//------------------------------// // Reality's Collapsing // Story: Blueblood's Ascension Part III; or, Even Alicorns Have Dreams // by MyHobby //------------------------------// Flash Sentry appeared beside Shadowfright’s enormous face. Every hair stood on end. He dove towards the ground as fast as physics would allow. “New arrivals?” Shadowfright said. “Didn’t I mention this party was by invitation only?” “Hay, jerk-face!” Lightning Dust shouted. “Chew on this!” She fired a bolt of lightning that passed right through Shadowfright. He growled. “I thought you were on my side.” “Yeah, well…” Lightning Dust crossed her forelegs. “That was before.” A tornado of smoke and shadow spun below her and sucked her up. She screamed as she rolled out of control. “I love a good ironic death, don’t you?” Shadowfright said. “I was just going to have you possessed again, but if you’re going to be this pugnacious…” Flash Sentry shot through the sky and knocked Lightning Dust out of the spiral. They arced over the bramble patch and crashed into the thorns. “You’re going to make me chase you, aren’t you?” Shadowfright sighed, and the dreamscape trembled. “I hate running.” Flash brushed broken branches and thorns out of his coat. A long, shallow cut ran down his side. “Lightning? Are you there?” Celestia landed in front of him, bruised and battered. She leapt to her hooves and charged at a dark apparition across the patch. The monster reared up and laughed. “The night shall last forever!” “No!” Celestia said. “I’m not going to lose you again!” The two ancient alicorns locked glowing horns. The air shimmered with fire and fury. Flash ran up to help Celestia, but he was pushed back by a mighty blast of light. He lay on the ground and covered his head until the brightness dimmed. He peered up. Celestia and Nightmare Moon faced each other, each taking in deep breaths. Both were hurt, one limping on a leg, the other nursing a drooping wing. Celestia looked at him. “Run.” Flash shook his head. “No, I’m here to help y—” “Run!” Celestia shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Flash’s heart leapt as he moved to obey the magic command on instinct. He thundered through the thorns, willing his legs to slow so that he could return to the fight. He turned his head to look back, just in time to miss the alicorn princess running in the other direction. Lightning Dust and Flash Sentry thumped their heads together and collapsed on top of each other. She stood first. “You gotta hurry, dude!” “We need to go back,” he said. “Celestia’s been possessed!” she shouted. “Luna’s been— Huh?” “Celestia’s gone full Nightmare, man.” Lightning Dust’s chest heaved as her eyes glazed over. “Oh geeze, oh cuss, we’re all dead.” “But…” Flash’s eyes flickered left and right. “But I saw.” He shut his eyes and listened. Sounds of battle came from both before and behind him. “Lightning, it’s just a dream.” “Tell that to the thorn that got stuck in my b—” “No, seriously, it’s just a bad dream.” Flash Sentry waved a hoof as he ran past Lightning. “Come on!” He broke through the brambles and had his theory confirmed. Luna faced off against a Nightmarish Princess Celestia in flaming gold armor. Discord sat off to the side, a bored expression on his young face. Flash gripped Lightning’s shoulders. “We gotta make them meet.” “You wanna do what!?” “We have to make them meet. Celestia and Luna can work together. Right now they’re just playing the Nightmare’s game!” “How do we do that!?” “Um.” Flash Sentry hit the side of his head. “I dunno. Cut down the thorn bushes. Can you do that?” Lightning Dust gaped at him. “Do I look like a gardener?” “Fine.” Flash Sentry gritted his teeth. “Celestia forgive me for what I’m about to do.” Lightning Dust tilted her head. “What are you—?” “Hay, Nightmare Cakebutt!” Flash said to the false Celestia. “Yeah, you! You’re so fat, you blot out the sun!” Nightmare Celestia snarled and spat fire from her horn. Flash Sentry ducked just in time to avoid being turned into charcoal. The brambles behind him, on the other hoof, didn’t duck. The entire patch of thorns began to crackle and crumble. “Catch me if you can!” Flash said, and disappeared into the bushes. The Nightmare roared and thundered after him, her mane aflame. Lightning Dust and Luna looked at each other. Luna rubbed her eyes. “What is the fool doing