Atlas Strongest Tournament

by Bico

End Game: Princess Astraea

Spike groaned as he picked himself up off the cold ground. His memory was hazy, but the image of Princess Aurelia being violently deformed was still vivid in his mind. His head snapped up and he looked around, spotting her cocoon quickly. Curiously, it was no longer black, but shone with the colors of the rainbow.

"Spike!" his friends called out to him. Spike turned his head to find himself flanked by a plethora of mares composed of Twilight's friends, Trixie's accomplices, and the former Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rarity’s presence was especially notable, as Spike was rather sure she had a nasty looking hole in her chest last he remembered. Whatever happened, the unicorn was once again whole and fully made of flesh, as well as with a new red heart-shaped mark on her breast.

Scootaloo stepped forward, her head hanging low out of embarrassment. "H-hey, Spike. I'm really happy you're okay."

"So am I!" Princess Scales interjected.

"And I!" Wavedancer said.

Spike looked toward Rarity, who maintained a neutral expression, though her eyes remained fixated on him, seeming to take in every inch of his body. "S-so," he stammered. "What happened?"

A small smile graced Rarity's lips as she touched her hoof to them. "Well... it seems you saved us again, Spikey. The same force that possessed Princess Luna... that even bent me to its will... tried to take you from us." She looked toward Princess Aurelia's cocoon. "It seems the changeling queen's daughter allowed us to share our experience and spark... something in you which let you drive the forces of Darkness from you."

A shudder passed through Spike's body. "Oh... wow."

Rarity turned to regard the piles of unconscious ponies and other various creatures littering the open-air dungeon. "Poor Ran Biao. She'll be rather cross that she was unable to join us to share in Scootaloo's coup de grace." She turned back to the other girls involved in the experience. "Perhaps we should keep that to ourselves?"

"Uh, yeah," Wavedancer agreed, and Princess Scales nodded.

"What did happen, exactly?" Applejack said. "All we could see was a bunch of light and then..."

"Don't worry about it, Dear," Rarity said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

Scootaloo cleared her throat. "Well... uh... Miss Rarity? Now that this is all over... I'd kinda like to... talk to you about something."

A flat expression crossed Rarity's face as she turned to the younger mare. She opened her mouth to respond.

The sky dimmed as the sun lowered in the sky and the moon rose simultaneously. However, they paused in the sky, maintaining an equilibrium as the stars faintly twinkled through the twilight sky. At the same time a familiar blue alicorn, her mane and tail a light blue tangled mass of hair and her horn a jagged stump, emerged from the pile of rubble she had been buried beneath.

"It is not over!" she cried.

"Princess?" Spike said. "Wh-why haven't you raised the moon all the way? What happened to your horn? Is that why...?"

The princess scoffed. "My horn is not the reason for this. If you'll notice, even my sister's sun has paused in the sky. This is because of..."

A blast of pure magical energy engulfed her from the side, and her body tumbled like a rag doll across the ground and into another wall, where she was again buried under broken stone. The source of the beam landed where she had been and the newly arrived mare turned her violet, reptilian eyes toward Spike and the mares behind him.

The armored alicorn that stood before them was as tall as Luna had been at full power. Her coat was a dark, pulsing purple, and her wings were like that of a batpony or longma and the long horn upon her head was curved and smooth like a blade. Aside from the coloration and the long fangs protruding from her mouth, her visage looked almost identical to Princess Celestia's, and her mane and tail flowed with a familiar aetherial power, containing the image of a dark blue land hiding the bulk of a yellow setting sun, with a pink and violet umbrae looking much like the sky above. Upon her head she wore a crown which looked like Twilight's, though silver instead of gold.

"P-Princess..." Rainbow Dash began.

"Astraea!" Applejack concluded, the visage from her vision during the tournament clear in her mind. "You're alive... but what happened to you?”

"And why did you hurt Luna?" Rarity demanded.

Princess Astraea laughed, her voice much like Twilight Sparkle's, but an octave lower and with a silky quality to it. "My dear, old friends. It has been awhile. I must thank you for your efforts in bringing Harmony to this land in my stead."

