//------------------------------// // Falling with Style, part two // Story: Gravity of the Situation // by DJSkywalker //------------------------------// “What the fuck!?” That was all I could say as Raven hugged me--tightly, I might add. It was so disconcerting that I think I actually believed it….for less than a second. I stone-faced almost immediately and shoved the “giddy” girl off of me. She looked at me in confusion while I glared at her. “Allison?” she asked. Her voice sounded so innocent now, devoid of that harshness that she had only a moment ago. “Allison, it’s me,” she pleaded. “Rita, your sister!” I got into a battle stance. “You are not my sister,” I snapped at her, causing her to recoil. “You are a monster and I will not fall for your tricks.” “Tricks?” How could she sound so genuine? What is going on here?! “B-but, Ally--” “I told you not to call me that!” I roared. “My sister would never have done the things you have! She was not the evil, backstabbing, little bitch that you are!” “W-what? What are you talking about?! I’m not evil! I-I’m your sister, dammit!” She stomped her foot, not even taking notice of the cracks in the destroyed floor she just created. “I’ve been looking for you for ten years! Where have you been?!” “You already know the answer to that, Raven,” I spat. “Now stop with this shitty facade and let’s get back to me kicking your ass.” Raven looked aghast. “B-but I….” Tears formed in her eyes and she began to cry. “What happened to you, Ally? Why are you being like this? We used to be so close.” “That was before you destroyed my life, you bitch! Now put up that sword and let’s get back to fighting.” “Sword?” Raven looked down to her right hand where the sword was in plain view. She yelped, dropping the blade. “What am I doing with a sword?! I’m a psychiatrist not a fencer!” “You were using it to fight me!” I was getting tired of her act. “Drop the act, Raven. You’re not fooling me.” “Ally,” she pleaded to me, making me grit my teeth. “I don’t know what’s going on! Honest! The last thing I remember was being thrown out of some town full of talking animals!” Raven put her hand to her head, rubbing it slightly. “I-I don’t even know how I got here. Where am I, anyway?” My patience with her was running thin, and fast. “For the last, mother fucking time, I am NOT going to fall for your fucking tricks!!” Though it was normally against my personal code, I slammed my staff into the side of her face, sending her flying into the wall. “Now fight, dammit! Before you irk me even more!” Raven slowly pulled herself out of the debris, groaning loudly. She looked at me with surprise and hurt in her eyes. “W-why Ally? Whatever I’ve done, I’m sorry! Ok? I’m sorry!” “I don’t want your apology!” I shouted at her, making her flinch. “I want your fucking head on a stick! I want you dead! You hear me?! DEAD!!” Yeah, I was pretty much snapped at that point. I saw her hands clench on her knees and could have sworn tears were falling from her lowered head. “You…..you…..YOU BITCH!!” Raven suddenly shot forward, her rapier instantly appearing in her hand. I was so shocked by sudden turn that I forgot to block as her sword pierced through the right side of my abdomen. I shrieked in pain as she dug the blade all the way to it’s hilt. I looked down at her hate-filled eyes. “I’m going to kill you, Kat! Slowly, painfully, and it will oh so sweet for me.” I growled at her, slamming a left hook into her face. I sent her rolling a little ways, but she used the momentum to launch into the air. Raven teleported her sword out of my chest and back into her hand. I grabbed the bleeding hole and fueled my power into my hand, searing it shut. The pain was immense, but my anger and hatred was burning so much hotter. I looked up at Raven, my rage fueling my energy as I powered back up. “Then bring it, Masters!” I shot forward towards her, staff prepared to swing. “Die, Shifter!” she shouted back as she launched towards me in retaliation. We collided in midair, our weapons sending sparks off each other. And so our fight started anew. *****Dusty’s POV****** As Mistress and Raven restarted their fight, I found something terribly wrong with it. Raven’s temporary switch into Rita was very off putting and set off a multitude of warning signals in my head. It had to be more than just a trick or a trap. If it was a trap, it was set off very poorly. Sure, she got a good hit in because of it, but there was just….too much. The emotions, the actions, the overall feel of her switch just felt too real. No, it had been no trick or trap. It had been real. For those few fleeting moments, my mistress’ sister had returned. That was her true mental state, but what brought it out? And how did she have no recollection of current and past events? What was the trigger? What was the linchpin? Then something occurred to me. What had Mistress said when Auric helped her Understand the situation? “The bird.” The pieces instantly began to fall into place in my head. I looked over and saw that the bird was back up and flying, having been knocked under a pile of rubble earlier. Just as Raven reverted into Rita! Mistress must have misunderstood what that Auric pony had shown her! It wasn’t that the bird was the key to taking away Raven’s powers. The bird was the key to Raven! But then that means…..oh, that mother fucker is dead meat! I jumped off of Celestia and proceeded to stalk closer and closer towards that damned bird. She must have noticed me getting down. “Dusty? Where are you going?” she asked me. “To put an end to all this,” I told her cryptically. She seemed to be conflicted about it, but she reluctantly nodded. “Be safe.” “When I’m done, we’ll all be safe.” I turned into a starry mist and regenerated