//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 
// Story: Dimensional Battle Royale 
// by RazortheAwesome 
//------------------------------//


*Seth*


Razor and I stood there in the remnants of what both of us remembered and understood to be the Canterlot Throne Room. However, what neither of us could understand was the existence and presence of this variant of Twilight Sparkle.  This so called “Stallion in the High Tower,” which was obviously a blatant lie, unless it turned out not to be, but wasn’t about to check to make sure. Razor stood there, his knees buckling as he collapsed forward slightly before looking back up at the alicorn before him, her head tilting slightly as she watched this scene unfold before her.  

“It would appear that you are shocked by my presence,” she spoke, that same velvety, soft voice that both Razor and I remembered echoing throughout the hollow chambers of the throne room.  

“What the...,” I began to protest, stepping forward while Razor stood there. “What happened here?… What happened to you?” 

“You mean why I built this tower and hosted this game of murder for all to participate in,” she teased, and I nodded in return.  “Once upon a time, there existed a magical world called Equestria, inhabited by the very species called forth to fight in this tournament of brutality and bloodshed, and they lived, for the most part in peace. One night, a certain,” she flitted her mane, “princess found herself studying the stars and the movements they made across Luna’s night sky.  One particular night, she noticed that one of her favorite stars had vanished from the night sky, and the following night, another vanished, until she noticed that with each passing night, the stars closer to her world had vanished into absolute darkness.  She presented her findings to her mentor and the kindly and just Celestia investigated, but by then it was already too late. One morning, the citizens of Equestria awoke to see a large being entangling itself around the moon and moving ever closer to the atmosphere until at last, we saw it.”  She paused for a moment as though the memories came flooding back to her and she attempted to fight off an increasingly painful migraine, though it proved to be ineffectual.  

“The creature she discovered did not exist in any record or written bestiary in all of the libraries across the vast world she lived in, so she decided to name it: the Star Dweller.  The creature’s form consisted of a black, almost amorphous shape with large, almost supernova colored eyes and vast claws that clung to the moon, but it stayed there, just watching us.  Any attempts to communicate with it resulted in absolute failure and we were not sure of the beast’s intent until that day the reports came in from Zebrica.  Creatures, nearly two stories tall, quadrupeds with mouthed tendrils descended from the sky, slaughtering hundreds, if not thousands in the first few hours, and when those few lucky enough to kill one accomplished this task, they soon discovered an even fouler consequence.  Their blood was toxic, consisting of several dozen toxins, some known, but most unknown to ponykind, and whatever came into contact with it fell ill.  Within seconds, necrosis set in and within a day, the body devoured itself in sores until at last what was left was a parasitic mucus of what was blood and flesh. The vegetation and fauna suffered quicker fates, merely dying off in seconds as the soil became black and toxic to the touch, causing the same necrosis as the blood.

“We had no choice but to genocide the remainder of the continent in order to prevent it from spreading, but by then, the creatures were already spotted in Equestria, Saddle Arabia and several other nations.  One such thing appeared in Ponyville, just outside of the Apple Family’s farm and…” she stopped, her eyes streaming with tears, “I can still see Applebloom there, infected by the creature after Big Macintosh tried his best to fight it off, only to be devoured and the entire crop infected with the same disease.  With no options, we burned the farm at night. I can still hear the shrill cries of Applebloom burning to death in the field.  Celestia and Luna declared war on the creature, sending the greatest weapons of might and magic against it, but to no avail until at last, using our Rainbow Powers; we wounded the creature and celebrated with gaiety at the thing’s short retreat away from our space.

“Until the following morning when the news came to Ponyville and sent the mare into a state of absolution and despair.”


- Crystal Empire: Day 358 of the Star Dweller War –


“Cadence!” Shining Armor screamed as he ran into the palace, drawing his wife’s attention as he used his magic to lock the doors shut.  He staggered towards the approaching mare, bleeding profusely as he removed his helmet, the screams echoing from the surrounding cityscape against the palace walls and windows, penetrating those left open.

“Shining, what’s wrong?” she cried as she embraced him. “Please tell me it’s dead, that thing is dead, that creature it sent is…”

“All of my stallions... gone in a single instance,” he muttered, the door now being banged upon by Celestia and Luna knew what.  

“Some eaten, others vaporized where they stood but all of them are gone…”

The door burst open to reveal a towering stallion-like creature, its coat and mane black as the very abysmal space from whence it arrived and eyes in the color of the very supernovas it dwelled amongst.  Its wings outstretched like those of a hybrid of thestral, pegasi and dragon wings with a mane and tail dancing with an entire cosmos burning and flashing bright.  The beast’s horn glowed a hellfire of dazzling light as hundreds of tendrils snaked throughout the room, clutching onto Shining Armor and dragging him towards it.  

“SHINING!” Princess Cadence screamed as her husband was torn limb from limb as the beast unhinged its jaw and devoured the unicorn prince, the tendrils sucking up whatever spilled forth.  “DAMN YOU TO TARTARUS!” she screamed as she launched a magical attack at it but the thing simple devoured the energy as though it were but food for it to sate its hunger.

".̴mul҉i̵hįn̷ ҉ni e͟uqm̢e͝t̴c͟o͢n ib̴er͢E͟ c͏enod ̸tedice̡d ͢mur̀a̢lucel҉om ̢ęaluc̴įt̡ra͢p͠ ҉tn̷u͟s xade ͠su͢dn͠u͞m̴ te as̀p̧i̵ ̡te ,śov̷ e͘t͜na tn̕ureuf ́iu͜q ̡,i͟rtse͞uqe s҉e҉tal̕u͟cit̛r̷ap ̡erareps̸ tnu͟sso̧p͟ ma̕ir̴o͠tci͏v҉ ͜em̛ ̡s͜id͠e͞r͡C̴  .̢ti̵sbA .͜su̴p͠m͜et́ te ͏s҉upme̛t͘ ̕ai̶nmo̷ ̶,t͜sè su̢lut̸ìt̴ ̢iuq̵ esp͝i ͞m̨enif͞ m͟ur͢o͠s̡rev̴i͠nu te n͞as͜m̧u҉cca͜ e͝aixal͞aG sèlo͞s ҉met̨n͘ar͞ove҉d͞ x̀i͟r͟t̶a̶r̛ơv̸eD͠ ͢m̕ưs͝ ͟s̕u̷d̴nuM҉."

[Translation: You think that you equestrian particulates can hope to defeat me, the very devourer of worlds that has existed long before you and shall exist until the very molecules of the particles fade into the nothingness of the abysmal night. I am the world eater, the devourer of suns, the consumer of galaxies, and the very harbinger of the End of the Universe that sees all time and is all time.  Perish.]

In an instant, the Crystal Empire burned brighter than Celestia’s sun and all that remained of the great kingdom was but an ashen crater and the star dweller.  


-The High Tower, present time-


“Thus, the alicorn reclassified the beast, not as a star dweller, but as a Star God and named him: Abaddon, the All End.  The star god set forth thousands of starlings that slowly consumed the planet and its wildlife until all that remained was the palace in Canterlot.  Downhearted, the mare summoned her friends and made one last attempt to strike Abaddon and end his life.”  Twilight stopped and slowly began to cry louder and louder until the cries became laughter, the laughter of a lunatic as she glared forward.  

“I WAS THE SOLE SURVIVOR!” she shrieked, her howl rattling the very windows of the throne room she stood in, “Left alone to return to Canterlot to consult with the two princesses and that mad pony of a traveler! During the first two years of the war, a strange pony in a box appeared to help us try to defeat the creature before it could move onto other worlds, but the only way to do that was to convert the palace into a large version of his box, the Tardis. He refused at first, citing something about it being wrong, but it mattered little once he was killed.  I bashed his skull into the floor repeatedly until his brains came spilling out, and all I did was laugh and laugh until Celestia came to get me. We began to cannibalize the machine instantly, affixing the machinery wherever and however was possible until at last, we built the very tower in which you now stand, which was when Celestia enacted the final part of the plan.  

“I was to absorb her and Luna’s power before the creature could consume Canterlot because they could not bear to… LIES ALL LIES! I MURDERED THEM BOTH, STOLE THEIR POWER IN THEIR SLEEP AND SLIT THEIR THROATS!  I absorbed their power with honor and grace and TASTED THEIR BLOOD AS IT RAN DOWN THEIR NECKS. I also absorbed the Rainbow Energy from the box and after some force, the powers of the Tree of Harmony until I became like unto Abaddon. With the tower protecting me, I set forth to MURDER HIM, but by then he moved on from Equestria to devouring other worlds until at last I encountered him at the end of it all with only the two of us left alive in all of creation.  

“WITH MY GODDESSHOOD, I STRUCK THE FELL BEAST but he did not falter, only bleed, and then he attacked the tower, sending the Tardis into a frenzy which was when I knew what to do. Amidst the attack, I climbed into the box, tore open a hole into the Time Vortex, and stared into it, absorbing its power until finally I BECAME A REAL GODDESS, A TRUE GODDESS AND STRUCK BACK, WOUNDING THE FOUL GOD WHERE HE STOOD! However, it was all for naught as Abaddon retaliated and began to destroy the tower, and thus I opened a gateway and fell through it into this universe that you see now.

“For centuries, I dwelled here, seeing all the possibilities and knowing all the outcomes as the VOICES ECHOED IN MY BRAIN! SAVE ME TWILIGHT! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! Until at last I knew what would become of it all. Abaddon dwelled in all time, all space, slipping from universe to universe, consuming all things, conjecture of course, thus he would move onto others. After all, the All God Faust would never create something as foul as Abaddon and let it live, so I saw how I could save everything from ever having to feel the pain of watching their universe devoured by that nightmarish abomination. I would summon forth champions from each universe and make them fight to the death, destroying the weaker universe’s with the power of the High Tower until at last, the strongest would be left to fend for itself.  In killing them, I would allow them to know true peace in the greater here to after and never let Abaddon destroy my friends’ lives over and over and over again.”

I stood there, not really sure what to say at first, but quickly two words came out of my mouth, “You’re insane.”

“What?” she replied, looking more than a little pissed. 

