//------------------------------// // The Battle // Story: The Nutcracker Prince // by Rytex //------------------------------// The Nutcracker Prince Chapter 03 - The Battle Got some battle music to spice things up. Open in a new tab, please. Since it was hardly the first time the toys had dealt with the Rat Prince’s attacks, Twilight had been expecting everyone to be a lot more level-headed about things than they actually were.  Some of the little fillies’ toys were openly sobbing in terror, the action figures were ready to fight, and Pantaloon had high-tailed it out of the ballroom in his haste to acquire the Prince’s blade.  The rest of the toys reacted slightly better, as the toy soldiers immediately formed rank and file and began to march out of the castle, pop guns slung over their backs. However no one’s reaction surprised Twilight nearly as much as Winter Storm’s.  Winter watched the soldiers go, having not moved from his spot on the ballroom floor, and yet he was shivering and grinning excitedly. It unnerved Twilight to see such a display. “Are you… looking forward to this?” she asked hesitantly. Winter shook his head, and Twilight was startled to hear a sort of wheezy giggle escape from him. “I always h-hated battles,” he said.  “I w-was never scared-d of them, but they always filled-d me with this weird excitem-ment.  But this time… it’s different.” “How is it different?” she asked. “This time… there’s actually s-something to fight for.  And I’m a bit sc-cared I’ll blow it.  And that will d-do worse than keep me stuck here for a few thousand m-more years.” Twilight’s gaze softened as she beheld the trembling stallion. “Do you need me to go elsewhere?” “W-well, honestly, it would be appreciated,” answered Winter with a nervous laugh.  “Maybe you could help Pantaloon and th-the soldiers.  Having you here would be dist-tracting, and Padraic will try to use any m-means to keep m-me here.  Including killing you, if he h-has to.” Twilight stared at Winter as Winter stood literally shaking in his boots, before leaning up and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’ll be fine,” she reassured him.  “I have faith.” She gave him one last concerned look as she turned and began to follow the soldiers out, noticing with some delight that he had smiled and briefly touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him, but then the doors of the ballroom shut behind her, and she trotted out. The plane of dreams had a strange, ethereal beauty.  Composed of what appeared to be nothing more than swirling masses of energy, it was a perilous place for any common pony to find themselves.  If a pony entered the plane of dreams without a guide, they were in danger of becoming lost, their body doomed to wither without their spirit, which would become corrupted and turn into a Wraith. Princess Luna, however, was not any common pony.  The plane of dreams was almost a second home to her, as the Watcher.  Nevertheless, the plane of dreams was fraught with dangers even for the alicorns, as she had discovered the day she let the nightmares plague her mind with doubt and jealousy toward her sister. As she had also discovered, having company helped her keep a right mind.  Every night since she had resumed her duties, a different pony had accompanied her on her duties.  Be they ponies as they dreamed, as had been the case with young Sweetie Belle, or sometimes her guards. Or even sometimes ponies from her past, as was the case tonight.  A burly pegasus with a golden coat, silver eyes, and a black mane and tail flew alongside the princess as they chased the nightmares from unwary sleepers. “We thank thee for accompanying us on our duties tonight,” she said.  “Know that thou hast made this night much more interesting.” “Anything for thee, mine only love,” the pegasus said with a bow. Luna smiled and gave the pony a quick nuzzle as the different vortexes of energy zoomed past them.  Luna had sensed a strange energy ahead of their position in the dreamscape, and the two were moving in on it as fast as they could, determined to see whether this strange force were something beneficial or malevolent. As they flew, Luna’s thoughts inevitably turned toward Twilight Sparkle.  She, who was Winter’s only hope, had laughed at the mere idea of such a story having some semblance of truth to it.  Did she not learn from her past experience?  Sure, she had a sound reason for both sides of this story, but a pony’s life and future were at stake. “Something troubles thee, my dear,” the golden pegasus said, placing a hoof on her barrel.  “Confide in me.” “We… I… worry for Winter Storm,” Luna confessed.  “He was a friend to mine sister and I, in days long past.  We saw him cursed with our own eyes, saw as Pirlipat bit into his leg as he tried to stomp on them to kill them faster in their enchanted mousetrap.  We want our friend back.  