What Choice Do I Have?

by chaos2012


Sword and Flames

Lava bubbled up across the vast pool inside the great volcano, thick smoke rising up into the darkened sky. Standing on top the boiling mass was Twilight, her bright red eyes focused on the princess before her. Her main focus though was on the dark sword on Luna's back.

"That's something new, isn't it?" Twilight sarcastically said. "Were you saving that for me this whole time?"

"This was my master's sword, used to defeat his sinister copy Aligon. I had no intention on using this against you if I could. I still don't have to if you realize what you are doing." Luna pleaded.

"I know exactly what I am doing, Luna. I am fulfilling my true potential in life without you or Celestia holding me back anymore." Twilight's mane grew more erratic as her anger rose. "Is being a slave to you and your sister supposed to make me happy?"

"What makes you think you were a slave? You were my sisters own personal student and-

"Exactly! Her personal little pet!" Twilight snapped, "you can't even deny the truth in that statement! No more though, today I'll show this world what true power is."

Luna's hair stood on end at the tone in Twilight's voice. She could feel the fury and anger flowing with each word she spoke. 'She really is intent on going through with this madness. Her mind has been twisted that much.' She whispered to herself. Taking a deep breath, she pulled on the sword until the rest of the black blade slipped out of its sheath.

Twilight stepped back in caution seeing the strange sword float in front of Luna. She had never seen it used by either of the princesses, unsure exactly what it was. Then, she noticed the glowing aura flow out from the blade as it moved through the air. "You brought that thing believing it will help you kill me?" Twilight growled.

"Twilight, I'll give you one last chance to come back." Luna stated. "I know you have the strength to overcome Crimson. You know you can, but if you refuse to try and help yourself, I will kill you."

Twilight breathed heavily through her nose, releasing a stream of smoke. "I always wondered who was stronger between you and your sister." Raising her head up, Twilight raised several fireballs around herself and grinned. "Let's see who's stronger between us!"

Twilight moved first, launching the three fireballs forward. Luna flew up into the air as they rushed beneath her, charging her horn and shooting a beam of magic at Twilight. Twilight stomped down in the lava and raised up a magma wall shielding herself from the blast. Smiling, she whipped her head forward and shattered the wall in Luna's direction, sending off dozens of smoldering chunks at the princess.

Grunting, Luna cast a shield around herself. The magic rippled across the surface as the lava pieces struck it, already beginning to smolder from the intense heat. Glaring, she pushed out on her shield and launched the pieces back at Twilight, who simply sat still as the chunks landed on her back, harmlessly dripping down her fur. "Nice try Luna, but don't forget this doesn't hurt me. Everything here is for me to use." Twilight mocked her. "Everything here is my power!"

A wall of fire formed behind Twilight before bursting forward at Luna. Forming her own magical wall, Luna shot it at the incoming attack, the two forces crashing together in a bright flash. Luna stepped away from the wall of smoke forming in the center between them, preparing for what was coming next. The next moment however, her eyes went wide as Twilight came leaping over the top of the smoke right at her.

"You enjoy playing around inside my head?" Twilight screamed down at her, "I'll show you how much fun it was for me!"

Twilight's body became engulfed in flames as she barreled down through the air. Luna charged her horn and teleported just before twilight smashed into the hardened lava, shattering whatever solid ground was left in the pond back into molten rock. Standing up on the lava again, Twilight looked up to see Luna reappear above her and shoot another magical beam her way. To Luna's surprise however, Twilight dropped beneath the surface she stood on, vanishing under the bubbling lava.

Luna's eyes shifted back and forth over the Great Lake, looking for any sign of movement coming her way. Her magic holding the sword gripped tighter, being prepared to swing if the time came. "Where did you go?" She whispered to herself.