“How the hell is destroying other universes the solution!?” I screamed at her. “Do you really think you’re being merciful by doing this? I mean if you a “true goddess” then couldn’t you try protecting those universes from something like this? Because it sounds like all you’re doing it helping this Abaddon ac-.”

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” she screamed back at me loud enough to rock the whole throne room. “HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND?!”

“I’ve faced something similar before…,” I tried to say, but was interrupted.

“What, you mean that pissed-off alter-ego of yours?” Twilight said as he horn flared with raw magic. “He was nothing compared to Abaddon! Just like how you are nothing compared to me.”

With that a dark purple aura formed around her, which quickly faded and was replaced by some kind of elaborate silver armor.

I reacted by spawning my rapier, but before I could even do anything, a dark purple tendril wrapped around my front right leg and pulled me forward. It then let go and sent me flying at Twilight. I tried to use this opportunity to get a quick slash, but she was much quicker, as she hit me with her own hoof right in the stomach, making an audible cracking sound. My rapier vanished and I let out a cough, spitting out blood onto the floor.

The next thing I knew, I was thrown backwards through at least seven of the remaining columns of the throne room, before I fell back to the ground. At least one part of that knocked the wind right out of me. I tried to stand, but all I could do was stagger helplessly as I saw Twilight begin to walk over towards me. 

“You know Mr. Disarmonia,” she said she spawned a rather large scythe. “When I was looking into other universes and chose you to represent yours, I had high hopes for you. You seemed so noble, yet so violent at the same time. It seemed like you’d be a good bet for the champion of all this, but you chose to make an alliance, putting your trust in others while in a situation where you couldn’t trust anypony, and look where it’s gotten you. I mean your “friend” is over there sitting like a bump on a log and you had a hard time facing him. Now you really think you can defeat a real goddess?” I just stared up at her as I finally got back to my hooves.

“You want to know what the last thing I learned about friendship was, Seth?” She said as she stopped right in front of me. I didn’t say anything. “I might as well tell you, its the least I can do. Friendship is meaningless. Sure it can make you happy, and sure it can give you something to fight for when all hope seems lost, but friendship isn’t magic. Friendship doesn’t give you strength, it doesn’t give you power, it doesn’t do anything but give you things to cry about when you inevitably lose them. True strength, true power, comes from you.” As she said that, she held the blade of her scythe at my throat. “Comes from yourself.” 

“You’re wrong,” I replied to her. “Yo-” 

“AM I! AM I REALLY WRONG!!!” she screamed right into my face as she pulled the scythe away from me. “Really Seth, I would have expected you to know this better than anypony else. Why do you think you were my favorite to win this little game!? Think about it. How many times have your “friends” actually helped overcome anything? Inferno, Chrysalis, Drez, your other half? Did they actually help you defeat them?” I… I actually had to stop and think about that for a moment. “You get it now don’t you? They didn’t do anything for you. You defeated all of them yourself, by your own hooves, with your own power, and you still won. Even if Drez did kick your scrawny little flank, you still won. Sure, the only reason you won that one was because they arrived at the last minute and blasted him with the elements of harmony, but in the end you still beat him. You have no need for friendship, you fought your own battles, and because of that you’re stronger than all of your so called friends! 

“I thought you understood that. I thought you knew what it took to come into a game like this and fight for yourself because you knew that from all the challenges you’ve faced, of all the obstacles that you’ve had to overcome, that's what made you strong. THAT WAS WHAT MADE YOU THE STALLION YOU ARE! But no, instead, you disappointed me, Seth. You formed alliances, tried to make friends, tried to work together, and look where it’s gotten you. One ally whose so hopelessly in love with me that he even now won’t raise a single hair on his coat to hurt me, and another who gave her pathetic little life just so that you could get here, only to learn the truth, and die for it.” That… that last part… I could feel my eyes go wide enough to break out of my skull. 

“Yeah, your friend Filia Solis, don’t think I didn’t know about her, I see everything that happens in this game,” Twilight continued. “Don’t worry, she isn’t dead yet, but she will be soon. She’s strong, like you, but the minotaur and the buffalo she’s fighting, they’re stronger. Its a little known fact about alicorns Seth, while its true we don’t age, we can still die. We’re just harder to kill than most ponies, but it can be done, and her time is coming soon.” I… I didn’t… I couldn’t believe. “But I think we’ve talked for long enough.” At that, she held her scythe to my throat again, then brought it back and raised it above her head. “Don’t worry, Seth. Your friends, and your wife, they’ll all see you again… in the afterlife.” 

At that, time slowed for me, and I closed my eyes to not watch her bring the blade down on me.

‘I’m sorry.’ I thought to myself, ‘I’m sorry Rainbow, girls, and everypony else. I failed you. I tried. I really did, but I failed. I’m so-’

“CLANK!”

That sound, the sound of what I knew to be metal hitting metal drove me from my thoughts. Immediately, I opened my eyes to see Razor standing in between me and Twilight, blocking her scythe with his spear. 

“Step away from the idiot you bitch!” Razor shouted at her, which surprised Twilight more than anything.

“Razor, it’s me, Twilight,” she said to him in the same, soft voice that both Razor and I knew her for. “Don’t you-” 

“YOU’RE NOT TWILIGHT!” Razor shouted at her before she could finish and threw a large fireball right at her face.


*Razor*


Seth and Razor vs The Stallion in the High Tower
Final Destination Theme - Super Smash Bros Brawl

With all the strength, all the power he could muster, Razor pushed back against Twilight’s scythe and threw a concentrated burst of fire upwards right at her head, causing Twilight to double back a bit and turn her head away as the flames hit her face. With her momentarily distracted, Razor swung his spear forward, tore her scythe from her magical grasp and knocked it away from her while Seth quickly jumped back to his feet and ran out from behind Razor to his right. 

With Seth out of the way, Razor then spun his spear around and thrust it right at Twilight. Before he could even touch her however, Twilight quickly recovered and, with her eyes filled with nothing but contempt, spawned an axe with a blade that was a massive as one of her wings and deflected Razor’s blow with it. Before he could even have a chance to react, with a speed that seemed to defy a weapon that size, Twilight spun the axe around and swung downwards right on Razor. Time nearly froze for Razor as he saw the massive blade of the axe coming down at him, and he nimbly jumped backwards right as it buried itself into the floor where he stood. The moment Twilight’s axe hit the ground however, several spikes that seemed to made of the same material as the floor came up from the ground and shot right in Razor’s direction. 

Razor barely managed to avoid those as he could see the tip of one of them mere inches away from his eye as he teleported several feet away from both her and them. The literal instant he reappeared however, Twilight suddenly appeared in front of him, raised her axe, and brought it right down on him again. Quickly, Razor held up his spear and blocked it, but just barely. Razor barely held on as Twilight, with her alicorn strength, pushed the blade of the massive axe closer and closer to his face. He could see his reflection in the blade again, and past them, he could see Twilight’s eyes looking down at him. In them, he couldn't see anything but malice, contempt, but most of all, anger. The longer he looked into her eyes, the most his magical strength began to buckle as he struggled to hold up the massive weapon she was pushing down on him. 

Suddenly, from Razor’s right, Seth suddenly jumped out of nowhere with his rapier spawned and swung at Twilight’s head. Twilight, barely taking her attention off Razor, noticed him. Before his sword could even touch her, Twilight simply raised her left hoof and blocked Seth’s blade with her metal hoof guard. With her momentarily distracted again, Razor quickly grabbed the blade Twilight’s axe with his own magic and started pushing her back. As hard as he tried though, he couldn’t get any farther than the blade. Twilight’s magic was strong. As he pushed her back, Twilight threw her hoof forwards and swatted Seth off of her like a gnat. Seth however, quickly back flipped and landed on his hooves not too far from Razor. 

Still focusing on the axe, Razor pushed back on Twilight again with his own magic helping him as he feet practically dug into the solid palace floor beneath him. Seeing this, Seth ran forward right at Twilight and swung his sword upwards with his sword right at Twilight’s neck. Before his sword could even touch her, however, Twilight suddenly teleported away again with a flash of purple light as Razor, suddenly pushing back against nothing, swung upwards with his spear. Both Seth and Razor looked around, but Twilight was nowhere to be seen. Then, suddenly, another “ping noise” hit their ears as Twilight appeared behind them. Neither of them looked, but somehow, they both instinctively knew where she was. 

The moment Twilight appeared she swung her axe horizontally at the both of them. Seth quickly ducked while Razor leapt up into the air flipped over the blade of Twilight’s axe right as it passed him. As Twilight completed her swing, both Seth and Razor turned around and charged right at her. Twilight responded by swinging upwards with her left wing and hurling some kind of wind blade right at them. Razor quickly stepped to the left while Seth rolled to his right as it passed by them. 

Twilight then raised her axe again, but before she could bring it down, Razor quickly grabbed its blade again with his own magic and held it in place. As he did, Seth ran forward and stabbed Twilight right in the chest with his sword. Then, right behind him, Razor ran up and stabbed her right in the chest slightly above where Seth stabbed with his spear.  

“AAAAAAAAWHHHHHH!!!!” Twilight screamed in pain as the axe suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of purple mist. As it did, she looked down at Seth and Razor, in her eyes was a type of rage they had not seen from Twilight, not ever. Expecting her to fall over, both Seth and Razor held their ground, but she didn’t. Instead, Twilight spread her alicorn wings and flapped them towards the ground, creating a massive gust of wind that knocked back both Seth and Razor several feet. 

Razor got his footing back first as his hooves skidded on the palace floor for a few moments. Seth had to take a moment, as he tripped onto his back not too far from Razor. Their purpose not lost to either of them, they both looked forward to see Twilight grimacing at the both of them before she spread her wings and took off into the air. She flew straight up and hovered in place for a few moments as her horn started to glow and crackle with lightning as she began to concentrated a massive amount of magic in her horn. 

