A rainbow-colored portal opened up over a field and Lightwing came zooming out of it. Her adventure through the timeline of the planet Nectaris Mare was now over. “I will never travel through time again. Ever!” She hovered to the ground. She chose to lay down and bury her head into her fore hooves. “Traveling through time was the worst choice I ever made. First I traveled twelve thousand years into the past to destroy a dragon but I instead doom the world to twelve thousand years of darkness and turmoil. Next I go two hundred thousand years into the past to try and stop a unicorn from becoming evil and wanting me dead and I totally do the opposite.”
Lightwing’s self pity speech was interrupted when Luna greeted her. “Welcome back. Discord told me you would be here.”
Still laying on the ground, Lightwing glared at Luna. “I wish that draconequus had not known my location. Then I could just vanish and nopony would care.”
“Why speak such things?” asked a concerned Luna.
“Simple,” replied Lightwing as she stood up. “Death follows me everywhere. Everything I touch dies. I never told anypony this until now. There was this time that I was practicing using dark magic and I killed a group of my friends.” Lightwing’s voice increased in volume, with anger. “That’s why I don’t like having friends. Death followed me when I was with my parents. My family always had to move to new places because of my interest in using magic. Luckily I figured out how to keep it secret from all. After my parents died naturally, I needed friends to keep me sane but my interest in magic killed them too. I killed off the Elements of Harmony and I just got back from killing an innocent family two hundred thousand years in the past. Destiny has thrown a lot of stuff at me and I’m tired of it. I think I need to disappear.”
“You have a new family now,” Luna reassured. “One that is immortal.”
“But you will all die because of me too.”
“This conversation is over,” Luna said forcefully. “You are coming back to the Crystal Castle. You have two guests.”
Luna teleported both of them away before Lightwing could respond. In a flash of light they both appeared in the main hall of the castle. Lightwing recognised there a dark-yellow unicorn standing next to Celestia. Lightwing looked around to see Discord and Trixie, who was wearing the Element of Magic on her head. The five new princesses of Equestria were also present and wearing the other Elements of Harmony. Lightwing had no clue to who had what element since the necklaces only showed the cutie marks of the wearer.
Lightwing glanced around at the small crowed again. “Where are Lyra and this other guest?”
Luna walked over to her sister as Vivian trotted over to Lightwing “Lyra is busy. She said she will be here later. As for your other guest, he should be here any second.” Right on cue, hoofsteps could be heard from a nearby hallway.
Lightwing’s face turned from curiosity to horror as she saw a blue unicorn stallion with a yellow mane step around the corner and a familiar gold artifact around his neck. The only words she said were, “Oh no…”
Sadness was apparent on the stallion’s face. “Your not happy to see me and my diamond?” Sadness quickly turned to anger as he said, “That’s fine by me. I’ll never be happy to see you, time traveling pony.”
Vivian, still standing next to Lightwing said, “That escalated fast.”
Lightwing motioned to her friend to go stand with the other ponies. She focused back on her enemy. “I assume you are here to kill me?”
Lightwing’s enemy smiled gleefully. “Oh how right you are and you can’t stop me.”
A rainbow-colored shield surrounded Lightwing. Vivian appeared in front of Lightwing. Her elemental necklace glowed as she glared at their enemy. “Can’t let you do that to my friend. The Elements of Harmony will stop you.”
Flawless Shadow chuckled. “Your magic toys won’t help you. I possess a magic that is older than the planet and is far superior. So get out of my way before you get hurt.”
Vivian looked at Lightwing for an answer.
Lightwing nodded her head. “He’s right. Your new magic is still no threat to him.”
Vivian pounded a hoof on the ground. “No! The magic of friendship will always win.”
Trixie quickly spoke up. “Vivian, you’re wrong. The Elements of Harmony were already beaten by his lesser magic. Trixie saw it. Trixie won’t let the elements be destroyed again. Come over here and don’t interfere.”
The shield around Lightwing vanished. With a sigh, Vivian walked over to Trixie.
