"Sombra kept his word, huh?"
I rubbed my eyes as I sat up. To say we'd been on alert would be an understatement. I don't think any of us slept very soundly, but dawn was here and there had been no alarms.
"Mmm." Bit uncurled, peering at the dim light leaking through the tent flaps. "It would seem so." She yawned, covering her mouth with a dark hoof.
"You've been pony-shaped a lot." I gave her a long look. "Why is that?"
"You said so." She gazed back in puzzlement. "Cultural reasons, you said."
"No, I don't mean…" I waved at my bed "…asleep, I mean the rest of the time. In Canterlot, you seemed to like being human-shaped. Here you've been staying as a pony."
"Oh." Her brow furrowed, and she turned so I could change. Some of my habits amused her, but she bore with my 'silliness' patiently. "It's, um. My army."
"Come again?" I pulled on clean clothes, wished for a shower, and reached for my boots.
"They expect me to be pony-shaped. I haven't shown any of my hive my… alternate form. Except Onyx, but he can keep a secret."
"Hmm." I frowned. "You make it sound special, but I thought changing shape wasn't a big deal."
"It's normally not." She fell in behind as I left the tent. "But… this isn't just any morph. Since I scanned it as a hatchling, my human form is a true alternate shape."
"Um?" I glanced back, confused. "And that's important, because?"
"Because…" She trailed off with a sigh. "Because I can only hatch drones after my real shape."
"Oh." I thought for a moment, the implications dawning. "Oh. You could make… human-shaped drones?"
"Eventually."
"I'm… not sure how I feel about that." I examined the thought, surprised it didn't immediately revolt me. I didn't like it, but.. it was strange.
"Me neither." She shrugged. "I can't even hatch drones yet, but I won't even consider trying until I figure that out. Actually, I'm not sure I'll make any drones for a while, even then. My mother…" She stared into the distance for a moment. "My mother managed to create real change. I'm a changeling Queen living openly among ponies. That's something unheard of, completely new. I won't rush into anything until I understand it."
"Good." I nodded firmly and tabled the thought. "Okay, I understand. You're not spreading the idea around until you've thought it over. I think that's wise. But… How would your generals know it's a 'real' shape?"
"Um." She paused and carefully touched a hoof to her head. "This is how you do it, right?"
"What?" I gave her a confused look.
"That thing you do. To indicated frustration and surprise. 'Facehoof'?"
"Heh." I gave her a pat. "Yeah, close enough."
"Okay. Good." She spun and a swirl of blue flame rose around her. A moment later she stretched her arms and yawned again, turning to give me a hug. "I do like this shape. It's better for hugging."
"Well, that's good." I hugged her back.
"Wes! Bit!" I released her, turning to see Luna wave atop the wall. "Come on up! Sombra's moving! I'm about to call stations and start the counter-offense!"
"We'll be right there!" I called back. We headed for the wall, moving carefully around the detritus of yesterday's work. Sunset, Twilight, and I had carefully copied everything from the Tuathan ruins before sending our records to the castle. Luna had rigorously tested Sombra's tactical defenses and declared her large-scale spells practically useless. Her maniacal grin had widened with every experiment.
Half-destroyed spell-circles littered the dust, sprinkled with consumed material components and pages of discarded notes. I skimmed a few of the formulae and shook my head slowly. She'd been at it all day.
Sombra's defense was both clever and powerful. Her experiments confirmed it as ingenious targeted jamming. It broke down the carrier spells rune casting relied on, scrambling the self-propagating magic circles I'd seen with Celestia's Dawnhammer. It was the sort of elegant counter a hack like Phoresy couldn't imagine, one of his last and best efforts in their battle a millennia ago. It had stumped the sisters and might have turned the tide of the war. They'd made their desperation strike with the Elements soon after.
Still, Luna had come up with something. I had a few ideas on what fueled that grin. Each made me shiver more than the last.
"Alright, alright!" She giggled happily as we joined her. "Everypony's here? Good!" Turning to face the fortress, she drew in a deep breath. I judiciously plugged my ears. "BATTLE STATIONS!" rang loud and clear. The Royal Canterlot Voice was versatile.
The scrambling was minimal. We'd expected this. Sombra had thrown down the gauntlet and we were about to pick it up. In moments, every battery of guns was attended, every shield and defense was in proper order. Small squads of guards were on watch, reserve, and medical duty.
Looking out into the field, I saw Sombra really was up to something, though I had no idea what. Clouds of dust rose above his army, but he hadn’t started to approach. Maybe he was re-organizing.
"Today, we fight!" Luna pulled my attention back as she addressed the fortress. "I predicted our conflict with Sombra might come to this. Pitched battle between old enemies." Her voice easily covered the whole structure. "He's gotten better, but so have I. Our plan today is simple. Destroy the majority of Sombra's army using tactical strikes." Her grin grew a little wider. "We know he can replace fallen units. However, we also know there's a practical limit to how fast he can work." I nodded at that. We'd managed to suppress Shadow Glory's golem regeneration with Arglefraster.
"After the bulk of his force is destroyed, the Guard and the Tezecan army will defend the fortress while our allied Queen, the Elements, and the Special Irregulars—" Lyra elbowed me in knee, and I nodded; that was Sunset and us "—will strike towards the enemy commanders. Our goal today is to kill or capture Sombra and his cohorts. Follow your captains and fight well! Today we defend the integrity of reality, the survival of our very world!" She stomped a hoof and flared her wings.
CRASH! A rattling salute answered. The Guard settled in, talking seriously but working deftly and easily. Luna turned to face the approaching army as Twilight sidled up to her.
"Princess, I know you said we'd use tactical strikes." She coughed, slightly embarrassed. "But Sombra has tactical defense magic." As she spoke Sunset scooted up on Luna's other side, eager to listen.
"Both are true." Luna smiled. "Since I can't use tactical magic but plan to use tactical weapons, the conclusion is simple. Anypony?"
"Yer weapon ain't magical," Applejack answered firmly. "What?" She raised an eyebrow at the surprised looks. "She's right. It's simple."
"But—" Twilight started.
"But—" Sunset echoed.
"Wait," Lyra interjected. "Does this have to do with that 'secret project' Wes and I worked on? He kept being all 'Help, Jedi! I'm too weak to do this on my own, Jedi! You're the greatest ever, Jedi! I have wimpy noodle arms, Jedi! I admire your dashing good looks, Jedi!'"
"I'm pretty sure you made some of those up." I gave her a wry grin. "But I wondered the same thing. Do you plan to bring down Starfall?"
"Starfall?" Twilight echoed the word. Sunset's ears swiveled in interest.
"Yes." She looked to the sky. "Starfall. What do you think? Will it work?"
"Almost certainly." I shrugged. "But it's not—"
"What is this?" Twilight gave both of us a frustrated glare. "Would it hurt you to explain?"
"Sorry." I rubbed my head, abashed. "Remember, right after we got back from the mirror-world? Luna took me aside and gave me a special project. Build a projectile weapon which doesn’t need magic."
"Oh." Twilight's eyes widened. "Oh. I remember that. You were making all those glass needles and buying mercury fulminate. I’m still finding crystal trinkets in my lab."
"And we built those echonarchy spell dies," Lyra added. "The sort needed for large-scale production. What exactly did you two build?"
"I'm trying to tell you," I said impatiently. "Starfall is an orbital kinetic cannon. Or so I thought." I turned to Luna. "What exactly did you make with those plans?"
"Hmm, hmmhmm." Luna hummed happily as a small spell curled off her horn, floating into the sky. She took a moment to set it on a careful path. "Well. When Wes was done, Starfall looked something like this." She produced a magic hologram. It was an octagonal tube nearly as long as my arm. "He can give you the breakdown later, but it uses a magically treated explosive to propel a targeted glass shard."
"At ridiculous velocities," I interjected. "I intended it to mimic a railgun. It was supposed to be for precision strikes! Luna, what did you build?"
"Behold!" The hologram flickered once, twice. The original tube morphed into a cluster, as tall as me, then 'zoomed out' to reveal a whole array. "The Starfall Battery!"
"Good grief." My jaw dropped and I spun to watch the sky. "This… you… good grief!" How many had she made? Hundreds? Thousands? This... This would be big.
"Just watch." Luna's grin widened.
"Hold up!" I whipped out my cellphone. "I need to video this!" I'd recovered my gadget from Sombra's trap. Sunset had helped me cobble together a magical charger, but I was still surprised when it powered up. Sombra had probably used it in his spell without really knowing what it was. Even inert, it was a powerful symbol for 'communication'. He didn’t have fingers for the touchscreen anyways, if he’d even managed to turn it on.