Quickly, Razor shot forward towards her as Seth got back to his hooves. He watched her for a moment, and his eyes widened as he saw the amount of magic that was being built up in her horn. Even though he wasn’t as well versed in magic as some other unicorns he knew, even he could tell that whatever she was doing, with the amount of magic she was building up, there wouldn’t be anything left of either him or Razor by the time she was done with it, and she was charging it faster than Razor could reach her too. The lightning around her horn only increased the longer she charged it, and soon, several lightning bolts began to shoot out of it in random directions, hitting several parts of the floor, ceiling, and even a few of the columns that were still in the throne room around her. Seth could only feel his eyes grow wide enough for his head as he saw this, but then he tore his gaze from her horn and looked down a bit, and then his eyes widened for a different reason. Both his rapier and Razor’s spear were still stuck in her chest. Suddenly, his pupils hit the edges of his eyeballs as an idea hit him. 

Quickly, Seth charged his own horn with magic, and within moments his horn lit up with sparks of electricity as he threw as much magic as he could muster into it. Twilight didn’t pay him any mind whatsoever as she continued to charge her attack. In between them, Razor was just about to reach her. Seth looked at Razor for a moment, then back at Twilight. He had to time this just right if he didn’t want to hit Razor. He could tell what he was planning, and for that to work, he had to make sure he timed this just right. In between the two of them, another bolt of lightning shot from Twilight’s horn at the ground. 

Then, right as Twilight finished charging her attack, Razor jumped up into the air. The literal instant he did, behind him, Seth shot a concentrated burst of electricity right at Twilight and hit both the sword and spear that were still embedded in her chest. Twilight screamed in pain once again as the electricity channeled itself through the metal of the blades that were still in her and shoot throughout her entire body. Even the tips of her wings started to smoke a little bit as she canceled her attack. Beneath her, as she kept screaming in pain, Razor quickly placed a magical barrier beneath his hooves and used it to jump up again. As he did, he created twelve different weapons with his magic, his spear, a broadsword, an axe that was almost as large as he was, a sword with a blade so thick that nopony without magic could have possibly swung it, a halberd, a claymore, two scimitars, one curved sword, another spear, a double bladed sword, and just for good measure, a rapier and covered all of their blades with the hottest fire he could muster at that moment. Every single one of the blades he created practically glowed with how hot they were. 

The moment Razor was level with her, he swung the claymore first and cut right through her like butter, then again with one of the scimitars, then again with his spear, and then again with each and every blade he had. Every time he hit her, a small explosion came out where he hit, damaging her further. Twilight screamed in pain again and again with each strike of Razor’s blades. From a distance, Seth watched as Razor kept hitting her again and again. He half expected Razor to just hit her once with each blade then stop, but he didn’t. Even after he used every blade, Razor kept them all up and kept going. As he watched Seth made a mental note to remember this attack. Sure maybe he couldn’t pull off the fire quite as well as Razor could, but he could definitely pull off something similar. Little did he know that Razor came up with this move on the spot from watching something Seth did during their fight. 

With one more swing of his curved sword, Razor hit Twilight across the neck, but he didn’t stop there, he just kept going, and going, and going, and going until the strain of the magic was too much even for him at this point. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead, and his face as he hit Twilight again and again, throwing more fire and more force into each strike each time as the rage in eyes increased and the reality of what he was doing set in. Then, finally, he swung his spear at her one more time, and as it carved right through her like a hot knife, it exploded right when it was in the middle of her, making her scream in pain. Razor then hit her again with one of the scimitars, making it explode as well, and then again with the axe, and then again with the double bladed sword, and then again with each one of his weapons, every one of which exploded with more force than they had previously the moment they cared through her until finally, only the broadsword remained. 

With one last burst of fire, Razor poured whatever he had left into the blade of the broadsword and brought it to both of his forehooves as Twilight flopped in front of him. As he did this, a small smirk crept across Twilight’s face. Finally, Razor grasped the broadsword, which practically glowed with the immense amount of heat it was radiating, and swung it down on Twilight Sparkle. 

Before he could even complete his swing half way through, a dark, purple, magic tendril suddenly shot out from behind Twilight and grabbed the blade of Razor’s sword. As it did, Twilight pulled herself together and looked forward right at Razor, the look on her face a…. gleeful smile. Before Razor could even react, Twilight swung her right hoof and swatted Razor away from her with enough force to send him flying backwards, making his sword dissolve into embers as he flew. 

The moment Seth saw this, he dashed forward towards Razor and lept up to catch him the second he was close enough. Before he could though, Twilight suddenly pulled herself together and dropped out of the sky. The moment her hooves hit the ground again, a massive, purple shockwave that shook the very foundations of the high tower shot out from all around her as he hooves cracked the ground she landed on and caused both Seth and Razor to fly backwards from the sheer force of it. 

Seth and Razor flew backwards several feet until they were right at the foot of the entrance again. Seth landed on his back while Razor landed on his stomach a foot or so away from him. Thankfully, Seth managed to catch him somewhat before the shockwave hit them. 

Before either of them could get back on their hooves however, two more purple tendrils suddenly shot out and grabbed both of them by their ankles. Before either of them could react, Twilight suddenly pulled both of them towards her. Then, right as they reached her, Twilight spun both of them around her, and then extended her tendrils so that she slammed each of them into two of the remaining columns of the throne room before throwing them to opposite sides of the throne room, Seth to her right, onto the floor, and Razor to her left, into the ceiling, after which he promptly fell to the ground after hitting. 

Seth was again, the first one to recover as he struggled to get back to his hooves. As he did, the first sound to hit his ears was Twilight laughing. She wasn’t laughing maniacally, like she was insane, she was laughing like…. like she had just heard something funny, as if Pinkie Pie told her the funniest joke she had ever heard. As he looked up, he saw her standing in between the two of them, her body looking no worse for wear at all than when they first met here in this Celestia forsaken place. 

It… His soul might as well have evaporated right there. She had no visible wounds. It was as if everything Razor threw at her did absolutely nothing at all. Upon closer inspection, however, he saw a bit of a burn on her coat, but the moment he saw it, it healed and within moments, he coat was as pristine as it always was. Behind her, on the other side of the room, Seth saw Razor struggling to get back to his hooves as well. 

“You know,” Twilight said as she looked between Seth and Razor. “As determined as you two are, you aren’t very good listeners.” She paused for a moment at that to giggle to herself again as Razor got back to his hooves, only to fall back down again as his knees buckled under his own weight. “You see boys, you may think you got me all figured out, but theres one thing that, if you’d paid attention, you would have known already.” She paused for another moment at that to look between the two of them. “I’m a bucking alicorn! My magic is far more powerful than yours! Funny thing really, get enough magic and you’re basically untouchable. My wounds heal faster than you can make them.” At that, the reality of what they had just gotten into finally dawned on Seth. “We could do this all day, and you would not be any closer to beating me. Not, that it wouldn’t be fun.” She ended that last sentence with another laugh. 

“But, I do have good news for you,” she said to both Seth and Razor as she looked between them one last time. “You see, there’s no need to wonder where your goddess is. Cause she’s right here. And she’s fresh out of mercy.” At that, the reality of the situation finally dawned on Seth. He, Razor… even Filia… they were all in way over their heads… At this point, he wasn’t even sure if this version Twilight could be defeated much less killed. He’d never fought an opponent remotely like this before. Even his father would look at her and be like “Yeah do not want.” He-

Before another thought could enter Seth’s head, another noise suddenly hit his ears. It sounded like laughter again, but it wasn’t Twilight’s, it was the laughter of another stallion. Looking past Twilight, Seth saw Razor, who had just gotten back to his hooves, and was just starting to catch his breath again, laughing maniacally, like…. like he was just so damn happy, and the look on his face only added to that. He was smiling.  

For a moment, he thought Razor was insane, he had to be if he was laughing like that at a time like this. He thought… but then he remember all the time he’d spent with him while in this place. The way he was, the way he got when he was fighting, how he enjoyed it a bit too much, and then finally, the words that Razor told him while they were climbing the stairwell here. 

“Don’t tell me its more powerful than you because that's bulls*** and you know it. So kick its ass, make it remember, you’re not its bitch, it's your bitch.”

For some reason that phrase stood out to him more than anything else, and then it hit him. Despite everything, Razor still wasn’t afraid. He still had hope that he could win. He still-

He had a thought, but then he looked at the ground, and at that, he couldn’t help but laugh as well. 

Confused, Twilight looked between them, trying to discern why in her name they would be laughing right now. She knew that Razor was insane but still, there was no- 

She had a thought, but then she heard the unmistakable sound of a horn glowing. Quickly, she turned towards Seth to see that it was in fact him, who had just cast a spell. In an instant, her face went from confusion to rage as she tried to walk towards him. 

She tried to walk towards him, but when she tried, she looked down to find that her hooves were suddenly encased in the ground, as if she were standing there when the the floor of the palace was first built, as her hooves were literally trapped in the palace floor. As that sight burned into her eyes, she also noticed that the ground all around her suddenly felt very hot. At that, she lifted her head up and looked back towards Razor, who hadn’t done anything, but was still laughing. 

Then, she looked down again. On the floor surrounding her was a fire seal, and her hooves were encased in the ground so she couldn’t run away. As she saw that, and as she felt the ground beneath…. well…. the ground that was part of her hooves now, grow hotter and hotter, she let out of scream of rage as the fire seal exploded, engulfing her in a massive ball of fire that nearly tore the room apart and caused the glass windows to shatter. 

Seth quickly put up a magical barrier to deflect the blast. When it subsided, he dropped the barrier and quickly leapt to his right, right as Twilight sparkle rushed out from column of flames right at him with a sword that was so large that Seth doubted he could carry it. She swung at him, but Seth leapt out of the way, then rolled back onto his hooves and spawned his rapier again. 

The moment he got back up, Twilight ran at him and swung upwards with her massive sword, only for Seth to lean back and to his left to dodge it. She then swung horizontally with it, but Seth just ducked to avoid that. Then she spun her sword around and swung downwards. Seth jumped backwards right as Twilight’s giant sword hit the ground, causing more spikes to come up out of the floor right where she hit. 

As Seth landed, Twilight swung his sword to clear the spikes and then dashed forward right at him, but the moment she reached him and swung her sword, Seth suddenly disappeared via teleport. Twilight then looked up as Seth appeared right above her and swung down on her with a claymore. 