The next moment the surface behind Luna exploded outward, releasing massive balls of lava hurdling over a hundred feet through the air. The blue alicorn quickly flapped her wings, dodging and dipping through the maze of burning earth. Small streams of lava dripped on her armor at times, sizzling against the plating and adding even more heat to Luna's already sweating body. Then, her eyes widen in shock as a solid block of lava nine feet across came barreling through the sky directly at the princess. Not enough time to dodge it, She raised the sword above her head and slashed down, splitting the large piece into two as if it wasn't even there. The two pieces passed by each side of Luna before crashing into the lava beneath her, but she didn't watch them fall, for her eyes were locked onto the white unicorns head sticking through the surface staring at her.

"That sword is pretty strong..." Twilight commented as she slowly raised through the lava. "Cut that attack pretty easily. Although I'd like to see you block something bigger!"

The lava beneath Twilight's hooves lifted her up  several feet onto a small wave, launching itself towards Luna like a freight train. Luna quickly spun around and flew across the surface of the bubbling pond, avoiding the sudden columns of lava bursting up in front of her. She trying to stay ahead of the pursuing unicorn behind her. Luna looked back to see Twilight slowly catching up, the deep red eyes focused directly on her form. Sweat trickled down her brow not only from the intense heat inside the crater, but from the cold gaze pouring out from Twilight's eyes.

She could feel the hatred aimed directly at her.

Clenching her teeth together, Luna created a magic bubble in front of her and flew straight at it, landing on the surface and kicking off to launch herself backwards. Twilight grinned at the sight, digging her left hoof into the lava beneath her and throwing forward a stream of magma Luna's direction. Luna didn't attempt to dodge it however, instead bringing the sword horizontally and slicing through the burning mass.

Twilight's smile disappeared as Luna began getting closer and closer despite her continuing attack. Her horn shined bright with fire before unleashing a barrage of fire balls the lunar princesses direction, only to watch as Luna spun her sword forward and slashed through every one of the attacks effortlessly before barreling down on her. Clenching her teeth, Twilight focused her power and shot another giant fireball at Luna. Luna raised the sword over her head and flipped forward, spinning like a razor pinwheel and shattering the fire into embers.

"You really are starting to annoy me!" Twilight yelled out as she leaped into the air and unleashed a giant wall of fire enveloping the entire area around her, spreading out until it spread out and surrounded both her and Luna, causing Luna's heart to skip a beat.

"Her power is growing still..." She whispered to herself, "she is easily stronger than Sombra ever was."

Twilight watched in enjoyment as the giant fire prison rushed passed her until completely enveloped Luna's surrounding area before closing altogether. Staring as the flames danced over their target, she chuckled now knowing her obstacle was gone. "Now that Luna is out of the way, I only have to worry about my so called master coming here and-

Her words were cut off as a slice of blue aura shattered the fire prison into pieces, taking away the enjoyment Twilight was just having. She watched as the fire dissipated, only to see her foe not inside of it. Suddenly a bright flash appeared to her right, yet before she could see what it was, the hardened hilt of a sword slammed into the side of her face and sending her through the air. Her body slammed into the lava, submerging underneath the surface before crawling back up to the top. She licked the inside of her split cheek, spitting out the copper tasting blood.

While Twilight was feeling the small wound she received, Luna sat hovering in the air as she clenched her eyes shut. Her body slightly shivered as she felt an odd sensation crawling across her skin. "The sword..." She whispered to herself, "I'm already feeling it again."

Luna took a very deep breath before slowly letting it out. After a moment, the feeling began to dissipate from her form. "Just a little more... It's the only thing that can stop her."

Glaring in anger, Twilight stepped onto the lava lifting her up until she stood even with the rest of the lake. She took several deep breaths, releasing smoke with each exhale. Luna also settled down towards the surface, using her magic to quickly cool down a large section until it solidified to stand on. Now the two ponies sat staring at each other, only the sound of the exploding pockets of lava breaking the silence in the air.

"That's quite a tool that you have for yourself, princess." Twilight sneered while eyeing the sword in grip. "I'm surprised you never used that in the past for other problems that we had in Equestria."

"I've always promised my master I would not use this until the day I was ready." Luna responded to her, "that however is not why I never used it."