"Hay," Pinkie Pie interjected, appearing on Astraea's back. "Why do you look so funny? And where's Twilight?"

Astraea hissed, flaring her wings. "Stay away from me. Even without the power of Chaos flowing through you, you are an unpleasant source of irritation." When Pinkie Pie hopped off her back, she brushed herself off, as if dirty. "As for your questions, Exalted Lord Erebos has seen fit to rescind my long exile to usher in a new Golden Age.”

“Uhh,” Applejack said, tipping back her hat and scratching her head. “Wha?”

“Oh, it’s very simple, really,” Astraea said, a pair of spectacles appearing on her face as a labcoat materialized on her body. In a puff of magic she created a blackboard and began to scribble equations and various doodles on it. “You see, it was my five siblings, the Wandering Stars, who kept my essence safe even as my body was ultimately destroyed after King Atlas’ empire fell. The dark crystals that the dragon devoured had been magically linked to them, and when you… neutralized them with that impressive display of Light magic, you also broke the link between them and me.”

She turned to the group and gave them a toothy grin. “I have been asleep for far too long, trapped in this mortal body waiting for it to fully develop.” She threw down the chalk, her eyes wide with excitement. “But it is! This body is so strong, I do not see why my mother insists on waiting. Lord Erebos understands the importance of bringing order to this world into which Chaos creeps ever more steadily every day!”

“By ‘this body,’” Spike piped in, shivering as he began to process what was happening. “Do you mean… Twilight’s body?”

Princess Astraea sneered at Spike. “As the daughter of the rulers of dawn and dusk, I am the princess of twilight. So I suppose that does make it ‘twilight’s body.’”

Spike’s fists clenched together and smoke blew from his nostrils. “No… no, you can’t have her.”

Twilight’s other five friends nodded their agreement and stepped forward, flanking Spike. The other assembled mares did the same, staring Astraea down.

“Come, Spike,” Princess Astraea said. “It’s not about me taking Princess Twilight Sparkle’s body. I am her. I am her… past life. I’ve simply been brought back to the fore!”

Spike scoffed. “Princess, I grew up with Twilight Sparkle. I knew Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle was like family to me. Princess, you are no Twilight Sparkle.”

A shadow fell over Astraea’s features. “There is no escape! Don't make me destroy you. Spike, you do not yet realize your importance. You've only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the realm.”

“I’ll never join you!” Spike said, scowling at Astraea.

“If only you knew the power of the Dark Side,” Princess Astraea smirked and walked slowly toward him. “Princess Celestia never told you what happened to your mother?”

Spike shrugged. “Not really. I don’t think she even knows.”

“Oh, she does, I’m sure,” Princess Astraea said with a light chuckle. “You see, Spike… I am your mother.”

The rest of the group gasped at the revelation, but Spike gave her a skeptical stare. “I guess that explains the claws and the firebreath, huh?”

Astraea came to a halt before him and lowered her head until she was looking him straight in the eyes. “But it’s true. That fateful day when the Sonic Rainboom cracked my seal and allowed Twilight Sparkle to use a fraction of my power, she created what she wanted, even if it came from a lifeless, unfertilized dragon egg.” Her eyes softened. “The template of our own body was used to complement the genetic material already present in the egg. You are, at a fundamental level, truly our son.”

“By Twilight’s tangled tail,” Rarity breathed.

Astraea grimaced and glanced back at her hindquarters, obviously somewhat insulted.

“That’s not true,” Spike said, laughing nervously as he waved Astraea off. “That’s impossible.”

“Search your feelings,” Astraea replied, her wings flaring. “You know it to be true.”

Spike paused, a chill running down his spine. He looked into her eyes and saw a longing there. Something distinctly maternal. He thought back to all his adventures with Twilight, how much like family they were. “No…” he said, unable to bring himself to believe that the mare he’d grown up with could really be the mother he had never known. “No.”

“Spike,” Astraea said straightening her stance and looking down her snout at him. “You can destroy Chaos. Erebos has foreseen this. It is your destiny! Join me, and together we can rule Equestria as mother and son!” She stamped her silver-shod hoof into the ground, cracking it. “Come with me. It is the only way.”