Twilight quickly held up her giant sword horizontally to block Seth’s blade, which she did effortlessly as Seth dropped back to his hooves and pushed his blade against Twilight’s. The look on his face was the look of confidence he wore while climbing the tower. 

“So you’re a goddess,” Seth said to Twilight as he pushed back against her blade. “You really think that means we’re gonna give up.” At that, Twilight just screamed and charged her horn with magic as she pointed it right at Seth. Before she could even fire it however, Razor suddenly appeared via teleport and kicked Twilight in the head with his right rear hoof, throwing off her aim and causing her to shoot an absurdly powerful magical blast past Seth towards the back of the room, leaving nothing but a stump as the force of her blast completely obliterated the chair that was her throne. 

At the sight of that, Twilight let out a noise that could have only been described as a roar and turned her attention towards Razor. As she did, Seth quickly spawned a cutlass and stabbed Twilight in the chest, just right under her neck, causing Twilight to let out another roar in pain as she threw both her wings out and blasted both Seth and Razor back with a massive gust of wind that sent them both flying. Neither Seth nor Razor got very far however, as they both teleported before they even hit the ground. 

Razor reappeared at the far side of the room near one the broken pillars. The second he reappeared, Twilight appeared right in front of him with a massive halberd raised above her head. Razor couldn’t help but smirk as he saw that. Without a second of hesitation, Twilight swung the halberd down right where Razor stood. Razor quickly leapt far to his left and rolled back onto his hooves before it could hit him, making sure to leap far enough to avoid the spikes that came out as the blade of Twilight’s halberd made contact with the ground. The second he got up, Twilight turned and swung diagonally at him again, her halberd cutting through the spikes in the ground it created easier than Razor’s blades cut through her. Razor quickly leaned backwards to avoid Twilight’s swing, but the second he got back up, Twilight swung down at him again, causing Razor to quickly hop backwards and to his left again to avoid that. Before Razor could make any more sudden moves, Twilight quickly spawned another halberd and swung it horizontally to her left right at Razor. Before it could hit him, Razor quickly jumped up, and flipped to his left over it, its blade just barely touching the hair on the end of his tail. 

As he landed, he quickly continued with a quick roll to his left as Twilight swung her other halberd upwards where he stood. The moment he got back up onto his hooves, Razor created a fireball and threw it up right at Twilight’s face. It didn’t even get close as she deflected it with a magical tendril before she spun both her halberds around, causing Razor grin to widen a little bit as he watched her. 

Twilight looked down at him with the epitome of rage in her eyes, but then, suddenly, before she could even make another move, several red magical energy shots came from her right and hit her square in the eye. After the first one hit her, Twilight held up her right wing to deflect them. As her eye healed, she looked to her right to see Seth at the other end of the room shooting energy shots at her. At that, she let out a scream as she threw back her wing, creating another gust of wind and deflecting all of the remaining energy shots that Seth threw at her, but Seth still held his ground. She then quickly turned to her right and threw one of her halberds right at him, her halberd spinning with so much speed and ferocity that it could have probably drilled through the tower. Before it could even hit him, Seth teleported away. 

As that happened, Razor, who was still inches away from Twilight, quickly created three more fireballs, and threw them all up at Twilight’s face while she was distracted. All three of them exploded on contact as Twilight let out another scream of pain and turned back to face him with the halberd she still had raised. Razor held his ground and kept his attention up, ready to jump back when she swung, the grin he was wearing still on his face. Then, suddenly, as she brought the halberd down, Seth suddenly reappeared between her and Razor and created a magical barrier between them, stopping Twilight’s halberd dead in its tracks. 

At that, Razor’s smirk only grew wider as he quickly teleported. When he reappeared, he reappeared in the air right between Seth and Twilight and landed right on top of Seth’s barrier. He then jumped up off of Seth’s barrier flipped backwards and kicked Twilight right in the jaw first with his left rear hoof, and then his right. Twilight threw her head back in pain as her halberd evaporated into purple mist, allowing Seth to drop his barrier and spawn his own spear. 

Within seconds Twilight quickly recovered, and as she did Razor quickly teleported away before she could touch him. Seth then thrust his spear upwards right at her, but before it got close to her, her own magical barrier stopped him as a purple magical tendril suddenly shot out from behind her and wrapped around Seth’s waist. Twilight then lifted Seth up off of the ground, and threw him to her to her right towards the entrance of the room. 

Seth flew for several feet before he suddenly disappeared. When he reappeared, he on the other side of Twilight and, with the momentum from her throw, he flew right into her, charged his spear with lightning, and stabbed it right through her neck. Twilight screamed in pain again as she suddenly erupted into a massive ball of green fire. Seth quickly teleported away before he could get burned. As the green flames died down, a magic tendril reached out from behind Twilight and pulled the spear out of her neck as she looked straight up and saw Razor coming down at her with his right forehoof drawn back. 

As she saw him coming, the fire that had previously died down around her suddenly went up again in her eyes, and she screamed in anger as another one of her magical tendrils shot up out from her back again, grabbed Razor by the forehoof he was about to punch him with, spun him around, and then threw him back towards the entrance. 

The second he left her grasp however, Razor teleported again. When he reappeared, both he and Seth appeared side by side in between her and the entrance. The looks on their faces clear of any doubts they previously had. Twilight let out a groan and grind her teeth in anger as she saw them like this. Then, without any hesitation, Seth spawned his rapier and Razor spawned his spear and both of them charged forward right at Twilight. Twilight could only let out another groan, this time of annoyance, as she saw this. 

As Seth and Razor charged at Twilight, Razor jumped up in the air once they were about halfway to her and teleported away. He then reappeared in the air right in front of Twilight and thrust the end of his spear at her. In response, Twilight spawned a scimitar and blocked his spear, then she swung forward with it, pushed Razor off of her and shot what could have only been described as a sword beam out of her sword in his direction. Razor quickly teleported away again to avoid that, then, right as he did, Seth ran right up to her and swung the blade of his rapier right at her neck. 

Twilight quickly moved her scimitar over to block him, but then, the moment she did, Razor reappeared behind Seth, ran up to her in the same direction he attacked before, and thrust his spear at her again. As he did, Twilight spawned another scimitar and blocked it again. Seth then pulled his rapier back again and swung upwards, but Twilight blocked him again. As if on some kind of cue, Razor pulled his spear back, spun it around, and swung it horizontally at her, which she quickly blocked too with her other scimitar. Then, Seth pulled back and attacked again, but again Twilight blocked him, and then again Razor followed, only to be blocked again, and then again with Seth, then again with Razor. 

As if they had some kind of perfect synchrony, both Seth and Razor kept throwing attacks at Twilight one right after the other without relenting or breaking form in any way. While Twilight did successfully manage to block every single one of their attacks, even when they did mix it, such as Razor threw a fireball up at her or when Seth caught her hoof in the ground again. Despite that though, they kept pressing on, and even though Twilight did manage to keep them at bay, the two of them still managed to force her back, as they more they advanced towards her, the more Twilight kept backing up until they were within a hairs distance of what was once her throne. 

The moment they reached her throne, Twilight could feel her rear ankles touch it, Seth, Razor, and her all locked blades, and Twilight looked right into their eyes, and in them she could see everything about them. Like those books she was fond of reading, through their eyes she read their minds. She saw everything about them, from the first moment Seth learned magic and tried to fuse two rocks together to build a house, to when Razor burned down his first house with Daedalus. She saw everything, and despite that, despite all she saw, even though they had every reason to be, neither of them were scared of her. They weren’t intimidated, they weren’t doubting themselves in any way, they weren’t even afraid of what would have happened if they lost. They just… were… they were just right there, in front of her, fighting her now. Her mind reeled back in utter confusion and lack of understanding at them, knowing that if there was just one shred of doubt that she could find in either of them, she could use that against them, but she couldn’t find any. Even if she did bring up their pasts, even if she could mention their past failures, she could see their responses, she knew what they would say, and that made her…… 

As Razor and Seth still pushed forwards on her, Twilight’s eyes went thin as she let out another roar loud enough to shake the whole tower. With one great thrust, she pushed both of her scimitars forward swung downwards with both of them. As she did, her whole body radiated with an immense amount of magic as a purple shockwave came off of her and blasted both Seth and Razor backwards away from her as they were sent flying. 

Still, their will was yet broken, as they flew, both Razor and Seth looked back at Twilight. Without wasting an instant, Razor created as many fireballs as he could and threw them all at Twilight and Seth shot as many magical shots as he could muster at her as they both still flew backwards. As Twilight saw the barrage of fire and magic coming at her, both of her scimitars vanished in purple mist as her horn began to glow. 

Then, suddenly, before any of Razor’s fireballs or Seth’s shots could hit her, before they could even come within a foot of her. They all just stopped. Twilight didn’t bring up a magical barrier so they didn’t hit anything, and Razor’s fireballs didn’t explode, so they definitely didn’t hit anything, and Twilight didn’t teleport away either, she was still there. All of their projectiles, they were just there, like they just suddenly stopped in mid air and refused to keep moving forward. As that happened, Razor and Seth flipped themselves over via teleport and landed back on their hooves. They skidded against the ground for a few moments before they finally stopped, and when they did, they looked forward. Seth’s jaw practically dropped and Razor’s eyes went wide. That… was not something they had anticipated. 

At this, Twilight looked past their projectiles directly at them. A maniacal smile slowly crept across her face as she saw their reactions. It didn’t take either Razor or Seth more than a second to guess her intentions as they both quickly ducked as low as they could and combined their efforts to create a two layer magical barrier. The second they did, Twilight let out a snicker as she threw both the fireballs and the magical shots back at the two of them. However, the moment any of them got more than a foot away from her, they all disappeared with flashes of purple light. 

Razor and Seth kept their heads low and their barriers up as they braced for impact, but it never came. Neither of them were about to be fooled though, so they kept their magic up, but even after several seconds of waiting, nothing ever came. No shots, no explosions, no heat from any explosions, nothing. Seth was the first one to look up. When he did, the only thing he saw was Twilight standing there with a grin on her face that practically screamed “I’ve already won.” 