"Ah yes, you had no need to use it. You and your sister simply figured I could have solved any problem, right?" Twilight furrowed her brow at the alicorn. "Isn't that right... Princess?"

"What are you talking about Twilight? What do you-

"Don't try and give me that crap anymore, Luna." Twilight paused as she spit out excess blood. "I didn't realize until recently that I was nothing but a tool to use whenever something happened here. I was just an attack dog yo use at your leisure!"

"What are you talking about!? I don't understand what you are trying to say!" Luna yelled at her.

"You mean to tell me whenever a problem showed up, you couldn't have handled it yourself? Discord escapes his prison and instead of trying to help, you and your sister simply say good luck and have at it!"

“What did you expect us to do Twilight!? We weren't connected to the elements anymore. Only you and your friends could stop him."

"Perhaps helping us look for the elements would have helped! Maybe a distraction so Discord wasn't using us as chess pieces in a board game! And what about Sombra? You and Celestia already defeated him once. Why didn't you just go and stop him again?" Twilight questioned her.

Luna wanted to say something... But her voice fell flat to the question. She knew if both she and her sister were to go together, they could have stopped him. They didn't however.

"Twilight... There was a very important reason to why we sent you to stop Sombra alone." Luna quietly said to her.

Casting a smirk, Twilight simply shook her head. "Another one of Celestia's 'tests' she gave me. Of course it was a test. Every master tests to see if their pet has learned the tricks it was taught."

Luna's jaw dropped open at the metaphor. "Twilight, are you even listening to the words you are saying? How in the world can-

"Enough of trying to hide it anyMORE!" Twilight screamed as she slammed her hoof into the lava, expelling a massive column of fire. "I know everything in my life has been nothing more than a prison to hold me down, to keep my power in check. But now I see that I do not need to simply stay tied to a leash as I'm given orders. I can do whatever I want in my life. It's my own choice."

"So you think that destroying the place you called home is going to prove anything? What will this accomplish?" Luna glared in fury at the smirking unicorn. "Does killing an innocent town give you pleasure? Or does being Crimsons slave make you feel good?"

Twilight sat silent after she listened to Luna's words. Her eyes drifted down to her hooves, staring at the white fur across her legs. She then looked around herself to the giant volcano bubbling around her. All this burning and destruction had been caused by her. Everything here was done by her. She then turned her eyes back towards Luna... And she smirked.

"Do you actually think you have the right to lecture me on right versus wrong.... Nightmare Moon?"

The blood in Luna's veins ran cold at once again hearing the name that was hers... Back when she attempted to overthrow Equestria. Seeing her widened eyes only made Twilight smile wider. "Oh yes, the terror of Equestria. The great and sinister princess who wanted nothing more than to blanket the entire world in darkness."

Laughing, Twilight conjured a flame in front of her and formed it into a winged pony until forming the wispy mane and horn of an alicorn. "You grew envious of your sister and in a fit of jealousy you went and tried to takeover the empire. I mean, what was the one thing that set you off, hmm? A few ponies slept through your 'precious' night? Pathetic."

Luna's eyes narrowed in focus on the pony insulting her, clenching the sword tighter in its grip.

"You do something like that and try to give me a lecture on what is wrong? No... Now I have true reasoning to do everything that I am doing." Twilight's hoof swung through the fire image, dissipating it through the air. "I have been gifted with perhaps the the greatest power in the history of Equestria. And what is the first thing my so called master did when I was younger? She put me inside of a harness to contain the power she knew I was wielding. After that, I then discovered I had something else inside of my body, something she was terrified of because she was weaker. Then she tried to kill me and you tried to come and finish the job when-

Luna's loud scream echoed through the sky as she burst forward, raising her sword above her head and swiping it back down at Twilight's head. Jumping back away from her, Twilight levitated a ball of lava and through it Luna's way, but instead of cutting it Luna disappeared in a flash of magic, reappearing right behind Twilight. Ducking just in time to evade the swords swing, Twilight tried to turn around to face her foe but instead was shot across the lake from a point blank magic blast.