now?” “He’s, um, saving you.” Lightning Dust shrugged. “Or, you know, committing Suicide by Nightmare. One of the two. That wasn’t your sister, by the way, just an illusion.” “A very dangerous illusion!” Luna nodded. “Come, we must save the idiot.” She waved a wing. “Discord, are you—” She took one look at the disinterested draconequus. “Never mind. You have had your chance.” The princesses galloped away, leaving Discord alone. He stood up, pulled a zipper out of thin air, and stepped through the resulting hole. He zipped the dream back up behind him, and floated off into the Unencumbered Unconscious. Flash broke into Celestia’s clearing, the illusion hot on his heels. “Celestia! That’s not you sister!” Celestia bucked Nightmare Moon in the chin. “What?” “It’s just an illusion!” Flash opened his wings wide, framing the monster behind him. “See?” Celestia’s eyes widened as her doppelganger lit her horn. “Duck!” A wave of heat flashed over Flash as he dropped to the ground. Celestia took the brunt of the fire with a shield. While she was focused on the one Nightmare, Nightmare Moon moved in from the side. “Never again shall you darken my sister’s dreams!” Luna yelled. She tore a hole through the heavy growth and tossed a thorn at her own counterpart. “Nightmare Moon is no more!” “I’m always waiting, Luna!” Nightmare Moon said. “Always lurking beneath the surface! Always ready to take what’s mine!” Flash rolled away as Nightmare Sun stomped the ground. “I am everything you could be, Celestia. If you would just give in, you could have all that you wish and more!” “I don’t want you!” Celestia gripped her double’s throat between her hooves. They grappled, balancing on their hind legs. The dirt turned to glass under their combined fire. “I never wanted you!” Nightmare Moon and Luna circled around each other, firing blast after blast of moonbeams, lasers, and any other spells they could think of. Luna slid on a patch of ice, and the Nightmare moved in with a paralysis spell on the tip of its horn. Lightning Dust ran up beneath Nightmare Moon. She leaped from underneath it and threw it onto its back. She dodged the paralyzing horn, and rushed back to the brambles. As Nightmare Moon stood back up, Lightning returned and bucked her upside the head. Before the Nightmare could react, she was back under cover. “Stop hiding and face me!” Nightmare Moon barked. Luna wrapped vines around Nightmare Moon’s limbs, knotting them together. The monster tumbled off-balance. “You are far too easily distracted, do you know that?” Nightmare Sun roared. Its body burned, scorching the surrounded plants. The entire bramble network collapsed bit by bit. Celestia grabbed Flash Sentry. “We must break free before we’re all crushed! I’ll burn a path, you and the others fly to safety.” “I’m not leaving you—” “You are leaving me because I said so!” Celestia said. “I’m tired of other ponies paying the consequences for my mistakes! You have your own princess to go home to, Flash! I’m not going to be the one to tell her you died defending me!” Flash skittered out of the way of a tumbling branch. “Am I supposed to tell her you died saving me?” “You’d better have something to tell her when this is over,” Celestia said. “Do you understand me!?” Nightmare Sun growled and stalked towards them. Flash gulped. “I think I will.” “Good.” Celestia fired a sunbeam straight up. “Go!” “Luna, Lightning!” Flash waved them over. “Up! Up, up, up!” With one final knot, Luna left Nightmare Moon trussed up under the flaming branches. The three soared upwards, with Celestia following close behind. And she with Nightmare Sun on her heels. Nightmare Sun bit Celestia’s tail and pulled back. “Prpr tr diii!” Celestia looked down with a furrowed brow. “What was that?” Nightmare Sun spat the tail out. “I said, ‘Prepare to d—!’” Celestia kicked the Nightmare in the face. The illusion tumbled down into the fire. Celestia turned to continue upward, but her way was cut off by two burning branches. Her wings got caught in the brambles. She gathered power in her horn for a teleport. “Not so fast, Celestia,” Shadowfright chuckled. “I’m afraid I don’t play by the rules.” A vine snaked its way around Celestia’s neck. Its thorns dug into her flesh. She was unable to concentrate on the spell. She couldn’t gather enough power. The fire grew closer. Silver light