Flawless Shadow smiled with victory. “Good choice. Now I would like to have no more interruptions, so we shall be leaving.” Flawless Shadow and Lightwing vanished in a blinding light. Both Lightwing’s saddle bag and necklace fell to the ground after the light faded.
Vivian levitated both items over to herself.
The earth pony, Honey Crisp asked, “What do we do now?”
The dark-yellow unicorn, Sparkling Aurora answered the earth pony. “We wait for Lightwing to come back and then I fight. I do have the same powers as Flawless Shadow.”
Vivian looked over toward Trixie and asked, “Did you know that pony wanted our friend dead? You seem to know he defeated the Elements of Harmony.”
“Trixie did not know the specifics. Trixie knows a dragon was created to kill your friend. The dragon spoke of his master when talking to your friend. Trixie will answer questions later.
====================
Lightwing was now standing on a large metal beam that was suspended in the air. The temperature around them had gone up immensely. Many other metal things were around her, connecting to the sides of mechanical canyon. Lightwing looked down. Far down was a magic shield protecting the place from the heat of an ocean of lava.
“Isn’t lava beautiful?” asked Flawless Shadow.
Without looking up, Lightwing asked, “Are we in a volcano base you built?”
Flawless Shadow replied with confidence. “It’s much better than that. This is a base built above a sun of a different world. Not by me.”
“A...sun?” asked Lightwing. “No wonder it’s so hot here.”
Flawless Shadow’s horn lit up with dark magic. “Prepare to die a fiery death, time traveler.”
Lightwing took to the air as a bolt of magic was shot at her. She dived straight towards her enemy, almost smacking into the metal beam as her target vanished. “That shining diamond around his neck distracted me.”
Lightwing quickly shot a volley of magic attacks behind her, every shot hitting her target. “I still have magic from the potion I used to travel back to the future.”
Holding back a laugh, Flawless Shadow replied, “Your temporary magic is useless against me. I’ll even let you attack me again.”
Thinking quickly, Lightwing cast a magic negating spell on her enemy and pushed him off the metal beam. Smiling with pride Lightwing said, “Your overconfidence was your weakness.”
As Lightwing hovered away, she heard a voice from behind her. “You’re right. My overconfidence is my weakness.” Lightwing narrowly avoided a bolt of magic that flew by her. Lightwing jumped into the air and flew backwards, away from her enemy.
Now hovering a safe distance above and away from her enemy, Lightwing saw a metal aircraft hovering a small distance from her, only big enough to fit one pony inside. It’s light-gray color sparkled in the heat but not as much as the blue pieces that connected to the wings. The mark on the front-side of the ship stood out the most. It was Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark.
Lightwing refocused her attention on the fight just in time to see a beam of magic hurtling at her. Thinking fast, she closed her wings and safely fell out of range of the attack. “That was too close,” she said as she flew back up. “What a cheap shot!” she complained.
Flawless Shadow replied with a roll of his eyes. “It’s not my fault you were distracted.”
The air around Lightwing sparked with magic as a large yellow bubble of magic formed around her. As Lightwing flew to one side of the bubble, she looked at the aircraft again. She was awe struck when she saw a unicorn Twilight Sparkle looking at her too, with head and fore hooves outside of her aircraft.
Lightwing flew full force toward the other side of the magic bubble. “Ouch!” she yelped as she impacted the unbreakable magic barrier. “Not trying that again,” she said as she rubbed her forehead with a hoof. The bubble moved toward Lightwing’s enemy, taking her with it.
With horn glowing and a devious smile, Flawless Shadow said, “It’s time to die that fiery death. I shall lower my magic barrier down past this solar base barrier. Then I’ll turn my shield off and you will be incinerated instantly.” The magic shield quickly descended down to the magic barrier that protected the base.
Lightwing watched as her and the magic bubble slowly passed through the shield of the solar base. Lightwing rubbed her fore hooves together maniacally. “This just might be the advantage I needed,” she said, also maniacally.