But his only hope is a young, cynical mare who dismissed our tale when she was told it.” “Was not thy only hope this same young, cynical mare?” the pegasus asked. “The fortunes were reversed, then,” Luna said.  “It seemed the only one who would believe her was her assistant the drake.  Now, even Cadenza believed, or so she told us, but she remains unconvinced.  But now there art questions to be answered.” “And those art?” “First, can she even enter into the Land of the Toys if she dost not believe?  Second, assuming she can, is one single night enough time for two hearts to connect?  This question is not nearly as critical, however.  If I know Twilight Sparkle, and I do, she will dedicate herself to helping him return until the deed is done.  And if that turns out to be the case, I will most gladly ferry her to the Land of the Toys every night if she requests it.” “It seems as though thou knowest the answers to those questions already, my dear,” the pegasus replied, taking his comforting hoof off of her barrel and hugging her from the side.  “Thou simply needed another pony to help thee along, correct?” “Yes, mine husband,” Luna said, nuzzling him again.  “I needed someone to speak to, the better to organize my thoughts, I suppose.  But your company this evening was also a part of of my summoning you.” “And I appreciate it, wife,” he kissed her cheek.  “Elysium may be a land of eternal happiness, but it is nothing without thee, mine moon and stars.  But I know that thou wilt join me in time.” “Yes, thou and mine harem,” she added with a smile.  “How art thou faring with the many other stallions that have wedded and bedded me?” “We are all one very happy, boisterous band,” the pegasus answered.  “However, thou hast no idea how surprised we were with the appearance of Fyre Flye.  We had no idea, as they say these days, ‘your barn windows swung that way.’” “‘Doors,’ dear Goldwing, ‘doors.’” corrected Luna with a smile.  “I see we wilt need to correct thee on thy modern speech when we enter Elysium when our time cometh, as mine sister had to teach me how today’s ponies speak.  As for Fyre Flye, what can I say?  Love knoweth no barrier, not even gender.  It took the commoners some time to grow accustomed to, but we had no trouble.” “If it is true that love knoweth no barrier,” Goldwing said, “then why dost thou fear the meeting of Winter Storm and Twilight Sparkle?  Dost thou think they are not fit for each other?” “In no way do I think that,” replied Luna.  “I have seen it; she channels Beryl.  Beryl she may not be, but their spirits are one and the same.” “Then what have you to fear?” asked Goldwing.  “Do you fear that such a meeting will not occur?  Beryl and Winter Storm were meant to be, and only the intervention of Pirlipat prevented it.  But as your counterpart Mi Amore Cadenza would say, ‘True love always finds a way.’” “Even almost two thousand years later.” Suddenly, a nexus of energy erupted out of the dreamscape around them.  Neither of them were very surprised at this, given that this was a regular occurrence in this plane.  But when Princess Luna reached out a hoof to enter the nexus, knowing that it was Twilight Sparkle’s subconscious she was entering, there came a loud blasting report and energy lanced up her arm. Luna cried out and yanked her hand away from the nexus, as Goldwing immediately grabbed it and began to sooth it with a pegasus healing spell.  But while Goldwing worked, Luna could only stare at the flamelike pillar of energy. At first, she had nothing to say.  But slowly, a broad grin began to creep across her face. “She’s there,” Luna breathed.  “Her mind is in the Land of the Toys.” “Then all of thy worry was for naught,” Goldwing said as he finished his spell, his hoof fading from its white glow.  “Now, it is all up to her.” Luna continued to stare at the flaming pillar, feeling the grin vanish, but her happiness did not. “Well then, we hope thou hast the best of luck in thy venture, Twilight Sparkle,” continued Goldwing, bowing his head.  “However, wife, my time for the evening is complete.  Now thou hast duties to attend to.” “Until next time, dear Goldwing,” Luna said, leaning down and kissing him briefly.  “If not here, then in Elysium.  Give my regards to the rest of my herd.” “Thou hast my word.  Until then, my love.” And with a bright flash of light, Goldwing vanished from the plane of dreams.  After he had gone, Luna continued to watch the energy nexus, hoping to gain access and watch the proceedings, but there appeared to be no way in. “Oh well, I am sure we will know, one way or the other,” she sighed.  And with that thought in mind, the nexus vanished as she continued her rounds for the evening. Breathe in, breathe out.  Breathe in, breathe out. Winter sat on the floor of the ballroom, repeating a pre-battle ritual he had done countless times.  With any luck, this would be the last time he would do it, but those were thoughts for later.  For now, he had to prepare his mind and steady his body to meet his foe. Just like General Lightning Lance taught me.  