He let out a small grin of satisfaction that was short lived as he felt a stabbing pain in his lower side. Before he knew it, he was falling off the cliff and was bleeding from the wound. He let his guard down for a split second and because of it she was able to sneak behind him and stab him in the back. He looked down to see the buildings in sight rapidly approaching. Even at the height of the cliff, free falling would cause anyone to land quickly. He used his telekinetic powers to slow down his fall by grabbing himself with it and successfully land on his feet. He quickly checked his wound. He was stabbed in the side, mere inches away from his spine.
“She missed on purpose!? She could've killed me but she didn't” realizing he didn't have the time to think to himself he looked around to see she was nowhere in sight. He took this opportunity to take cover and heal. He ran to the nearest building and kicked the door in. He was rewarded by a shocked store clerk as he found himself in a grocery store. He grabbed his wound to stop the bleeding and began concentrating as he ran to the vegetable section to hide. After two minutes he managed to heal his wound and stop the bleeding just in time to see her walk inside the store.
“Lucifer! Come outside and finish this. I will not allow you to harm my little ponies or my city.” She said with courage in every word. He grinned as he spoke.
“That's the difference between you and me. You'll risk your life to save your people. I'll risk the life of others to save myself.” He quickly used his telekinesis to throw the cabbage section at her. Which caused the frightened store clerk to go ballistic.
“My cabbages!” He ran up to Lucifer with a broom as he shouted. “Get out!” The store clerk got his wish as Lucifer was encased in a golden aura and thrown outside of the store.
“Lucifer! Stop this madness. They have done nothing to you!” He only furrowed his brow as he struggled to free himself from her magical grip.
“You know Princess, there's a book on my world I could recommend to you. It's called the art of war. It goes into details about how to win your battles. One of the key points to victory is exploit your enemies weaknesses. So tell me, how much does this city matter to you?” At that moment, he broke free from her grip and sent a blast of fire at the store they were just in. At first she stood there, just staring into his eyes while the building slowly burned and the store clerk ran out.
“My store! My produce! My money! My cabbages!” And at that moment she used her magic to put out the fire by conjuring a miniature tornado to extinguish the flames. When she turned her attention back to Lucifer he was gone. She grunted in anger.
“I can't allow him to hide. He'll use this to his advantage.” She growled and stomped her hoof in rage causing the ground below her to crack. “I walked right into his trap like a foal.” She began flying in the direction he was in last. She quickly spotted him and the distance and flew even faster to catch up to him. When she got closer she saw something that disturbed her to no end. He was standing on top of a building. And he was dangling a foal over the building like an evil Michael Jackson.
“Let her go this instant!” She demanded.
“Poor choice of words Princess.” He said with a smile as he threw the foal into the air. She flew to catch the child and successfully caught her. She was once again dropped however as Celestia was hit with a bolt of lightning. She fell to the ground and accidentally let go of the foal. When she recovered from her fall and looked up she was prepared for the worst. She was prepared to see an innocent foal die from the fall. What she saw instead was him holding her in his telekinetic grasp and gently set her on the ground where she instantly froze with fear.
“Get out of here before you get hurt kid. You have a lot more to do in life than be a simple pawn.” He said to the child that quickly responded by running in the opposite direction.
“He saved her? But he used her as bait.” She thought to herself as she picked herself back up, ready to continue the fight. She saw him breathe heavily as he continued to stare at her. She charged her horn and was ready to fire. But quickly put up her shield once she saw him summon two new items in his hands. They were metal devices that unleashed a series of attacks at her shield simply by him pointing it at her. They were much less damaging than the previous attack, but these were much more rapid. She put more magic into her shield as she started to slowly walk towards him.
“Step two. Make her run out magic. That shield can't last forever. And it'll no doubt cost a decent amount of her magic power to keep it up. I just can't believe how well she took the lightning attack. That was my strongest soul attack. I must be running low on fuel.” He smiled as he continued his assault. But just when she was but a foot away from him, he stopped his attack as he looked at his weapons in surprise.
This was her chance.
She overloaded her shield and shattered it directly at him. The blast was like an explosion of wind and glass. The shield actually shattered and flew at him. He covered his face with his arms but shards got lodged in his knees, elbows, stomach, and chest. And then they disappeared since they were magic. He dropped his arms in time to see her front hoof make contact to his face causing him to stumble back and fall on his back. She began to slowly approach him.
“Shit! She's too strong. I need another distraction to heal again otherwise I'll lose this fight.” An idea struck him as he began his best to concentrate. And right as she was standing over him he summoned a flash bang. She wrapped him in her golden glow and lifted him up. Getting a good look at her now he could see that she was bruised and sweaty. And best of all she was breathing hard.
“Ready to Stop?” She said between breaths. His response was covering his eyes as he threw the flash bang down and quickly closed his eyes. There was a loud bang as the bomb exploded in a flash of light and deafening noise. He was released from her grip as she stumbled back and rubbed her eyes with her hoof. Still affected by the surprise attack, when she looked back she could see three Lucifer’s coming at her at once.