“What the buck?” Seth quietly said as he got back onto his hooves. Confused, Razor stood back up too. Twilight however, just watched the two of them for a few moments. As confused as they were, neither of them were foolish enough to drop their shield, as Twilight expected. At that, she just giggled to herself for a bit before she brought her right hoof up to her mouth. 

Then, as if she were blowing a kiss, Twilight blew into her hoof, and as she did, her breath somehow stayed in her hoof and grew colder and colder until it began to crystalize into ice. Within seconds, floating inches above her hoof as a single icicle, which Twilight promptly grabbed with her own magic. Both Razor and Seth stood their ground and kept their shield up, ready for anything as they saw this. 

Twilight just giggled to herself yet again as she took careful aim, and then shot the icicle directly at them. Both Seth and Razor stayed their ground and increased the power of their barriers. However, the moment the icicle hit their shields, like a golf ball to a window, both of their barriers shattered like glass as the icicle flew right in between them, and out through the other side of their barriers. Both Seth and Razor’s eyes went as wide as they could as they both looked back, following the path of the icicle. 

After a moment, the two of them heard Twilight’s unmistakable laugh again as they turned around to face her, only to see that she was laughing about as hard as she would if Pinkie Pie had told her another funny joke. As intensified as both of their confusion was at this point, a sudden realization hit Razor first. She could have killed either of them with that icicle attack, yet she just used one to break their shield, that was all she wanted, and if she wasn’t preparing to attack, and since all of their projectiles disappeared, that meant…

“SETH, MOVE!” Razor shouted as he turned to face him. Still confused, Seth turned his attention back to Razor, but then his attention drifted up towards the edge of the ceiling as a flash of a certain purple light caught his eye, and he saw one or Razor’s fireballs coming down at the two of them from the ceiling. Time froze for Seth as his eyes threatened to burst out of his skull, the realization of just what was going to happen here finally hit him. 

As quickly as they both could manage, both Razor and Seth managed to teleport out of the way before the fireball hit them. A second later they both reappeared on opposite sides of the room, only for two more flashes of purple light to appear, one at Razor’s feet, and one directly in front of Seth, to appear as one of Seth’s magic shots fire up from the ground right at Razor, and one of Razor’s fireballs suddenly appeared directly in front of Seth. 

Razor quickly jumped up and flipped to his left while Seth quickly ducked under Razor’s fireball as it flew over him, only for another flash of purple light to appear out of the corner of his eye as he saw one of his own magic shots come down at him from the corner of the ceiling again. 

“S***!” Seth shouted as he quickly rolled to his left back onto his hooves, only for another flash of purple light to appear on the floor right where he stood. As Razor flipped over in mid air to avoid the first magic shot, time slowed for him as he watched another flash of purple light appear above him on the ceiling, and one of his own fireballs coming down towards him. Before it could hit him, he quickly teleported away again and it exploded as it hit the floor right beneath him. Seth quickly jumped up and did a backflip the moment one of Razor’s fireballs came out from the ground at his hooves, just narrowly avoiding it, as he could feel the heat from it on his rear hooves. As he flipped over, his eyes followed the fireball as it went up towards the ceiling.  Before it even got close to the ceiling however, rather than continuing on and exploding on the ceiling like Seth believe that it would, it instead disappeared in another flash of purple light. It was at that moment, as he saw that, that Seth realized just how screwed he and Razor were right now as he saw two more flashes of purple light come up right in front of him out of the corner of his eyes while he was still in mid flip. 

“S***!” he shouted again before he teleported out of the way in a flash of red light as one of his own energy shots and one of Razor’s fireballs flew straight at him before disappearing in flashes of purple light moments after he did. 

As Twilight watched Seth and Razor bounce, roll, and teleport all across the throne room in what she knew would be vain effort to avoid their own attacks, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing again. It was as if watching this was possibly the most entertaining thing she had seen in a long time, it almost took her a second to catch her breath as she nearly fell over. As her laughter kept escaping her mouth, with her magic she reformed her throne, fell back into it, and summoned a bowl of popcorn for good measure. After a few moments her laughter died down somewhat as she lifted up a piece of popcorn of with her magic and levitated it over to her mouth as she watched the fireworks. 

Despite the immense amount of projectiles being hurled at them, neither Razor nor Seth slowed down or kept still, not even for a moment. Even without shields, they still refused to get hit by their own projectiles, as Razor leapt up into the air and flipped sideways as three of Seth’s energy shots appeared at his side and went right for his legs while one of his own fireballs appeared behind him right at his head, and Seth leaned backwards as far as he could go as one of his own magic shots and two of Razor’s fireballs flew right over him. As he did, another flash of purple light appeared right underneath his back, but the second it appeared, Seth teleported away right before another energy shot could hit him right in his spine. The moment he reappeared, he quickly spawned a katana and cut one of Razor’s fireballs in half right as appeared right in front of his face. 

Across the room, Razor landed on his forehooves as another one of Seth’s energy shots appeared right behind his head and he jumped up again. It narrowly brushed his mane as it flew right past him. As he flipped through the air again, he caught a glimpse of Twilight Sparkle on her throne again as she moved another hoof full of popcorn into her mouth. For some reason, that pissed Razor off to no end. As he landed, Razor created one more fireball, but he didn’t throw it, not at all. 

Then, suddenly, from his left, another purple flash appeared, causing him to quickly lean over as one of Seth’s energy shots, and one of his own fireballs flew right over him. As they passed over him though, he moved the fireball he created up, around, above him, and into the path of the oncoming fireball. Twilight may have been using them, but one thing hadn’t changed, and Razor knew that for a fact. They were still his, it was still his fire, and not even a goddess could change it. 

The moment Razor’s fireball collided with the one that was thrown at him, Razor’s fireball absorbed the other one and nearly doubled in size. Then, right as he knew two flashes of purple light appeared both behind and in front of him, Razor jumped up into the air again right over him, and as he did, carefully moved his fireball below him and caught two more of his fireballs as they flew right under him, making his fireball grow until it was slightly larger than his head. Then, as he landed, another flash of light caught his eye up on the corner of the ceiling. Quickly he looked up, ready and saw that it was, indeed, another one of his own fireballs. 

Before it could hit him, Razor swung his fireball around his head and caught that one too, making his fireball much larger than his own head now. With all of that fire, Razor turned his eyes back at Twilight, who was still eating popcorn and giggling to herself. Then, suddenly, right as three more flashes appeared right at his hooves, Razor quickly jumped up as three more of Seth’s energy shots came up from the floor at him and spin around as two more came down from the ceiling. As he did, he moved the fireball around his head, and then, when he came back around, he threw the fireball directly at Twilight Sparkle. 

Narrowly, Razor’s fireball flew past all of the other projectiles that were appearing directly at Twilight Sparkle. As he saw it coming, she giggled a little bit as she made her own glow with magic again. Before she could do anything however, Razor let out a smirk as he spun around in place to avoid one more of his own fireballs, and his own horn lit up. 

Before Twilight could do anything, Razor’s fireball suddenly disappeared with a flash of green light. Then, when it reappeared, it reappeared to her left, and, and struck her bowl of popcorn, effectively burning every kernel that was still in it until it was either pitch black, or just ash. At that, she looked down at her bowl of popcorn, the expression one of pure shock. She honestly didn’t see that coming. Sure she expected one of them to attack her, but, to attack her popcorn. That she didn’t see happening. Her shocked expression still on her face, she looked back out at Razor, who only smirked at her as he leapt up to avoid more of his own fireballs. 

At this, Twilight’s expression went from shock to rage in mere seconds as she ground her teeth together so hard she probably could have chewed through steel. As she did, the bowl that was still floating next to her disappeared into a purple mist as all of the burnt popcorn fell to the floor as a pile of ash. The rage still on her face, she stood up, spread her wings, and flew up into the air as her horn began to glow with so much magic that both fire and lightning began to shoot out of it as well. 

As he saw this, Seth’s eyes went wide as he narrowly dodged one more of his shots. Quickly, he spawned a hammer right as he deflected his shot with his katana, and threw the hammer right at Twilight. The moment it got within ten feet of her however, another purple magic tendril shot out of her back and knocked it to the side. As that happened, Razor, who was still in mid flip from one more of Seth’s energy shots, made his horn glow and grabbed the hammer with his own telekinesis. Quickly, the then made it teleport so that it appeared on the other side of the room, and flew right at Seth again. Confused, Seth shot a glance at Razor, who only gave him a wink in response. 

Confused, Seth then looked back towards the hammer that was coming at him, then slightly above it as one more purple flash and his own shot appeared. Then, it hit him, he knew what he was supposed to do. A smirk crept across his face as he leapt to the right and made the hammer disappear in a flash of red light just before it hit him. The hammer then reappeared on the other side of the room from the ceiling as it fell right on Razor, who quickly made it disappear with his own green light before it moved back to Seth, who almost made disappear as he moved it back towards the throne room. As it flew across the room into another pillar, Razor made it disappear again as it was back in the mix of all the projectiles. It flew right through one of Razor’s fireballs and blocked one of Seth’s shots that was just about to hit Seth before he made it disappear again. Soon, the hammer as lost in the mix of the projectiles, with only Razor and Seth keeping track of it. All the whole, at the front of the room, Twilight kept charging her one attack, as what could only be described as a miniature sun appeared above her horn. 

Once it was fully formed, Twilight looked back down at Seth and Razor, who were still dodging their own projectiles, and screamed at them. At that, Razor quickly looked up, and made his horn glow one last time. Suddenly, right as Twilight was about to throw the sun at them, Seth’s hammer came out of nowhere and hit her right in the left side of her face, causing her to throw the sun to her right instead, away from either Razor or Seth. 

The sun went right through the remains of the columns and crashed right into the wall of the High Tower. As it did, it exploded with enough force to rock the high tower with the force of an earthquake powerful enough to tear the planet apart. Twilight shut her eyes as a vast, bright light began to radiate from the explosion. Seth and Razor did as well before they quickly teleported themselves away as several more purple flashes appeared all around them. Instead of teleporting again, however, their projectiles hit whatever surface they were racing towards and stopped, causing several explosions as Razor’s fireballs hit the walls, ceiling, and floor of the throne room. 