Slow the breathing, slow the heartbeat.  Focus. He could hear the popguns as his soldiers fired on the rats’ army.  He could hear the sound of metal on metal as his soldiers and his rats crossed blades. Focus. He could hear the clanking sounds of Pantaloon as he marshalled the troops, and he could hear the distinctive shimmering sounds of unicorn magic as Twilight Sparkle aided his stallions. Focus. And then he heard what he was listening for.  A steady clacking rhythm, matching the steps of an arrogant being, strutting with all the poise of a peacock. Winter opened his eyes just as the ballroom doors opened to reveal a large rat.  His matted brown fur looked ill-kept, and was even missing in certain places; his body had scar tissue in several places, and he also appeared to have several missing claws.  His tail dragged across the ground behind him, and across his back was slung a two-handed blade, and in his hands, he carried a wicked-looking axe. Padraic hoisted the axe up onto his shoulder, and then swaggered into the room and threw a challenging look at Winter through his beady black eyes. “You’ve been a busy doll while I’ve been gone, haven’t you Winter?” he asked as he strode forward slowly and confidently. Winter didn’t answer.  Instead, he focused on the sword and the axe.  Padraic had never brought either of these weapons to his previous battles.  His weapons were usually conventional swords and a shield.  These weapons looked like they were meant for carving up their victims. “Cat got your tongue, little pony?” Padraic taunted as he hefted the axe.  “Aren’t you curious to what I’m talking about?” “I’m not playing your games today, Padraic,” Winter calmly answered.  He reached behind him and drew his blade from its sheath and rose to a standing position. Padraic snorted, his whiskers vibrating briefly as he did so.  “What’s the matter, pony?  Scared?” “Not in the slightest,” replied Winter again, bringing the blade in front of him in a traditional stance, angling the blade to point upward at an angle. “No, really.  Why haven’t you asked about my new toys?” Padraic asked again, hefting the axe.  “You’re normally very vocal about it.” “It’s quite simple, Padraic.  You want to tell me about them.  In detail,” Winter answered.  “You’re going to try to intimidate me with these weapons, and I’m having none of it.” “None of it, you say?” Padraic asked, the whiskers on the right side of his face twitching ever so slightly. Winter dove to the right as the axe came smashing down right where he had been.  That whisker twitch was always Padraic’s tell for a sneak attack.  Upon landing, Winter slashed at Padraic’s side, but Padraic managed to get the handle of his axe there to block. “Oooh, the pony is pretty light on its hooves,” mocked Padraic, smirking down at Winter. In the blink of an eye, Winter grabbed a dagger he had hidden in his uniform and stabbed at Padraic faster than the rat could react, and managed to embed the dagger into the rat’s side. Padraic responded by backhanding Winter, knocking his sword away and sending him sliding across the ballroom floor, and then charging with his axe held aloft.  Winter dove away again and galloped toward his sword, snatching it up just in time to whirl around and slash at Padraic’s wrists. Again, Padraic moved to block the attack with the handle of his axe.  As wood met metal, Padraic let out a bark of scathing laughter. “Is this really all you’ve got?  Just the same tricks as the last couple thousand years?” There was a sudden biting pain in his chest.  Winter howled and leapt backwards, clutching a hoof to his chest, where Padraic had clawed and scratched away some of the wood. “Mummy sure knew what she was doing,” the rat remarked, hoisting the axe back onto his shoulder as he followed the retreating pony.  “You’re made of wood, but you can still feel.  Which means I can inflict all the pain I want,” he lashed out and scratched at Winter’s face, causing Winter to cry out and scramble away. This is bad, Winter thought as he tried to get back.  Padraic had managed to scratch one of his eyes.  He could still see, but it hurt to do so.  He’s a lot more vicious today. “Now that I have your undivided attention,” Padraic continued, “I think I’ll go ahead and explain away.  See, I’ve had spies in the castle since about noon.  There was a weird sort of buzz going around the castle today, and I wanted to know what.  Lo and behold, another pony has come to rescue you.  A mare,” he spat. He reached out and grabbed Winter by his collar, dragging him to look directly in his eyes.  Winter hated when he did this.  Padraic’s breath stank of rotting cheese, befitting the rat that he is. “I’m going to carve you up into tiny little pieces today, Winter,” Padraic said Padraic in a low, threatening voice.  “My mother and I have given too much and worked too hard to keep you here, just to have some mare come an undo it all.” He threw Winter back down to the ground and raised the axe high above his head. “Give my regards to my mother in hell.” Twilight had never been in a full-scale battle before.  She had been present when the Changelings had invented, having fought alongside her friends, and she had fought Tirek one on one.  But never once had she been in any situation where an actual army was going up against another army. Nerves had been going off inside of her when the fighting had started, but they went away rather quickly.  She hadn’t even had the time to cast an offensive spell.  Instead, the rats all put their swords down and took off all their armor, just as the soldiers placed their popguns on the ground and unloaded all the cannons. “What…?” she blinked several times to make sure she was seeing everything right. “Yes,” said an elderly voice from her left, accompanied by clanking.  “We never had an enmity with the rats themselves, nor they with us.  It was always their king, trying to destroy our Prince, who made them fight.  But when he’s not looking…” Twilight turned to see the elderly soldier, Pantaloon, staring out over what was supposed to be the battlefield with her, a smile under his full beard.  Out in said battlefield, some of the rats were arranging several little items in a formation while the others and the soldiers were kicking a ball around between each other. Once everything was arranged, the two sets of frienemies started up a rousing game of hoofball, leaving Twilight and Pantaloon to simply watch.  It was almost mesmerizing, watching two groups of beings who should have been enemies just drop everything and enjoy a game together. Almost like how the ponies and the griffins did the same during the first Great War, she thought. A cry sounded from inside the castle, and Twilight started, whirling around.  That was Winter! “Go, Twilight Sparkle,” said Pantaloon, placing a metal hoof on her shoulder and giving her a warm smile.  “He may have asked that you stay out here, but he needs you.  Go to him.” Twilight didn’t need telling twice.  She was off, running back into the castle.  If Winter really was in trouble, she was not going to let that rat harm him if it was the last thing she did! The halls were empty, giving Twilight no trouble as she made her way back to the ballroom at top speed.  Upon entering the room she had left only minutes ago, she gasped. A giant rat she assumed was Padraic stood over Winter, axe raised and ready to be brought down on his neck. “Give my regards to my mother in hell.” “GET AWAY FROM HIM!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Padraic turned to see who dared scream at the Rat King, and when he beheld Twilight, his triumphant smile faltered. “An alicorn?” he muttered.  “Those fools told me she was a pegasus!” Twilight marched forward, horn glimmering threateningly.  “Step.  Away.  NOW!” Padraic said nothing at first, merely staring warily at her glowing horn.  But then he smirked and swung the axe down. “NO!” she screamed, a bolt of lightning firing from her horn and smiting Padraic, sending him flying sideways.  The axe was knocked from his grasp, just centimeters from Winter’s neck, and taken sideways with him.  Winter hopped to his hooves and ran over to grab his sword as Twilight threw a fireball at the Rat King.  Padraic swung his axe like a baseball bat from his spot on the ground.and knocked it away into one of the castle walls, where it dissipated harmlessly on contact.  Twilight’s next spell fixed that problem.  The axe was wrenched out of Padraic’s claws and sent flying away, where it buried its sharp edge in the wall. “I can see you’ll be much better entertainment than that pile of sawdust over there,” Padraic smirked.  “I might actually have to try.” He reached back and drew his blade.  It glowed in the light unnaturally, marking it as an enchanted blade.  Unlike most swords Twilight had seen, this one looked more like a falchion, with a thick edge, a sharp point, and a thin sharp edge.  It was meant for slicing, as the back would add momentum to the swing. “Like it?” asked Padraic as he held the sword in between him and Winter, who had retrieved his own blade and stood ready to fight.  “I enchanted it to hack through wood as easily as if I was simply cutting through butter with a hot knife.  He won’t last long against me, I think.” “If you harm a hair on his head, I will make sure you burn,” Twilight threatened, her horn giving off a couple of sparks to emphasize her point. “Point taken,” Padraic said, holding up a hand between him and her, where it began to brim with sickly-green flames.  “Kill you first, then the bore.” For a couple of long moments, they stood there, waiting for their opponent to strike.  Twilight’s horn was ready, mana already flowing through it in preparation for her first barrage of spells.  Across the room, Winter stood stock-still, his blade prepared for a strike as well.  