But which one was the real one.
She didn't have time to respond as she was hit in the face with a right hook, followed by a left uppercut, and finally finished with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. She was sent flying back from the combo attack. And with this he retreated further into the town. He was hurt badly from her shield. The shards punctured his body causing him to bleed internally. He ran into a house that he soon realized was empty.
He took a seat on the couch and began concentrating on his wound. It took much longer this time as he was running out of energy. The soul’s power was infinite. But that does not mean it can be over used. And if one would do so, they could risk the chance of burning there soul and killing themselves. And worst of all, ceasing to exist and not even be able to go to hell, heaven, or earth. You simply cease to exist.
“Damn, I can't keep this up. I gotta do something big to finish this.” He finished his internal healing and exited the house. He looked around to see if she was anywhere around him. She was not. He began walking further down into the town. He walked until he was certain he was in town square. And it was there he saw Twilight, Rainbow dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie pie, and the other Pegasus alerting citizens to stay indoors. All while wearing their elements of harmony.
“Everypony please stay inside. Canterlot is under attack. But I assure you everything will be fine, Princess Celestia is taking care of it.” Twilight said into a megaphone to an audience of ponies. They quickly listened and began to disperse. He walked toward them with evil in his eye. It was the unknown Pegasus that noticed him first as she hid behind Twilight.
“Fluttershy what's wrong?” Asked twilight. Fluttershy was too scared to respond verbally, so instead she pointed her hoof to the approaching Lucifer. The last thing Twilight saw was him throwing a strange ball at her and her friends as a bright light and loud noise dilated her senses as she lost consciousness.
“Where is he?” Celestia had been trying to find him since he escaped for around ten minutes with no luck in finding him. “I hope he hasn't escaped. That would be a disaster.” She continued her walk through town with her guard up as she scanned all areas. And after a while she began to hear flapping. She quickly turned around to see a guard flying toward her. She waited for his arrival while still being cautious of her surroundings.
“Princess Celestia. I was sent to tell you that we are moving ponies into their homes for safety. Nopony will be allowed out until further notice.” He said authoritatively.
“Good thinking. I lost him, but I'm quite certain he's still here. Tell the guards to watch over and protect my ponies. We make sure no harm comes to them. Understand?” The guard nodded his head as he quickly flew away. And with that her mind was slightly more at rest.
“At least my ponies are safe now. Which means it's time to stop this madness.” She flexed her wings and soared threw the air into her town like a jet. She quickly made it into the town square, which was usually full of life with ponies trading, selling, and buying. Was now a deserted shell of itself. All that was there, was Lucifer. He was standing in the middle of the town square near some food carts. And he was fully healed.
“Lucifer, surrender immediately!” She ordered out. But he was unaffected by her words.
“Before we begin Celestia, I have one final question if I may.” He walked closer to her as he picked up a sack that was lying next to him. “Will the elements of harmony still work if there not on the wearers.” And with that he opened the sack and threw it to her. And when it landed it spilled out the contents of the elements of harmony. She gasped as she used her levitation to quickly grab them. He didn't even attempt to try and stop her from acquiring them.
“What have you done to them?” She said with venom as she spoke to him with clear anger in her voice and body posture.
“There safe I assure yo-” he never finished that sentence as he was assaulted by her magical blast. He used the carts as cover which was quickly being destroyed as each blast made quick work of each cart. By the time his last cart was destroyed he saw that she was directly in front of him. Failing to react in time he was punched in the face hard and sent skidding down the road. He recovered quick enough to dodge her next attack. She flew towards him ready to once again continue her assault, but was instead kicked in the face and sent upwards into the sky. He quickly positioned himself and got ready to continue the fight of his life.
“What happened?” Said twilight as she rubbed her eyes with a fetlock. She looked around to see that she, and the rest of the mane six, were all laying down in a small house.
“Oh good your awake. I was beginning to think you'd stay asleep forever.” Remembering what happened before she lost consciousness she screamed as she jumped in terror of the new voice.
“Well hold on now, there's no reason to be scared. You’re safe here.” Twilight looked at the source of the voice to see an elder mare accompanied by an elder stallion, most likely her husband. The mare had a gray coat that was quite wrinkly due to her obvious age. She had a white mane and tail. Her eyes were a deep shade of green that practically sparkled. And her cutie mark was that of a sewing needle. The stallion had a blue coat and an even darker shade of blue mane and tail. His cutie mark was an ocean.
“Where am I? Who are you? And what happened?”
“Well I'm Threads, and this here is my husband Aquarius. And as for where you’re at. You’re in our home.” Twilight now lowering her guard sighed with slight relief at this news.
“It's nice to meet you, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Now could please you tell me how I got here?” Threads smiled as she took a seat in a chair as and began to talk.
“Well we heard some noise further down the town and heard ponies screaming about a monster fighting Celestia. So we decided to stay inside. Than after a while, low and behold, a knocking comes at our door.” She tapped the air as to represent the door as she spoke. “I hesitantly opened the door. And before my old eyes is the strangest creature I've ever seen. It looked like a Minotaur without hair and less buff. It floated you and your friends here and told us he found you unconscious. He told us to hide you here and to make sure you were safe from any danger, and to check for any wounds if we see any. Such a nice fellow to do that.”