slashed through the bushes. The blackened plants withered and crumbled under focused moonbeams. The fire did not die out, but it was held back. Luna held a hoof out to her sister. “Come on, sister. Save the sacrifice for when it’s truly needed.” “With pleasure,” Celestia said. She gripped Luna’s hoof and allowed herself to be pulled out of the fire. All four of them flew above the conflagration. Shadowfright sneered down at them. Luna puffed her chest out. “Your Fear will never conquer us, Shadowfright. Not so long as hope exists!” “Yes,” Shadowfright said, “I know.” Nightmares Sun and Moon rose from the fire, none the worse for wear. The hovered beside Shadowfright and laughed. “You’re fighting an endless fight, Royal Sisters.” Shadowfright rolled intangible shoulders. “My minions and I are tireless. We cannot be stopped. We cannot be slowed. We cannot even be contained. Especially not by wimpy unicorn brats with a curse. All your hard work is for naught. All your effort in vain. We rule Equestria.” He grinned. “Or what’s left of it.” Celestia glared with eyes of steel. “What have you done?” “As we speak, Scorpan is releasing the binding on Tartarus. The seal to the Sleeping Mountain. When that volcano erupts, the soot and ash will coat Equestria in total darkness for months. Maybe even years. In that time, my Nightmare Army will have been complete as your little ponies utterly abandon hope.” Shadowfright glanced at the Nightmares on either side of him. “Despair and Fear are law now. My law.” “How much longer is thy speech, vagabond?” Luna said. “I wish to pummel thee.” “Get in line,” Shadowfright said. “Nightmares, tear these fools—” Lightning Dust flicked her horn and sent a bolt of electricity into Nightmare Moon’s chest. She looked at a surprised Flash Sentry. “What? I only have the one trick, but it’s a good one.” “Just kill them!” Shadowfright roared. “Kill them all!” Discord touched a dream floating in the void. He watched some pony or another face their worst fears for a moment, and then moved on to the next one. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has no audience!” He smirked, and then continued down the line. Why should he care? The world could burn, the skies rain ash, and the seas boil over, but what would it matter to him? He would still exist, and he’d finally be free. Free from the dumb ponies and their rules, and their chains, and their tea parties. He touched a dream and saw Applejack lying in her deadened field. Her limbs were small and scraggly. Her coat was mangy and greasy. Her eyes were dark and hollow. “Granny… Big Mac… Apple Bloom… Somepony, help… Ah can’t do this on mah own.” “Serves you right,” he said as he floated past. Friendship. What had they ever done for him? When had they stuck their necks out for him? When had they ever treated him as anything but a nuisance? He touched a particularly shaky dream. He saw Lyra and Vinyl beating off changelings with bats as they swarmed around like a black cloud of locusts. Another changeling stood between them, kicking at any monster that happened to get close. “Well, gotta admit,” Lyra said. “This is probably the way I’d have chosen to go.” “Surrounded by an army of soul-sucking monsters?” Vinyl asked. “Hay!” Mandible said. “That’s a negative stereotype.” “Naw.” Lyra smashed another Lyraling’s face in. “Fighting alongside my friends. Having a good time. Hanging out. Stuff like that. You gotta look at it abstractly.” “Eh,” Vinyl said. “Fair enough.” “S-sorry for freaking you out earlier.” Mandible put a Lyraling in a chokehold. “I didn’t realize you had a phobia.” “No biggy,” Lyra said. “Anyways, you probably cured me of it. You rock pretty hard, dude.” Mandible beamed. “Weird,” Discord said. He moved on. He touched the next dream and found a sandstorm. Rarity, Pinkie, and Braeburn clutched each other tight. “Ah’m sorry ah got us into this,” Braeburn said. “Ah love you, Pinkie.” “I love you, too, Braeburn.” Pinkie nuzzled his neck. