Upheaval: Reckoning
Chapter 59: The Sending
Since he and his siblings first received them from their mother, Terrato had always wondered why the Elements of Harmony were so…necessary. They were powerful, without a doubt. Any foal could have notice that. But, even knowing how powerful the deranged Lexarius was, he had been confident of the combined might of himself and his sisters being good enough. Even Celestia had thought so and nopony believed in Lexarius more than his eldest sister. He had been the first to protest when their mother insisted that they bring the Elements of Harmony. The slightest bit of extra power felt like doubt. Bringing these powerful essences was humiliating.
But there was no swaying their mother. Divina Gratia had plenty of weight to throw around, but she rarely ever had to. She caught glimpses of possible futures, a talent rare even among the most powerful diviners within the Herd. When she asked a pony, any pony, to do something, they were inclined to do it knowing that there had to be some grand reason. So the royal siblings took the Elements of Harmony, not wanting to rely on them, but already resigned that they probably were going to be forced to.
Terrato now looked at the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and wondered. Had his mother seen this far? Had she known that the Elements would one day be passed on to Oceanus’s children? That they would be the ray of hope in the midst of his abyss, perhaps the only way they could be saved from both his dark fate and the Herd’s paranoia? Had she seen this motley band of ponies: Celestia’s stubborn scholar of a student, a farmer, a weather manager, a baker, a dressmaker, and some recluse who lived with animals, as redemption for a wayward son’s unwanted children? What had truly led to this moment? Was it their mother’s wisdom or Black Rose’s interference? Both?
“Are we ready?” Terrato asked. As the strongest necromancer around, he would have to lead this sending. He was tired, in more ways than one, and he didn’t relish the idea of involving the Elements of Harmony in any necromantic ritual, but this had to be done.
“We’re ready,” Twilight Sparkle replied. A faint glow surrounded her and her friends. They were exhausted too. That they still radiated the power of the Elements of Harmony was heartening. “As we ready as we can be, I suppose.”
“This is crazy,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Next thing we know, Black Rose’s sitting on a throne and I’ve got another arrow in my cutie mark.”
The Thorns had grouped up behind Black Rose, tending to their wounds as best they could. Their mistress, as confident as ever, stood just a few feet away from Terrato’s side, already acting like his second without him having to say so. It felt so easy to lapse into the old habits. For both of them apparently. Black Rose knew the part she had to play, but another important caster didn’t. Terrato stared at Twilight Sparkle until she flinched. He was about to teach this filly to participate in a necromantic ritual. She had the talent for it, he can sense that. Celestia probably sensed that as well. No doubt, this would eventually be a delightful breakfast topic with his eldest sister.
“Would you like me to instruct her for you?” Black Rose whispered.
“No,” Terrato said. “It’s my grave to dig. Tend to your Thorns, Rose, if you have some piddling amount of energy left, give them a few healing spells. The cellist, in particular, looks ready to drop.” He walked over to Twilight, who, for a moment, looked ready to defend herself. “Listen closely, Twilight Sparkle, you’re about to get your first lesson in Necromancy.”
Terrato wasn’t expecting a master necromancer to emerge; he wasn’t even going to cover all the basics. He just needed a useful enough participant out of the most magically talented out of all the Elements of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle stood at the center of their formation. She was going to lead their concentrated effort and needed enough knowledge to participate.
A sudden impromptu lesson on Necromancy in the bowels of the Abyss with both teacher and student at the ends of their tethers was hardly the recipe for smooth learning, but as soon as he made his intention clear, Twilight Sparkle took to instruction with surprising ease. He was going to get nightmares from that gleam in her eyes when they get out of this later and she starts pestering him for more.
The lesson of course, was in Life Tap. The bearers likely didn’t have enough strength to will their innate powers by their own might alone, but their very bodies and souls were infused with the power of Harmony. Tapping into their life force would draw it out. Of course, any necromancer, no matter the skill, stupid enough to try to tamper with the Elements of Harmony would be a cinder halfway through the process. The bearer of the Element of Magic would be the exemption though. It already had a pull with the other Elements. It could be done. It had to be done. Twilight Sparkle’s curt nods were…assuring. She learned an unfamiliar, dangerous school of magic quickly. That she looked eager to try was a bit disconcerting.