The attack started small. Luna had told me the weapon was named after the meteor effect it created. This was my first time seeing it, but it didn't disappoint. Threads of fire laced the sky. At first they burned brief, flickering out, but then they multiplied. I imagined each of those clusters shattering into dozens of individual projectiles. In seconds, the sky was full of lines, like it was brushed with paint.
Sombra's army took notice. Maybe they were finished reorganizing already, but as the sky lit up, they advanced at full speed. The lines of fire curved to follow.
I had some idea how this weapon worked. I had helped design it. Luna had placed them in space, so she knew their orbit. All she did to fire was specify a target and bring them down nearby. The whole mechanism fell, launcher and guidance together. When they got near…
"Lyra, we'll want a mute." I poked her. "Quick."
She gave me a questioning glance, but threw a glimmering shield over us. After a moment, it expanded to encompass the whole fortress. I was impressed despite knowing her talent. Luna gave her a nod and an approving smile.
The threads filled the sky. It really did look like the stars were coming down. I tried to estimate the effect. Each projectile was nearly two pounds of glass. The firing mechanism would accelerate them several times faster than sound. They were packed together, despite the wide area. Saturation wasn't the half of it.
As the barrage neared, defense spells arced into the sky. Shields were erected and disruptions fired. It might have some effect, but Luna had been clear when we started the project. This weapon had to be mostly non-magical. I hadn't understood at the time, but now… well, now I was seeing the sort of thing Sunset had pictured when I described merging Earth's science with Equestria's magic. Sombra would literally have no idea what hit him. He didn't have tactical science defense.
His unthinking army didn't panic, turn, or stop, but held their pace even as the barrage began landing.
I turned to watch the unicorns in our group as the first of the launchers fired. They were taken by surprise as the devastation began without even a spell cast. The launchers were still at least a thousand feet in the air when they began firing. Each had a shaped explosive, a multi-layered charge stamped with runes, the most magical part of the weapon. The bang of that explosion was dwarfed by the crack as the glass spike accelerated downwards, pushed screaming through the air, until it landed with a blast. Hundreds, thousands of blasts.
It sounded like unending thunder, even with Lyra's shield. I watched as wave after wave of devastation swallowed the approaching army, tossing golems like toys and leaving only shattered glass in the wake.
When it ended, I was shocked by the silence. Then I was shocked by the noise.
"LUNAAAAAAA!" came the howl. Shapes arose from the wreckage. I saw Bodkin first, contrail screaming into the sky even as the last debris settled. Shadow was evident next as strong magic surged through the battlefield, reconstructing soldiers. Glisten flickered from point to point, as if unwilling to stop dodging. A fourth lieutenant was obvious as well, a huge earth pony approaching too warily to be a mindless golem.
Sombra lifted from the gleaming wreckage like an evil mist. His eyes flickered huge, mouth gaping wide as his rage rose to the heavens.
"Luna, I will crush you!"
"Dibs," Luna said calmly. "Split the rest up and hold them back. The Guard will keep golems out of the fort. Once I've suppressed Sombra, we can defeat them in detail and power up the Elements." Her wings snapped wide, and she flashed into the battlefield.
"I'm on Bodkin." Rainbow slashed into the air. "Rarity, back me up with your gun!" she called.
"Aye aye!" Rarity grinned. Arglefraster came online with an ominous hummmm, the fashionista giggling in anticipation.
"I'm taking Glisten." Sunset's aura lifted her into the air, projectiles forming around her head as she charged a warp. "I owe that glitterpony, and I plan to collect in blood."
"Ah'm coming too." Applejack threw a hoof over Sunset just before she blinked out. "You're not going up against a lieutenant alo—"
"I'm on the new guy." Twilight pointed to the unnamed lieutenant and charged her own warp. "Fluttershy, you should wait here in case we need your help."
"Y-Yes." Fluttershy didn't seem to mind. She had a medkit and was definitely willing to aide any of us, but until then, she seemed happy staying safe.
Twilight vanished in a flash and Pinkie shrugged.
"Looks like I’m with her." She casually bounced off the three-story wall.
"Then we've got Shadow." I glanced at Lyra and Bit. "Looks like it's time for a rematch. But… how can we get down?"
"Really." Bit offered me a hand. "You should at least rely on me for the small stuff."
"Of course." I clasped her hand. "Bit, would you escort Lyra and me into battle?"
"My pleasure." She wrapped an arm around Lyra, who gave us a surprised look.
"What are you— AAAAAAAAA!"
I grinned as the thrum of wings drowned her shock.
Thunk!
I rolled to avoid flying crystal as Shadow bucked shards of glass into my face. Lyra stepped up to land an explosive blow. Bit dived in, wielding a hammer. Shadow shrugged off Lyra's attack, dodging Bit without even looking even as he healed. We were better, stronger, faster, but so was he.
I paused, glancing around. The fortress' black walls were the only real landmark. Everything else was a waste of sand, rock, and shattered glass, brilliantly shimmering in the morning sun. Our thirty-odd ponies were faring much better than I'd expected, after Luna's orbital strike had evened the numbers.
Above, multiple shockwaves slashed the sky as Rainbow and Bodkin clashed beyond the sound barrier. I saw a few Guards attempting assistance, but even Wonderbolts would be pressed to follow where those two winged. Occasional bursts of machinegun fire from Arglefraster kept Rainbow from being overwhelmed. Rarity's support definitely helped.
Sunset and Applejack were systematically hunting through the wreckage. They seemed frustrated. From what I'd seen of their battle, Glisten's stealth and delaying tactics were annoyingly efficient. They pounced on a crystal pony as I watched, only to have it dissolve. Another decoy.
Twilight and Pinkie were faring better against the unnamed earth pony lieutenant. They were pushing him back with an effective mixture of long-range spells and Party Blitz, and he was starting to look desperate. They were near enough for the Guards in the fort to support them and they made the most of it.
The fortress was definitely under attack, but they were holding well. Elites with power-weapons fighting leaderless ground troops, even ones as unusual as crystal golems, was a foregone conclusion. Sombra's army could still regenerate, but there were less windigos than I'd expected. I frowned, thinking back to the situation Cadence and Shining had faced defending the portal to the Crystal Empire. Windigos didn't last long in direct sunlight except in large enough swarms.
I pushed the thought away as the last conflict came into view. Luna hadn't taken any of us for support. Now I knew why. The fight she was in dwarfed all our battles combined.
Rainbow might have matched her speed. Twilight or Sunset might have kept up with her combat casting. Lyra might have equaled her sheer martial prowess. Still, none of us could have combined all of those into the seamless, deadly whole she wielded against Sombra. The Princess of the Night faced the Dark Crystal Emperor, and their conflict was devastating.
A whirlwind of debris obscured the actual clash. In the midst, magic flashed, blows fell, complex gambits were formed and discarded at the speed of sound. The blurring incomprehension boggled me. They'd been at it hammer and tongs for the duration of the battle and it only intensified.
"Wes!" Lyra's voice lashed across the mindlink. "Concentrate! We've got our own fight here!"
"Right!" I dove back into the offense against Shadow. Unwilling to forgo any advantage, I'd offered Lyra my support. She'd gladly accepted despite never having practiced. It was, once again, more effective and interesting than I'd anticipated.
Following her instinctive lead, I slipped past Shadow cleanly. He turned to follow, confused as I deliberately missed an opening and dropped my sword. Lyra's magic wrapped my weapon, pulsing echonarchy to lash his exposed back. The green blade sliced his shoulder cleanly, and he roared. Bit swooped in, hammer landing solidly.
His foreleg flew off.
He regenerated in a flash, but it was another opening, a finger-hold as we climbed towards victory. This wasn't the drained lieutenant Lyra had easily crushed after our campaign in the Empire. But I wasn't the same uncertain, half-trained, emotionally-crippled novice I'd been then, either. I snatched my sword from air and let Lyra follow my lead. The mindlink conveyed intention quick as thought and deed. I whirled, re-directing a pulse of power with my wand as my soundsaber slipped past his defense, stinging him into flinching enough for Bit to clobber him. He might have recovered from that, but Lyra was waiting. She stabbed him with a glowing horn, her strike shearing his crystal body like rotten ice.
His eyes narrowed as he recoiled. He regenerated, but the reality was clear. We were better.
That sort of realization turned tides. The three of us tensed, instinctively wary. Desperation was dangerous. I'd taught him that last time. I wasn't about to fall prey to the same mistake.
Still, he clearly believed himself superior. His rationale asserted itself and he leaped at me with deadly intent. Attack the weakest, divide and conquer. The strategy was obvious, simple and sound.
