotized by the apocalypse orb that he had no idea about Zack’s presence, nor cared to sense his magic coming closer to him.
Something latched around Celestia’s barrel, it was a pair of blue hooves which began to carry the Princess away. Rainbow Dash exerted all of her remaining strength into keeping the Princess airborne and off of the battle field. Celestia turned her head to look at the cyan mare, giving her a warm smile. She knew that without Dash, Zachary wouldn’t have been able to make it back up the mountain. Rainbow returned Celestia’s soothing gaze with a serious, but true smile–their expressions conveyed their silent words.
Zack’s pace began to pick up from his slow shamble, to a quickened to pace, and soon he was in an all out sprint. He pushed away his injuries and pains, fought through the agony that plagued his essence and strived only for the swift kill he wanted. He threw his sword arm back, preparing to pour every ounce of his strength into one mighty blow. He couldn’t be stopped, he felt invincible and beyond his limits. He had never felt anything like this as he charged forward with the single intent to end this once and for all.
In an instant, Discord knew of his coming rival and pitched the galaxy-destroying sphere towards Zachary. Zack’s eyes shot open in terror as the ball whisked towards him, sucking light and color in its wake. Zack had to act fast and swung the Prevailer forward, deflecting the orb high into the air along with the blade itself. Zachary continued in his all out sprint as his sword flew high in the air over the two. Discord roared with fury as he threw his hands outward and unleashed a devastating blast of magic. Zachary dropped down and slid underneath the coming explosion, which blasted the mountain top in a blaze of fire. As Zachary slid underneath the attack and between Discord’s legs, he grabbed ahold of the monster’s tail. The draconequus swung his tail upward, launching Zachary into the air. Discord turned with his jaw pried open by another magical blast that was soon to erupt from it and overcome Zachary. As Zack was thrown through the air, he reached for his descending blade and grabbed hold of its handle; and before Discord had realized it, Zachary brought his sword down, sinking the Prevailer into Discord’s chest.
Zachary’s feet landed on Discord’s shoulders as he held tight to the Prevailer that was tilted into the draconequus–locked in the beast’s organs and ribcage. The weight and strength of Zachary’s downward strike sent the draconequus toppling over onto its back. When Discord was nearly down on the mountaintop, Zachary quickly withdrew the sword and stabbed the monster again, only this time, the Prevailer pierced the monster through the body, sticking him to the rocky plateau. Discord bellowed in anguish like a dying animal, fierce with a mix of loathing and suffering. Zachary had both hands firmly grasped around the handle, pushing as hard as he could into the beast. From afar, Celestia and Rainbow Dash shouted and cheered for Zachary.
Then–what was almost forgotten–came hurdling back down above both Zachary and Discord. The apocalypse orb zoomed downward and nearly upon impact, Zachary noticed its arrival. He kept one hand on his sword and with the other he stretched out his arm and caught the ball with his own magic, letting it not even touch his palm, but simply letting it gently hover over. The orb's magical power seemed to change with Zachary's touch, turning it pearly white; almost as if disengaging the orb and making into something entirely new. He looked down at Discord, wild with animal rage as he roared once again at Zachary. Zack closed his fist around the ball and shoved the sphere and his fist into Discord’s gaping maw.
A sapphire brilliance shot forth from the mountain that overtook the surrounding skies. A great pillar of light veiled Dragon Peak which pierced even the heavens. The two now were present in a world of magical light, and still Zachary held to his weapon. The hero continued to hold the beast down, twisting the blade continually into its chest. Discord’s body began to deteriorate away, revealing a golden, flickering spirit that was made up of what appeared to be countless orbs of flickering light. As his body crumbled into the spirit it once was, Discord stopped writhing in torment to silently looked into Zachary’s eyes. Zack was a bit taken back by this random moment; he asked himself why Discord had stopped crying out in pain and what made him do this strange action.
Then the draconequus spoke out, “If I die, you are coming with me!” He then reached out and grabbed hold of the back of Zachary’s head, fully becoming a spirit being as the remainder of his body flaked away. Zack was overtaken and something had bored through his essence. An unexplainable sensation stabbed through him and soon he was thrown backwards onto his back.
As he landed on the solid ground, he stared up into the clearer sky, seeing the slowly expanding blast from the apocalypse orb bloom forth through the air. In its wake, the darkness faded and the color returned as it washed over the landscape. The life force and energy that it had stolen away from Arteria was returning to the world around him. The Catalyst Stone inside of Zack had reversed its effects, bringing harmony instead of chaos.
Rainbow Dash and Celestia were found grounded on the mountain’s side, alive and well. Rainbow looked over towards Celestia and was surprised to see that her coat was returning to its white form and her mane began to flow with magic once again. The ponies, the five Elements, Spitfire, Shining Armor and Neighmo were returned to their original selves, no longer statues made of stone. One by one, they wobbled upward onto their hooves and looked about in wonderment as they watched the world return to normal.