The formation was simple enough. Terrato, Black Rose, and Twilight Sparkle formed the points of a triangle within a pentagon formed by the rest of the Elements of Harmony. Before them was the yawning void that was the Throne of Oceanus. More than ever, Terrato felt the eye of the firstborn on them. Oceanus watched lazily, perhaps mildly amused at the notion that they were going to attempt something to thwart him.
Terrato raised his horn and started the ritual. Twilight Sparkle wasn’t the only one with special connections. He had but to search briefly and he was able to feel the presence of his sisters, still maintaining the enchantment that kept the bearers alive in the abyss. Did they feel his too? Was Celestia already wary of the necromantic energy seeping from the array? What about Luna? Did his younger sister know that Oceanus already watched them? Did both of them recognize his spell or were they already assuming that it was the firstborn finally attacking?
Life Tap.
It nearly jolted Terrato out of his concentration when he noticed that he and Twilight Sparkle cast the same spell. The other bearers had their eyes closed. When the Element of Magic’s radiance enveloped theirs, each of them winced. That was the easy part, if there was any part of this sending that was going to be easy. The bearers were informed of what was going to happen and they were willing. Twilight Sparkle’s biggest problem would be precision. Too little and the sending would fail. Too much and her friends would turn into undead abominations before her eyes. At least, she didn’t have to worry about defenses.
No such windfall for Terrato. His magic reached high above them, drawing power from the abyss itself to reach his two sisters. He searched for the necromantic array that allowed ponies to even get to this place. When he pinpointed its location, he now had to slowly approach. To him, they were soft, warm presences. They were two lights, one gold and one silver, seemingly at the corner of his eyes. To them, he was a black, nebulous mass of intrusive magic flowing out of the array and surrounding them. He must resemble Oceanus more than ever.
‘Concentrate, you spineless colt,’ Terrato thought. ‘You can feel as sorry as you want for yourself later when this is over.’
The approach was crucial. He willed his magic slowly, trying to make it seem that he was asking for permission. The power of the abyss would have overwhelmed them right away. He glanced to his fellow leads. Black Rose concentrated on weaving the building necromantic power, still confidently smiling. Twilight Sparkle glanced back at him nervously, her body becoming even more radiant. She had found the balance between getting as much power as possible and not sucking her friends dry, but time was also of the essence here. A lot of power was building up from various sources. Things would become too unstable if they took too long holding it. He reached out some more, bracing himself for a fierce, defensive lash.
The power of moonlight touched him first. Terrato would have breathed a sigh of relief at the first success, but there was an eagerness in that connection he found concerning. A portion of Luna’s life force flowed through him and into the formation; a cool, calming blanket, like a peaceful night. Luna was able to understand in a heartbeat. Or she was willing to give a portion of herself to the power of abyss.
‘Concentrate!’
That left the power of sunlight. Terrato hadn’t even started to reach out when the pain of Celestia’s doubts manifested like an unpleasant glare of light, piercing his eyelids while he was trying to get a few more minutes sleep. Luna had to be assuring her at this point. This was their brother, reaching out to them for help, as he should have centuries ago.
The minor glare only intensified. Apparently, Luna wasn’t good with assurances or Celestia knew it was him, but was still too afraid that he might suck her soul out. Memories of her recoiling when he came closer, that fateful fight above the ruins of the Temple of the Three, came unbidden. So they were back to this again, weren’t they? It almost felt as if they had accomplished nothing despite the reunification of Equestria.
An alarming surge of energy within the formation warned Terrato against further digression. He could just force the life tap. He could endure the flare of defensive magic knowing that Celestia could not break the link without removing herself from the necromantic array that kept Twilight Sparkle and the others alive. He had to force it. He was out of time. Yet, something still held him in that halfway point, hovering in the suspicious glare of the power of sunlight, not quite burning but far from comfortable.
‘I am not Oceanus!’
That was becoming a far too frequent assertion Terrato had to make. The clinging, slimy adulation of the Old Kingdom’s wretched souls disgusted and enraged him enough to tear into his own life force to break through, but that was nothing to this fear and suspicion. This was hardly new and stemmed from an old, frustrating sentiment from Celestia. He wasn’t Oceanus. They were sons of Dominus and both gifted in Necromancy, but he wasn’t the firstborn. Yet, each flinch Celestia made when he raised a hoof or approached her too suddenly seemed to point to that notion. He was getting tired of that connection.
‘I am not Oceanus!’