If he could manage it. I shadowstepped, drawing on Lyra's training to up my game. Last time, Applejack and I had pushed him on the ground while Rainbow supported from the air. Bit might not have Rainbow's speed, but I smiled as she literally flowed around his counterstrike. This was a whole different game. Lyra ghosted in behind him as realization flickered across his face again. He might be cocksure but he wasn't stupid.
Still, he had time. He took the blow, trading damage for a chance to close in. I barely evaded, throwing myself into a handspring for distance. He followed with lightning speed, and only Bit's intervention kept him from seriously hurting me. I still took a glancing blow to the head, stars dancing in my vision. At Lyra's direction, I collapsed, letting her blast him with enough force to separate us. He rolled to his feet and locked onto me again.
I hated being squishy.
What followed was several long minutes of running and dodging. My teammates punished every opening Shadow left, and I ensured there were lots. Still, no matter what I did, he had me pegged. If he could cripple me, it would be two-on-one. Our teamwork held our advantage. I grimaced as he healed again. He could afford to take hits. I'd be out for good with one mistake.
He grazed me again, adding another cut to my growing collection of shallow wounds. Scratch that. Even at this rate he'd get me.
I cowered behind a lump of crystal, trying to gather my concentration as Lyra and Bit occupied him. We'd held the upper hand in each exchange, but he still controlled the flow of the battle.
"Tag?" I jumped as a voice drawled behind me. I spun and found Applejack. The farm pony winked and held out a hoof. "Ah'm sick of playing hide and seek with Glisten. Want an assist?"
"…Yeah." I considered it and nodded quickly. A flash of thought let Lyra know what I intended. Approval flashed back and I held out my wand. The link formed with a snap. "Oh, yes!" I felt earth-pony magic flow through me as I drew deeply on Applejack's strength. Shadow tossed my cover to the side and smirked.
I punched him in the face.
He recoiled in shock as the blow shattered his jaw. I followed with a scything kick, flipping him into the air.
"Finally!" I roared, stepping up to hammer him again. Applejack pincer attacked, adding her own decisive blow. "Finally, I am not squishy!" I shook off Shadow's riposte with the strength of the earth, the solid impassive power that let ponies haul trains and grow rocks. This would change things.
Shadow Glory realized it too. His eyes went wide as he panicked.
I saw what was happening as he leaped back. His plan to divide and conquer had been beaten. Not even foiled through trickery, but crushed directly. Suddenly, the softest opponent on the field shook off blows like water, and our group had grown from three dangerous opponents to four.
He spun to flee.
"After!" I howled. Bit zipped in, wings throwing her in his path. Lyra followed, incomprehensibly swift. Finding his way barred, he gathered his power and teleported.
Right into Luna's battle.
The two most dangerous fighters faltered as a third combatant literally materialized between them. I expected Luna to blow him away. I expected Sombra to take vicious advantage of the opening. I expected them to keep fighting.
I did not expect Sombra to laugh.
"Hah. Hah! HAH! HAHAHAH!"
His cackle was loud, insane. It echoed across the battlefield and every combatant froze. Even the crystal golems paused. For a brief second, Shadow's panic skyrocketed, a look of absolute horror flashing across his face before Sombra touched him with his horn. The hapless lieutenant vanished. Luna dashed into the opening and their incomprehensible fight resumed.
"Um." I glanced at my companions.
"Uh?" Lyra shrugged back. Bit's brow furrowed with worry, and Applejack's uncertainty washed the link. Something had just changed.
"Wes!" Sunset appeared with a crackle-pop, carrying a rather battered Glisten. "Did you scan that? Sombra just—"
Her voice cut off as a thousand soulless shrieks rang across the battleground, an eerie counterpoint to Sombra's insane laughter. A second later, an ineffable ripple passed through the air, staggering us all.
"Was that—" My eyes widened.
"The tear!" Sunset yelled. "He's using the windigos— they're from outside! He must have gathered the remains of the army! Shadow tipped the balance enough to start opening it!"
"With me!" I held out my wand. I was battered and bruised, but nowhere near spent. "We need to get Twilight and see if we can patch things up!"
"HAAAAAAHAHAHAAH!"
I barely registered the link forming. Sunset pulled deep on my knowledge as I fell into her awareness. There was another ripple. Suddenly we saw what was happening and gasped.
Our pony half was right. The windigos, ethereal, had been directed downwards, through the earth. Sombra's dark magic bound them, corralling them into a channel of ghostly hatred. It began below his fight with Luna, the tether weak enough to ignore under the insane magical combat, but it stretched towards the ruin. Something in it pulsed. We recognized Shadow.
He did not seem happy.
Our magic senses reached as far as the fortress, even penetrating rock and dirt. Sombra's spell was neither soft nor kind. It directed the windigos like whips of fire, forcing them towards the ruin, binding them into complex spell-shapes. It was literally a rune-circle made from the living embodiment of hatred, windigos. Which Shadow was, for all intents and purposes. His power, real unicorn magic, had given the spell a massive boost. The windigos natural affinity to the outside strained the fabric of space. As we watched, it thinned a little more.
"We have to stop this." Our human half laid a hand on our pony half. We twisted space-time, stepping towards Twilight.
She had felt the ripple as well.
Pinkie bounced and zipped around, thoroughly confusing their opponent. Twilight stood stock still, staring towards the ruin.
"Twilight!" we called. "Sombra's using windigos. They're formed into a rune underground! He's opening the tear! We need to stop it, but it'll be tough on our own. Help?"
"Of course." Her eyes widened. "Of course! Listen! Simply shattering his rune won't work—"
"We know. We need to reverse the spell." Sunset's knowledge was clear on this. Of all the ponies, she'd studied inter-reality the most. "We need you to counter the windigos so we can shore up the damage. Shadow's out of the battle and Glisten's captive." We glanced back to the group we'd left. Lyra would take care of that, and they would be here to help Pinkie soon. "If you can nullify the effect—"
"On it!" Twilight's horn lit up and her magenta magic flashed wide, instantly locking onto Sombra's flow of windigos. It took her mere seconds to produce an exact negation.
"Alicorns. Are. Hax," we thought, smiling at each other before turning to work.
We launched our senses into the magic, following her along. Pony half's power was complemented by human half's calculations. We started threading power around and through the spell, letting Twilight carry it to the ruin. We might have done better if we were closer, but the energy needed for teleportation would be better used elsewhere. Our cyan and orange magic slowly oozed along the stream of windigos, seeping into the cracks in reality as it quickly began strengthening and repairing the damage. We shut our eyes, trying to concentrate as the sounds of battle faded around us. The others were rapidly gaining the advantage in their fights. If we could finish this, then maybe Luna—
"Uh-oh." We flinched as Sombra noticed.
His attention nearly felt like a physical blow. We saw a pulse run down the stream of malevolence, despite Twilight's best efforts. It tore through our mitigating magic and began prying the invisible cracks wider. Wild laughter echoed across the battlefield.
We straightened up, dug in our heels, and tried harder.
More power. More subtlety. More audacious. More. More!
We lifted off the ground, floating on a wash of blue and orange magic. The battle raged behind us, magic surged before us. The air rippled again.
It wasn't going to be enough.
"Twilight—!" We gasped, trying to hold against Sombra. It was useless. Any second now, and—
Riiiiip.
It was more felt than heard. Reality fractured, shattering slowly along ethereal seams. The tear sheared our magic, backlash knocking us to the ground. We leaned on each other for support, panting, terrified of what was happening. In our magical sight, a thin sliver of nothing had just appeared.
"We need to stabilize it!" we shouted, even as Sombra's magic surged again. With a pang of fright, we remembered what Cog had said.
When tears are small, they fluctuate, changing size and position quickly.
Sombra's magic surged. Something zipped towards us, even as Twilight's magic flared to intercept. There was a flare of color, a rush of noise, a feeling of falling, and—
Black.
We've done this before. They knew we could, and so we did.
The Tree loomed huge. A thousand clocks struck. Somewhere, bougainvillea bloomed. A glimmer of crystal showed the way.
Follow the path.
"Wes, Wes!"
"Ow."
My mind was my own again. I lay on hard ground, leaves rustling nearby. I heard bugs and a soft breeze, comforting sounds of the forest at night.
"Wes, get up!" It was Sunset. A hand shook my shoulder.
"This again?" I registered 'hand' and forced my eyes open. "Ow. Does your head hurt too?"
"It'll fade in a moment." Even by the light of the moon, the girl before me had fiery red hair and wide blue eyes. It was obviously Sunset.
"You look different." I squinted in the dark.
"No duh." She yanked on my arm and I realized I didn't have time to lay around.
"I mean, different from last time you were human-ish. What happened?" I forced myself to sit up. "We're in the mirror world?"