But neither of them made any move while Padraic continued to move his gaze between the two of them. Winter struck first, charging Padraic and slashing at his extended spell hand, but the blow was parried.  Twilight chose that moment to fire off another bolt of lightning, a fireball, and an ice bolt in quick succession, hoping to catch Padraic off with the changing elements.  But it seemed Padraic’s rat magic was non-elemental, for with three quick blasts of the sickly-green fire, her spells were cancelled. There was something about that green fire that didn’t bode well with Twilight.  She knew there was something dangerous about it, but for some reason, she couldn’t recall where she had read about pale-green magic. Winter rebounded off of his parry with another slash at the spell hand, but Padraic countered with a vicious kick that knocked Winter right back.  A chunk of the floor was pulled up and hurled at the rat, who blasted it to pieces with his magic. “Come now, surely that isn’t all you’ve got.  Remember, you have to beat me by sundown, and at your pace you won’t get anywhere close,” taunted Padraic.  “Here, let me show you how it’s done.” A blast of green fire issued from his claws, hitting the ground in front of Twilight.  To Twilight’s astonishment and horror, rat skeletons began to materialize out of the air, eyes glowing green and each wielding blades. “Destroy her,” barked Padraic.  The skeletons began to lumber forward meancingly.  Twilight recalled lessons with Celestia about necromancy and its best counters, but she had nearly forgotten about it with all of the more practical and likely forms of magic she would be facing. “TWILIGHT!” Twilight blinked, and hastily dodged as a sword came slicing down where she had been standing moments ago, trying to recall Celestia’s lessons on her current predicament.  Have to pay more attention, she thought.  But surely there’s a counter!  There’s always a counter-element in magic! Perhaps… fire? A quick fireball was thrown at one of the skeletons, who didn’t appear fazed in the slightest. Ice?  To slow them? The skeletons just cut their way through as she continued to move around the room to give herself some casting space. This would be so much easier if I knew what element necromancy actually was!  It’s not Black Magic, so what is it? Her wings spread and she took off into the air, where they couldn’t hurt her.  Across the room, she saw Winter and Padraic in bladelock, with Padraic pushing Winter back towards the door forcefully. “Winter!” called Twilight, and she sent a beam at Padraic.  Padraic merely swatted it away with his open claw. A piercing pain shot through her wing and she yelped, losing control and spiralling downward, but with a tremendous effort, she was able to guide herself down to an open space.  As she reached for the spot that had been hurt, her hoof brushed a wooden shaft. When did they start using arrows? she wondered vaguely, noticing that some of the skeletons that closed in on her were suddenly carrying bows.  A side-effect of the necromancy? She needed her wings to fly, else she would be left with little room to cast her spells.  Gritting her teeth, she yanked out the arrow, grunting in pain as she did so.  But once her wing was free of the intrusion, her horn lowed white and the tissue began to knit itself back together.  With a sigh of relief, the pain vanished, leaving her wing whole as before. But what intrigued her the most was that the moment her horn had glowed white with healing magic, the skeletons had flinched backwards, as though scared… of the light… Of course! Her horn glowed white again, and a beam of healing energy lanced toward the closest skeleton, whose eyes began to drain of color, leaving a blank blackness behind.  Once the spell accomplished its work, the skeleton crumbled to the floor and disintegrated. Twilight smiled. “The doctor is in,” she announced to the room at large, her horn already brimming with the necessary magic. Necromancy was its own element, which explained why Padraic was able to use it to negate the spells she sent at him earlier.  It wasn’t an element of darkness, it was an element of pure death.  Which meant that its antithesis was the element of life, the healing branch.  Where darkness and light were separate branches, life and death were separate entities, despite what everypony thought. Within a minute, the remaining skeletons had been reduced to dust, where they vanished into the air.  With Twilight free of the distraction, she looked around for Winter, but there wasn’t anyone else in the room.  The door to the Throne Room Corridor was open, and at once she flew through it, hoping to catch Padraic and Winter before the rat could potentially turn things in his favor. She flew around the corner into the hall directly adjacent to the throne room in time to see Padraic drive Winter back through the door and inside.  