Terrato let the rage affect the life tap. His dark presence flared up. Even Luna’s power of moonlight wavered at this surge. The others in the formation also flinched. He didn’t care. He was only interested in one reaction at this moment. The power of sunlight’s defensive posture hesitated and fluctuated. ‘You understand, don’t you?’ Terrato thought. His sister didn’t hear him of course, but he wanted to speak his mind anyway. ‘This is my rage. The firstborn never got angry. The firstborn would have never waited for your permission. You know who I am, eldest sister.’
The power of sunlight finally relented. A surge of warmth, painful and pleasant all at once, flooded Terrato and the formation through him. The power of moonlight was calming and reassuring, the sublime dark of a peaceful night. The power of sunlight was dazzling and uplifting, a clear summer sky and a strong favorable breeze, perfect for an all out charge.
With his sisters on board at last, Terrato signaled his fellow conductors to move on to the next part of the sending. Swirling lights surrounded the formation: the multi-colored rays from the Elements of Harmony, the silvery glow of the power of moonlight and the golden radiance of the power of sunlight.
Terrato’s ears pricked as he glanced around. Something was shifting in the abyss. Oceanus’s throne remained dormant. The others didn’t seem to notice the shift, not even Black Rose, who was smiling at the sight of the power of sunlight and moonlight, nor Twilight Sparkle who was concentrating heavily on not killing her friends. “Power of sunlight…” he muttered. Oceanus didn’t like the sudden intrusion of Celestia’s power into his realm, the same power of the pony that hurled him out of the Herd to begin with. Perhaps he wasn’t going to be so complacent now.
The others flinched and perked their ears. They could feel the shift now as the very Throne they were trying to move started to react. Pinkie Pie opened her mouth as if to say something, but Sablesteel glared her into silence. Things were moving smoothly now. As Terrato had hoped, they had enough combined magical energy and enough skill with Necromancy to get this thing out of Equestria.
“Little brother…”
Terrato scowled. The others didn’t hear Oceanus’s voice, so it must be through thoughts that the firstborn was speaking to him.
“You may have this back.”
Terrato failed to stop a sharp intake of breath. That was enough to alert his fellow conductors. For once, Black Rose’s confident smile turned into a look of concern. Likewise, Twilight Sparkle snapped alert. The Thorns drew weapons, a futile gesture ultimately. The rest of the bearers also looked on with concern.
A loud splash, like a massive boulder being hurled into the sea, erupted around them. “Hold!” Terrato shouted, his throat only hurting further when he did so. He redoubled his efforts on the ritual. The bearers were about to break formation to face this potential threat. They couldn’t move now. At this point, they might blow themselves up along with everything in a mile radius.
“Terrato!”
Terrato’s eyes widened. He knew that deep, powerful voice, despite the horrible gurgling noise that distorted it: Gravitas.
“Impossible…” Black Rose whispered.
Out of the void of Oceanus’s Throne flew a hideous, broken…thing that vaguely resembled a pony. That was Gravitas light gray fur and his misty, dark blue mane, both splotched and encrusted with black, as if he was covered in partly frozen ink. For a moment, it wasn’t clear if he was charging them or if the Throne was spitting him out. Atrox, cracked in several places and covered in the same frozen corruption waved erratically in front of the maddened alicorn.
Terrato’s mind raced. Gravitas was going to reach the formation in a few more seconds. Somepony capable had to engage. The Thorns were no match for Gravitas, even if they were at full strength and even if he was this broken. The Elements of Harmony couldn’t be moved, not at this crucial moment. He was wielding tapped portions of the power of sunlight and moonlight. Only—
Black Rose had already left the circle. Without her precise control, the surging energies nearly erupted. Twilight Sparkle strained violently, blood bursting from her nose and leaking out of the corners of her eyes.
Terrato’s own wounds opened up and sizzled as the backlash coursed through him. He grit his teeth to avoid crying out even as blood poured between his teeth. Agonizing as this backlash was, it was the least amount of damage. Black Rose did not have specific sources of energy tied to her so her breaking formation wasn’t lethal.
“Complete the sending!” Black Rose said. There was no honey in her words this time. Her horn crackled feebly as she met Gravitas’s charge. “Beloved, you and Twilight Sparkle can complete this on your own! Don’t waste thoughts on me!”