Twilight couldn't believe it.
“Did he really bring us here to make sure we didn't get hurt?” She thought to herself. And then began to panic as she realized that her element was gone. She looked between her friends and saw that there elements were gone too. She forcefully began shaking her friends out of the slumber. And after the quick and violent shake was over, they all woke up.
“Twilight, what happened?” Asked rarity as she became fully aware of her surroundings, along with the rest of them.
“Never mind that. Where's Celestia? And did she stop Lucifer!?” Demanded Rainbow Dash. “He's dangerous and Celestia may need our help.
“We won't be much help without our elements. When he knocked us unconscious he must've taken them.” They all gasped as they frantically searched their bodies for their elements. But to no avail as they found not a single trace of it.
“This could mean trouble Twi. Even if he can't use em, we can't neither without em.” Said Applejack with worry clear on her face.
“Umm, girls, I found him.” Said Fluttershy lowly as she looked out the window.
“I understand your concern Applejack. But he did something strange that makes me wonder.”
“Umm, if I could just get a moment of your time” said Fluttershy whose voice was still barely above a whisper.
“And what's that Twi? He didn't do nothing to us right?” Asked Applejack as she started directly into Twilights eyes with the rest of their crew.
“According to Threads and her husband Aquarius, he dropped us off here and told them to make sure we were safe. The question is, why?” She had a look of concern and confusion as she began to think.
“Oh I know! I bet it's because he wants us to look our best for the party he's gonna throw after the fights over and we all forgive and forgot and he becomes our new best friend.” Said Pinkie all in one quick sentence leaving the rest of the girls to ponder her words.
“Yeah right. A guy like that is nothing but trouble. I say we get the elements back and turn him into stone.” Said Rainbow Dash as she hovered above the air with her wings stretched out in defiance.
“Girls!” Fluttershy shouted across the room getting everypony's attention. “Oh! Excuse me, it's just that Lucifer is fighting Princess Celestia outside and I can see that she has our elements is all.” The only thing she could do before being trampled by her friends was let out a low, “Eep!” as they made their way to the window and pressed their faces to the glass. What they saw before them was a massive shock.
Princess Celestia and Lucifer going blow for blow as they punched, kicked, and fired at each other with magic and fire. It was a strange sight for all to see. Their beloved Princess who wouldn't hurt a fly. Is now prepared, and seemingly trying to brutally kill this offender of her land. It was Twilight who took it the hardest.
“Princess...is she trying to kill him?” She thought to herself.
“This ends now!” Said Celestia as she charged her horn and flexed her wings. He could tell she was about to do something fierce that would surely either result in serious injury, or worse, death. He quickly summoned dual pistols and began firing like a madman at her. But once again she summoned that dammed shield of hers.
But it was much smaller and weaker than before. His bullets attacked the shield and put multiple cracks in it but still not fully braking it. And before he could think of a new idea she flew at him with speeds that surpassed her previous attacks. She was directly in his face and her shield was dropped. She sprang her attack with blistering fury. A flurry of jabs to the stomach and face, a barrage of hooks to his jaw, and finally a huge kick to his chest with both her back legs sending him rocketing into a small empty house.
As soon as he crashed, the long since abandoned home caved in on him. But her assault was not over, she flew into the air and began charging her horn. It was so bright that it would scorch any pair of eyes foolish enough to gaze upon them. She was ready to kill him. What she was not expecting was Discord to appear right in front of her, blocking her clear shot.
“Now hold on their Celly. He's done, there's no need to continue.” He said with surprising reasoning.
“Step aside Discord! This battle ends now!” She roared in the old Canterlot voice. Discord's response was snapping his claw causing the wielders of the elements of harmony to appear floating next to him.
“Now Celly, while I would normally love to see you destroying your own town and frightening your precious little ponies. You have to think of it like this. There's a fine line between chaos and disharmony, compared to senseless violence. After all, think of your subjects. What would they think of you if they saw you eradicate a helpless...whatever he is?” He said while pinching Fluttershy’s cheek and making Twilight’s eyes bulge to Celestia. Celestia stopped her horn as she saw the looks she was receiving from the mane six.
They were looks of fear, shock, and sadness. But worse of all was the look from Twilight. It was a look of betrayal. A look that said, “This isn't the real you.” Ashamed, she stopped her horn and descended to the ground with discord and the girls.
“I'm sorry. I never wished for this to happen. He wouldn't listen to reason and I tried to make him understand.” She looked somberly at the ground. To ashamed to meet there gaze. “I never wanted this to happen. But after the events of the changeling invasion, I couldn't allow another threat to befall on my ponies.” Before anypony could reply to comfort there ruler, an explosion of rubble and debris came toward them.
And out of that debris came another one of those explosive cylinders. It was coming directly for her little ponies. And she knew, that if it made contact, they'd die.