"We're not. This place… feels wrong." I heard a tinge of fear in her voice. "We fell through that portal. I think Sombra pushed us. I don't remember much. We were still linked! There was something about flowers. I saw the Pattern, the Tree, and we did… something. I don't even know! We need to get back, we need to get out of here!" She pulled her jacket close and shivered. "Wes, Sombra was winning. They need our help!"
"Wait, what?" I stumbled upright. She was right, the headache was fading. "Oh. Oh." I tipped my head up, searching through the leaves. I stumbled forward, feet unsure in the dark.
"Wait! Where are you going?" She gripped my shoulder.
"I need to see the sky." I took her hand, lacing my fingers through hers. "Come on. This way, I think." I fumbled out my cellphone and swiped for the flashlight clumsily, long out of practice. Cool light flared and my steps became sure. "Right. Yeah. This way."
"Wes?" Sunset's voice was small.
"Yeah?"
"Where are we?"
"I, um. I'm not sure yet." We walked for a moment in silence until I stumbled out of the tree line. My light gleamed off a dark road. I stopped, leaning back. "Ahhhh…" The moon was dim and there were no lights nearby. Above us, a sea of stars spread deep and shining. "There." I pointed. "Look. See that? Those stars, the hook, and the two connecting…"
It was the Little Dipper.
"I'm home." I nearly dropped my phone, turning to hug her. "Sunset, this is Earth. I’m home. <I'm home!>"
"Mmmph!" She squeaked as I squeezed her.
"Sorry!" I suddenly remembered she wasn’t a pony and stumbled back awkwardly. "Um." I paused as the realization hit me again. "Earth. We're on Earth!" I flashed the light from my phone around. "This is the road I took into the woods, before setting up camp. No one ever comes—"
"We need to get back. Now!" Her eyes flashed fierce in the dark.
"Of course, but—"
"Wes, how long has it been?" She stepped forward, confronting me.
"A few minutes?" My brows furrowed. Sure, the battle was important. But we didn't even know how we'd gotten here.
"No, since you left." She poked me in the chest with a finger. "How much time has passed here?"
"Oh." The bottom fell out of my stomach as I realized what she was saying. "I, uh. Just a second." I thumbed my phone on and killed the flashlight. I squinted at the bright screen and fumbled for the calendar.
"Th-Three days." my voice was quiet. "I left at the beginning of spring break. It's been three days."
"Oh…" Her voice trailed into a groan as she slumped. "Wes, the battle could be over. Three days here to, what…"
"A year and half." I supplied softly.
"A year and half there? That's more than a hundred-fifty to one time difference. An hour here would be nearly a week there. Our friends might be dead. Sombra might have won."
My knees suddenly went loose. I found myself squatting on the ground.
"Good grief." I rested my head in my hands and tried to think. "Sunset… is time difference absolute? There's no way to… I dunno, turn it back?"
"I… I have no idea." Her voice firmed up. "But I don't know it's impossible. Wes, we need to return. Now."
"Right." I forced back sudden hopelessness. "Right! No time like the present." She offered me a hand and pulled me upright. "Um." I straightened up. "Any ideas how?"
"How did you leave?"
"Cog said I 'fell out of reality'." I paused, thinking. "A tear. There's a tear around here somewhere. A small one, maybe smaller than the one Sombra made. It moves."
"Ah!" Her eyes lit up. "That's useful. We started with a tear when we left the mirror-world."
"Can you scan it?" I offered her my wand.
"Probably." She hesitated. "Let's link again, less strongly. Your knowledge is helpful."
"I won't object." There was an instant of strangeness as we both drew power from the wand, but the link started easily. "I think you just like goofing off with this."
"It is interesting," she admitted as she started her scan. "Um. It's moving."
I nodded, surprised as I saw the reading. I'd expected the tear to move; I just hadn't it expected to be this fast. The signature was ridiculously easy to find with no background magic. Unfortunately, it was several miles off, and moving further away faster than either of us could run.
"We'll never catch it like that." Her tone was soft with worry. For a second, reflected despair threatened to engulf me.
"No, no!" I waved my hands. "Don't give up yet!" I turned to the trees. I'd left it… There! "We have a means of transportation!" I pointed to the dark shape.
"Um." She gave me an uncertain glance as I ripped the tarpaulin away, revealing a rusty contraption. "This is?"
"My motorbike!" I flipped my helmet off the handlebars, fishing in the padding for my keys. "Ta-da!"
"And this will get us there?" She gave the old bike an uncertain look.
"Easily! It may be old, but it's fast. You're looking at a Kawasaki triple, three cylinders, five hundred cubic centimeters of two-stroke power packed into a poorly-designed frame!" I wrestled the bike around, brushing a few leaves off. It started after a few kicks, engine noise obnoxiously shattering the still night. I donned my helmet and flicked on the headlight to cut the gloom.
"What are you waiting for? Hop on!" She gingerly climbed up behind me, placing hesitant hands on my shoulders. "Good. Can you show me the tear?" Knowledge flowed across the link and I concentrated, trying to remember the roads in the area. "Alright. I think I can get us near, but you'll need to hold on tighter than that." I goosed the throttle and slipped the clutch.
"Wait. Just how fast does this thing— Eeeeeee!"
We vanished. leaving a puff of fumes and a fading shriek.
"Wes, you alright?"
The cool breeze ruffled my shirt. I absently enjoyed the feel of my bike as I guided it smoothly through the night.
"Yeah. Just… thinking." I pushed a few images across the link. My brother, father, and mother. My friends from college. There weren't many, but they were close.
"Mmm." Sunset’s hug snugged up as we roared around another curve. "This is your… home."
"Yeah." It was hilly here. My bike swooped and soared, gliding into valleys and over rises. "I… well, I miss it sometimes. And now…"
"You're back."
"But I can't stay." It felt strange, the idea of being back. Even for a short time. It was like visiting the neighborhood where I grew up. Familiar, but strange. Nostalgia made my memories rosy.
"You could, maybe."
For a moment, I entertained the thought. Maybe once we found the rift, I could send Sunset on alone. If I returned now, my friends probably wouldn't even notice. I'd checked my phone. No missed calls. They might comment on my scars if they saw, but I liked long sleeves.
I imagined my tiny apartment, stifling in the summer and freezing in the winter. Doing homework. Surfing the internet. Playing videogames. Drinking with college buddies. Calling my brother. Seeing my mother and father at Christmas. For a moment, I considered all the good things I had here and I almost, almost reached for the idea, the comforting familiar feeling of 'known' weighed against… responsibility. Uncertainty. War.
Twilight. Lyra. Pinkie. Applejack. Fluttershy. Rarity. Rainbow. Celestia. Luna.
Bitterbloom.
"No… I don't think I can."
"You don't have to—"
"It's not just… feelings." I twisted the throttle savagely, trying to outrun my regrets. The bike jumped, leaping to the top of the hill. I slowed on the crest and for a moment, paused. Below us was the town. It wasn't big but it was lit for the night, laid out like fireflies under glass. I set a foot down for balance and pointed.
"There's my college. My apartment is a few blocks east— that way. That's downtown. There's a great coffee shop there. If we had time, we could go. They're open late. I like the little movie theater nearby. Sometimes I buy junk food at the corner store and read books in the park." After a moment, I leaned back onto the bike and we rolled off.
"Sure, this is my home. I'll miss the places and people. Mainly the people, really. But… have you examined the tear recently?"
"I'm looking at it—"
"No, I mean…" I sighed, trying to organize my thoughts. "It's slowing down."
"Huh?" I felt Sunset check my memories against hers. "…You're right."
"Yeah. It's not far, just a few more curves. When I talked to Cog… he explained Arcanclypse, why it's important." Sunset gave me a moment. I listened to the engine, watching the dark trees slip by. "These tears, they're affected by reality. Magic is more than just things happening. It's us affecting reality on a fundamental level. I don't really know how it works. Ask Luna or Twilight. Still, he made it clear. Equestrian magic in this world is a bad idea."
"You mean, just us being here…?"
"It's widening the tear." I gave a mental shrug. "I don't have much magic, so I don't know how long it would take. But ever since I inherited Splinter's power, I've been… kinda-sorta Equestrian. I don't really fit here anymore. If I stayed, the tear would grow. Magic would leak in. The wrong kind of magic, like the bad stuff in the Everfree. Cog predicted inter-reality leaking into this world would be disastrous." I let my mind drift, wondering about the effects. "Maybe people would discover how to use it and widen the tear faster. Maybe windigos would get in and cause problems. He didn't give specifics, but the word 'exponential' seems right. He claimed eighty percent of the world's population would die in twenty weeks."
I could feel Sunset's emotions, swirling just below the surface of her mind. Surprise, horror, sadness.