Skipping across the surface before splashing down, Twilight winced at the sore spot on her chest. Before she could completely stand back up, another flash appeared to her right. Her eye flipped to the side and widened at the charging alicorn rushing at her. Slamming her hooves down, Twilight forced up a lava wall in front of herself but gasped in shock as a blue aura slashed the shield in half.

Another blue pulse completely obliterated the wall quickly followed by Luna bull rushing the stunned unicorn. Watching the sword thrusting towards her chest, Twilight raised a lava shield in front of her body just moments before the blade reached her. Luna shouted out as she forced the blade forward, piercing the barrier in front of Twilight before coming to a standstill.

The two forces pushed against each other trying to overcome the other. Twilight scrunched her face in frustration as she focused the lava into a tightly condensed ball, holding the sword of shadows away from her. After a moment however, her eyes widened as the end of the blade slowly slipped through the lava and inched closer towards her throat. She looked up into Luna's eyes and saw a look of fury staring straight through her soul, a cold gaze able to freeze over the very lava she stood on.

"So Luna.... You are going to finish what she started , right?" Twilight questioned through grunts. "You are going to try and kill me just like you both tried before?"

Luna's breath came in quick intakes of anger, her face scrunched in frustration as she pushed the blade just a few more inches forward, just a few hairs away from Twilight's neck. Before it pushed any further however, it stopped.

"If I had really wanted to kill you Twilight, I would have back inside the castle when you were chained..." Luna answered solemnly. "I had so many chances to kill you before if I had really wanted to, but I didn't . You know why? It's because I didn't want to."

Luna's eyes glistened over as she spoke, powerful memories crawling back up inside her mind. "It's true, I did become a monster all those years ago. I wanted to make the world see me in all the glory of the night. I tried to force everypony to worship me by casting eternal night over the land. What I tried to do was no better than what is happening now. It wasn't until I was shown the truth that I realized how stupid my ideals were. It took you and your friends to show me that."

"Now, you are in the same situation that I was in. You have been clouded in thought and can't see clear. You however can change that. You can fight it and overcome this evil inside of you."

Hissing in anger, Twilight pushed harder until the sword was a bit further from her neck. "Whoever said that this is something I don't want? I have power now. True power that will put me above everypony in history!"

Angered by the stubbornness she was hearing, Luna twisted the sword in place and broke free of the hold Twilight had on it. She charged forward and knocked Twilight onto her back and brought the sword just beneath her neck, holding it directly on her windpipe.

"Listen to yourself Twilight! Do you even hear what you are saying!? Power, destruction, death. All of this that you know is not what you truly want! Now we can try and help you, but that can only happen if you help yourself! You're stronger than this!"

Twilight's eyes narrowed into a sinister glare, her irises glowing even brighter than before. "Yes, you're right. I am stronger than this!"

Before she could notice, a thin stream of lava burst up past Twilight's face and struck Luna on her head. She screamed out in pain as her helmet began to melt from the molten rock, quickly grabbing it and throwing it off of her. She flew away from Twilight and landed on a stone column sticking up through the lava, panting from the sudden adrenaline rush. Lifting the sword up, she prepared to take off again.... Only to feel her body lock up completely.

"What's... What's going on!?" Luna gasped out, trying to move her legs in any way. Her knees trembled as if she was a nervous filly, unable to lift her hooves off the ground. Then a cold chill began crawling under her skin, almost like ice was running through her veins and freezing her body. That was when she realized what it was. "No..."

Luna's eyes shifted to the sword of shadows, watching as the black blades blue aura began to seep into her own magic. "The swords power. It's tapping into my own." She stuttered out loud. She had been feeling the sword slowly grow stronger the longer it was out, but now it was as if a giant boulder was pressing down on her back.

"I knew it would be powerful, b-but this is something else entirely." She mumbled. "It's so much colder. Much more... Evil." Luna clenched her eyes shut and focused her magic, trying to push out this sinister feeling inside her. "I have t-to use this... It's the only way I have a chance. I won't fall to it!"