‘Easier said than done!’ Terrato thought. He spat out a large glob of blood and refocused. Twilight Sparkle’s legs were shaking, both from exhaustion and from fighting the urge to join the fray. The other bearers, though spared the damage from the sudden shift in the formation’s power, also struggled to stay in place. The more exhausted ones, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, looked ready to faint. But they had to stay. His heart was aching, not just from the backlash either, but he had to stay put.
“I overestimated you, Gravitas,” Black Rose said. “I thought that you had been a worthy enough foe against Oceanus so that he would relish swallowing you.”
The broken body of Gravitas slowed to a hover. His neck had been wrenched to an unnatural angle and his lower jaw was barely attached to the rest of his face, but he still managed to speak. “Mortal,” he gurgled. “You have toyed with powers beyond you. Sending the pieces of your soul across the void of Vestibulum would be too lenient a fate.”
Black Rose wrinkled her nose. Despite his need to concentrate, Terrato couldn’t blame her. Gravitas was dripping some kind of filthy water. He smelled like a week-old corpse fished out of a stagnant pond. The icy blackness clinging to him looked like they were melting, but they didn’t appear to be getting smaller. At this range, it was easy to see that they were sprouting from within, like malignant, crystallized tumors.
“Perhaps it is,” Black Rose said, her voice steely. “But I’m not ready to float around in a void yet. I made a mistake depending on you, Gravitas. I do not like being reminded of mistakes.” Her horn flashed and several bolts of white-hot fire flew at Gravitas.
“Weak…” Gravitas muttered. Terrato snorted. That was a poor showing; all too revealing of Black Rose’s weakened state.
Even as Gravitas lifted Atrox for another strike, the cracks on it continued to spread. More of the blackened crystallizations crept out of the cracks and wept the same tainted liquid. It was a simple overhead strike that came after Black Rose, almost like a careless swat towards a bothersome gnat.
A blast of energy flew past Atrox, missing the weapon by a mere inch and striking its wielder head on. The angry and confused grunt from Gravitas as he flew back would be satisfying if the view of the explosion wasn’t obscured by the cloud of blood that erupted from Black Rose.
A dozen cuts had materialized around Black Rose’s torso; the outward signs of excessive Life Tap. The strategy was so simplistic that it was almost laughable that Gravitas fell for it: bait the enemy into carelessness with a poor showing and follow up with a powerful strike. Perhaps he was so prideful as to continue to look down on a pony who had already done so much damage to him. Perhaps the corruption had already destroyed his mind, turning him into a caricature of his very worst traits. Certainly, his movements looked stiff and his focus appeared scattered. This was not the general who fought so valiantly during the void rift crisis or the first rebellion. This was a partly digested remnant, some decayed wrench that Oceanus threw at them out of amusement. Particularly galling was that how easily they could all die here because of the firstborn’s leftovers.
The explosion was no wave of evocation magic, however. When the light faded, a massive chain of gold and black energies had wound itself around Gravitas, its end connected to Black Rose’s horn. The shadowy chain wasn’t the only attack that came, however. A trio of swords flew in before the blast could dissipate, along with a barrage of darts and a couple of arrows. The Thorns stood next to their mistress in a heartbeat.
“Your highness!”
Twilight Sparkle’s pained cry of a reminder brought Terrato’s back to the formation. The void was…moving. It was hard to pinpoint how exactly he was sensing it, but he knew that there was a shift in the Throne’s position. Great arcs of brilliant white light flew towards the blackness, coursing across a massive sphere. Finally, they could make out some sort of form for the Throne. It appeared as a perfect sphere, the size of which made them look like insects trying to crawl up a boulder. Was this how a Throne was supposed to look like? Or was this just some outer shell?
“Your highness…” Twilight said through grit teeth. “You need to lead! I don’t know how to proceed with this ritual!”
Terrato desperately put Black Rose out his mind. The last words coming from her direction he heard was from Sablesteel.
“I’ve got nothing to use against that alicorn, mistress!” Sablesteel said. “So sacrifice my life first!”
“No!” Pinkie Pie cried out upon hearing this. For her distraction, an arc of the energy they were manipulating surged through her. She cried out, but even her pained screamed was partly drowned out as crimson gushed out of her mouth, forming large globs that evaporated amidst the building power.