"Thanks," I mumbled. The wind tore the words away.
"For?"
"Being sad for me." It was a little thing, but it was one of the best parts of having friends. A sorrow shared is halved. I'd never felt that so strongly.
"Maybe…"
"Maybe there's a proper way back." I grimaced. "The Tuatha would know. We didn't cause problems leaving the mirror-world. It's not—"
"Impossible." She finished the bitter thought.
"I'd just have to leave my magic behind." The idea was heavy. I shrugged and resigned myself. "But for now, tonight… I can't risk it. I can't stay and invite disaster."
"Right." Her thoughts firmed. "Right. Okay." She pondered for a moment. "I think… maybe, once we're through, I could… close it."
"The tear? Really?"
"Yeah. Maybe." She frowned. "It's something I researched in the Everfree. Like what we did against Sombra. Without his interference, it should be possible."
"Huh." I pondered for a moment. "Okay, awesome." I surveyed the road, comparing my memories to her scans. "Um, we have a problem."
Sunset rifled my thoughts and frowned.
"You're right."
We were nearing the tear ahead. It was moving quickly, but much slower than my bike. The problem was where. It was nearly a hundred feet off the road. We were on a hill. Reaching it meant driving straight into thin air.
"How much does this motorbike weigh?"
"A few hundred pounds."
"…It might work." She gathered her magic and began shaping a spell. The wand glowed, casting a dull orange on the road. I glimpsed what she was preparing. Magic to get us through the portal. Magic to close the portal. Magic to—
"Hah." I laughed as the concept sunk in. "Slammin'. Radical. Awesome!" I grasped the idea and rode with it. As we rounded the next corner, I saw the tear. To my magical senses, it was a slim black line. To my eyes, it was nearly invisible in the night, a bare ripple against the stars. "Okay, let's do this!" I gunned the engine, aiming straight for the edge of the road. My bike jumped as I hit the curb, barely missed the edge-rail, and rode into thin air. Sunset's magic rippled around the wheels, blue fire limning our path as I left flaming tracks in the sky. For a moment we hung in space and then— a rush of color. A flare of noise. A feeling of falling and—
Black.
A cold rush of blackness enveloped us. I killed the engine and took my hands off the handlebars.
"I'm still a human."
Sunset's voice was loud in the stillness.
"Must be an entrance thing, not an exit thing." I turned my head to glimpse her behind me. Sure enough.
"Then I'll need the wand and a little distance."
"Sure." I watched as she floated off the bike, her blue aura wafting her easily in the absence of gravity. The link thinned and snapped as she took up position behind me, her magic flaring as she began her spell. I had some idea what she was doing, slowly sewing together the tear, strengthening the fabric of reality. I'd have offered assistance but she didn't need my help here. She had done this before, and my magic wasn't very strong.
I turned forward, hooking my feet under the bike's pegs to keep from floating off.
All around was blackness.
I frowned, wondering. Interreality was strange. It seemed empty, but we had air. No light, but I could easily see my bike and sister. Were the windigos out there? I shivered, imagining a black wind shrieking towards us through the darkness.
I blinked as a sliver of light appeared. I watched the Tree appear in the darkness, forming from the void as if it rose from oil. Crystal knots, curls, and twists materialized, tracing complicated patterns and shapes. In moments, it filled my vision completely, dwarfing me. Looking behind, I saw the 'branch' Sunset worked on. Her blue magic was nearly invisible against the Tree, but I could see a tiny speck of darkness in the crystal, shrinking as she concentrated.
Tick.
I whipped my head around at the noise. Near… well, maybe near. It was impossible to judge distance with so little scale. To my right hung a mechanical figure.
"Cog?" My voice was uncertain. Instead of being an impossibly large collection of gears, ratchets, springs, levers, flywheels and coils, it was human-shaped. But instead of the waxy, white skin I'd seen before, all the mechanisms showed.
"Yes." Its voice sounded the same. Flat, mechanical. "I apologize for looking this crude."
"Nah, it's cool." I waved a hand. "Um. Did you want to say something?"
"Indeed. It's possible your return will be problematic."
"Ugh." I leaned down to smack my helmet against the handlebars. "UGH. Seriously. What. Just what."
"It may take significantly longer than your arrival."
"Oh." I sighed a little. "Well, we expected that. Actually—"
"Projected transit time is two years."
"What." I froze in shock, mind spinning. Two years? Two years? That was just— No, wait. I narrowed my eyes. "You can help us."
"Unfortunately, that's not in my power."
"Maybe. But you can help, or you wouldn't have come. Get us back faster, Cog."
"My authority isn't—"
"Sudo get us back faster, you stupid machine!"
Silence settled. I could literally watch the gears in its head grind.
"It's possible that's a joke?"
"Yeah, um." I shook my head, embarrassed. "Sorry. That was insulting."
"Ah. Apology accepted."
"But you came here for a reason, not just to say we'd be late. Drop your clues. Give your cryptic hints. I'm all ears."
"Well." Its face was impassive, but I imagined a frown. "You are correct. Having you in inter-reality for extended periods isn't a good idea. Besides, you've done me a significant service." He nodded to Sunset, patching up the Tree. "There's a detour you can take." It pointed inwards, towards the trunk. "Think on what I showed you, the end of magic. A man with friends is never helpless. Overcome your limitations and make your own way." He gave one of this not-quite-shrugs. "That's what I came to say. More than that… I want to wish you success. I'm willing to help as I'm able. Inter-reality is not entirely devoid of good or goodwill."
His head twitched, eyeless visage spinning to focus on something unseen. He bowed once, bending precisely in half, and vanished.
"Ugh." I rested my head in my hands, repeating what he'd said. Detour. What he'd showed me. End of magic. Friends. Limitations. My own way. Two years.
Two years.
I contemplated that for a second and groaned. Inter-reality was just so much trouble. Last time we'd been matched nearly one-to-one and it still provided mountains of drama. This time our friends would be certain we were gone for good.
If they even managed to repulse Sombra without our assistance.
No. I squelched that thought. They were strong. They'd been up against strong opponents before. Still, uncertainty tickled at the back of my mind. Our friends were passionate, and no-one on a battlefield thought completely logically. I'd done stupid things to avenge friends even knowing they weren't gone.
Detour. My mind focused on the hope I'd been given. It was small, but it was there. Cog had told us to take a detour and pointed at the Tree.
My mind clicked at that. I remembered what he'd said about the end of magic and what he'd shown us, how world-lines bent and merged. Transcendence. He'd pointed at the trunk. Transcendence was nearing the 'trunk' of the tree.
A man with friends is never helpless.
My eyes widened as a thought surfaced in my mind. Transcendence. Make our own way. I glanced back at Sunset and frowned.
Was that really what he meant?
I ran over the idea in my mind. Sunset was, in many ways, exceptional. Her talent was 'overcoming expectations' and she used it amazingly well for such a vague power. She knew more about inter-reality than any pony, including the princess'. She had been Celestia's student.
For a second, I shivered as the reality of my situation came crashing back. What could we lose? I surveyed the unending blackness, punctuated by gleaming crystal, and tinge of fear washed me. Two years. Was that two subjective years? I shuddered, remembering the edge of the 'island' holding the Crystal Empire. Void had always scared me, the simple idea of so much nothing got under my skin in a primal way.
No. I'm not alone. I'm not helpless. I pushed the thoughts away as a memory rose to take their place. Tezeca, dying, had taken the time to push home one fact to me. I changed my friends, and my friends changed me.
Your friends will raise you to greatness, just as you raise them.
Focusing on that, I drew in a deep breath. Sunset's talent was different, even I knew it. It was 'open'. She had potential. Celestia chose her for it.
Overcome your limitations and make your own way.
The Tuatha had chosen to rise in transcendence, walking West. I looked back at Sunset and gathered every ounce of conviction I had. She was the best at resography. She'd opened the portal from the mirror-world when our friends believed in her. She was strong. She was smart. She was my sister, and with her power, we could return.
"Sunset Shimmer!" I called. She turned to look at me, confused. I strengthened my voice, putting every scrap of feeling I could dredge up into it. This wasn't just an expectation to overcome. This was me, shaping my friend, shaping the future. In that second, I seized the perfect words.
"RISE UP!"
Her eyes went wide in shock before whiting out completely. A surge of power snatched me up, nearly knocking me off the bike. A moment of intense vertigo hit, and I struggled to remain conscious.
Don't wanna… black out… again!
Random magic battered my mind but I clung to reality, even as the Tree swooped nearer. Sunset shone brighter and brighter. She was an inferno, a vortex of magic blazing in the void. Her power surged forward, dragging me along like a riptide. I shook my head to clear it. At least I'd managed to cling to my bike.