Her body trembled as her horn shined brightly, covering her body and entering her own form. The magic pulsed through her body, fighting back against the cold aura. After a few moments, she could feel the swords influence push out of her body and back into the blade. Her breaths came in quick gasps as she slowly regained feeling in her body, stumbling a few times before catching herself.

"I... I have to hurry," she panted to herself, "I won't be able to use this sword much longer. Damn it, master, what kind of weapon is this thing!?" She glared up in frustration to her situation, only to go wide eyed in fear to what she saw. "W-what's... What is..."

Twilight was slowly trotting her direction across the lava, her mane and tail dancing erratically over her body, the fire growing more dense with each passing second. Her fur was smoldering across the surface, slowly shifting away from its bleached white form to what seemed like a charcoaled gray. Her legs also began to shift darker, it's light color slowly growing darker and darker until they were nearly black. Even the fur around her eyes began to darken, small patterns forming behind her eyes.

"What's... What's going on? This didn't happen before..." Luna said in disbelief. "What's happening now?

Twilight also noticed the change slowly growing across her body. It was strange, but instead of confusion, she felt a sense of freedom for some reason. It seemed like there was once a lid compressing the power she had, and now it was gone from her body. As though there was something trying to crawl its way to the surface and finally reached its goal. She felt lighter... Faster... Stronger.

"I feel like... The limit is gone." Twilight said to herself. "It's like I can do... Anything now. As if I can be anything now." Her eyes drifted to the frozen body of Luna, bringing a smile to her face. "And I choose to be... Free from you!"

Twilight's horn shot a blast of magic into the lava in front of her, lifting up a smoldering ball of magma in its grasp. The magic began tightening it into a tighter ball, forcing the lava into an even tighter form. The ball pulsed out erratically, ready to burst from the mighty pressure. "You look tired Luna. Perhaps I can help you get some rest. I can give you a dream you'll never forget."

The fiery attack reeled back in preparation to shoot forward, catapulting forward like a lion hunting its prey. Luna braced herself with her sword in grip, waiting as if came closer.

Only to watch the lava explode as it was struck by a ball of green fire.

"What the!?" Twilight shouted in shock. "What was that?"

Luna was just as equally stunned as well. "What... What was that just now?" Before she even realized it, the ground shook as two forms slammed down onto the rock with her. Luna coughed several times through the thick dust rising up from the ground, looking up to see what the heck just hit here. As the dust cleared, her eyes came to see what appeared to be a tall form, much too tall for a pony. The other however was the last thing she expected.

"R-rainbow Dash!?"

Sure enough, the first figure was the familiar Pegasus Luna had seen so many times before. "Rainbow, what are you doing here!? Why aren't you back at the castle?"

Rainbow Dash flipped around glaring at the princess. "Did you really think we were gonna just sit down while you came out here to kill Twilight? No! We came to save her!"

"I didn't come to kill her, I came to stop her!" Luna yelled back at her. "You shouldn't be here, it's too dangerous!"

"No, we flew all this way to get here, and we aren't leaving without her!"

Luna gave a confused look. "We? Who's we? Who is... Is..." Her words died on her tongue as she finally focused on the other being.

It was the body of a dragon, it's head seven feet off the ground. Dark purple scales covered the majority of his body, broken up by the green spines running down the center of his back. The drakes powerful arms shifted at his sides, revealing the Defined muscles underneath. Finishing off the creature were a set of long purple and green wings jutting out from his shoulder blades. The dragon turned around towards the princess, staring at her with radiating green eyes, sending off her brain as she came to realize who this was.

"Spike?"

Not saying a word to her, Spike turned his attention back forward, looking straight at the unicorn staring right back at him. Luna couldn't believe what she was seeing with her own eyes even though he was standing right there. "What's going on? Why is he like this now?"

"I... I don't really know." Rainbow answered as she turned back towards Spike, watching him step forward to Twilight. "We saw what happened to the town Twilight went through, and he... He didn't take it too well."

