//------------------------------// // Ultimatum & Cavalry // Story: Twilight's Kingdom: Unite & Ascend // by RockStarMLP //------------------------------// Twilight felt her magical energy being drained away as Lord Tirek began the process of taking it from her. In an agreement to save her friends, the purple alicorn surrendered her magic - the power of Equestira's four alicorn princesses - to the tyrant, making him all powerful in the process. As he was taking all of the magic, the draining left her feeling the immense pain coursing through her entire body. It only took the foe a moment to absorb the power, forcing her to collapse onto the ground when it ended as her friends ran over to her side. Tirek felt the alicorn magic merge with all the power he had already stolen from most of Equestria. It was a grand feeling, such incredible levels of energy now his to use as he wished. But even his increased size and strength wasn't enough yet. There was still more power, and leverage, he had yet to acquire, and given the circumstances with the ponies he saw as pathetic and impotent, he had the best opportunity to seize it. "Such incredible power alicorn magic is," he stated in proclamation, "it has made me all powerful! Now none can stand against me!" His tone then lowered, and a snarling grin crossed his face as he added "And to make sure of that, it is time we discuss your surrender." The ponies could only stare up at him confused, without any knowledge of what he meant. "You've already taken the Princesses' magic, and the magic from everypony from Equestria. What more could you take to assure that?!" Twilight asked. She tried to sound strong, but she still felt weak from the draining of the magic. "Yes, I've taken all the magic of the Princesses," confirmed Tirek. "But I haven't taken the power of all the alicorns..." With a snap of his fingers, he revealed another bubble prison, just like what trapped Twilight's friends. Inside was the last captive Twilight would have ever wanted to see, a young filly with a royal black coat and purple mane, turquoise eyes with narrow slits, a unicorn horn and pegasus wings. She was scared and confused, not knowing how she just got to where she now was. Her eyes then gazed down to the ground far below, noticing the purple mare below, and began to cry out for her. "MOM! HELP!" Twilight knew that voice, that filly, more than anypony else. To hear and see the little pony put her in a panic that she hoped to never have, and yelled out the name of the captive filly; her adopted daughter- "NYX!" Within the bubble was indeed Nyx, who was believed to have taken shelter with her friends at Sweet Apple Acres. She recognized how Twilight had the extra magic earlier in the day, and was sworn to secrecy and told to stay with her friends and stay put until things were safe again. Somehow Tirek knew of her existence, keeping that information to himself until the right time, and now was better than ever for his plans. "LET ME OUT, YOU BIG JERK! LET! ME! OUT!" Nyx wailed. She tried to pound herself against the bubble to break free, but to no avail. Tirek turned his head towards the captive pony, and told her "That is up to your mother, not to me, Nightmare Moon." "How in Equestria did he know about Nyx?!" said Applejack, herself and the others seeing this sight. Their eyes took a quick shift towards Discord, who was standing beside the group of ponies and one baby dragon. Before the draconequus could defend himself, the towering tyrant before them answered their question. "He did not inform me of anything but of Princess Twilight. I learned of Nightmare Moon myself not long after my escape from Tartarus, after finding the first pony whose power I took back for myself. He was a unicorn, 'blessed' with the power of Nightmare Moon and one of the cultists who escaped the night of that ritual. Coming across him gave me what strength I needed to make my way to the first town to steal magic from, and at the same time, traveling around and hearing of Nightmare Moon's rebirth. "I knew of her existence ever since then, and kept that knowledge in mind as I continued to steal magic. There was a special treatment I wanted to give this pony, one I knew I was too weak to give during her reign as Queen of Eternal Night, but now is different. Now that I have the Princesses' magic, along with the knowledge of Nightmare Moon's legal adoption as Princess Twilight's daughter, I can use the land's last alicorn to my advantage." The ponies were speechless. To know about Nyx, that was inevitable for anypony, but to do what he was doing, that was low for any enemy to do. Such actions could trump Chrysalis's Changeling invasion easy, and outdo Sombra's enslavement of the Crystal Empire by just enough. At least, according to the history the ponies gathered, Sombra enslaved the adult crystal ponies, and treated foals not as harshly. "You're nothing but a giant meany mean mcmeaniest, Mister