Crash!
We collided with a Branch, entering some world-line with a horrible shattering sound. I flew off my bike, curling up to land mostly unharmed. Sunset's radiance stabbed my eyes but I forced myself upright, forced them open. I needed to see. I slipped off my helmet and squinted into the brilliance, trying to discern what had happened.
"Wes? Sunset!"
I whirled as a shocked voice rang behind me.
"Celestia?" I asked dumbly. I had no idea where I was. We'd definitely entered a world-line, but I stood on nothing, surrounded by stars.
"Wes, what happened?" Celestia helped me up, gave my crashed bike a confused glance, and turned to Sunset. "What's going on?"
"I'm… not really sure." I confessed. "We needed to get back, so I called out to Sunset. I wanted her to 'walk West', told her to rise up. And…" The light faded. She was a pony again. "And now… now she has wings."
Both of us rushed over as Sunset slumped to the ground.
"I-I'm fine." She gasped and struggled to stand. I wrapped an arm around her and helped her up, collecting my wand from nearby.
"Sunset!" Celestia wrapped a wing around both of us, squeezing tightly. "You made it!"
"Need… air!" she gasped. Celestia released us and stepped back. "Oh." Sunset looked down. "I'm a pony again."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow and looked at Celestia. "She hasn't realized. Should we count?"
"Huh?" Sunset gave us confused glances.
"Five minutes." Celestia grinned.
"Nah, we've been talking," I shot back. "It won't take that long."
"Ah, but you've forgotten something." Celestia waved a wing as Sunset realized where we were standing.
"Woah!" She gazed at the stars, wonder evident in her face. "This place is awesome! Is this what Discord calls your 'creepy stalker dimension'?"
"Ahem." Celestia coughed at the name but nodded reluctantly. "Yes, this is my observation plane. I was watching—"
"The battle!" I leaned forwards. "How, what, we need to get back!" Celestia nodded.
"Of course. But don't panic just yet. You haven't been gone long and time is malleable here. I want to know what happened to you. Sombra caught you unawares."
"Not gone long?" Sunset's eyes narrowed. "That can't be right. One minute in your world should be several hours here." She glared at me. "What exactly did you do, Wes?"
"Me?" I returned her shocked look and glared at Celestia when she started giggling. "Why me?"
"You always pull something at the last minute." She poked me with a hoof. "Don't deny it!"
"But— what— " I sputtered for a moment before sighing. "Okay, fine. But this time, it wasn't me. Or," I grinned, "not just me." I snagged one of her wings, pulling it wide. "What do you say to this, sister-of-mine?"
Her eyes widened. Her breathing accelerated.
"Glurk," she said.
"Thought so." I grinned and plucked one of her feathers.
"Ow! What was that for?" The pain shocked her into glaring.
"A keepsake." I tucked the feather away. "I'm adding it to my collection."
"You have a collection?" Celestia gave me a puzzled look.
"Maybe." I crossed my arms. "Feathers are cool. Anyways Sunset, it wasn't me. Cog told me a few things and you did the rest. Apparently for alicorn magic, the flow of time is a little more malleable, at least from the outside."
"Oh." She frowned. "Oh! We were the only observers, so once we left both timestreams the probability function— Hold on." She clapped a hoof to her head. "How do I know that? I shouldn't know that."
"Alicoronation is complicated." Celestia gave her a comforting hug. "I wasn't born raising the sun, nor Luna the moon. Truly understanding the meaning of your powers will take a lifetime of study. Or two, perhaps." She grinned. "But you have time to spare. So, you were in Wes' world?" She gently steered the conversation back on track. I nodded.
"Yeah." I turned to my motorbike, picking it up with a grunt and carefully dropping the kickstand. "After getting pulled through the rift, we found ourselves in a small clearing in the woods…"
"..and Wes called "'Rise up!' My back started itching, my talent kinda kicked me in the head, and then this." Sunset waved a wing. When she tried folding it again, it refused to lay flat. "Drat!"
"There was the rush of light and we ended up here." I turned to Celestia. "What's happened on your end?"
"Well…" She waved and cloud of glowing white squares materialized. "Let me show you." She drew one of them forward and a scene appeared.
"Creepy stalker dimension indeed." I raised an eyebrow. We watched as the battle appeared, shattered glass and sand white under the sun, black rock fortress looming in the background. I focused in on Sunset and myself, eyes blazing white. Magic poured into the ground. We tried to stop the tear and then… Something nearly invisible rippled towards us, scattering debris in its wake. Twilight's magic snared it, but despite her strength, it surged forward a few more feet. It touched us and we warped, stretching impossibly thin and spinning in a nauseating manner.
"Real life has bad special effects," I grumbled.
"Shhh." Sunset kicked me discretely.
Twilight's response was obvious. Her eyes went wide and magic poured from her horn, totally locking down the tear. The others fights continued for a few minutes but suddenly, the action slowed drastically.
"And this is now." Celestia smiled. "You've made it back, in better time than I ever dreamed."
"We need to go. Celestia, get me out there. Now!" I spun to face the Princess, who stepped back from my vehemence.
"What?" Sunset gave me a frown. "No need to be rude, things are—"
"Out of hand. There's going to be trouble. Look." I jabbed a finger at the screen. "Here. Get us there. Quick!"
"What is…" Sunset and Celestia peered where I was pointing. There was a dark blur on the screen. The Princess frowned and zoomed in. A young girl, black skin shining in the sun, flew nearly fast enough to tear her lacy wings. A scowl of anger twisted her face.
"Bitterbloom," Sunset said hollowly.
"If anyone noticed my disappearance, it would be her," I said firmly. "But look where she's going!" I pointed to the continuing fight between Sombra and Luna. "Things will get really messy, really fast. Besides which, despite Twilight's magic, Sombra still controls that portal. We. Need. To. Go."
"Right." Celestia nodded firmly. "Sunset, I think I can reach the warp beacon from here with your help. This spell won’t be easy."
"Okay." The new-minted alicorn took a firm stance and nodded. "Let's go."
Celestia started the spell slowly. Sunset followed her lead easily. The magic wrapped around us, and I threw out a hand to steady myself as the strange sideways jerk of teleportation yanked us through the air.
"OW!" Twin voices rang out as the sound of steel accompanied our arrival at the fortress. Something echoed in the air. Sombra was still laughing.
"Wes, did you have to do that?" Sunset glared at me.
"What?" I gave her a confused look, even as I realized my hand had caught on something. I turned and found I'd grabbed my motorbike. "Oh." I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Celestia nodded to the Day Guard who surrounded us, weapons ready. "Stand down." She tapped her insignia, which flashed once. The guards nodded and dispersed.
"Gotta stop Bit." I hopped on my bike, kicking it to life.
"Or you could use the comms." Celestia's gentle magic placed something in my ear, and I nearly facepalmed.
"Right." I flicked the comm on. "Bit! Come in, Bit! Do you read me?"
"Wes?" The shock in her voice was obvious. She'd been crying. "Wes! Are you okay? Where are you?"
"In the fortress. I'm fine. Stand down! Don't interfere with Luna's fight!"
"Wes, I think she needs help." Bit's voice was serious. "Sombra's still doing something. It's trouble."
"Well, we've got help." I nodded to Celestia. "Now that you've committed the reserves, my Princess, better make the best of them."
"Indeed." She spread her wings and sprang into the air with flash of ethereal aura.
"I'd like to try that." Sunset gazed after. "But for now, I'll go with you. I'm not teleporting your dumb chunk of metal again." She climbed onto the seat behind me, a little more awkwardly than she had as a human. Still, Equestrians were flexible and she made it work. I felt her hooves tighten around my waist and spun the throttle.
The 'gate' we'd installed was a one-way barrier. My bike roared through, swaying as I dodged oncoming crystal golems. I turned towards the immobilized tear, riding fast and reckless on the hard-packed, sandy earth.
"Mmm…. On I burn, fuel is pumping engines, burning hard, loose, and clean…" I hummed as I worked the clutch, kicking it up a gear. This bike was older than me, but I'd always kept it running in good condition. When it was new, it had been one of the fastest, and it still had more jump than most. Sunset's hooves tightened around me. Acceleration was a drug, and I loved every second.
"I thought… you were going fast… on the road!" She yelled in my ear.
Quench my thirst, with gasoline…
"Nah, watch this!" I swerved around the last corner of the fortress and we hit power-band. Now we were getting somewhere. The bike surged and I almost didn't want to brake as we neared Twilight.
Still, Sunset needed to be here. I slowed to a stop, careful of my traction. This surface was surprisingly good. I frowned, looking ahead to the fields of broken glass. I wouldn't be taking my tender rubber tires out there.