 Rainbows ears fell flat against her head at the sight she saw. "The whole town burned down, and he grew so angry at that. Then... He just exploded out with magic and turned into this."

Luna couldn't truly believe the story she was hearing. "How is this possible?"

"I really don't know. But.... What's happened to Twilight?" Rainbow couldn't take her eyes off the form that was her best friend. "What's going on with her?"

Now, both Twilight and Spike stared in amazement to the change each other had gone through. Twilight was stunned as she stared at the dragon she had helped raise from an egg, one who had stayed small his entire life until just now. "What's happening? He had always been like a baby dragon..." She asked herself.

Many times had she asked Celestia why Spike never seemed to grow from the time he hatched to now. Even she didn't seem to know the full answer though, not understanding why a dragon would simply stop growing like that. Now this had happened, she couldn't really think of any reason.

"So, that's a new look you got Spike..." She said with a smirk. "What's the occasion?"

Spike didn't answer as he stopped at the edge of the rock ledge, staring in utter disbelief to the look Twilight had now. Her darkened fur gave a sinister appearance to her features. The darkened fur on her face seemed to form tribal marks behind her eyes, accentuating her bright red eyes. His claws clenched in anger having to see her look like this.

 To look like a monster.

"Twilight..." Spike said, his voice much deeper yet smoother than before. "What have you done to yourself?"

Twilight tilted her head at him. "Done to myself? I've freed myself from my chains. I discovered what was inside of me this entire time and have let it free."

"No... No you haven't. You aren't this, Twilight. I know the mare that hatched me from an egg would never do something like this. She would have never let herself do anything like this."

"And what would you know of what I want? It's not like you ever really even cared for me..." She hissed at him.

"How can you ever say anything like that!? I love you Twilight, you've always been the only thing I've had in life!" Spike yelled back.

"All you ever were there for was to report back to Celestia whenever I had to." Twilight exhaled deeply, releasing more smoke from her nose. "You were the watch dog sent from the master to keep an eye on me."

Spikes blood rose in anger to what she accused him of. "Spying on you? What is wrong with you Twilight!? You can't really believe the crap that you are saying! This is all what Crimson is doing to you and-

"Crimson?" Twilight's eyes narrowed his direction. "How do you know about Crimson? I never told you about him."

"Celestia told us everything about what is going on..." Spike answered her, "We know he is the one that possessed you and is turning you into this. We want to help you."

a small chuckle escaped Twilights lips at his plea. “And in what way can you help me, Spike? Take me back to Canterlot so that Celestia can slit my throat? Crimson told me everything about what she is. How she brought him in and trained him. When he became stronger however, she saw it as a threat to her rule and tried to contain him. She never wanted him to increase his power so that she could keep him on a chain. And after he disappeared, it so happened by fate that I would be the one to gain his abilities. The strength to move mountains at my will. the power to show the entire land of Equestria exactly who I am.”

"No… I have come to realize that I will not be held back anymore from her, her sister, or anypony else in this world. And if you try and stand in my way too, I’ll show you exactly what I have achieved now.”

Spike felt as if an ice pick had been rammed through his heart from what he was just told. The mare he had known his entire life, the one he considered his own family had just threatened to kill him if he tried to stop her. ‘What’s happened to your heart Twilight?’ he asked himself. ‘What happened to the mare that took care of me all those years?’

Clenching his claws tighter, Spike flared his massive wings out to his sides as he stood his ground. “I don’t care what you try to say to me, or even if Princess Luna and Celestia come here to take me away, I won’t let that happen. I am going to stop you from doing this and bring you back home no matter what.”

Glaring at his stubbornness, Twilight looked past him to see a familiar Rainbow maned pegasus standing next to Luna. “So Rainbow Dash came here too, didn’t she? I never thought she would have taken the time of her day to even look my way while she would be out idolizing herself.” She turned back to Spike, her fiery mane beginning to grow more condensed. “I don’t know why you suddenly grew like this, and to be clear I don’t care to know. All that I do care about is achieving what I came here for.”