-Outside the High Tower-


Outside the High Tower, all throughout the ruined city of Canterlot, the sound of an explosion could be heard as all the remaining combatants stopped to look in wonder of what happened. 

Directly beneath the High Tower, a beaten, but not nearly broken Filia stood her ground against both the minotaur and the buffalo as she held up a claymore and a war axe, breathing heavily as she struggled to stand. The minotaur and the buffalo on the other hoof, didn’t look much worse for wear as they stood their ground. All three of them, despite being in the heat of battle, looked up towards the top of the incredibly high tower they fought at the base of, and saw what could only be described as a sun tear open the wall of the high tower with a blinding light. 

As she saw that, a twinge of hope returned to Filia, as a smile slowly crept across her face again, a smile that said that she was sure that all was not lost. 

Across the battleground, a griffon took his claw off an earth pony’s throat and looked up at the light that tore through the high tower. The earth pony, despite being in a perfect position to counter the griffin now that he was distracted, didn’t, and instead stared up at the light on the side of the tower. The longer they stared, the more the griffon loosened his grip on the pony’s throat, and after a moment, he let go. He let go and walked to the edge of the building they stood on to watch the spectacle. The pony, cautious at first, stayed there for a few moments before he stood up and watched as well. 

And, in the ruins of an old building, in a hole just large enough to fit him, a black dragon, who was still nursing his now crippled wing, lifted his head up and watched as another sun shined at the edge of the high tower. 


-Back inside the High Tower-


Twilight kept her eyes shut for a few moments as the light from her sun still filled her throne room. Eventually, after a full two minutes, the glow subsided, and she opened her eyes, just a bit, only to see something spinning flying straight at her. Suddenly, before she could even fully opened her eyes, Seth’s katana flew right at her, and lodged itself in the base of her throat, causing her to scream out in pain again. Less than a second after Seth’s katana embedded itself in her, Razor suddenly teleported in front of her. With his own magic surrounding his right fore hoof, he then punched the katana with his hoof and forced it right through Twilight’s throat and out the other side. As if on cue, the moment the katana came out the other side, Seth teleported in right behind Twilight’s head, grabbed the katana with his magic, and then spun around in a motion to take her head off. 

Before he could however, Twilight threw her head up and let out another piercing roar that shook not only the high tower, but the outside battleground as well, as everyone outside heard it as well, and teleported away with a flash of purple light. Both Seth and Razor landed on their hooves as Twilight disappeared, Seth spinning around a bit from the force of his swing that ended up hitting nothing. 

Both Razor and Seth stood there for a few moments practically gasping for air as they had to take a few quick moments to actually breathe again. All the effort it took them to get out of that last attack really took a lot out of them. Still, as winded as they were, they both knew that they weren’t done yet, not even close. Both Razor and Seth quickly looked all around the throne room for Twilight, but she hadn’t reappeared. Slightly worried, they frantically turned and looked everywhere around the room they could possibly look, yet after a few moments of looking they still found nothing. Both of them could feel their heart beats increase a little bit, as they both somehow knew that Twilight would, at any moment, reappear and hit them with something they hadn’t ever seen before, again. 

After one more glance around the room from both of them, Twilight was still nowhere to be seen. With nowhere else to look, they looked back towards each other with obvious looks of concern. Seth still held his katana close, ready for anything should she appear. It was at that moment that a sudden realization hit both of them. They were looking around the throne room, but what if… 

Slowly, as they both realized this, they turned their heads towards the newly opened hole in the tower wall that Twilight had made not a few moments ago, and saw her hovering just outside it of, not more than 15 feet away from the tower. Both Razor and Seth stopped dead in their tracks as they stared at Twilight. Twilight, who, with her wings flapping slowly was now hovering just outside of the tower, in plain view of all who cared to look, and unbeknownst to all of them, many were looking, and many saw her. Not that it mattered to her at all, as Twilight kept her attention on the two unicorns till in her throne room. The look on her face now devoid of any emotion, not even rage, at all. 

As Razor kept his gaze on her, and realized the position she was in, the realization of what she was about to do hit him like a ton of his own fireballs to the face as his pupils threatened to burst out of his skull. 

“Oh f*** me,” were the only words that came out of his mouth. As if on cue, the look of pure hatred returned on Twilight’s face and she suddenly started flapping her wings harder, and harder, and harder, and from her wings came a full blown typhoon which she blasted into her throne room directly at Seth and Razor, sending them both flying backwards like rag dolls as the wind hit them like several punches to the chest. Behind them, the windows that looked out into the ruined city of Canterlot shattered to pieces by the sheer force of the typhoon. Before Seth flew out the now open window, he quickly spun around and stabbed his katana into the pillar directly behind him, which was somehow still standing. With his katana embedded into the pillar, he grabbed the handle with both of his forehooves and held on for dear life. 

To his left, Razor was blasted back by the sheer force of the typhoon just like he was and flipped backwards as he flailed his hooves outwards, trying desperately in vain to grab onto something, anything that could stop him, but the smooth surfaces of the palace floor denied his hooves as he skidded backwards straight towards the window behind him. As that happened, Seth quickly looked over and saw him slide along the ground before Razor flipped over again. Seeing this, Seth closed his eyes and made his horn glow as he struggled to hold onto his katana. 

Just before Razor flew out the open window behind him, he suddenly stopped dead in his  as his forehooves caught onto… something, causing the rest of his body to fling backwards like a rag doll before flailing around like a flag. Looking forward, he saw that both of his forehooves were now embedded in the floor of the palace. Seeing that, he looked over towards Seth, who shot him a quick wink before he went back to hold into his katana. Razor responded with a quick smirk, but even as he did, he noticed Seth hooves slipping from his katana a little bit as he struggled to hold on. At that, Razor dropped the smirk and turned his attention back towards Twilight, the wind from the typhoon beating on his face and every part of his body like somepony was sending a powerful rising tide, or more accurately throwing stones at him more than blasting him with wind. 

Outside, directly in front of them, Twilight never relented, not even for a second as she kept beating her wings harder, and faster, the longer she went on. With each beat her her wings, she sent out another powerful gust of wind which only served to fuel the typhoon that was now tearing her throne room, and parts of the high tower, to pieces the longer it went on. On the other side of the throne room, Seth struggled as much as he could to hold onto the handle of his katana, but after a moment, his left forehoof slipped and flew backwards into the wind. Seth groaned in pain as he struggled to pull his hoof back against the wind, but the sheer force of it kept his hoof from even moving an inch, no matter how hard he tried. Despite everything though, despite the wind, Seth practically screamed in pain as he slowly, slowly pulled his hoof back and grabbed the handle of his katana again as tight as he could as he closed his eyes. He couldn’t take much more of this. 

Not too far away, Razor watched this happened, only to be distracted from it for a moment by the sound of a loud “CRACK” noise. At that he looked directly in front of him. In front of him, not too far from his hooves, was a crack in the floor that wasn’t there a moment ago. The longer he stared at it, and the longer the typhoon relentlessly attacked the room, the crack only grew larger and larger as he grew closer and closer to his hooves. Razor’s eyes went wide as he saw this happen and looked back up at Twilight. She was going to bring the whole tower down with this, or at least just this room. Whichever, she was going to destroy part of the tower to kill them. 

Directly ahead of him, Twilight watched as Seth and Razor tried desperately to hold on against her typhoon as she kept beating her wings, and while she knew that they definitely wouldn’t hold out forever against this, it wasn’t enough for her. It stopped being enough for her ten minutes ago. With that she then threw her head to the sky as she let out another, ear piercing roar for all in the ruined city of Canterlot to hear as her horn lit up again. As her scream died down, she beat her wings faster as she stopped blowing wind from her wings, and started blowing fire. Within moments the typhoon became a typhoon of flames as the whole throne room lit up like a Ronan candle. 

Razor’s eyes went as wide as they could, as did Seth’s as they saw the wall of flames coming towards him. The moment the reached him, Razor quickly teleported away with a flash of light. Seth however, didn’t think that fast, and put up a barrier around himself. While his shield managed to stop the flames, the wind somehow traveled right through his shield, forcing him to still hold onto his katana lest the wind blow him backwards out of the building while still keeping up his shield to stop the flames from burning him to death. His forehooves ached as he gripped felt himself loose his grip on the katana and his head throbbed as it felt like somepony were hitting him in the head over and over again with the biggest hammer they could find, but still he held on, if only just barely. While in his mind he knew that he could hold out forever, for his friends, for the real Twilight, his real Twilight at least, and Rainbow Dash… his Rainbow Dash, his hooves told a very different story as they began to slip. 

Suddenly, outside, while Twilight was still blowing fire into her throne room, Razor suddenly appeared right above her, dropped down and landed on her back. With both his hooves and his telekinesis, he grabbed the bases of Twilight’s wings and pulled on them as hard as he could, forcing her to stop flapping, and by extension stop shooting fire into the throne room. The literal instant the fire stopped, Seth dropped his shield and dropped down to the floor with a “thud” as his katana disappeared in a red mist, his hooves barely able to hold him up as he lifted his head and looked outside. 

Outside, Twilight thrashed, spun, and flailed her hooves and wings around as violently as she could as she fell from the sky, but still Razor held on. He had latched onto her like a piercing, and wasn’t about to let go anytime soon. Suddenly however, from her back, another purple magic tendril shot up, reached back down, and grabbed Razor around his midsection. With Razor in her grasp, Twilight tore him off of her like a leech and held him above her head as she flapped her hooves and steadied herself. Before she could do anything else however, Razor pulled his right hoof back and punched Twilight in the face as he used his own magic to tear her tendril off of him. Free from her grasp, Razor flipped himself over and fell down in front of her, making their eyes meet for a split second. 

At that, Twilight screamed again as she flapped her wings and shot straight upwards into the sky. Before she could though, Razor, but the hair on the end of his hooves, grabbed her tail with his left forehoof and held on for dear life as he rode her up into the sky. 