"Right. Do your thing, Sunny."
"Huh?" Sunset gave me a surprised look as she climbed off.
"You're an alicorn. Ipso facto made of hax-o. Shut the tear. I can't help you now."
"Right." She shook her head and turned to Twilight, who stared at her wings with undisguised shock. "Long story short, I have wings now and I know more how this works. Let me have a try." Her horn lit and magic started flowing. "Woah, this is— Get back!" I jumped at her words, diving behind my bike as the portal pulsed. She grit her teeth and managed to contain it, but I saw the strain hit both her and Twilight.
"What's he doing?" I climbed to my feet and looked to where Luna and Celestia circled Sombra. He was totally on the defensive now. The fight couldn't last much longer, but he wouldn't stop laughing.
"He's nearly a windigo himself," Sunset ground out. "I think he's going to join the spell. That will be— Urgh." Both alicorns wavered. I looked to where Sombra was fending off the Princess'. Whenever they landed a hit, thick, viscous mist poured dark from his wounds.
"What can we do?" I turned back.
"Nothing." Twilight said miserably. "Nothing that we're not doing already. This will be close, Wes. If the Princess' don't hold him down and we can't hold him back—"
"We've got this." Sunset draped a wing over Twilight. "Why, the two of us working together, we can do anything. We'll make Celestia proud."
"Ooof!" I stumbled as a thin pair of arms wrapped me. "Bit!"
"You're okay!" My secretary buried her face in my shoulder. "You made it back!"
"Yeah."
"Here it comes!" Sunset called. Even as I watched, Celestia landed another blow on Sombra. Luna followed with a slash to his heart. Still laughing, the dark Emperor dissolved into mist.
"Hold!" Twilight yelled. The two of them braced their shoulders against each other and poured everything into sealing the portal. The black magic they were binding surged and they swayed.
For a moment, I thought we had won. But just as I was about to pump my fist, jump in the air, and do a silly dance, a blue feather floated past my nose.
"Oh, no." My eyes snapped wide as I realized there was still another battle. I spun, craning my neck, trying to see the last lieutenant. I found Rainbow, slowly falling out of the sky. She’d fought one of Sombra's lieutenants to a standstill, but she couldn’t last forever. A moment later a shockwave nearly knocked me off my feet. Bodkin, flying directly out of the sun, slammed into Twilight and Sunset.
I gaped in horror. Their magic shattered like glass.
They regained their feet in moments, but the damage was done. Sombra's laughter rang one last time. With a sound like thunder, the tear widened.
Frantic spells went up, azure and lilac, but they were powerless to stop the rupture. Golden and midnight spells joined them, but the rift kept growing.
I flinched at the blast of cold wind. Shrill shrieks rang forth, eerie laughter sounded in the distance.
"This is bad, bad, bad." Twilight spun, calling. "Elements! To me!"
"Too late." Sombra's words fell from the tear like slabs of lead. The rip was huge, large enough to fit a barn. The blackness within rippled and green-purple eyes as tall as me winked open. "Finally, I have my dreams in reach. Finally, nopony can stop me. Finally. Finally, I can act with impunity. Finally, I can crush you!"
"Finally, shut up!" Rainbow yelled. The Elements formed up on Twilight, even Fluttershy rushing to join. The gems flashed to life and for a second, worry clouded the eyes in the void.
"No." The rainbow power of the Elements lashed out, but as they did, a torrent of shrieking blackness poured from the rift. "No!" The prismatic beam clashed with the darkness, and the darkness pushed it back. I gulped, turning to Sunset. She gave me a worried look as frost crackled around my feet.
"Hold!" Celestia and Luna arrived in a flurry of feathers. They leaned in, adding their magic to the Elements.
It wasn't enough.
The bottom dropped out of my stomach as the tear widened further. Sombra's eyes narrowed in triumph and a huge, smoky head pushed out of the rip. He followed with a hoof. The shrieking grew louder.
"Run."
The voice was quiet, but it easily cut the cacophony. I turned to see Celestia, dwarfed by the ethereal stallion, stance firm and horn blazing.
"Run, my friends. Escape, live. This isn't going to be pretty."
"Princess—"
"Sister—"
"Celestia—"
The words froze in my mouth. Literally. A thick, rolling fog poured from the rift as Sombra looked down at us.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
Everything froze.
My thoughts went sluggish as streams of windigos wrapped me, ice running up my legs as fear, hatred, loathing and anger filled my mind.
No. I fought back the influence, but it streamed around my attempts at calm, filling my mind again. Frustration welled up and the feelings fed on that, returning.
I shook my head, trying to clear it. Ice burned, crackling on my skin as I shifted. I needed to be doing something. Something important. But it was unclear. Everything was unclear.
These blurry shapes around me were important. I needed to be doing something.
Something.
Unsure, I reached a hand to the nearest figure. My fingers closed on something smooth and a head whipped around. Large crystal eyes narrowed in rage and something slashed my face.
The blood was warm.
The pain was warmer.
Suddenly the haze on my mind cracked slightly. I seized that, extending it, holding firmly to the following calm. I knew this. I knew rage. I'd fought it, in myself, time and again. It would not hold me.
I asserted that as calmly and clearly as I could.
"Wes?" Suddenly the crystal eyes I was looking into cleared, and meaning returned to the world. The shapes around me fell into place. Friends. "I cut you!"
"Thanks, Bit." I smiled. "Hold that thought." I pulled her close and tried to reason, even a little. Celestia and Luna’s magic flared, fighting as best they could against the intrusion, the wrongness that Sombra was spilling into the world. They couldn't hold for long. We'd lost our chance to escape and Celestia couldn't buy us another.
Once again, things were getting desperate.
You always pull something at the last minute, Sunset had said. A small, feral grin crawled across my lips. She was right, honestly. It wasn't even something I tried for. One day I had just gotten sick of losing. So, come what may, I refused to lie down and give up. Desperation spurred me to action even if it was stupid or dangerous. When all is lost, guess.
But I'd never done it alone.
Once again, I needed to act. I needed to do something. Anything. Even if it was just one last scream against the dark, I would try, and try again, until I couldn't scrape up even another fingernail worth of effort.
And when that happened, my friends would be there for me.
"Bit, you still with me?"
"Yes." Her voice shook. It grew harder to think. I felt cold creep in.
"I'm going to do something dumb."
"Okay." I grinned at the trust in her voice. This was strength, this was power. I might not be much on my own but when I asked, ponies answered. My friends were good like that.
"Right. We've only got one shot at this. I want you to link with me." She nodded and I pulled up all the magic I had. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.
Snap!
Again, her presence warmed my mind. I felt something in her relax as we connected.
"Hold!" I called. She did. It was the third time we'd tried this. Bit was one of the fastest learners I knew. Even now, she grew better and better. I felt her carefully corral her power, keeping it away from me.
"Actually, I'm going to need that." Her surprise was palpable as I reached across the link and tapped the deep wells of strength she kept buried. It hit like a headrush, sudden euphoria infusing my mind. I clamped down on my emotions with iron control, determined to hold the windigos at bay.
My power, my magic, was a power for sharing. Time and again I'd leaned on the strengths of others, loaned them my strength. But there were certain barriers I couldn't cross, imbalances that made some things impossible. I could never touch the mind of an alicorn.
At least, not on my own.
Bit's power was for sharing, too. As a changeling Queen, she was one of the most powerful users of mental magic in existence. It wasn't a spell to her. It was herself, innate power.
Together we might be enough.
"Balance!" Her thought rang clear and I re-centered myself. She saw my plan, the risks rushing through her like a torrent of ice. For a moment, I thought we'd lose the connection, lose everything, but she leaned on me and stabilized.
"Good!" My approval warmed her and she smiled. "It's a start, but we need to act fast."
First, something simple. I gathered the power she lent me, the mind that could command thousands, and bent it carefully to my design. A whisper of magic, subtle and soft, snaked away from us. It wafted through the blizzard and reached…
Fluttershy.
The Element of Kindness was one of the bravest ponies I knew, precisely because she was also one of the most timid. As the tendril of magic touched her, a rush of fear, anger, and pain coursed through us. It wasn't directed outwards, though; Fluttershy had aimed every single shred of that mental torment at herself.
"Fluttershy!" The link hummed, seeping a little warmth into her mind. I pictured the night we'd cried together, atop a roof in Manehatten, and sent her a little of the warmth and gratitude I felt. "Have a little heart! Your friends are here for you. Stand with us, show us your confidence!"
It seemed ages, but slowly my words leaked through. Slowly, the cage around her mind melted and she reached back.
"W-Wes? Bit?"
"Yup."