After that brief instant spent watching, she flew as fast as she could and tackled Padraic to the ground. “YOU LITTLE--” Padraic said, grabbing her by the small of the back and flinging her across the throne room.  In desperation, he had thrown her into the air, which allowed her to right herself with no problem.  More importantly, this distraction gave Winter an opening.  With a cry, he brought his blade down at one of Padraic’s hands, slicing it clean off in an instant. But to their horror, and Twilight’s simultaneous fascination, the wounded hand burned to ash in sickly-green flames and materialized back on his arm. “Heh, how do you think I’m able to live for so long when I’m still a body of flesh and blood?” asked Padraic, sneering.  “My mother taught me necromancy before she died, and she cast it on me to sustain me as I tormented you, doll.  None of your attacks can harm me!” Twilight turned her gaze to Winter and saw, in a moment of heartbreak, that his once-determined gaze had become discouraged.  Padraic had succeeded in demoralizing him. A bright orange glow suddenly fell across Twilight’s eyes.  The sun was setting.  Winter had only minutes left.  But with Winter’s current demeanor, there was no way he would be able to beat him. It was time for drastic measures.  And based on Padraic’s own demeanor thus far, she knew what to do. She landed directly in front of the rat, who seemed surprised by this move, but he raised a hand, brimming with magic, to strike regardless.  Before the spell left his hand, Twilight’s horn shone and instantly, there came the smell of burning flesh. Padraic screeched and grabbed at his burning tail, dropping his blade as he did so.  Twilight turned to Winter and shot an enchantment at his sword.  He flinched at her action, but on contact, the blade began to glow a bright white, and he gazed at it with surprise. “End him!” she yelled as he seemed not to know what to do.  “Your sword can harm him now!  End hi--” A claw grabbed her throat, cutting off her command.  Twilight gagged and struggled as Padraic lifted her off the ground, his claws digging into her throat. “You’re going to suffer for that,” he growled, staring her directly in the eyes as she struggled to free herself.  His green eyes seemed to glow brighter, giving him a look of madness and rage. And with a movement so quick she barely noticed until it registered, he clawed at her belly, ripping it open and throwing her across the floor. Twilight screamed in pain, and doubled over, covering the wounds that were already spilling blood onto the carpet of the throne room.  As the magic came to her horn to heal herself, something collided with her head, causing the magic to be released elsewhere and only adding to the pain. “NO!” She turned her head upward just in time to see Winter tackle Padraic off of her and slash at Padraic’s neck with his enchanted blade.  Padraic managed to evade the blow just in time, but he wasn’t quite able to get his blade up to stop the second vicious attack from Winter, and Winter’s blade slashed open his gut.  Padraic howled in pain, and his pained howl soon turned horrified as he realised the wound wasn’t healing. Winter’s eyes suddenly alighted, and he slashed at Padraic’s sword hand.  Padraic dove away, suddenly terrified now that he was vulnerable. “What’s the matter, rat?” asked Winter scathingly.  “Can’t stand to play on a level field?” Padraic answered with a slash at Winter’s wing, but Winter casually sidestepped it. “How dare you touch her?  You are going to burn!” He stabbed downward, but Padraic was already back on his feet and backing away, desperately keeping his blade between the two of them.  Winter didn’t seem to care, because he slashed at Padraic, which was parried, and then slashed again to continue battering the rat. Twilight was taking the opportunity to heal the claw wound on her belly, but as the magic worked, she couldn’t help but watch as Winter, once timid and nervous about the battle, had suddenly gone into a berserk fury.  He slashed mercilessly to batter his defenses, gave Padraic slamm cuts to further his agony, and all the while, he taunted the cursed rat. “You’re nothing but a coward!” he shouted at Padraic.  “You can’t win fairly, so you had mummy give you enchantments!” In his haste to continue backwards, Padraic made one misstep, treading onto his burnt tail.  With a cry of surprise, he fell backward, his sword clattering to the floor beside him.  And with a roar of triumph, Winter leapt atop Padraic, pinning him down and holding the enchanted blade to the rat’s throat. The battle was won. For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other, Padraic enraged and terrified at having been defeated and being on the edge of death, and Winter tired and satisfied, having defeated his mortal nemesis. But after a moment, Padraic chuckled. “Well go on, then,” he said, wheezing in his shortness of breath.  “Finish the job.” His gaze turned to Twilight, and he gave a wicked smile. “Take that step,” he said, grinning even wider.  “I’m defenseless now.  Go ahead and kill me in cold blood.  We both know you want to.” Twilight’s eyes flicked to Winter, whose blade had started to quiver.  As she glanced at his eyes, they were suddenly wide.  She glanced down at the blade, and to her horror, the blade was being pressed in, ever so slightly. “Winter, no!” she called.  “Don’t do it!” “Do it, you stupid pony,” Padraic growled.  “End this.” “Winter, don’t stain your hooves with the blood of a defenseless foe,” Twilight said, gasping as her wound stung.  She was unable to stand, as her legs still felt weak after the blow she had taken.  “Don’t give in to your anger.  Don’t let the darkness in.” The blade shook all the harder.  The orange glow of the sunset from before shone off the blade, reminding them both that there was little time to delay. “Ti-tick tock, pony,” Padraic said, coughing up blood as he did so.  “If you wait too much longer, guess who comes back next year.” “Winter,” Twilight said.  “Please.” At her plea, Winter’s eyes narrowed, his shaking stopped, and the blade became steady.  And to her relief, it was lifted away. “No,” Winter said in a low voice.  “I won’t murder you in cold blood.  I’ve beaten you, just like I had to.  I’ll let you live forever with the shame of your loss.” And with that, he stepped off of Padraic and began to walk toward her to help. “Coward,” spat Padraic from his spot on the ground.  “Even when the battle is won, you’re still afraid to put an end to your foe.  You’re not a warrior.” “No, I’m not,” Winter said, not even looking back.  “I’m a prince.” There was a moment of silence.  A moment Twilight thought it was all over. But with a cry of rage, Padraic leapt to his feet, picked up his blade, and charged at Winter, who wasn’t reacting. “WINTER!” Twilight screamed, a shielding spell already forming. But at the instant that Padraic began to swing downward, Winter turned right around and stabbed Padraic directly in the heart.  Over his head, Padraic’s sword hit the shielding spell and bounced away harmlessly. Padraic stared in disbelief at the blade embedded in his chest.  Winter simply let go of the blade and stepped back, his job done.  As they watched, the flesh around the blade was engulfed in green flames, which were spreading all over the rat’s body.  Padraic was screaming in pain and terror and trying to pull the blade out, but to no avail.  As the flames burned away the flesh, the rat’s skeleton began to lose its footing, and as the last of the rat’s face burned away, Padraic’s skeleton fell forward and shattered against the ground. Padraic, the Rat Prince, was no more. “You did it,” Twilight breathed.  “You defeated him.” Winter, who continued to stare at the fallen pile of bone fragments, only nodded.  Twilight guessed that he couldn’t believe that it was over.  He had finally done it.  He had finally ended Padraic! Winter suddenly began to giggle.  After a moment, it evolved into full on laughter, as the reality of the situation set in.  He had done it!  He had defeated Padraic once and for all!  Which meant that after nearly two thousand years, he had to be free of the curse now! ...right? And after a moment of realization that nothing was happening, he turned to Twilight, an expression of utter heartbreak starting to spread. “You… I... “ he said, feeling empty, hollow, like the toy he was. Despite the fact that she wished that she didn’t, she knew what caused it.  He had remembered.  She couldn’t stay with him.  Oh, how she wished she could!  But even though she wanted to stay with him more than anything else in the world at that moment, she knew that she couldn’t. His eyes left her’s, and he just sort of drooped.  They had won, but he had lost.  He was going to have to stay here, right when victory seemed within his-- Something was wrong.  Twilight had been so busy watching Winter that she didn’t notice everything around her start to vanish into fog.  And Winter seemed not to notice. “What’s going--?” she asked, but the harsh reality suddenly hit her.  It was never real.  None of this was real.  It had all been a dream. “NO!  PLEASE NO!” she screamed, tears forming.  Winter, it seemed, didn’t hear her.  He was too busy staring at his hooves, which had begun to shine a bright golden color.  As he watched, the color began to spread, spinning around him, but before Twilight could see what that spell was doing, the fog of her dreams had swallowed him up. Winter Storm was gone. And even as she sstood and galloped towards the spot where he had vanished, the fog continued to shroud everything.  Until it finally pressed in and blanketed her in blackness. And with a startled cry, Twilight Sparkle awoke in her bed in Canterlot Castle.  None of it had been real.  She had nodded off laying on her bed. For one brief moment, she couldn’t believe it.  But as the harsh reality settled in once again, she broke down, sobbing as the sun rose outside her window to greet the new day.