Lightwing was now frantically trying to teleport, with no success. Lightwing was able to teleport the millisecond the magic barrier began to dissipate. This was still not fast enough to totally escape the immense heat of the sun. Lightwing could feel the sun burn on all of her skin.
Lightwing quietly hung below a large metal bar, out of sight. As she saw her mane hanging down, she thought, Is my mane an even darker green now? It’s definitely warmer. I need to focus on sensing that evil magic. Then I can throw that diamond of his into the sun. With eyes closed, Lightwing focused on the precise location that was emanating a familiar dark magic. Lightwing quietly hovered under the metal bar until she was right below her unsuspecting prey. Lightwing quickly but quietly hovered up behind Flawless Shadow and grabbed the golden artifact around his neck. Using magic to increase her strength, she pulled the diamond off and threw it down into the boiling abyss.
“Yes!” Lightwing said victoriously. “You’re powerless without that thing, and now it’s gone.” Lightwing performed a somersault and gleefully said, “Victory loop.” With her wings still open she landed next to her enemy, her enthusiasm having turned to concern. “I...guess that means...we’re stuck here.” Lightwing turned away from her enemy. A huge burst of pain hit her left wing as a beam of magic pierced straight through it, cutting off more than four fifths of the wing. Lightwing fell onto her hind legs and stared at her injured wing. She sat motionless as pain shot through what was left of her wing.
Flawless Shadow teleported in front of Lightwing with a smug look on his face. Shaking his head with disappointment, he said, “Never turn your back on your enemy.” With a devious smile, Flawless Shadow pushed Lightwing off the metal bar.
Thinking fast, Lightwing used a levitation spell on herself. She levitated herself back up into view of her enemy. Hiding her pain with a fake smile, she said, “I guess cheap shots are the only way you can win. I was using magic to protect myself...how did you hurt me?”
“My magic is still stronger than yours,” he replied.
Lightwing frowned. Her irises turned black “I guess it’s time for dark magic.” She focused magic between her fore hooves. “Ironic that you’re going to die by dark magic.” Lightwing reluctantly shot a beam of dark magic at her enemy.
Flawless Shadow’s horn lit up and absorbed the attack.
Lightwing starred in shock as her attack had no effect on her enemy. “Why...why did it not work?” Lightwing flailed her hooves around. “How is that possible?”
Flawless Shadow shook his head in disappointment. “I thought you were smarter than this. You know that magic artifacts can only be destroyed by another magic artifact or a stronger magic. Lava is neither of those.” In a flash of light, a familiar diamond appeared next to Flawless Shadow.
Lightwing sighed as she landed next to her enemy. “How could I be so dumb?”
“Are you ready to die now?” Flawless Shadow asked with more joy than necessary. Lightwing sat back on her hind legs but said nothing. Flawless Shadow hung his golden artifact around his neck with a smile. “ My Millennium Diamond and I have tried to kill you many times...to no success. This time will be different,” he said as his horn lit up. “Any last words, time traveling pony?”
“Just one question,” replied, Lightwing. “When and what were those times you tried to kill me?”
With an eyebrow raised, he answered, “You want to know of my failed attempts...makes sense. I will oblige,” he said as he raised a magic barrier around Lightwing. “I tried to study time travel but it took too much effort. I was able to send a pony back in time for about thirty seconds. I sent them with a sword to throw at you. My minion returned to tell me that he missed his target, so I killed him. After that incident, I chose to start work on creating a dragon...but you know that. Jump two hundred thousand years into the future and I know you are going to the Crystal Mountains. I planned to kill you on your walk to fight my creation...but my Millennium Diamond decided to stop working a few days before.” Flawless Shadow pounded a hoof into the metal bar they were on. “Two hundred thousand years of a magic artifact that always works, and it broke when you were so close...fate was on your side. I followed you back to Ponyville, where I planned to kill you the no-magic way. Fate chose to save you again when you met that green unicorn girl. I could sense tones of magic artifacts in her home. Three of them powerful enough to scare me even if my Millennium Diamond was working. You were always around that green unicorn.”