"Here." Bit pushed some of her strength across the link and I felt Fluttershy's mind relax into the warmth. Kindness glowed in the strange unreal structure we'd started. I smiled.
The next tendril was more confident. It snaked from Fluttershy, directed by the will of three, and touched Applejack.
The Element of Honesty was full of conflict. She was, in some ways, the most contradictory of my friends. A trained liar who forsook the shadows in search of a better pony, she eventually grew into everything she wanted to be. But doubt was still there. Even as the Element of Honesty, she sometimes felt like a fake, like she wore a mask. As I touched her mind, I found her frozen under the weight of her past, paralyzed by the idea that she didn't, couldn't deserve the life she lived.
"Applejack!" I gathered my memories again, thinking back to Canterlot when she'd bared her soul to me on a walk through the city. "Applejack, change is not deception. Your dedication to the truth is real, tested by fire. Don't lie to yourself now!"
This time the connection formed a little faster. I saw her actually shake off the frost riming her and turn to us.
"Thanks, y'all. I needed that." She fell into synch and our group drew power from her honest strength.
"Dash is next." Fluttershy's thought was clear. I nodded and touched Rainbow.
Loyalty was Dash's Element, a deep, ingrained need to support her friends. When she couldn't, when she failed, she felt it more keenly than anypony. She was filled with loathing, anger at her powerlessness in the face of Sombra. She jumped at our touch, trying to lash out, but I caught the rage and let it slide harmlessly away.
"Dash, listen. Loyalty isn't lessened by failure. You've never let us down. We'll lend you our strength, so don't give up yet!"
The anger faded from her mind quickly. Loyalty wouldn't let her deny that call.
"Help us help you help us, huh?" Her smirk carried through the link. "I can get behind that." The ice fell from her thoughts. "Get to Rarity, quick!"
I nodded. The fashionista was nearly frozen solid, a thick layer of ice growing by the second. Dash laid a hoof on her and we pushed.
Rarity would easily admit she could be shallow. Her emotions flashed and spun, whirling on a dime. Anger coursed through her, pointless and undirected, but real all the same. She seethed and boiled, simply lost in the feeling.
For such a giving pony, maybe the direct approach was best.
"Rarity, lend us your power!"
The ice shattered as her generous nature surged. She was halfway into the link before she realized what happened.
"Oh, dear. This really is a situation, isn't it? We'll need Pinkie for this one."
By now, my mind was stretched thin. I grunted at the effort, and the five minds I held noticed just how much strain I was under.
"Wes, you gonna be alright?" Rainbow's thought was wary.
"I'd better be." I reached for Pinkie, unwilling to pause even a moment. "This was a dumb plan, but it's all I had. Sink or swim, right?"
Oddly, Pinkie barely had a hint of ice. When our magic touched her, I only sensed a single thought, repeated over and over.
"Smile, smile, smile, smile, smile—"
I glimpsed her mind and remembered the Tree I'd seen in her dream, the story Mirror-Pinkie had told me, and understood. She had been fighting this battle longer than any of us. She knew what was happening, she'd seen it before. It scared her, from the tips of her ears to the end of her tail, but she refused to give in or give up. Giggle at the ghosts, even if they can hurt you. It only took a single call.
"Pinkie!" She bounced gladly into our group and suddenly, everything seemed a little lighter.
"Thanks guys, I needed that."
"No worries." Feeling more confident, I reached for my mentor. The shock nearly rattled us loose.
Lyra wasn't just full of hatred. It engulfed her. I couldn't even glimpse what froze her so before it rushed into our group, a chilling torrent that nearly swallowed me.
"Easy there, sugarcube!"
"Really, Wes."
"Hooold that smile!"
"Float or fly, big guy!"
"Steady there, sir."
"U-Um…"
My friends caught me, their minds tempering the connection with a rush of compassion. I firmed my resolve and tried again.
"Lyra!" It felt like screaming into the wind. My teeth chattered, my face stung. "You're strong, one of the strongest ponies I know! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
"Huh?" Stability entered the vortex in her mind like a drop in a pond, ripples, waves, slowly washing out from a center of calm. Lyra's breath caught in wonder as she realized what we were doing. She threw everything she had behind us. "Right. Sorry about that."
"Okay, the easy part's over." I grit my teeth. The true test was yet to come. I reached for an alicorn.
Twilight felt like a huge knot of power, a giant snarl of spells. Her strength was unbelievable, her magic vast and limitless.
"This might be tricky." Calm tension stressed the group, I extended a thread of power. She was something else, as different from a pony as she was from a rock.
"Leave this one to us." Rainbow gently wrested control from me. "All together now, girls!" Five ponies drew in deep breaths, five tenuous links reached out.
"Twilight!" the Elements called. "Show us your magic! We need a spark!" Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, and Kindness all glowed together, their power huge in the mental landscape we shared. I groaned as the connection started, the stress unlike anything that came before. Twilight shook herself, ice and frost rising from her coat as her Element responded to the call. She blinked as she realized what was happening.
"This is dangerous." Her thought was mild, but I read the dire warning in it.
"Yeah, well… Desperate is as desperate does." Without even a moment's pause, I reached for Sunset. "All together, now. Help me with this."
"Sister!"
"Sunset!"
"We believe in you!" The call cut through the winds and fog around us, and Sunset jumped. Confusion registered as the link touched. I saw her mind clear shockingly fast. Beyond expectation, indeed; she not only joined the link easily, she actually managed to pull a little of the stress from me, balancing Twilight's power against her own. She glowed like a thousand curling branches in my mind and I grinned.
This just might work after all.
Luna's mind was very nearly calm, a serene void of stars, as she fought alongside her sister. She seized the link as we offered it, acceptance simple and complete.
"Took you long enough." My shock was clear, and her amusement echoed back. "Come now, Wes. Adapt or die. I didn't believe all of you would just roll over." She gathered the link to herself and together, we threw our minds to the last pony standing.
Celestia's shock was evident as we touched her, her relief palpable as our gathering of minds threw their power behind her. She accepted gratefully, and my knees buckled under the strain. Her power, huge and fierce as the sun, settled easily into her sister’s embrace. She faced Sombra, putting her life on the line to keep him out. She was losing by inches, but maybe we could change that.
"You okay, Bit?"
My assistant nodded, although sweat rolled down her face. She was lending me power, and I was somehow channeling it all into this strange amalgam we'd formed. The magic strained me so I could barely speak, but I forced one last sentence out.
"Alright, it's up to you all. Get him, girls."
Assent poured in from everypony as we struck back.
"I've got a plan." Sunset's thought was clear. "We can't face him head-on. We've got to control that portal."
"We'll hold him off." I felt Luna touch her sister's mind as they faced the darkness.
"Get ready, Sunset. We'll make an opening." I felt Twilight call on the Elements. Harmony sang through the link.
"I can help hold this together." I felt Lyra take some of the strain from me, her genius and training coercing the magic into more manageable patterns. Relieved of a little strain, I focused my eyes and locked them onto Sombra. I did not want to miss this.
"We stand together!" Luna called, as she stepped up next to her sister. They wielded the combined might of the Diarchy, thousands of years of training and power lashing Sombra.
"We are united!" Twilight and the Elements blazed with light. A rainbow beam sliced into the dark, shredding it. Sombra's eyes went wide.
"We are strong!" Sunset's magic flared, crinkling and swirling into a thousand tiny curls, aimless tribal patterns that drew the eye strangely. They settled across the portal and rippled, wresting control.
"And." Our voices called as one, everypony adding their affirmation to the chorus. "We. Deny! YOU!" The last word slashed through the blizzard, a sudden rush of power crashing into Sombra and literally shattering him.
For a moment, everything was still. We stood frozen in tableau, strained to the limit, pushing him back. For a moment, I thought we had lost.
Then, with astonishing swiftness, something else flashed out of the portal.
It was a giant hand, mechanical, thousands of gears, sprockets, flywheels, chains and springs moving as one. It closed around Sombra with an echoing snap and a dry, monotone voice rang out.
"Thank you for your assistance. I'll take it from here."
The ethereal stallion shrieked in fear as he was yanked backwards through the rift. There was a shuddering clang as reality asserted itself, closing the tear in a heartbeat.
Bit fainted, slumping against me, and the link frayed instantly. The pressure on my mind lifted and I fell forward, catching myself with my hands. Around me, ponies were shuddering, fainting, crying, and generally breaking down from relief. Distantly, I saw a wing of Guards lift off from the fortress and zoom towards us. The ice around us started to steam, already dissolving in the heat of the day. I slumped to the ground, rolling bonelessly onto my back as huge, gasping, hysterical laughs tore from my chest.
It was over, somehow.
We had won.