It was a bad idea perhaps, or even an unforeseen event on Black Rose’s part to have her Thorns become too involved with the Elements of Harmony. Antagonize them, test them, yes. Making them care…no. The Thorns were recruited to be ultimately expendable, but if Black Rose started using them as batteries now, the ritual may fail. The other bearers were glancing at the fight now. Their bonds, which which gave them their great strength, now threatened to destroy them.
The surges of energy around the massive black sphere increased in both intensity and violence. A look of fear crossed Twilight Sparkle’s face as an arc of raw power flew past their formation, missing only by a few feet and causing all their fur to briefly stand on end. ‘Rose…’ That was the last time Terrato allowed the mare to cross his mind. Biting back concern and frustration, he shut his eyes tight and focused.
The wild magic flying about due to their barely put together ritual left Twilight Sparkle quaking. A few moments ago, everything was dark and quiet: Black Rose offering her surrender peacefully, this long, gloomy journey seemingly about to come to a close with just one more push. Then, in an instant, the whole world seemed to have gone insane. She was deliberately sucking the life from her friends and Black Rose was protecting them.
In front of her, Prince Terrato looked like he finally shut out all the chaos around them. The lines of tension around his face and the bulging muscles around his neck and jaw showed just how much effort letting his former student fight by herself took. The glowing red cracks on his hide, like the magma-filled openings of a dangerously active volcano, looked as if they were getting wider and about to spew fire.
Despite Terrato’s worrisome condition, some stability had returned to the formation. Twilight could concentrate less on keeping the magic from ripping her insides out and focus more on keeping everypony alive and actually performing the sending.
The ground shook…no, that wasn’t quite right. Twilight could feel her surroundings shake even though there was no “ground”. The surrounding abyss was quivering. It felt as if she was inside a massive cave in, without anything falling.
“Cease this necromancy!” Gravitas roared.
Twilight nearly broke the spell. That sounded far too close for comfort. She could almost feel Gravitas’s fetid breath on her face. Following that bellow was the loud clinking of a chain pulling taut. She had to look. Straining to maintain the balance, she glanced up.
As she had feared, Gravitas was only a few feet away from crashing into the formation. What was wrong with this mad alicorn? Disrupting the ritual now would kill all of them!
Wrapped tightly around Gravitas’s still powerfully-muscled chest was a black and gold length of chain, with links the size of a pony’s head. The other end of it emerged from Black Rose’s glowing horn. Next to her, Octavia played desperately on her cello, the blood pouring from the earth pony’s face and streaming down the strings. Lion Court’s horn was also glowing, but his blades found little purchase against the magical defenses still around Gravitas. Both he and Sablesteel had enormous fresh cuts across their sides, likely the result of Black Rose tapping into their bodies for magical power. Longstride was down to his last few arrows, but he wasn’t aiming. Whatever shot he was going to make, it had to be when there was a clear opening.
“Perhaps this works to my advantage after all, Gravitas,” Black Rose said. She tried to crack a smile, but there was no hiding the strain it took her to maintain the illusory chains that bound her target. If she faltered now, the ritual was over. “Oceanus digesting you would have left nothing. Now, there’s proof that you mighty Herd ponies are hardly any different from us against the corruption!”
“I am not corrupt!” was the bellowing reply.
The huge pillar that Gravitas used rose and slammed against the chain, only to snap like a brittle piece of old, decayed rubble. The blackened crystalline gunk all over the weapon exploded like so much fragile glass.
“Mighty Atrox, nothing more than garbage!” Black Rose cried out triumphantly. The blood that continued to form a cloud of crimson around her did not reinforce that sense of victory.
Gravitas let out another deafening cry of rage and turned on Black Rose, his broken front hooves raised for a killing stomp. Sablesteel exploded into action, diving beneath the alicorn and jabbing with both bladed front hooves. Her weapons met magical shields with a loud, reverberating clang. With a cry of frustration, she pulled back and stabbed even harder. A loud ping answered her redoubled efforts and, when she flew out of Gravitas’s reach, her foreleg blades had disappeared.
On his part, Gravitas did not slow in his attack, shrugging off the Thorns like gnats. His hooves found no purchase, however. Wounded and weakened as she was, Black Rose still showed nimble reflexes. No teleport spell brought her out of harm’s way, but she jumped aside just as the hooves were about to crush her. In an instant she was standing sideways, just a few feet from Gravitas’s right, her horn still glowing with the illusory chain spell.
“What’s the matter, brute?” Black Rose asked. “The silly mortals giving you a hard time?”