Mean!" Pinkie Pie yelled out. Although her words were not exactly what the others would choose, they agreed all the same. "What kind of despicable creature would go to such far lengths as to keep somepony's daughter hostage?!" Rarity added with a very disgusted voice. "Are you that blind?!" Tirek responded. "She is an alicorn, and thus has plenty of magic for me to have. However, she is also Nightmare Moon, and thus has the very energy she used to conquer your land, hidden dormant in her body. By taking that, I would become truly unstoppable. "There is a price for that power, and it's more than much of her life force as I've taken from all the other ponies. By draining of her entire magic, I will also acquire her life force that keeps her from her demise." "What?!" 'exclaimed' Fluttershy. "How could you possibly..." "Because as I understand she was born by a spell, where there was a certain bond that connects her magic with her life energy. If I were to take all of one, the other will perish with it." Twilight stood in placed mortified more than ever about this information. She didn't want to believe it to be true, but what chance was there that he could be right? Her daughter, in his captivity, was at his mercy, and inside her prison, Nyx began to panic more. "THAT'S NOT TRUE! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!" "It is true, Nightmare Moon," Tirek told the filly, "and if you wish to keep your life force..." It was his turn to be interrupted as a voice growled from in front of him. It came from Twilight, whose anger was rising and her friends could tell what was happening. They all stepped back as they saw her mane begin to flow, with no wind aiding it to do so, and her face giving a livid of livid looks. Then, it happened - Twilight entered a rage shift. Her coat turned from purple to off-white, her eyes a fiery red, and her mane and tail turned into blazing fire. It wasn't the first time she has done this, perhaps fourth or fifth, but it surprised her friends every time it did happen, including this time. A rage shift happens when magic is indirectly given an outlet through her emotions, hence the action's name, but her magic was taken away. Nopony has ever pulled it off without magic before, unless Pinkie Pie's near rage shift at Dodge Junction a couple years ago but that was settled to be her emotional nature instead. But now, Twilight had done it, but took no notice to it. "HOW DARE YOU!!! HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP MY DAUGHTER, YOU OVERSIZED LEECH!" exclaimed the enraged mare. "PUT HER DOWN RIGHT NOW AND GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T THROW YOU INTO THE DEEPEST PIT OF TARTARUS!!!" The enemy laughed a little to himself in amusement, and then replied "You have no right to threaten me, Princess Twilight." The alicorn was ready to pounce on him with unspeakable fury before he held his hand out to her to say "You have no chance to stop me, so don't even bother trying to attack. If you do, the filly will feel the regret of your actions." Twilight, having already stepping a hoof forward, stepped back in place as her anger and worry grew within her. "What do you want?" she seethed out coldly, annoyed and lividly, to put it mildly. His humor turned to serious as he looked down at the rage-shifted mare. "My only deal with you is this- you and all ponies must vow to surrender to my rule, with no intention to rise up against me. In exchange, I will take what magic Nightmare Moon... "NYX!" Twilight yelled back. "HER NAME IS NYX!" Tirek restarted speaking with "I will take what magic your "daughter" currently has available to her, and spare her that which keeps her alive." "I'm gonna buck you to last week!" Rainbow Dash yelled, but found her tail being tugged as she tried to charge at their foe. She turned around to see it was Applejack doing so. "Forget it, Rainbow," the orange mare said, releasing the multicolored tail she had clenched in her mouth. "You know we can't do a thing about it." "What the hay are you talking about?!" Rainbow Dash argued. "We can't just stand here and say 'we give up' to him!" "But we can't risk Nyx's safety. We could lose her forever," Pinkie said, and that dark realization caused her poofy many and tail to start deflating into a flat droop. The pink mare's realization raced through the minds of the others. This ultimatum was one never dealt to them in such a way before, having to choose between the freedom they'd fight for, for themselves and all of Equestria, or the life of a filly who was once the feared Nightmare Moon. Only a horrible monster would make such a proposition of 'compromise' and use a child in such a manner. All that and more was filling Twilight's thoughts as she remained in an angered rage shift. She didn't want to believe it to be real, to be some kind of illusion casted by dark magic, or this entire ordeal with Tirek to be a horrific nightmare she