on a higher wall, above my target. I could still hear the banging and crashing from above. Taking a glance, I saw my kitten still rigorously beating on Raven. Neither were giving in to the other, sparks flying everywhere….and rocks. There were a lot of rocks flying between them. I stole a glance out to the ruins of Canterlot where the dragons and the ponies were decimating the nevi ranks. If it had been a normal army, I’m certain that the battle would already be won. But it wasn’t a normal army. It was an army with an infinite amount of troops. Whenever one nevi fell, three more would join the advancing ranks. Yet still they fought, fighting for their lives, their homes, and for their friend. I looked back to my target, my eyes turning frostbite cold. “This ends, NOW!” I said to myself as I pounced on the raven. As we collided, it squawked in pain, my claws digging into its back. We hit the ground a moment later, and the damn bird rolled me off. I got into a ready position almost instantly as it got defensive. I lunged again, taking a swipe across it’s eye, leaving a deep scratch. It squawked again, flapping wildly as it tried to claw at me with its talons. “For my kitten!” I shouted, throwing us into a fighting frenzy. *****Kat’s POV***** I swung left. Raven swung right. I swung right. Raven swung left. Time and time again, we collide each of us trying to get the upperhand on the other. My staff would meet her sword with a loud ‘CLANG!’, multitude of sparks shooting off our metallic weapons. We pushed off each other again, both panting and glaring. “You...you ready to give up yet...Raven?” I gasped between breaths. “Never!” she said, in the same state. “I…will never give in…to you!” Raven pointed out at her army, and I saw the state the battle was going. “My army…will continue so long as I breathe. It no longer takes… a toll on my energy to produce more… and more nevi.... Your army is limited…sooner or later…it will fail. Not even dragons….are invincible.” “You give them…too little credit...Raven.... Those are warrior dragons…I can tell.... My friends…never lose...and neither will I!” We charged at the same time, but something went wrong. Not with me, for once, but with Raven. Before we could collide, she stopped in midair, grasping her head and screaming bloody murder. She started convulsing, whipping her head to-and-fro, even dropping her sword from forty stories up. Raven was gripping her head so hard that I could actually see her beginning to bleed. “What the-? What’s going on here? This better not be another trick, Raven!” I shouted at her. She screamed again, lowering her head slightly and looked to me, tears of desperation in her eyes. “Ally, h-help me.” I did a double-take. “Wh-what?! What are you talking about?!” “It hurts,” she whimpered. “It hurts so much. He’s constantly there. Whispering in my ear, controlling my every action. Please Ally, please make the voice stop. Make it go away!” She arched her back in a second, screaming out into the air. I heard a strange sound coming from the battle below. I took a quick peak and did another double-take. I saw all of the nevi beginning to disintegrate into nothingness. The dragons and ponies were in the biggest shock, seeing all of their enemies just falling apart in front of them. Another sound came from directly below us. It sounded…like a warring cat? …Dusty! I instantly looked down and saw Dusty in a literal cat fight. Well, a cat-bird fight. …I’m just gonna call it Sylvester vs. Tweety reimagined. Might as well have been, anyway, with how our two familiars were fighting. I saw Dusty actually rake his claws down the raven’s back and…Raven shrieked in pain?! I looked back over to the convulsing human. Then back to the fight. Then back to Raven. And it clicked! “I’m a fucking moron,” I whispered to myself. How could I misunderstand what Auric had shown me?! The bird wasn’t the source of Raven’s powers (okay, still might be, but that’s not the point at the moment, now is it?), it was the source of Raven herself! I had to do something. “Luna!!” I called out to the night-blue alicorn. She looked at me questioningly. “I need spell number 682! Cast it on Raven, NOW!!” Luna looked at Celestia, no doubt confirming if she should. I saw the sun goddess nod, and Luna powered up her horn. I looked back to Raven and actually started to smile as a light blue bubble began to surround her head. Right as it finished forming, Raven stopped screaming and convulsing altogether. In fact, she wasn’t doing anything….including keeping herself afloat! She dropped like a rock. After a quick moment of hesitant surprise, I shot after her, scooping her out of the air only seconds before she would have landed on the ground. I looked back over to Dusty with Raven in my arms. I gently set her down on the rubble covered ground and gave that damned bird a glare. I lifted up my hand slowly and then forced it forward. Instantly, the bird went flying from Dusty and crashed into one of the few remaining walls. I reached up and yanked the ceiling below down on the horrid creature, sealing it under several feet of crushed bricks, stone, and whatever else was on the floor above. Dusty turned back to me in a little surprise before huffing. “Hmmf, I could have taken him on my own.” I chuckled a little. “Uh huh, of course. No one gets past the great Dusty.” “Damn right,” he said back with a hint of pride. I rolled my eyes as everypony and dragon started to gather around Raven. “Did we win?” asked Twilight, looking far more ragged from the fighting. I doubted she had any magic left to spare at the moment. “We are unsure,” Luna said. She turned to me. “Pray tell, Kat, why didst thou have us perform a mental blockage spell upon thine enemy?” “Because