Saying nothing, Spike widened his stance, putting up his fists in an aggressive pose. The mares at his side also stepped forward, their postures resolute.

Princess Astraea snarled. "Fine. You want your precious Twilight Sparkle back? You'll have to fight for every last—" Her hind leg shot out, hammering into a blue streak that resolved into a small, blue alicorn with a broken horn. She removed her hoof from the young mare's gut and then planted it into her chin, sending her streaking into the sky. She turned her head and fired a ball of magic twice her size, which exploded when it struck her former attacker in midarc. She turned back to the rest of the group. "Please excuse me for a moment." She disappeared in a flash of Darkness.

Astraea reappeared in the midst of the Everfree and watched the limp and smoking body crash into the ground. "Auntie Selene," she said sweetly. "You really must stop interrupting me when I'm talking to my friends."

Selene coughed, wiping her mouth as she rose unsteadily to her hooves. "That... that is not the name by which ponies know me."

"Oh, yes," Astraea replied flatly. "But it's who you are now, isn't it? Princess Luna is not only bigger and has a far more militant personality, but she also possesses the power of Nyx, herself. Power which you no longer possess thanks to my boy, Spike." She bared her fangs in a fierce smile. "So I think the name 'Selene' is apt in this case, isn't it?"

"Call me what you want," Selene said with a snarl. "I'm still gonna kick your royal pain of a rear." She flapped her wings and leaped at her niece.

Cackling with condescending amusement, Astraea held out a single hoof and blocked Selene's flying kick. Her hooves sunk into the dirt, but she didn't budge. Each successive rapid fire attack was similarly countered with her single leg. "You still have the moves, but without Luna's power and fighting spirit, you cannot knock me down."

"Shut up!" Selene barked as her stump lit up and crackled with electricity. She fired a bolt of white lightning which zigzagged past Astraea and exploded on a nearby tree.

Astraea tisked admonishingly. "Hard to control that magic without a full horn, eh?"

"It matters not," Luna declared. "I shall still defeat you, in the manner of an authority figure!"

"Princess, wait!" A voice called out. In a flash of red light, Trixie Lulamoon appeared between Selene and Astraea. She looked over her shoulder at Selene. "Let me help you."

"Do not interfere," Selene said, her body rigid. "You are far outmatched by this pony."

Astraea laughed and sat on her haunches, buffing a shoe on her chest. "She's right about that. You were barely a match for this body's weak unicorn form. The power you stole from my patron may have put your magic close to my immature alicorn form's, but even that is waning."

Trixie huffed, putting a hoof forward as she crouched aggressively. "Magic isn't everything," she said. "Trixie will show you the meaning of power..."

Astraea cackled again and vaulted toward the two mares. Her horn crackled with power and her flight aura became visible behind her. She lashed out with a hoof and a cone of earth aura formed around it, striking Trixie and Selene with a sonic blast even before the actual impact of her attack struck them.

Selene and Trixie tumbled together, slamming into a large tree. Trixie recovered first, just in time to raise a magical shield to block the beam of raw energy that washed around her. The shield cracked and strained as the foliage around them turned to ash, but it managed to hold until the end.

Selene sprung forward, slamming her hooves into the ground and causing a wave of earth to roll toward Astraea before a column of rock burst from the ground to reach for her. Astraea dodged the pillar, but had been distracted long enough for Selene to fly up to meet her in the sky.

The two princesses were a dark blur of hooves, shockwaves rocking the surrounding forest as they exchanged blows. Astraea quickly gained the upper hoof, however, overpowering her smaller and more exhausted foe. With a few well placed punches, she knocked Selene back, briefly senseless, and then turned and delivered a buck to her head that would make Applejack envious.

Trixie unleashed a bolt of red lightning on Astraea the moment Selene was clear. She gritted her teeth as she heard Astraea scream, trying to ignore how much she sounded like Twilight. Her magical attack started to lighten to a rosy pink, however, flickering as it lost strength.

Taking swift advantage of the wavering spell, Astraea sprung a quick shield to give herself enough time to cast her teleportation spell. She appeared instantly behind Trixie and unleashed the pain spell back on her.