couldn't awake from. But it was the sad truth that she was awake and seeing it all clearly, her homeland around her turned into a war zone, a colossal foe before her, and her daughter being used as a form of threat. How she could possibly agree or disagree to the deal presented to her was unexplainable. To choose between Nyx and Equestria, it was like choosing between life and death itself. But to top it all off, this is an enemy using an underhanded tactic of using a child for his own gain, and that made her very, very disgusted. Spike may have been used in a similar way, but there were two major differences between him and Nyx. One was that he was better at taking care of himself, and others when needed, as compared to Nyx who couldn't do so as well as him, not without better use of her magic again. Another was how there wasn't anything more Tirek could take from the baby dragon, assuming he took the magic Spike had when it came to sending and receiving letters with Celestia. But overall, none of that mattered, and nothing mattered more than the truth that Nyx was Twilight Sparkle's daughter. She would never allow her to be harmed or endangered in any way again, having standing up against so many ponies in the past and still some to this day, and wasn't about to give in again as she did once before. Her friends meant more to her than her gift of magic and willingly surrender that, and Nyx meant more to her than anything, and she would do whatever it took to keep her safe. Twilight looked up at Nyx, the filly's face filled with worry and fear for what might happen to her, and if what the monster that was Tirek was speaking the truth or not. Nyx's turquoise eyes stared back down at her mother, tears forming in each one, wondering what would happen next. The purple mare began trying to calm herself down, but her body remained in rage shift, thus showing that she was unable to calm down enough. She then looked towards her foe, her angry red eyes staring out and looking as if they were about to shoot out eye blasts of fire. "Set her gently down," she seethed out of her teeth. "Now. You will let her come to me, and then I will offer surrender." Standing in his own isolated spot, Discord watched what Twilight was doing. He still couldn't believe that she spared him along with the other ponies and Spike, and now she was willing to put all of Equestria at his betraying friend's mercy. That spoke even greater volumes to him than her first action. "She'd do all this to us, for Nyx," he murmured to himself. "Then again, she gave up so much for us already." Tirek smiled evilly as he raised his hand to snap his fingers. "Excellent. We have a..." "DON'T DO IT!" All eyes turned up to Nyx, who cried out just before she would've been freed. She may have been scared, but she still had her bravery to do what she thought was best, and for that moment, it was to stop Twilight. "Don't agree to that, Twilight! You can't surrender all of Equestria to him! It's not fair to everypony!" Twilight's conscious began to become much clearer than before, and she felt her rage diminishing after hearing her daughter's voice. Replacing it, however, was sole uncertainty. Her wide open eyes looked up at Nyx, with her entire body slowly beginning to change colors again. "I have to, Nyx. I'm not going to let you be taken away by anyone. I'll surrender everything before I have anything harm you again," Twilight called out. "I know," Nyx replied. "That's why I want you to let me go, and let me make this choice. I don't want to see you all sacrifice for me. That's why I... I..." She began to stutter, but tried to put on her bravest face through sadness. "I'll let him take all my magic." Twilight just stood in place stunned and numb, unable to move. Her mind and body were escaping rage shift as her heart became filled with sadness at the thought of losing Nyx. "No! I won't allow that! It's not fair for you, Nyx! It's not fair to anypony!" Her eyes began to tear up as she added "It's not fair for you, or your friends... Your family... Or me." Her daughter called out "But Mom, it's part of who I am. You know why I'd do this, why I have my cutie mark? Protecting other ponies is my destiny, no matter what I have to do. "Do you remember what I said to Celestia and Luna after you freed them from the sun and the moon? I told them I would protect anypony at any cost, and I want to keep my promise. If it means sacrificing myself to protect Equestria, my friends and my family, and most of all you, I'll do it... "Please, Mom, don't give up everything for me. Please." Where all but Tirek stood where they were touched by her willing to lose her life for them, Twilight had fully exited the rage shift. Instead, her heart was torn between listening to Nyx, and doing what she thought was right for her. Her sadness began to break an opening out as her head dropped and back legs gave out to have her collapse down, her rear sitting and