        As the slowly expanding explosion faded from sight, Zachary rose up off of his back and looked over his hands and torso. He bent his fingers inwards and out, wondering why he felt so strange and odd all of the sudden. In a wild sense, he felt as if he was a shell to another being, and this concerned him greatly.
His thoughts were taken off of the strange presence as something latched to his upper body, screaming with glee, “Zack! Zack, you did it! I love you! I love you! I love you!” 
Pinkie began smothering the the human in kisses and deathly tight hugs. He returned the gestures with one of his own as he bent the mare towards him and hugged her in return. Sharp stings began to prick the insides of his body, yet he tried to ignore it as he stood up on his feet and continued to embrace his pink friend. Something was wrong with Zachary that he couldn’t quite understand; he thought that it may have been something to do with the amount of magic that was in his presence or something similar to that, so he tried to desperately avoid showing any pain before the ponies. The whole herd now came before him, applauding and congratulating Zachary. They stood around him and Pinkie as they continually gave him gratitude and thanks. Spitfire confronted Celestia personally to ask her something,
“My Princess,” the orange pegasus began, “how will we rebuild after such a horrific cataclysm? The lives of all those ponies, lost to the hands of a mad deity.”
Celestia looked down at Spitfire and gave her the only answer she could, “We can only rebuild, Spitfire. I see no other alternative.” Celestia’s mind began to wonder as Spitfire left her presence crestfallen, but hopeful.
She pondered, “Luna, where could you have gone? You’ve gone so far away, what for?” 
Pinkie finally hopped off of Zack and back onto the ground to ask him the question, “So how’s it feel to be the greatest hero in all of Equestria?”
Zachary hesitated from the inner torment and replied, “It feels... I think... I think it’s not all over...” He looked over at Celestia, who was giving him a strange look as well. She too could sense something internally wrong with Zachary, though she had no idea what it was.
Pinkie butted between Zachary’s sight of Celestia and exclaimed, “You’re right! You know what they say: It ain’t over till the pink pony sings!” Pinkie took in a deep breath and began to bounce around the group singing wholeheartedly:


When chaos reigned, then Zachary came 


and beat that meanie straight!


Oh Zachary’s tough, even in the rough,


even if he arrived late!



We ponies fight, we’re out’ta sight,


you can’t easily take us down!


Changeling’s ain’t nothing, cause we got something,


even if they take our town!



And with that blade, we’ll all parade,


and sing this song all day!


We cannot lose, when the ponies’ choose,


their hero Zack-hooray!



When trouble comes, you best–”


The singing was hushed when Zachary began screaming at the top of his lungs and holding his shaking head. He dropped to his knees as he began to sweat and convulse in an epileptic frenzy. Pinkie gasped in horror as she raced to his side.
“Zack,” she cried out, “Zack! What’s going on? What’s happening?” He continued to roll over and heave in spastic, uncontrollable fits.
He cried in agony, begging aloud, “Please, God! Make it stop!” Celestia had no clue what was happening as Zachary continued to wildly flail his limbs in suffering. “No! No, you can’t! This is mine! Not yours! You can’t!”
Twilight desperately tried to gain his attention by yelling, “Just tell us, Zack! What’s going on! Tell us!” Zack could no longer control his voice as he yelled incoherent jumbles of words and cries.
Celestia finally shouted out, “Whatever it is, fight it, Zachary! Fight it!” Though he could hear their words, he could not possible battle whatever it was tearing his insides apart, trapping his conscious deep away from everyone. It was beyond his power and too much for him to try and take control over.
Celestia began to feel an ever-growing presence seep from Zachary’s being. The life force she once recognized as Zachary had left his body, and now he was something entirely different, yet still appearing as Zack. Even the ponies who couldn’t sense magic forces could tell that something of great evil had stolen Zachary’s body and that Zack was no more. The human continued to writhe and thrash about as the ponies slowly walked away from him. A terrible fear rose up in the equines and soon they believed Zachary was near an unexplainable death.
Without warning, his seizing stopped, his lips were silenced and he appeared dead before them without a breath left in his lungs. Silence overtook the scene as Zack lay sprawled out, motionless before them. Pinkie held her hooves up to her mouth, deeply afraid of what Zachary had become–for even the ponies somehow could tell that Zachary was still very much alive. Then the body rose before them up off of the ground. It levitated itself and was placed back on its feet. His head was down and his face wasn’t visible to the ponies; he only stood with his arms by his side and still appearing not to be breathing. With a sudden jerk of his limb, he threw his arm out with his fingers stretched forward, bent in an inhuman fashion towards the Prevailer which remained still in the ground where he had slain Discord. The sword withdrew itself from the spot and its handle found its way into the human’s hand. He grasped the weapon tightly and held it closely before him.
The possessed Zachary began to deeply chuckle, overlooking  the blade. His head slowly rose up to see the herd before him while his neck creaked and popped grotesquely. His laughter stopped when his eyes met with Celestia; his lips curled to a wide smile upon seeing her. Zack’s eyes were nothing like before, for they glowed with a yellow tint as his pupils appeared blood shot red. He licked his teeth and lips, keeping his eyes locked onto the Princess.
“Now...” he spoke in a bellowing tone, contrary to Zack’s original voice, “now you are all doomed.”