Trixie collapsed when she felt her own spell turned back on her. "Twilight!" she cried as she writhed on the ground. "Please! Help me!"

"Now, young Lulamoon," Astraea said as she bared her fangs in a fierce grin. "You will—"

A wave of golden-white magic burst from Selene’s broken horn and slammed into Astraea. Selene stood and put her body over her protégé. “You will not touch my student.”

Astraea roared as she righted herself midair. “I’m getting very tired of your interference, Auntie!” Her horn lit up once again, a black sphere tinged with greenish purple light growing above it before she unleashed upon them.

Trixie grunted and erected another shield, but its stark red faded to pink the moment the beam hit. Selene crouched lower, her damaged horn pouring its magic into hers. The amber and pink light mixed, turning a brilliant white. The shield brightened and held firm until the river of black became a trickle, leaving them on an island in the center of a deep crater.

Selene gasped and fell to her knees, her stomach across Trixie's back. "I... I do not believe that was a good idea."

"No kidding," Trixie moaned. "That gave me such a hornache."

"Too bad," Princess Astraea said with a snicker as she hovered above the scorched trees. "I'm still quite fresh." She began to charge another attack, rising higher into the air in anticipation of her final blow.

"We must defend ourselves!" Selene shouted, lighting her broken horn.

Trixie's eyes bugged out as she looked back. "B-but Princess! I... I can't. Not like this!"

An explosion cracked through the air, and both mares looked back in a panic, knowing that they wouldn't be able to raise their joint shield in time to save themselves. Instead of the murky beam, however, the bright rainbow arc of a Sonic Wavebow shone before them. The attack pushed aside Astraea's blast, forcing it to dig a trench to Selene and Trixie's right.

Rainbow zipped in between Princess Astraea and her opponents, a cocky smirk on her face. "Hey, you didn't forget about us, did you?"

Astraea snarled. "If only I could." She darted forward, but an orange hoof slammed into the back of her neck, sending her hurtling toward the ground.

"Nnope!" Applejack said, shooting a satisfied grin at Rainbow.

Pinkie Pie appeared below Astraea just as she was gaining control of her descent, and she pulled a blue cannon seemingly out of nowhere. "Surprise!" she squealed, pulling the cord. A deafening explosion sounded and a visible shockwave accompanied the expulsion of a cloud of confetti, streamers, disposable dinnerware, and a large boxing glove with a brick surreptitiously stuffed inside which caught Astraea just under the chin.

Princess Astraea grunted in pain as her head snapped back. She saw a white and purple blur pass by her before her vision focused on a pair of startlingly blue eyes. She punched with a hoof, but felt it locked within Rarity's grip.

"Darling," Rarity said with chiding tone. "I do despise violence, but you simply give me no choice in the matter." She twisted her body around and delivered an expertly executed side-kick to Astraea's solar plexus, letting her streak into the ground.

Astraea flared her batlike wings as she slid against the dirt, trying to slow herself. She grit her teeth, anticipating hitting a tree or rock before she would be able to stop. Instead, her head collided with a downy, soft pillow propped up against a tree. She looked around in shock.

"Oh, um," Fluttershy said haltingly as she leaned over Astraea from behind. "I'm sorry, it just looked like you might want a nap after all that. So, if you don't mind..."

Astraea snorted and sat straight up, only to find herself nose to nose with a very irate dragon. "Spike! Good, you're here. I need you to take a letter..."

A rumble echoed in the back of Spike's throat as he grabbed Astraea by her silvery yoke. "You bring back Twilight, now!"

"What's wrong, Spike?" Astraea asked with a flutter of her eyelashes. "You seem angry. You wouldn't want to... lose control again, would you?"

Spike quickly let go of Astraea and backed away, his eyes wide with fear.

"Besides," Astraea said, leaning her head toward him as she sat upon the ground. "I am Twilight. I already told you." She cleared her throat behind a hoof as she prepared to lecture. "I have Twilight's body, her memories, her tendency to use superfluous foreign phrases, quod erat demonstrandum, I am Twilight Sparkle."