her front on knees. "No," she said in whimper. "Nyx, please don't... I couldn't let you..." The purple alicorn began to sob in her place, unable to make her choice to accept Nyx's decision or not. How could she even hope in trying to save Equestria, with the price of her daughter? The idea tore her heart and soul apart, and it hurt so bad it began to feel like burning. The others just stood behind her staring, all with tears of their own forming in their eyes at the same thought. Discord, however, had his eyes focused higher above, high in the skies above Tirek and Nyx. He noticed a light, which was not daylight, that seemed to have flashed above the clouds. Growing tired of the conversation, Tirek looked down at Twilight to get a confirmed decision from her. "Well, Princess Twilight, what is your decision?" Twilight couldn't answer, she just couldn't. Her voice seemed to have vanished so that she couldn't let Nyx sacrifice herself by accepting her choice, but she felt so broken that she was lost from staying with her original choice to surrender. She managed to pause from sobbing for a moment, trying to catch a breath of air, but whether she'd tried to speak or continue sobbing was not heard. Instead, there was a different voice from elsewhere. "There is no surrender, or sacrifice!" Everypony looked to where that came from, coming from the sky above Tirek and his prisoner. Something was falling out of the sky, diving down closer and closer and falling towards Nyx. The closer it got, the more the ponies could recognize it was not something, nor was it somepony, for it wasn't a pony that spoke those words, nor anything from the world of Equestria. Not a griffon, or a changeling or a dragon, not even a draconequus, but a familiar being from a different world; a world known as Mobius. "What is this?" Tirek questioned as he saw this being come down towards them. The ponies knew who it was, and so did Nyx, who yelled out the same of who this newcomer was- "Cosmo!" And it was; Cosmo, the Seedrian hero of Mobius, who was diving down as fast as gravity could let her. Her aim was for the prison bubble that held the alicorn filly captive, and once she was close enough, she changed her position. She turned herself right-side up, letting her dress turn into a parachute to slow down her descent, and at the same time, opened her hand out to reveal a weapon that appeared out of a magical flash of light, which those knew it as the Galactic Natura. "Nyx, get ready to fall to me!" Cosmo called out as she came within swinging reach of the bubble. Once she was in range, she swung the sword-like weapon at the bubble, slicing through it like it didn't even exist and breaking it open, setting Nyx free. "Quick, come here!" The filly then did what hovering she could to fly to Cosmo, having herself wrapped in the Seedrian's arm, and safety. The two immediately began their descent towards Twilight and the others. Tirek, however, was not pleased with this turn of events. "What?! Impossible!" Without another word, his horns began to charge with a sphere of powerful energy between them. "No one escapes from me!" Without a moment to waste on her part, she used her weapon to cast a new sphere around her and Nyx; a shield of protection. When the blast was dealt, it did more harm than good sending the two to the ground faster. Inside her shield, Cosmo accessed a small thing on her wrist, flipping it open by the flick of a wrist, and then yelled at it- "Now!" Back above in the sky, on the upper side of the clouds, another flash of light was seen. Immediately following that, a bolt of light shot down towards everyone, and its target set on Tirek. When it made contact, the evil giant was hit with enough force to be knocked away across the ground, sending him through a self-dug ditch and going deeper into the ground until he went under the surface. The ponies, dragon and draconequus stared in astonishment as what they just saw, but their eyes mainly locked onto Cosmo and Nyx. The two reached the ground, a little hard from Tirek's blast but safe nonetheless, as Twilight felt her body act on its own and race to where they landed several meters away. The shield that saved them broke open, allowing the Princess to charge straight to her daughter who was now away from life-threatening danger. "NYX!" "MOMMY!" The two yelled for each other just a split second before Twilight locked all her limbs around Nyx, who did so in return. The worry and fear the alicorns had disappeared and were replaced with relief and smiles, and some of the happiest tears either have ever shed. The other ponies raced up from behind, lined up behind the mother and daughter just as relieved. Rainbow Dash spoke first about what had just transpired with "That was awesome! How did you cut..." She paused for a moment, another thought coming to mind. "Wait, how did you know about that?" Cosmo only smiled without replying, and another being landed on