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.” “Ah’ve decided somethin’.” Braeburn snatched his hat as it was blown away by the wind. “Ah’m movin’ to Ponyville. To stay close to you.” “B-but your farm!” Pinkie gripped his foreleg. “Who’ll take care of Appleoosa!?” “The Apple Family’s strong in Appleloosa. Ah’ll give it to mah cousin Russet.” Braeburn smiled. “You’re more important, Pinkie. Ah can work at Sweet Apple Acres. We can get a nice little cottage on the outskirts of town. With a nice big backyard to throw parties in!” “Is this really the time to talk about this?” Rarity squealed. “If’n we might not get another chance,” Braeburn said, “then yeah. It is.” Discord took a step back. He watched the dream bob and weave through the ether for a moment. “These ponies are all crazy. Why would he just up and give away his life like that?” Several dreams waited, standing by to share their contents with Discord. He counted them off. “Eeny meeny miney moe. That’ll do.” He touched the dream, and was thrown into a Nightmare. A dark house creaked all around him. The windows were boarded up. The furniture was pushed against the doors. The fireplace was dark. The only light came from the moonlight snaking in through the holes in the boards. Fluttershy huddled in the corner. “I tried… So hard…” “Fluttershy?” Discord crossed his arms. “What’s eating you?” “D-Discord?” Fluttershy smiled, before sadness overtook her features. She lay back down with tears pouring out of her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” Discord looked around the room. “Where are we?” “M-my cottage. It’s all I have left.” Skitters could be heard from above. Fluttershy leapt into the air. She breathed so shallow and quick that she threatened to hyperventilate. “No! No, no, no, no, no. They’re inside!” “Calm down, Fluttershy,” Discord said. “It’s just a dream.” “B-but it feels so real.” Fluttershy’s lower lip trembled. “I saw such horrible things. My animal friends… they hate me.” A thump came from the door. One of the boards splintered as a bear paw busted through. Discord jumped back. “Geeze! Missus Grizzly needs an attitude adjustment.” “No, they’re hungry.” Fluttershy pushed herself against the wall. “They’re all so hungry. I tried to feed them, but it was never enough. I gave them so much, but they just hated me more. Now they want to eat me, too.” Discord snapped his fingers to change the Nightmare in some way. Turn the bear into a kitten, or make the world full of flowers, or something. Nothing happened. “Please, Discord,” the bear said in Shadowfright’s voice. “Don’t imagine you have any power over dreams. This is my domain, and that mare is my property.” “Hay,” Discord said. “This wasn’t part of the deal!” “It was, though,” the bear said. It clawed its way through the door. “All of Equestria will burn, and you get front-row seats to watch!” “Fluttershy, you big dummy,” Discord said. “Why would you let them take so much away from you? Why did you keep giving and giving until there was nothing left to give?” “Because…” Fluttershy wiped tears from her eyes. “I had hopes that… that a little kindness could change you. I understand now, though. I can’t do anything to make you change. But I learned too late.” Fluttershy hid behind her mane. “And now there’s nothing left.” She shrieked as she was dragged back by horrible shapes. Shapes with gangly limbs, sharp teeth, bitter breath, and hairless bodies. She struggled against them, but there were too many. They were in her tail, grasping her legs, biting her sides… The bear tore the doorway open. It was as large as a carriage. Its fur bristled. Its eyes glowed red. Its mouth opened up wide to tear into Fluttershy. Discord jumped between them, wound up, and socked the bear in the jaw. Shadowfright screamed as he went flying through a wall. Discord reached into the churning mass of monsters and pulled Fluttershy out. He unzipped the dream, stepped outside, and zipped it back up before the Nightmares could get out. “You did all that for me?” Discord said. “You went through so much pain for me?” “I did it because you were my friend, Discord. I hoped that it meant something.” Fluttershy buried her face in his back. “But nothing ever matters to you.” Discord blinked. He didn’t notice it, but his young features were maturing as he sat between the stars. Soon he was back to his full height. “I haven’t been that good of a friend, have I?” “No,” Fluttershy said. She slid off his back and looked up at him. “You haven’t.” “How did that old saying go?” he asked. “‘You need to be a friend to have friends?’” “It’s true,” Fluttershy said. “Huh.” Discord rubbed his chin. “Go figure.” Twilight Sparkle stared down into the hole. She heard laughter