"Well, you've got that down," Spike said, his stance defensive as he eyed Princess Astraea.

Astraea nodded curtly. "I've simply awoken my past memories. It's as if I've been an amnesiac for the past twenty four years of my life!"

Spike puffed up his chest defiantly. "Oh, yeah? Well, the real Twilight Sparkle would never fight her friends like this."

"That's patently untrue," Astraea said stiffly. "Have I not been forced to do so in the past? But it's only out of friendship that I do this." She looked around at her other five friends who now surrounded her, their postures wary. "You can all be a part of the new order, girls. As the friends of the Princess of Friendship you already have clout, but I can make everything official. Rarity, I could grant you a noble title. Arch-duchess of Canterlot! Applejack, you could have thousands of acres of farmland in which to grow your apples, and hundreds of serfs to till it. Rainbow, you could be made General of our entire Air Force."

"Stop it, Twilight," Rainbow said bluntly. "You know why we can't accept that."

"Indeed," Rarity concurred, turning her nose up. "As tempting as the offer is, being a 'noble' in an empire of evil is no honor."

Applejack nodded. "I couldn't rightly accept, neither. You're talkin' about takin' land I didn't earn, and forcin' ponies to work for me. That ain't right."

"As long as you're under the control of that evil god," Spike said, taking a cautious step toward Astraea, his face pursed with concern. "We can't support you. I'm sorry."

Astraea sneered. "What simple-minded fools you are. I don't know how I stood it when I was still a mere mortal alicorn. Erebos is Darkness, but Darkness is not inherently evil." She scoffed. "Even Light can be evil, you know. They are two sides of the same coin that is Order. Darkness is simply stronger; better at fighting back Chaos. This is why I must tip the balance back toward the Dark in Equestria... neigh, the world!"

"Well," Fluttershy spoke up. "We aren't like that. The Elements of Harmony are of the Light! You are, too. Friendship is..."

Princess Astraea laughed. "Friendship is what? Fluttershy, you're just too naïve. Now I see how utterly beneath me you all are. You don't deserve my friendship."

Twilight's six best friends recoiled in shock. Rarity stared with quiet contemplation while Applejack seethed next to her, digging her hooves into the dirt. Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground, her eyes shimmering as if she were about to cry, though her face looked defiant as if daring Astraea to call her out. Fluttershy cowered, her eyes closed as she shut out the words while Pinkie Pie's mane and tail deflated as her eyes went dark. Spike dropped to his knees, his chest heaving as he processed what Astraea had just said. Even knowing this wasn't the Twilight Sparkle he knew and loved, hearing it coming from her mouth in her voice broke right through his strongest mental barriers, striking his deepest, darkest place.

"Wh-why..." Spike choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Why would you... say that..."

Astraea reared back, her eyes widening and her face going pale. "Spike," she said shakily, a pained look crossing her features. "I didn't mean... I mean, of course I..."

Red light flashed around Astraea, startling her as Twilight's friends disappeared around her. She looked back to see Spike also engulfed in a red aura.

"Wait, no!" Spike said, trying to stand. The magic quickly brightened, however, and he disappeared as well.

"I didn't mean it!" Astraea cried. "My son! Bring him back!" She whipped her head around, shouting to anything within earshot. Then she saw Trixie standing behind her, horn glowing. "You!"

"Me," Trixie affirmed. A red field popped up around them.

Astraea lit up her horn and fired a powerful blast at Trixie, who absorbed the blackness and let it flow up to her horn, and became a red arc of electricity that struck Astraea. "Well, well, well. It looks like the princess isn't so great and powerful as she thinks."

"Yet you aren't so powerful that you can keep that up forever!" Astraea growled, firing more magic at Trixie, only to have it redirected again. She didn't let that stop her, however, gritting her teeth against the pain as she poured more energy into her attack.

Trixie began breathing heavily as she strained to keep turning the magic back at its caster. "Yeah, probably not. But the Great and Powerful Trrrrixie is even greater and more powerful with this!" She jutted her chest out, showing off the black necklace with its distinctive sculpture of an alicorn.

"Where did you get that?" Astraea gasped. "Zecora..."