Blinded by rage, Gravitas moved away from the ritual and pursued Black Rose. With the formation temporarily safe, Twilight could again look to the sending. The immense powers of the Elements of Harmony swirled around her, bathing her in a soft light that banished the misery of the abyss far more completely than the raging flames she had summoned earlier. She should be used to this brilliance by now. She had seen it defeat Nightmare Moon twice and turn Discord back to stone. But it seemed different this time.
Surrounded by the blackness of the abyss, the light pouring forth from the Elements of Harmony appeared even more glorious than Twilight remembered. This sending was more powerful than what they needed to bring down their previous foes. Just a few weeks ago, even a few days ago, Twilight would have never believed that they could bring out or require this much. Yet, here they were. Her friends were exhausted and wounded. They occasionally glanced worriedly at the fight raging just a few feet away, but they mostly focused their assured gazes on Twilight. Nopony showed any signs of flagging, despite the vast amounts of power and vitality that Twilight had already pulled from them. Not even Fluttershy, who was injured before they even headed to this place, and Pinkie Pie, who looked so lost back in the Barrier Lands. ‘We’re stronger,’ she thought. ‘Whether it’s from Black Rose’s prodding or because we need to be more than ever, I know we’re stronger.’
The black sphere shifted again and the abyss quivered. A faint groaning sound, reminiscent of creaking, straining floorboards blew past them. As this thing moved, the darkness centered on it grew more unstable. Twilight surmised that, once it was expelled, this foulness close to Equestria’s heart will be one great step closer to being completely mended. She remembered the horrible sensations back in Clover the Clever’s last refuge. She would be glad to cleanse her home of all these dark remnants.
“Mistress!”
Sablesteel’s cry jerked Twilight’s attention back to the fight. The formation’s energies shifted slightly, but she still had it under control. Terrato’s total concentration held the magic steady enough to pick up any sudden slack. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder how he could remain so stone-faced now with his former student and lover fighting desperately so close. Was it indifference that held him in place or complete faith?
As for Black Rose, it was immediately clear why Sablesteel had cried out in concern. Her chain still held, but her right foreleg dangled uselessly, clearly broken in several places. A small shard of bone appeared to be sticking out of one of her wounds there.
“Your taunts fall silent, I see,” Gravitas gurgled. “You realize now…how you’ve bitten off more than your entire tainted race…could hope to chew.”
“You’re not celebrating because you hit me, are you, Gravitas?” Black Rose asked between pants. “I didn’t realize how small your goals have become.”
“I have only…ever had one goal…” Gravitas’s voice struggled past his labored wheezing. “To… protect my kind.”
“In this one thing, you deluded, paranoid foal, we have something in common,” Black Rose said. She raised her head weakly, pulling on the chain and dragging Gravitas back for a foot. She hurled the end of the chain attached to her horn towards the coruscating orb. After a few seconds, it appeared as if the end had simply stopped in mid-air. Without Black Rose’s constant magical feeding, however, the spell started to wane. “For what it’s worth, this victory will aid both the Herd and Equestria.”
“Liar!”
Even as Gravitas bellowed, the tremors grew even more violent. Even maintaining footing proved difficult. Twilight could sense a powerful gate opening, an anomaly for the school of necromancy as was their transport here. She could feel the tremendous pressure within her starting to grow as the ritual demanded more from its participants. It was as if every drop of her blood was trying to squeeze out of her body. The others were not faring any better. While her friends had started out strong and resolute, they were now breathing heavily and nursing fresh wounds around their bodies. Twilight could not keep life tapping them for much more.
Gravitas finally looked back to the ritual, some of his mindless rage clearing from the look of things. He tried to interrupt, but the chain still held true, its links stretching taut and straining. The Thorns still made no headway with their attacks. Octavia fell on her face amidst a cloud of her own blood, her cello clattering after her.
As more time passed, it became more obvious that the Throne was moving too slowly. ‘It has to work!’ she told herself inwardly. ‘We’ve put everything we have in this!’
“Twilight…” Twilight looked up in time to catch Pinkie Pie fall to her knees. “Keep going,” Pinkie Pie said. Her lips quivered in some futile attempt to give a reassuring smile. “We’re almost there, right?”
Fluttershy followed suit, her face twisting with that same terrifying glare from their fight earlier. The others were not far behind.