rise out of it. Laughter from the Wrong Alicorn. “I need to do something.” She stood up, but her legs fell out from beneath her. “Ow.” “You’re going to be pretty weak for a while,” Charity said. “Your bond with Chastity was very strong.” Twilight looked back at the two bat ponies. “But every decision was mine, wasn’t it?” Chastity lifted her head. Her eyes shimmered. “I couldn’t think for you. I just… I just focused you. I think… I think I went overboard at the end. I’m sorry. I had to free my sister. You understand, right?” “Of course I do.” Twilight Sparkle rolled onto her side and hugged Spike close. “But I shouldn’t have condoned it. I shouldn’t have agreed. We’re both to blame, I guess.” Redheart’s shriek came from the pit. Spike shuddered. “Isn’t there something we can do to help? Even if we can’t go down there… Something in the prison, or— I don’t know, just something!” “I don’t know. There’s almost nothing left of the prison.” Charity shrugged. “Just loose chains and a bunch of empty cells.” Twilight bit back tears. “I’m such an idiot. I’m such a—” Her eyes grew wide. She pointed a hoof at Charity. “Say that again.” “Just—” Charity shrugged. “Loose chains and empty cells.” “The curse! No! The oath!” Twilight tried to stand up but flopped over on her other side. “Dangit! Spike, drag me to a cell!” “What?” Spike gripped her foreleg. “Why?” “The oath said that as long as the Nightmares were imprisoned here, Scorpan would be, too!” Twilight wiggled her wings. “I’m as much a Nightmare as anypony right now.” Spike tilted his head. “You don’t look like—” “We all need to get in cells!” Twilight rolled into a sitting position, propped up by Spike. “I’ll need you two to help. It’ll take all four of us to restrain an alicorn as strong as Nutso the Clown down there.” “I can’t go back.” Chastity gripped her sister tight. “Charity, I can’t go back. I can’t. Oh, gosh, I can’t!” “Y—you don’t have to,” Charity said. “I’ll go. I’ll do it.” She stood up and leaned Twilight against her side. She looked down at her sister. “I have to do it for Bluebones. I have to right some kind of wrong. Somehow.” “No!” Chastity crawled forward. “I don’t want to lose you again!” “You…” Charity shrugged, a small smile on her face. “You can visit me any time.” “Oh—” Chastity slapped the stone floor. “Oh, fine. Take me in, officer. At least we can be together.” Spike and Charity led Twilight and Chastity to the closest cell. The door hung ajar, and the floor was strewn with uneaten porridge. “Yuck,” Spike said. “Ladies first.” The four of them climbed in. Spike gave the pit one last look before he shut the door. “Fingers crossed.” The door sizzled with energy as it sucked magic out of the air. Blueblood and Redheart shambled away from Scorpan. The Wrong Alicorn landed in the middle of the room with a triumphant grin. “You feel the ground shake? Do you feel the earth scream to be let free? The volcano awakes!” The ground cracked under Blueblood’s hooves. He stumbled as magma poured through the holes. Redheart pulled him away. She scowled at Scorpan. “Just let us go! I don’t care about your stupid plan for world domination!” “Domination?” Scorpan laughed. The ground beneath him split in two. He leaped into the air. “I am for world decimation!” Far above, the lock on Twilight Sparkle’s cell clicked shut. A chain looped through the air and snagged Scorpan’s hoof. “What!?” Another chain snagged another hoof. Then two more chains grasped at him, until all four of his legs were restrained. The chains tightened, dragging him back to the floor. Magma poured from the ground as more cracks appeared. Pressure built until it felt like their skulls were being crushed. Redheart flapped her wings and took to the air. “Link hooves, Blueblood! I’ll lift you up!” “You’ll do no such thing!” Scorpan shouted. His horn glowed red, and wrapped a lasso of anger around Redheart’s waist. He dragged her towards him, along the molten floor. Her coat became patched with burnt spots as she neared the source of the heat. “Let me go! Let me—” “Shut up!” Scorpan tried to shake the chains free, but they were enchanted with a very familiar spell. “You— You tricked me! You’ve trapped me again, you fool!” He looked up. The air shimmered. Embers floated up through the pit. “You’ve killed me! But no, this isn’t the end, my dear!” He stumbled as part