Shutting her eyes, Twilight breathed deeply as she felt her magic swelling inside of her body, begging to be released. It had been growing steadily over the time she had reawakened Mount Volvack, and now it felt like it had reached a new peak. Lava began crawling up her legs like molten snakes, slithering up her fur and covering her body. Thick steam rose off her form as the hot material bubbled over her back, beginning to make its way towards her still smiling face. “Now, I will show you exactly what it means to truly master the power that I was gifted. Now the world will see me for what I truly am.”

“Twilight stop! What are you-” Spikes words fell on deaf ears as watched in wide eyed shock as the lava completely covered Twilight. The molten mass continued to grow out until it formed into what looked like a lava cocoon, hardening until it was a solid rock. “What the heck?”

Luna was also confused at what was happening. “This never happened before with Crimson. what’s going on?”

Stepping forward, Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung open to the horrible sight she saw. her heart beat rapidly in her chest at the thought of her friend disappearing into the lava. out of instinct she slowly stepped towards Luna, the feeling of another body nearby bringing a sense of security. “Princess, what is she doing to herself?”

The hardened surface of the shell Twilight was inside began to crack across its surface, revealing the bright red internal core. “I don’t know Rainbow. I never heard anything like this happening before when he came here to the mountain. If it were the…” Luna’s heart nearly stopped in terror as her mind suddenly clicked, her body locking up in horror. “Oh no…”

The hardened cocoon began to leak out a glowing red aura, pulsating out like a heartbeat. Spike took several steps back towards the others yet never took his eyes off Twilight. “Princess, what is she doing? what’s with the thing she is inside?”

“All those years ago, Crimson injected himself with the formula he had been working on; a combination of dark sorcery and phoenix blood. it gave him the power that turned Twilight into this, but it was never stable inside of him. It wasn’t developed enough to fully bond with him… but I think that has all changed now.” Luna whispered in fear as the aura suddenly sucked back inside the cocoon. “Twilight was the final key to the transformation.

A blinding red flash erupted from the cocoon as it exploded outward, throwing chunks of rock and magma in all directions. Spike reacted and jumped backwards towards the other two and shielded them with his body and wings, feeling the hot material strike his back but not hurting him, lava dripping harmlessly off his dragon scales. The three of them turned around to stare at the massive column of red energy rising from the ground up into the sky, awestruck by the powerful feeling radiating from the source. After a few seconds the energy burst up into a spiraling tower of fire, spitting flames all across the sky and out of the mountain top. Then as fast as it started, the burning tornado burst outward from a powerful pulse inside and dissipated through the air. The three onlookers then noticed a single figure floating in the air above them, but what they saw sent a chilling shiver up their spines they would never forget.

What once was Twilight was now a pony of darkened gray fur across her body, its legs now a solid pitch black tone. Her mane had lost its fiery material, but instead had turned into a flowing bed of deep scarlet aura. Her face had formed striking tribal marks around her now deep blue eyes, along with her muzzle becoming black as well. Even her tail itself had discarded the pure fire and instead solidified into a solid long tail like a kirin, the tip flowing out with a thick patch of red aura as well. The most shocking change of all however was the line of bright and shining golden feathers running down the center of her back and to the base of her tail, along with the massive gold and blood red wings that extended out from her shoulders.

Luna’s body trembled in complete terror at the sight she beheld. Blood pumped so fast through her body she could feel the pulse on her neck. Her breath came in such quick gasps she could hardly get a full intake. It didn’t seem to bother her though, for her eyes revealed something much worse. “The powers of a phoenix evolve as they grow older, strengthening every time they are reincarnated.” she whispered.

“What?” Rainbow stuttered in terror. “W-what does that mean?”

“Twilight was given powers that had time to stabilize itself through time. For over a millenium it sat dormant until Twilight came into this world and took control of it. and now....” Luna swallowed the thick lump in her throat that had formed before continuing. “Now, she has fully bonded with the power inside of her body. She is the final step at what Crimson was trying to achieve all those years ago. A perfect blend between the powers of a unicorn and a phoenix… a hybrid.”