Back in the throne room, Seth had just barely gotten to his hooves as he clumsily walked over to the hole in the throne room. It took him a few moments, but eventually he reached it. The moment he poked his head out and looked down, as if on cue, Twilight and Razor flew straight up right past him with a speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud. As soon as that happened, Seth looked up and followed them as best he could. He saw Razor holding on to the tip of her tail, but at the speed at which she was flying, he couldn’t help but think about just how long he’d last before he dropped like a stone. 

As those thoughts rushed through his head, Seth grimaced as one thing came to his mind. He had to get up there. Somehow, he had to get up there and do something, but what? He could try teleporting up like Razor did, but given how exhausted his magic was already, as his head still felt like it had been hit repeatedly with a hammer, and the speed at which they were flying, he wasn’t sure that even if he teleported, he would end up right where they were. He could try teleporting above them, but if he missed, or off shot even by an inch, she would fly right past him and he’d fall to his death. At some point he doubted that he could even teleport that far. With that idea shot down, Seth let out a loud groan as he stomped his hoof into the ground, cracking it a little bit. 

The sound of the ground beneath his hoof cracking hit his ears, and Seth looked down at his hoof. Slowly, he lifted up his hoof to see the damage he had done. It wasn’t much, but if he did that with his hoof, then what else could he do? He then looked back up and frantically looked around the throne room. Thanks to Twilight’s typhoon, bits of the room were now either heavily damaged or falling apart. Cracks practically littered the ground, ceiling, and even the remaining pillars, and rubble was everywhere. Seth even looked up and saw a chunk of stone fall from the ceiling to the floor. His eyes followed it, and as it hit the floor, a suddenly realization came to him. Slowly, his mouth formed a grin as he looked back out the window. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot he could think of right now. 

With that, his horn began to glow. Immediately he winced in pain as the throbbing sensation from before returned like the pony with the hammer, but still Seth didn’t stop. As painful as this was, if he didn’t do this, then it wouldn’t have mattered in the end. Plus, it was the only idea he had as far as how to get up there without teleporting. 

Back in the sky, Razor held onto Twilight’s tail with everything he had as wind rushed past his face. Compared to the typhoon from earlier though, this was a gentle breeze. Still, Twilight would not stop ascending as she kept flying higher and higher. Knowing full well that he would have to do something to stop her from flying higher at some point. Razor reached up with his other forehoof and grabbed Twilight’s tail as he slowly started to climb up it. The moment Razor’s other hoof tugged on Twilight’s tail however, Twilight looked down, and for a moment, her eyes locked onto his. 

She then let out another roar as her horn glowed again. Within seconds, he entire body was covered in intense green flames, from her horn all the way down to the tips of the hairs on her tail. The moment the flames hit his hooves, Razor screamed in pain as he was burned, and let go of Twilight’s tail. As he fell, he kept his eyes up on Twilight, as the flames encompassed her whole body and she started to resemble a green sun more than a pony. Time slowed for Razor as he reached up with hoof, as if to catch something, but nothing was there, there was nothing to grab on to. The only thing he felt was the immense heat of the green flames, that even as he fell farther he could feel, as he moved closer and closer towards the ground. 

With little options left, despite his own exhausted magic, he lit up his horn to try and teleport again, but before he could, he suddenly hit something. Instinctively, Razor failed out his hooves to feel the ground beneath him, only to confirm that he had landed on the floor of the throne room, but he could still see the sky, and he hadn’t been falling for more than ten seconds, it made no sense. Suddenly, before his mind could process another though, another, semi giant rock flew right past him, up into the green flames. Within moments, the flames became little more than embers as the dissipated and Twilight showed herself again. 

Confused, Razor stood up, only to see that he was standing on a piece of the floor of the throne room that looked as if it had been torn from the ground like a piece of bark off a tree. It wasn’t that much wider than he as, and was somehow floating. All around the edges of the piece of the floor, Razor could see the unmistakable pattern of a red magical aura. Suddenly, from all around him, several more pieces of the throne room floated up above him and slowly moved towards Twilight, who only stayed in mid air and watched. At this, Razor looked down over the edge of the piece of the ground he was standing on and saw Seth standing on another piece of the throne room, this bit from the ceiling. His horn glowed with his red aura as several more pieces of the throne room, some large, some small, but mostly no larger than the two of them floated up between the two of them as Seth floated up to match Razor. 

At that, Razor then looked back up at Twilight, only to see that many of the stones had positioned himself between him and her, forming what he could only describe as a “floating pseudo staircase.” Sure there were spaces of ten, twelve, maybe fifteen feet between each one, and they were all moving a little bit, but Razor could see it, it was a staircase. As he looked up at this, Seth finally floated up to his level. Razor looked at him and saw the obvious strain this was putting on him, but Seth, in response, just looked over to him, shot him a wink and then motioned his head up towards the stones, drawing Razor’s attention back up to them. It didn’t take more than a second for Razor to figure out what he meant, and he responded to Seth with a smirk before he looked back up at the first stone. 

Without wasting a second, Razor leapt from the piece of the floor he was standing on, up to the next stone. It took some effort, and a bit of magic to make the leap, but he managed it. The moment his hooves left the piece of the floor though, a purple magic shot went right through it and blasted it to pieces. Seeing that, Seth looked back up to see Twilight charging her horn with magic. 

Razor didn’t look back however, as he jumped from stone to stone, slowly working up way up to Twilight. Every time his hooves left a stone, Twilight shot it out of the sky, but still Razor kept going. He kept going with nothing slowing him down. However, the moment he tried to jump to what he guessed what his twelfth stone, one of Twilight’s beams of magic shot it out of the sky just before his hooves could touch it, causing Razor to fall back towards the ground again. He didn’t get very far though, as another stone moved out in front of him. 

Quickly, just as he got close to it, Razor spawned his spear again, stuck it into the stone, and then using his forward momentum, flipped himself around, and then launched himself upwards the another stone that had moved in front of him as the stones around him started to form a new path for him. As he leapt up the stones again, he looked up to see Twilight directing her attention at Seth as she shot another magical beam down at him. 

Seth quickly put up a magical shield right as the shot hit him, but the moment he did, the stones stopped moving. Razor, quickly catching on, conjured five fireballs and threw them all at Twilight, which directed her attention back at him, and allowed Seth to concentrate on moving the stones again. With that out of the way, Razor jumped up to the next stone as Twilight shot at him again. Narrowly, but nimbly, he avoided every shot she made at him as he made his way up towards her. Occasionally, she would divert her attention away from him and shoot at Seth again, but when that happened, all he had to do was throw a few fireballs at her and get her attention back on him again, which allowed Seth to do his thing. 

Eventually though, right as Razor was just about to reach Twilight, Twilight caught onto what they were doing, and, after a bit of focusing magic into her horn, shot a barrage of magic shots at both Seth and Razor simultaneously. At that, Seth stopped moving the stones and put up a magical shield while Razor quickly spawned his spear again, stabbed it into the stone he was jumping onto, and used it to propel himself onto another, nearby stone that he wasn’t going for. After which Razor immediately jumped to another stone while Twilight shot the two he had previously been on to nothing, all the while still shooting at Seth too. Razor quickly conjured six fireballs and threw them at all, but she just shot six energy blasts right at him in response, which went through his fireballs like they were nothing before continuing on to where he was. 

Narrowly, Razor jumped to another stone just as they reached him and tore the stone he was standing on to Swiss cheese. As he jumped to the next stone, he looked up at Twilight Sparkle, her horn shooting a constant barrage at both him and Seth. Carefully, he judged the distance as he jumped to another stone. It wasn’t enough, but if he got a little closer… 

Razor quickly jumped to another stone before he could finish that thought, which Twilight promptly destroyed. Then, at that he jumped up to another stone, moving towards Twilight. Then, after Twilight destroyed the stone he was just on, Razor leapt up straight at her, ignoring any of the stones around him. Twilight promptly shot several energy shots at him, but before they could hit him, Razor teleported away with a flash of green light. Seth winced in pain a bit as he saw that, both from the pain of having to hold up his shield while still moving the stones, but also because he had no idea what Razor was doing. 

Then, suddenly, Razor suddenly appeared behind Twilight and drop kicked her in the back of the head with both his rear hooves, which broke her concentration and forced her to stop shooting magic at them. Then, before she could do anything else, using his forward momentum, Razor leapt forward off of her head, spawned his spear, and stuck it into a nearby stone, which the then used to swing himself around and launch himself up onto a nearby flat stone. Twilight followed him as best she could as she charged her horn up again, but the moment she did, a rather large stone suddenly shot up from her left and hit her right in the face. Immediately, she looked over towards Seth, but then the second she did, several fireballs came from her right and hit her in the face again, drawing her attention towards Razor, who had just leapt to another stone and was moving again. At that, Twilight’s face contorted and twisted into a look of pure rage as she ground her teeth against each other so hard her gums started bleeding. 

“YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE SO CLEVER DON’T YOU!?” Twilight shouted in what could only be the royal Canterlot voice as she charged her horn with magic, then, right as Razor threw his fireballs at her and Seth threw another stone, she sent out a massive purple shockwave all around her, which annihilated all of the stones and Razor’s fireballs. 

From the ground, every being that was still alive saw this. Directly below the tower, Filia, despite all that she had seen, all that she had done in her life, couldn’t even begin to guess what it was she was seeing. 

As the shockwave cleared, Twilight hovered in mid air for a moment. The skies were clear. The stones were gone, there was nothing. Even Razor and Seth were nowhere to be seen. 

“IS THAT ALL!?” She shouted in the royal Canterlot voice at the open sky. “IS THAT ALL!?” 

Then, suddenly, the moment that last word left her mouth, both Razor and Seth dropped down on her from above. As he landed on her back, Razor spawned his spear and stabbed her through her left wing before quickly leaning over and grabbing her right wing with his other hoof. Once he had them, he then grabbed them both with his telekinesis to make sure he really had them. Seth spawned his rapier as he landed on her neck, then stabbed her through it and out the other side right at the point where her neck met her jaw line. Then, as Twilight’s horn lit up again, Seth quickly charged his own horn and shot a massive jolt of electricity directly into Twilight’s own horn, causing her to scream in pain again as they began to fall. 

From the ruined city of Canterlot, all the spectators looked onwards as they watched the object fall from the sky. None of them, not even Filia, knew what it was, but they all knew one thing. That whatever it was, they had better pay attention to it. 