"Oh, she gave it to Princess Luna for safe-keeping awhile back," Trixie said with a smirk. "And the princess... well, she would never let Trixie wear it under normal conditions. But let's just say these aren't normal conditions."

Princess Astraea roared and increased her magic output, managing to push Trixie back toward the edge of her shield. "Foal! I will break this shield and you, and when I take over this realm you shall serve as my number one concubine!"

"Really?" Trixie asked, her ears perking up. "Well... Trixie must say that's a bit flattering... but I think I'd rather be queen!" She blasted back with her borrowed magic, laughing maniacally.

Astraea grunted, falling to her knees, but kept her magic flowing. She rose back to her hooves, ignoring the pain spell as best she could. "I... will not... be moved... by you!"

Trixie's knees began to quake with the strain of channeling the inequine amounts of magic being tossed at her, even with the bolstering effect of the Alicorn Amulet. The seductive whispers in her head growing louder didn't help, either. Inky splotches began to form on her coat as Astraea's magic oversaturated her body. The sclera of her eyes turned green and smoke poured from her sockets. Finally, a loud snap resounded as a crack split her amulet in two.

Astraea crowed with delight as she saw her foe's weapon shatter on the ground. She quickly ceased, however, when she felt her magic being pulled from her horn. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Trixie can take every last drop of power from you," Trixie gloated as she shot Astraea a smirk. Her body was covered in black, now, and her horn was glowing a greenish-purple.

"Can you?" Astraea asked with a smile. "That would be quite the feat for a mortal, much more for a mere unicorn." Her face twisted cruelly. "Very well. Let's conduct an experiment!" She pushed her magic out even harder, concentrating it into a solid black beam.

Trixie screamed as unfathomable amounts of energy flooded her already taxed aura. The area around her dimmed as if the light were being pushed away. "M-more!" she demanded. "Don't stop, give me more!"

"I'll fill every nanometer of your body," Astraea threatened. "I'm going to make you..."

Trixie exploded in a silent expansion of the Darkness. Everything was black and not a sound disturbed the air. Before even a second had passed, however, the light and noise returned. On the ground where Trixie had once stood was now only a scorched five-pointed star.

Astraea stared at the burned ground. "Poor, dear Trixie. Always craving power and never to embody it."

"You will pay for your crimes, this day," Selene said quietly from behind Astraea.

Astraea laughed silently, not deigning to look at her. "Oh? And what's a poor, broke-horned alicorn going to do about it?"

"My horn may be damaged and my magic too unfocused for precise battle spells," Selene acquiesced. "But my special domain is the moon..."

"So what?" Astraea asked. "Are you going to reflect me to death?"

Selene was silent for a moment, contemplating her response before speaking again, her tone pleasant. "I don't suppose you've noticed? It's gotten a bit brighter out here since you first began fighting my student, hasn't it?"

Astraea froze. The light was indeed brighter than usual for the twilight period she had created upon her return. She whirled to face Selene, whose eyes were glowing white while her horn was crackling with unfocused but powerful magic. "Trixie... she was a distraction!"

"I always knew you were intelligent," Selene replied, grinning.

"Correct!" Astraea growled. "I'm intelligent enough not to stick around!" Her horn flared and a burst of Darkness flashed from it. She remained where she was. "Wh-wha?"

Selene tackled Astraea, pinning her to the ground. "And I am intelligent enough to cast an anti-teleportation spell before revealing the truth.

Astraea looked over Selene's shoulder. She saw a bright, cratered landscape fill her vision of the sky. A cute bunny-like creature waved at her from its surface. "Th-the moon... you'll destroy us both!"

"A risk I am willing to take," Selene said.

"No, no, no!" Astraea shouted, throwing spells into Selene's face. "You can't do this!"

Selene absorbed the attacks into her broken horn easily. "Please, don't struggle. It will only make things worse. Who do you think taught Trixie to drain magic, anyway?"

In vain, Astraea continued to lash out, her black magic going wild as the surface of the moon drew closer, lifting them into the air as its gravity gripped them. Moments later, the land below and above met them in a simultaneous embrace.

To be continued...