of the floor fell away. He just barely managed to move his hoof away from the molten rock boiling up. “If I’m to be trapped down here, I’ll drag you down right alongside me!” Redheart fought at the spell, but Scorpan wouldn’t give an inch. Her hooves dragged along the rock. “No, let me go! Please!” “Please!” Scorpan laughed. His wild eyes sparked with rage. “Is that the best you’ve got!?” The skeletal body of Blueblood landed on his back, throwing him off balance. They tumbled to the side, within mere inches of the magma. Blueblood pushed Scorpan’s face into the hot floor, searing his beard. “You stupid—” Scorpan giggled as the smell of burning fur filled the air. “You don’t get it. I killed your great-grandfather. I murdered your grandfather. I crushed your mother!” Scorpan knocked Blueblood’s hoof away. “You’re just the last in a long line of failures!” He roared and cast a cutting spell at Blueblood. The prince rolled off of him, and the spell hit the wall. A fresh-cut boulder rumbled towards them, ready to crush anything in its path. Blueblood sat still, his bare teeth agape. Scorpan howled with mad laughter. Redheart flew by and picked Blueblood out of the way of the rolling rock. The stone crashed through the ground beside Scorpan, upsetting what was left of the floor. The Wrong Alicorn flapped his bat wings to fly away, but the chains held fast. The last shard of dry ground sunk into the fire, and pulled Scorpan in after it. The last Blueblood saw of Scorpan was a Neverdead alicorn attempting to rise from the magma, before its bones burned to ashes. Redheart set Blueblood down just outside the pit. She collapsed to the ground in a heap of burnt hair and feathers. He put a hoof on her side as it rose and fell from her deep breaths. She giggled. “I get to chose where we have the second date.” Spike stuck his head through the cell bars. “Oh my gosh, they’re alive! Where’s Scorpan?” Blueblood’s horn lit with a hazy blue light. “Dead.” “Well, that’s a reli—” Spike squinted. “Huh? Is something wrong with your face?” Redheart and Blueblood stumbled up to the four prisoners. Twilight covered her mouth. “Oh no. I killed you.” “Had. Worse,” Blueblood said. Redheart pursed her lips. “Really?” “No.” Twilight chewed her mane. “Well, maybe I can find some sort of cure. Maybe. I’ll work on it… after…” She shrugged. “After I get out of prison, I guess.” “We have to get you out of here right now.” Redheart fumbled with the door. Blueblood handed her the keys. “Thanks, Blue Eyes. This whole place is a volcano. If it erupts it’ll cast all of Equestria into darkness and probably kill a whole lot of ponies.” “What?” Spike gripped the bars. “How do we stop it?” “We… we can’t.” Redheart opened up the cell door and led them towards the exit. “I think all we can do is get as far away from the boom as possible.” Celestia panted and sweated. Nightmare Sun panted and sweated. Luna snarled and sneered. Nightmare Moon snarled and sneered. Shadowfright yawned into a shadowy wing. “Aren’t you dead yet?” “We’re going to fight for as long as it takes!” Flash Sentry shouted. “Even if it takes forever!” “Yeah!” Lightning Dust shouted. “Wait, did you say ‘forever’!?” “My power grows by the minute!” Shadowfright crowed. “How long do you think you can hold out?” Lightning Dust puffed her chest out. “Fifteen minutes, give or take! Yeah, that’s right! Take that!” Shadowfright rolled his eyes. “You four are no longer amusing.” “I’m back, baby!” All eyes turned at the sudden appearance of Discord. He hovered proudly above the burning brambles, his fists on his hips. “Shadowfright, this is a combination of an eviction and an exorcism. Hit the road, buddy boy.” Shadowfright laughed. “What caused the change of heart?” Discord narrowed his eyes. “You put my friend in danger.” “You friend?” Shadowfright bent low. “I thought you didn’t have friends. I thought you wanted Equestria to burn.” “I’m talking here!” Discord reached up and grabbed Shadowfright’s nose. He pulled the Nightmare down and pressed his face against it. “I realized that I haven’t been the best of friends. I haven’t been exactly trustworthy. I mean, look at me, I’m committing a coup. But the thing is that I’ve decided to become the bigger man. To say that I was in the wrong. Or at least to assume the cost of the damages.” Discord rolled Shadowfright up into a