As they plummeted towards the ground, Twilight thrashed, twisted, struggled, did whatever she could to get Razor and Seth off of her, but they refused to move. Every time she tried to use magic, Seth would shoot another jolt of electricity into her horn again, and every time she would try to flap her wings, Razor only pulled them back. She tried teleport, but Seth saw the signs of it coming and shocked her horn again, causing her to let out another shriek in pain. 

From the base of the tower, Filia, the minotaur, and the buffalo, all watched as they watched the object, which they soon saw was actually three objects, fell towards the ground. As they fell, Filia saw them slowly move closer and closer to the point that she recognized as the edge of the barrier protecting the high tower. They were going to hit it. Then, just before they hit it, Filia focused her eyes a little bit, and saw what the falling object was. Her eyes widened so large that her skull might not have been big enough for it as she saw the falling objects were Seth, Razor, and… Twilight… 

Then, suddenly, like a pane of glass that nopony even realized was there, the moment they hit the barrier, it shattered. It shattered like glass as every pony, and being in that watched, saw what could only be described as clear, sparkling lights appear all around the tower before falling like snow, and eventually dissolving into nothing before they fell more than an inch. 

As amazing as this spectacle was to watch though, Filia, the minotaur, and the buffalo didn’t pay any attention to it at all as Razor, Seth, and Twilight flew right over them. Time froze for Filia as she saw the position Seth and Razor were in, as well as who it was they were fighting, and she couldn’t believe it. 

Then, with an impact that shook the ground around them, Seth, Razor, and Twilight crashed into the ruined city of Canterlot on one of the streets directly behind where Filia, the minotaur, and the buffalo were fighting. The impact sent up so much dirt and dust that it could be seen all across the city. Even the dragon, who had no crawled out of his hole, could see it plainly. Filia, the minotaur, and the buffalo all had to cover their eyes as it hit them, as they were at ground zero. 

As the dust cleared, a sizable crater could be seen, and in it, Razor and Seth still stood on top of Twilight as she still thrashed around like a madpony. Filia, as she saw this, dropped her guard, and her weapon as she ran over towards them. The buffalo and the minotaur followed suit. 

Twilight, despite being pinned, put up quite a fight as she tried in vain to throw Razor and Seth off of her. She flailed her hooves around for a bit before she finally found the ground and tried to stand. The moment she even tried however, Seth’s horn lit up and trapped all four of her hooves in the ground beneath her all the way up to her elbows. At that, Twilight screamed again as she tried to use magic, only for Seth to shock her again through her horn as he grabbed it with both his forehooves. The moment he touched it though, Seth screamed in pain as his hooves burned, but still he kept his hooves on it as he closed his eyes and bit his lip in pain. 

Then, at that, Razor, on her back, with his hooves, his spear, and his telekinesis, gripped her wings as tight as he could, and began to pull. He pulled on her as hard as he could, then kept pulling harder. He threw all of the magic he had left into his hooves to make them stronger as he kept pulling, and pulling. Every muscle in his hooves screamed in pain as he struggled to keep a grasp on Twilight’s still trashing wings and his head felt like it was going to burst open from all the magic he was using, yet still kept throwing more into it as sweat rolled down his head and mane. He closed his eyes and ground his teeth together to fight through the pain, yet still, he kept going. 

Then, just when the pain felt like it was going to overwhelm him, Razor opened his eyes, and relaxed his face. He then opened his mouth and let out a scream as he pulled on Twilight’s wings with anything, and everything he had left, even with the pain. He pulled and pulled until he heard an audible “crack.” 

Then, at that, Twilight’s flesh and bones gave way as Razor tore her wings off of her and leapt up into the air off of her back with them in his hooves. As he did, Twilight screamed in pain louder than she ever had before and Seth opened his eyes back up again, only to show that they were now glowing red as he tore Twilight’s horn off of her head with his bare hooves, stabbed her in the back of her head with it, and then punch the horn clear into her skull, causing it to come out of her mouth, followed by a trail of blood as she stopped screaming. 

That done, Razor let go of Twilight’s wings as he fell back to the ground. Even though he landed on his hooves, he still fell over flat on his face, as his hooves felt like wet noodles, and wouldn’t have supported him even if he wanted them to. Seth, after taking a moment to admire what he had just done, and grinning at the prospect of it, closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment. When he opened them again, they were normal. At that, he then slowly climbed down off of Twilight’s neck. 

He winced in pain the moment his hooves touched the floor though, as they were still burned. He lifted his right hoof to take a look a bit, and saw that what Twilight had done to him, had burned his coat on the bottom of his hooves clean off. There was only skin there. Badly, badly burned skin, but skin nonetheless. He ignored it for the moment though, as he touched the ground with his hoof again and walked around Twilight over to Razor. Razor barely lifted his head up to look at him. When he did though, he saw Seth smiling at him. He couldn’t help but smile too. Then, after a few moments of silence, Seth suddenly let out a snicker, as did Razor less than a second afterwards. Then, suddenly, as Seth’s hooves gave out on him too and he keeled over and fell onto his side, both he and Razor descended into full on laughter as they there, beaten and broken within a nanometer of their lives. 

“Seth! Razor!” The two of them suddenly heard a familiar voice shout to them. They didn’t even bother to look up, they knew who it was. 

Filia ran right up to them as fast as she could, and within seconds, she was standing over them. She looked down on them for a moment as they barely looked back up at her. All kinds of concern wracked her body, mind, and soul the longer she stared at them. There were a million things she wanted to say, but no words could reach her mouth. Neither Seth nor Razor said anything to her, they just lay there laughing. As they did, Filia slowly looked up away from them and turned around. In front of her was something she couldn’t understand, would not, refused to understand. 

In front of her, was Twilight Sparkle, as large as her mother, with her wings torn from her, her horn shoved in the back of her head, and the look in her eyes one of… anger. It defied description for her. Behind her, Seth and Razor’s laughter died down a bit as two more sets of hooves could be heard running towards them. 

A few seconds later, the minotaur and the buffalo reached them too, and like Filia, they froze dead in their tracks the minute they saw the broken body of Twilight Sparkle. On the ground, they saw Razor and Seth, who were still laughing a little bit, but it was obvious that their breath was losing them. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, then back at Razor and Seth. The buffalo then walked around behind Razor, then reached down, grabbed him by his sides and helped him up. Likewise, the minotaur put his club away, then bent down and helped Seth back up to his hooves. 

Razor barely stood for more than a second as he fell again, but as he did he fell right into the buffalo, who acted as a crutch for him to lean. Likewise, the minotaur held Seth up as he did his best to stand. After seeing that he couldn’t stand to save his life right now, the minotaur picked Seth up and threw him over his shoulder. There were about 50 things that Seth would have normally said in a situation like this, but right now, he couldn’t bring himself to say even a single word. Likewise, as Razor practically slid down the side of the buffalo, the minotaur walked over and grabbed him by the center of his back with his other hand, then lifted him up and put him on the buffalo’s back. 

“Why?” They all suddenly heard a voice ask them. A voice that sounded like Twilight Sparkle. At that, both Razor and Seth’s ears perked up, as did the minotaur, the buffalo as they turned to face her. Filia’s eyes just shrank to the size of pinpricks as that voice hit her ears. After a moment or so, they all felt a distinctive rumbling beneath their hooves, causing Filia to slowly back up away from her, as did the minotaur and the buffalo. 

Within seconds the rumbling increased to a full on earthquake as Twilight’s horn disappeared from her mouth, and she began to twitch a little bit. 

“WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” Twilight screamed at the absolute top of her lungs as she pulled her hooves up out from the ground, stood up, and turned to face them. Purple flames danced all around her whole body and purple, magic energy practically radiated off of her as the fire spread out from her back and on top of her head. The fire took the shape of her wings and horn before they were suddenly blasted away as embers, revealing her wings and horn in all their full glory, completely healed like they had never been touched. The look on her face shook Filia to her very core. 

“Why do you fight so hard against your own salvation!?” Twilight Sparkle shrieked at the two ponies with such voluminous force as to send shockwaves throughout the whole city.  “Why must you creatures fight against the very forces that desire to save you when in the end, your consistent rebellion succeeds only in the damnation of the nations of Equestria!  I wish to help you for why else would I the immortal Mare in the High Tower work so hard to determine which dimensions could survive the onslaught of the immortal Abaddon and spare those that would die!  Was it not the greatest of all alicorns, the lordly lady Princess Celestia of Equestria that once spoke the words, ‘We can only save the truly damned through extermination,’ when referring to the doomed damned!?  How else could I save my friends time ad infinitum if I let them live to suffer the fate they encountered if I let them live to witness the destruction of Abaddon!  I will save Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, even if it means killing everything in existence to make sure that they will never die, so that your precious Twilight Sparkle and beloved Rainbow Dash will never die! So why, would you fight the salvation of all that you love!?!?!?!?” 

“Isn’t it obvious!” Seth shouted back at her. At that, they all looked over towards him, and the minotaur, momentarily distracted by Twilight, let Seth push himself out of his grasp, off of his shoulder, and fall back onto his hooves. He stood there for a moment before he turned back around and painfully walked back towards Twilight, who stood towering over all of them. “When all of their lives are on the line. When everypony, everything we know is on the line. Given a choice, we’d rather fight you than fight everypony else here!” 

“What he said!” Razor shouted as he somehow, miraculously stood back onto his hooves, hopped off of the buffalo’s back, and walked up right next to Seth. “And even if this ‘Abaddon’ thing is as real as you say it is. Then I’d rather take my chances fighting it myself than let some reject like you decide my future!” Those words… those words hit Twilight for a moment. 

“YOU... YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” she shouted back at them. “YOU-” 

“OH WOULD YOU JUST SHUT THE BUCK UP-”

“OH WOULD YOU JUST SHUT THE F*** UP-”

Both Razor and Seth shouted as they lifted their horns to the sky as balls of fire appeared above them. They started out small, but within moments, they grew, and grew, and grew until they were larger than Twilight’s library. 

“AND DIE!”

“AND DIE!”