their feet next to her. It was a fox with golden fur and two tails, and the source of the light that just struck down Tirek. Next to Cosmo was none other than Tails, the greatest hero, and arguably most powerful warrior, of Mobius. And Cosmo's fiance. He had a familiar appearance, one the ponies hadn't seen since a trio of dragons were chasing down four fillies across Ponyville, and had a golden aura surrounding him. In a calm breath it all changed back to his normal state, no longer gold but yellowish orange fur in his appearance as well. Seeing Nyx safe was a nice relief for him, knowing who he counted on to save her was an incredible hero herself. He had heard what the cyan pegasus had asked and decided to give a quick explanation. "Princess Celestia managed to send us a letter through the interdimensional traveling spell. She felt you would need our help somehow and wrote about Lord Tirek and what he was doing." He paused for a moment, a cold glare momentarily directed at Discord. "And that someone had decided to help the enemy instead of turning him in." Although the stare felt cold, his tone didn't sound the same, just disappointed. Discord could tell and continued to feel shameful, but knowing this kind of event with a certain foe from back home, Tails didn't express any resentment or anger, and just left what he said at that. "It wasn't until we waited patiently in my workshop at home if we needed to come here when an alarm had went off," he continued. "It detected the highest levels of magical energies from your world than ever before, as if it was coming from a battle with our friends, the Z warriors. That was when we knew you could use the help." Cosmo then continued where Tails had left off, saying "When we arrived at a distance, we saw how your friends were released from those prisons, Twilight. But before we could make ourselves known, we saw Nyx appear, and quickly made a plan to go above the clouds and wait before the right actions were needed. Tails went Super Saiyan after what Nyx said she'd do for you all, and that's when..." Cosmo was interrupted when Twilight stepped up to her, holding Nyx tightly around one front leg, and embracing Cosmo in a hug with the other. "Thank you, Cosmo," she said through happy crying. "Thank you so much." Nyx, who used what freedom she had to wrap her hooves around Cosmo's waist, hugged and said "Thanks for saving me," in the same tone as her mother. Still holding her weapon in one hand, Cosmo used her free arm to wrap around the two and hug in return. She then said "You're welcome," with a happy smile across her face. The moment of joy was killed when a huge power was sensed, mainly by Tails, and an erupting blast of energy shot off from the distance. They all turned to see its orange color shooting up into the sky, and two familiar red arms sticking up out of the ground, lifting Tirek out from underground and back onto the surface. The enormous growl he let out showed the rage he developed from having been knocked down out of nowhere. He didn't like how Twilight fought him with the alicorn magic, but a new challenger wasn't what he expected at all. "I'm afraid to say that this is still far from over," Rarity said. "What do we do now?" asked a feared Fluttershy. "I think the better question is; what can we do?" added Applejack. Tails wore a focusing glare on his face, turning towards the distant enemy. He came up with the best plan he could for the moment, telling the ponies "You guys need to get back and stay safe for now. I'll handle Tirek." He turned his head just enough to face Cosmo to add "Can you keep them safe and help out however you can?" Cosmo gave a determined nod and replied "Right, but if you need me..." "I know, but I don't think it will come down to that," he said back, knowing what she was about to say. "Hang onto your Keyblade, just in case." He was just about to take off when he heard Twilight speak to him. "Be careful, Tails. I fought him with the combined magic of all the princesses, and we were equally matched." The confident fox just gave a thumbs-up to his friend, a gesture she couldn't give back, and wore a confident smirk on his face as well. "Don't worry," he assured, "I can handle him." And with that, a burst of energy shot throughout his body, and he took off to face Tirek. The ponies and Seedrian watched for a moment before Cosmo directed their attention otherwise. "Let's go. We need to get away and come up with a plan to help." "But Tails is a super kick-flank hero. He said he can take down that terribly tormenting Tirek," Pinkie said. Cosmo never wanted to put doubt at her best friend and beloved, but she knew there had to be more than him to stop the foe. "I know he can," she stated, "but we have to think of some way to help. Now come on." She began to lead the others back to a further location, one going towards the ledge of the gorge by the old crumbling castle above the Tree of Harmony.