cylinder. “Truth is, we just made Fluttershy cry. I don’t know what’s more evil than that.” “Attention everyone!” Discord waved his paw and the Nightmares dissolved. “This dream is officially over!” Discord awoke with a throbbing sensation in his stomach. When he opened his eyes, he realized that it came from Shadowfright, who was still firmly rooted in his belly. “You’re such a ditz,” the Nightmare said. “Did you think it would be so easy?” The ground shook. Boulders split. Steam poured out of holes in the ground. “That volcano is going to erupt whether you want to play nice or not.” Shadowfright looked on as Celestia and Luna came to. “It’s over. I win.” Celestia stared at Tartarus as it shook. “Look!” Redheart galloped out of the gateway with Blueblood in tow. Twilight followed them out with Spike on her back. Chastity and Charity brought up the rear. “Where’s Scorpan?” Luna said. “Chained up and dumped in the lava,” Redheart said. Twilight cleared her throat. “Actually, before eruption it’s called mag—” “Don’t care,” Redheart said. “Because it’s still going to erupt. What are we gonna do?” “Bluebones and I were able to seal it away the first time Scorpan attempted this.” Celestia sat down hard. “But it is too far along, now.” Discord’s ears drooped. His face hardened. “I can contain it.” “What?” Celestia turned to him. “Discord, there’s too much power behind—” “Celestia, have you forgotten the benefits of phenomenal cosmic power?” Discord snapped his fingers. A patch of melted ice cream on the ground reformed into a very confused Cerberus. “It’s the good stuff.” He vanished, taking Shadowfright along with him. Luna blinked at the roaring volcano. “Do you think he can do it?” “Regardless,” Celestia said as the dreamers on the mountaintop came to, “we have to get us and them as far away from here as possible. Run! Run!” Discord hovered above the pit. Magma flowed underneath him, roiling and boiling and a lot of other “-ing” words. He regarded it coolly. “Well?” Shadowfright grumbled. “Aren’t you going to do something?” “What can I do?” Discord said. “I can’t hold back the eruption.” Shadowfright grinned. “So you lied to them in order to escape!” “No,” Discord said. “I’m going to let it erupt, but I won’t let the explosion escape the prison.” Shadowfright’s smile disappeared. “What?” “There’ll be a big boom, no mistake, but it’ll all be right here.” “But…” Shadowfright gasped. He shook his head from side to side. “But with that much kinetic—violent—superheated…” His glowing eyes shrunk to dots. “We’ll be blasted to atoms! Smaller than atoms! There’ll be nothing left but quarks!” “Yes.” Discord chuckled. “We’re gonna be blasted to smithereens.” Shadowfright bolted for the door. Discord snagged the tip of one smoky wing. “Ut, ut, ut. We’re still bonded together for a reason. I wanted you to share this moment with me.” He touched a claw to his lip as Shadofright struggled. “We’re both immortal in the strictest sense, I think. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes you to regenerate. Two-hundred thousand years, do you think? Three-hundred thousand? Whenever that is, it’s future Discord’s problem. Heck, maybe you’ll have mellowed out by then.” “You’re insane!” Shadowfright shrieked. “You’ll be torn apart, too!” “That’s no big deal for a draconequus…” Discord blinked slowly. “At least I don’t think it’s a big deal.” He shrugged. “Eh, time to find out.” Equestria shook. A bubble surrounded Tartarus in its entirety. The bubble filled with a blinding white light. When the light faded, all that was left of the mountain was ash and soot. The Neverdeads hissed and retreated into the mountains. The Nightmares grouped together in the center of the valley, staring up at what was left of their prison. A cheer rose up. Then the princesses appeared with a thundering shout. The Nightmares geared up to continue the fight. Then the rest of the Royal Guard’s forces arrived. Airships buzzed around. Earth ponies erected barriers. Pegasi cleared the skies. Unicorns aimed dangerous spells. The Nightmares surrendered rather than be blown to bits. Twilight Sparkle leaned on a rock, watching as the escapees were carried off. She cried. Not great, heaving sobs, but tiny whimpers. She watched as her friends mingled with the ponies they’d rescued. The High Princesses supervised the Nightmares’ captivity. Pinkie and Braeburn were singing a soft song. Vinyl, Redheart, and Lyra shared their first conversation together for months. Rarity spoke with Mandible about how the events of the day might inspire a new wardrobe. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust were all but overjoyed to be in the presence of the restored, yet slightly groggy, Soarin. Wishbone slunk around while Cerberus attempted to avoid him. Blueblood lay on the side of a mountain, looking very much like a dead pile of bones. Spike sat beside her, snoring gently. Twilight didn’t bother to wipe away the wet tracks that streaked down her cheeks. “I would have given you up, too,” she whispered. “How could I do that? Do I really not care? Am I really that wicked?” “I don’t think so,” Flash Sentry said. Twilight looked up at him as he walked toward her. She turned away. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know what else to say.” “I don’t think there’s anything you can say.” Flash winced. “I didn’t mean—” “Yes you did. You’re right.” Twilight wrapped her wings around her body. “Nothing I can say or do will ever make up for this.” Flash Sentry lowered his ears. “That… isn’t how forgiveness works. If there are conditions to it, then you aren’t really forgiven. To be real, forgiveness has to be completely and utterly unconditional.” “And who’s going to do that?” Twilight snapped. “Those ponies I conscripted? The people I put in danger? The friend who was just trying to do his job? The princesses whose lives I made a living Nightmare?” Her shoulders trembled as her face grew pink. “Or you, Mister Perfect Stallion, who I tossed aside like you meant nothing to me? Will you forgive me for what I—?” “I don’t know!” Flash shouted. Twilight’s wings flared out. Her eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open. “What?” “I don’t know if I can forgive you,” Flash said. His rump hit the ground. “I don’t know if I can just forget all the hurt… It hurt, Twilight. It hurt so much.” Twilight sank low to the ground. Her shoulders hunched. “When you said, ‘I thought I loved you,’ did you mean it?” Flash watched her sit and do nothing for a long moment. He broke the silence. “Did you mean it when you told Blueblood you loved him?” Twilight opened her mouth, but all that came out was a croak. “Please answer me, Twilight.” Flash Sentry ran his hooves through his mane. “Please, if you ever cared about me at all, just answer.” “I meant it when I said it,” Twilight choked. “But right now I don’t know what I mean. I’m so sorry for hurting you, and I can’t do anything about it.” She lay down on the rocks and shut her eyes. “I wish things could be like they were before.” Flash shook his head. “They can’t, Twilight. We have to live on in the world we’ve made.” Twilight Sparkle reached a trembling hoof up to wipe her eyes. She looked up at Flash. “I want to make things right with you so badly.” “I want to forgive you so badly,” Flash Sentry said. “I want to follow my promise to myself. I promised that I’d already forgiven you.” His jaw clenched as tears burned in his eyes. “I just don’t think I’m strong enough. I’m not strong enough.” He jumped to his hooves and paced. “I’m never strong enough! I’m never the hero! I’m just… not a hero. I’m not your hero, and I don’t think I ever will be.” “Don’t say that!” Twilight propped herself up on her forelegs. “You’ve always been a hero! You’ve always given your life to help others! You were… you’ve always been there for me. Even…” She took in a shuddering breath. “Even when I thought I didn’t want you. Even when I pushed you so far away. Right up until now.” Flash met her eyes. “And… maybe now is when you need me most.” Twilight stared into his eyes. She nodded. “Except… now is when I deserve you the least.” Flash shifted his weight from hoof to hoof. “Maybe I can forgive you bit by bit. Work my way up. I’m not strong enough to forgive you all at once, but… Bit by bit?” Twilight looked down. “I want to believe you could do it. I just—” Flash Sentry wrapped his forelegs around her and pulled her close. She collapsed against his chest with a small sob. He put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, “I forgive you for running into me in the Crystal Palace. Step one.” She giggled briefly before the tears returned. She cried softly for hours as he held her tight.