“What!?” asked a stunned Lightwing. “Lyra had magic artifacts that could stand up to you? I had no clue...not even about the lesser ones. Why did she not use them to kill that dragon...oh right, she wanted to save me. But that means she had three, maybe four ways to try to save me...and she only tried one of them.”
Flawless Shadow forced out a sarcastic laugh. “Some friend she turned out to be.”
Lightwing huffed in anger. “Rub it in! I’m not the only one who made a mistake. At least I did not kill my own mother. Ha! what do ya think of that?”
Flawless Shadow asked in a confused voice. “What do you mean?”
Lightwing chuckled evilly. “Your mother died by a sword that was thrown at me. The pony responsible vanished a second later. Put the pieces together.”
“That’s a lie!” Flawless Shadow snapped back.
“That’s not even the worst part,” replied a calm Lightwing. “Your mom did not have to die. I would have come back to life if that sword killed me.”
“What!?”
Lightwing failed to hold back a laugh. “Surprise, surprise, I’m immortal. I took an idea from you and your dragon, and used it for myself. Win win!”
Flawless Shadow put a hoof on his chin in a thinking pose. “So you enchanted an item with your life energy. Smart move, but would it work if you are in a different world than the enchanted item?”
A maniacal smile formed on Lightwing’s face. “If you kill me here, you will never truly know if I died. If I come back to life, I’ll make sure you never know.”
Glaring at Lightwing, Flawless Shadow said, “I’ll just have to kill you in our normal world and then destroy the item that brings you back.” Flawless Shadow tore open a portal in the air. Lightwing, still in pain, chose to go through the portal first. Flawless Shadow turned to face the still-observing Twilight of this world. With an evil smile, he waved at her and went into the portal himself.
====================
Blooming Shadow, Violet Lily, Honeycrisp, Sparkling Sunrise, Vivian, Celestia, Luna, Trixie, Discord, and Sparkling Aurora all stood next to each other, in front of the Crystal Castle. They were all enjoying the moonlight. A small distance away in front of them stood Lyra, magically holding her enchanted sword high in the air. She yawned. “Are you sure a portal is going to open up in front of me?” Sparkling Aurora nodded her head, but before she could say a word, a portal opened in front of Lyra. Lyra realised she was standing behind the portal as Lightwing walked out from the other side.
Vivian ran up to her friend. “Lightwing, what happened to your wing?” she asked with worry.
Lightwing shrugged with a fake smile. “Nothing I...can’t fix over time.”
“Nonsense,” replied Vivian. “I bet that bad pony did this.”
Flawless Shadow stepped out of the portal and it closed behind him. Lyra knew the time for her sneak attack was now. Wasting no time, she threw her sword straight down toward Flawless Shadow.
Flawless Shadow raised an eyebrow at the sword that was stuck in the ground, inches from his face. He turned around to face Lyra. “Your attack missed.”
Lyra stared blankly at him for a moment. “Oh really.” She pointed a hoof at Flawless Shadow’s chest. “I think I hit my target spot on.”
With curiosity, Flawless Shadow looked down to see the ground. No diamond was blocking his vision. He turned his head to see his Millennium Diamond on the ground, with a sword sticking straight through it. Magic was sparking from both objects as they slowly began disintegrating. Clapping his his fore hooves, Flawless Shadow said, “Impressive. I bet you think you have beat me.”
Lightwing smiled, almost evilly. “We have beat you.”
“Wrong again,” replied Flawless Shadow. “You have now sealed your doom.”
“How?” asked Lightwing.
She got her answer as the disintegrating diamond shot a beam of dark magic straight into the sky. The beam pierced through the clouds with no effort and continued into space. Everypony across this half of the planet watched as a huge black and red vortex began forming in the sky. It took up the whole sky. The beam of dark magic faded as the diamond was no more.
Looking up into the red and black vortex, Flawless Shadow smiled. “I forgot to mention that my diamond takes the whole planet with it when it gets destroyed. I may be a normal unicorn now but you will still die.”