The Throne inched along, so to speak. Twilight could not see any actual difference they were making amidst the chaotic surges across that massive sphere. All she had was an instinctive sense of how the ritual was going.
Then, whatever sense of movement Twilight could feel from the Throne lurched to a stop. She gasped sharply and looked towards Terrato. He remained stone-faced and unmoving, but the beads of sweat forming around him told much. As if he sensed her gaze, he opened his eyes and spoke in a strained, grim voice. “We need more. One final push.”
Twilight’s chest tightened. They didn’t have more. Not without somepony dying. She cursed under her breath. If only they didn’t spend so much strength against the Six Companions! She looked around her desperately. Where else could they get more?
Black Rose landed at the center of the formation, right next to Twilight. “We’ve made it, haven’t we?” she asked. “One more little nudge to seal the deal and we all know what that’s going to be.”
“Rose!” Terrato growled. He winced from the effort, blood pouring from his nostrils. “If you die here, you will die within his influence! And one life won’t be enough! Not even yours!”
“Oh, but I have more than just my life to give, don’t I?” Black Rose said. She held out her left hoof, forming a knife of pure void, the same knife that she had used on Princess Celestia. “Have you forgotten the countless lives I absorbed to maintain my longevity? You must have, beloved, or you would have leeched it out of me with your void spears. Upon my destruction, the power stored by their sacrifices will be released with one final burst of magic.”
“Rose…no…”
“We’ll part ways for another short while, beloved. If I am taken…” Black Rose’s voice faltered. For a moment, she looked ready to change her mind. Her lips pressed tightly, her eyes looked distant, into a fate that seemed so terrible. Those soft gray eyes were suddenly liquid with fear for that moment. After that, they calmed into resignation. “Then you have only further incentive to free all those trapped by Oceanus in his true realm.”
“Rose!”
The void knife plunged into Black Rose’s chest and a fountain of light erupted from her, joining the still swirling energies that linked the formation and the sphere. “Twilight Sparkle!” she called out, her voice already faint and distant. When Twilight looked at her, she smiled weakly. "Thank you."
It was as if Black Rose had been made up of fragile charcoal, slowly crumbling away as the fountain of light from her intensified. The serene smile never left her face as the last vestiges of her disintegrated. Gravitas bellowed in the background, still stuck to the Throne as the sending completed. Twilight could only stare. She didn’t even need to focus on the ritual, the final push ensured its success.
“Little brother.”
Twilight froze. That voice. She shuddered at the deep, silky voice of such a powerful stallion. Where had wonderful sound come from? Was that--? She shook her head. What was she babbling about in her mind? Wonderful? This was the monster that the Old Kingdom was dedicated to!
“I shall let you keep whatever it is that you tried to protect with this sending, but this one…I shall be keeping this one.”
“Oceanus…” Terrato’s jaw clenched tightly and he struck the abyss with a cracked hoof. He shut his eyes as a trickle of tears started to escape them. His voice cracked when he spoke. “You have no right to have her! I swear…I swear--!”
There was no answer. A flash of light seared away everything, forcing Twilight to shut her eyes tightly. The sheer silence that followed left her giddy. There was no explosion, no final rumblings, or even cries from Gravitas being dragged away with the Throne or her friends being hurt.
The blackness of the abyss seemed thicker than ever. A few seconds passed and Twilight realized that it was their personal radiance that had dimmed. Not only that, the inner pressure from before was replaced by a crushing sensation all around her. It felt as if she was trapped in a slowly shrinking room of flesh. “What…” her voice was husky and raw. She could feel blood at the back of her throat. “What happened? Did we win?”
“That awful thing is gone…” Rarity whispered. Her own voice almost gone as well. “We succeeded.”
“Then, we’re going home, right?” Pinkie Pie asked. She winced when she tried to raise her voice above a whisper. “We can finally leave this place?”
“There is no leaving this place,” Terrato said. They all looked at him. He sat, staring at the center of the formation where Black Rose had been. “We had paid so much to complete the sending. My sisters do not have the strength to call any of us back through the necromantic array. Without the Throne, this portion of the abyss is collapsing on itself. We’re lucky none of us will die in his influence with his Throne gone.”
“What…what are you saying?” Applejack asked. “What’s going to happen to us?”
“I’m saying that you should make your peace with this world, Applejack,” Terrato said.
“It’s over.”