Lightwing nearly fell over as the ground began to shake. Vivian helped support her friend as the ground began to crack beneath their hooves. Vivian glared at Sparkling Aurora and yelled, “Do something! You said you have all the powers that Flawless Shadow had. Close that vortex of death.”
Aurora sighed. “I can’t do that. Lyra is the only one who can save the planet.”
Lyra looked over with wide eyes. “What!? How is that even possible?”
“Simple,” replied Aurora. She pointed a hoof at Lyra’s chest. “Use the Stone of Orichalcos. Only it can close the vortex.”
Lyra was now looking at the small necklace with a green stone on it. “That was embedded into my sword...when did it get there?” Lyra looked up at Aurora. “Why can’t you use the stone?”
Violet Lily interrupted the conversation. “Look!” The changeling pointed a hoof toward the sky.
Everypony looked up and saw the moon beginning to deform. It was slowly being sucked into the vortex.
Everypony lowered their ears as Aurora yelled, “Use the stone’s magic!”
Lyra closed her eyes. “Hope this works.” On the ground, a large green ring of magic formed around Lyra. Strange symbols appeared on the outside of the ring, and a six sided star formed in the center, where Lyra stood. Magic energy emanated around Lyra as another ring of strange symbols appeared around her. She opened her eyes, now glowing green with an ancient magic. Everypony watched as Lyra was completely engulfed in magic. All the ponies looked into the sky as the same ring surrounding Lyra appeared in front of the vortex. A vertical beam of magic appeared between the two green rings. The red and black vortex began to turn green. A moment later, a shock wave shook the planet as the vortex exploded in wave of green light.
The magic left Lyra and she opened her eyes. An angry Lightwing and calm Sparkling Aurora were standing next to her. Aurora spoke up first. “To answer your question from earlier, only the Stone of Orichalcos can stop the Dark Vortex after it has been opened. Not even the pony who opened the vortex can stop it. I can’t use the Stone of Orichalcos because it would kill me.”
Lyra looked around for a moment. “Where is Flawless Shadow?”
Lightwing rolled her eyes. “He died,” she huffed. Lightwing continued glaring at Lyra, with anger in her voice, she continued speaking. “He disintegrated when you stopped the vortex. He did tell me an interesting thing. Remember back when I first met you? You had three magic artifacts that could possibly stop him and his dragon.” Lightwing got right up in Lyra’s face. Glaring at the green unicorn. “So why did you doom me to twelve thousand years of torture? You had three ways to save me and you only tried one...why?”
“I...I had hundreds of magic artifacts in my home at that time. Now I have a few thousand.” Lyra shrugged. “I don’t know what they all do. Never have, never will. We both know the Stone of Orichalcos was one of them, and we both had no clue of its power. The only other artifact that I think would be strong enough to have helped you is...my enchanted hoofheld mirror. But...that thing is a little unpredictable. Sorry to disappoint but I have no clue what the other artifact could be.”
Lightwing turned around, hitting Lyra’s face with her tail. “Can somepony tell me where I can find a room to rest in? I need some alone time to sort through my emotions.”
Vivian pointed a hoof toward the Crystal Castle. “Follow me,” she said. “You can stay in the room that we keep your pet snake in. Trixie can fully heal your wing.”
After Vivian and Lightwing were gone, Lyra yawned and sat down on her hind legs. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”
In a flash of light, Discord joined the group. “Everypony should be in their beds. Princess Candy is coming tomorrow. We would not want the princess of Udrogoth to be upset with us.” Discord laughed lightly. “I heard she can be quite a barbarian.”
Celestia nodded her head in agreement. “But if we are all rested, that would not cause much chaos.”
Discord took his eyes out and rolled them into the castle. The rest of him vanished.
Everypony except Lyra began trotting into the castle.
Luna stopped and stood by Lyra. "Do not worry We shall sort out any harsh feelings tomorrow morning. Lightwing is under some stress. Her adventure is over but not the way she wanted." Luna and Lyra walked into the Crystal Castle together, to prepare for the new day.