Rita is not our enemy,” Dusty answered first. Obviously, everyone was shocked. “B-but she’s the villain!” Rainbow exclaimed. “How could she not be our enemy.” “Our enemy was Raven Masters, but the girl before us is not the merciless woman we have come to hate. No, this is who she truly is: Rita, the sister of my kitten.” “Uh, Ah don’t follow, sugarcube,” Applejack said while scratching her head. “Rita’s been controlled this whole time,” I told them. “When Auric showed me the problem we were facing, it told me the bird was the key. Only, I thought that meant that if we got rid of the bird, Raven’s powers would dissipate. That wasn’t it.” I shook my head. “No, the bird was the true evil being. He’s been controlling Rita all these years, from the very start by the sound of it.” “So that pesky little flying rodent was the cause behind everything?” asked Paco, rubbing his chin. I nodded. “Yes. Everything from placing blame on me for attacking those towns twelve hundred years ago, to now.” “So her actions were nary her own?” Luna surmised. “Well, that would explain how such a kind hearted person became so cruel and vicious.” A slight groan came from Rita, her eyes fluttering open to see eight ponies, five dragons, a star-coated cat, and me all staring down at her. “Ally?” she asked, sitting up slowly. “I-it wasn’t a dream? Y-you’re actually here? O-or is this just another terrible dream?” I smiled warmly, crouched down and put my arm on her shoulder. I squeezed a little and she flinched. “You don’t feel true pain in a dream, Rita.” She looked at me with wide eyes. “I-I’m sorry for hitting you before. I thought you were someone else, someone evil. But now I see you...my sister.” Rita’s eyes began to water and she pulled me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around her as she clung to me, crying loudly. “I-I never thought I’d see you aga-a-ain!” she sobbed. “I know. I thought the same,” I whispered. “I-I was so alone. Everything just went so wrong. I-I thought he was going to help me, b-but he just used me! I-I remember now, I remember everything he made me do.” I just shushed her, rubbing my dear friend’s back. I was honestly tempted to cry myself, but I wanted to be strong. My sister was back in my arms, and back to her old self. This must have been what Celestia went through. And it made me feel complete. But, of course, the good things never last. Behind us, the massive pile of rubble and debris exploded outward, showering us with tiny bits of shrapnel. A horrible shriek roared out as the raven rose from the rubble. It’s body was glowing a deep, dark red as it’s eyes burned even redder. “You!!” Holy crap it talks! ....given that Dusty could talk, I shouldn’t have been all that surprised. Then again, this whole time it never once opened its beak to speak before. “King,” Rita whispered. I looked to her, then back at the bird. “King? Its name is King?” I muttered to myself. Celestia stepped forward a bit, standing right by my side...somehow, that felt right. “Stand down, bird,” she said calmly yet with a stare that would melt rock. “You have lost control over this young girl and your army. Surrender now.” The raven had the gall to laugh uproariously. “Lost? Surrender?! Ahahaha!!!” He glowered at Celestia. “I am far from defeated, worm!” Rita grunted, holding her chest. “Rita! What’s wrong?” I asked in concern. “I...I don’t know.” She looked like she was going to be sick. “Th-there’s something weird in my chest. It feels like, oh god it hurts, it feels like there’s something pulling on my chest!” ‘Pulling on her...’ Oh no! I grabbed Rita’s shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “Rita, you have to fight it! It’s the bird; it’s King who is doing this to you! You have to fight him off!” “What’s going on?” asked Twilight. I did a quick turn at the bird. “King is stealing her powers, just like how Raven stole mine but Dusty stole some to keep safe.” “King?” She looked where I was looking, understanding donning on her. “I-I can’t!” Rita whimpered. “He’s-he’s too strong, I can’t fight him!” I made Rita look me right in the eye. “Yes. You. Can. You’re not a weakling. You’re not a pushover! The Rita I knew, the sister I looked up to, would never give up or give in. Rita was the sister I needed to keep me sane. Be that Rita again, the one who was my rock. I know she’s still there, you just have to fight!” Rita stared at me in shock for a moment, still clutching her stomach. Then I noticed her eyes begin to harden and a familiar little smirk appeared on her face. “You always knew how to bring me back, didn’t you Ally.” The smirk turned into a little smile. She shakily stood up, me helping her to just to be safe. She glared at King. “You think you can control me? That I’m your little fucking pawn?! NO MORE!!!” Her hands glowed brightly and the ground beneath her began to crack and crumble. “I am Rita Masters! You are no longer my puppet master, bird!” Her entire body glowed. “THERE ARE NO STRINGS ON ME!!” Rita’s body shot out a massive burst of power, slamming into the bird. He stumbled in flight a little, but righted himself. “Stupid girl!” he shouted with a smirk. “I already stole more than enough power to do what I need to!” King’s entire body began to glow brightly. His form elongated and began to expand. His wings began to shift and grow, and his legs and talons thickened. We watched in horror as the bird, turned into a humanoid monster! King now had arms and hands, legs and feet, even a human-esque head. His wings were ten times larger than before and extended right out of his back. And his entire form was a deep, dark black-red with tinges of extremely dark green here and there. “Wh-what the hell am I looking at?” I pondered aloud. “He changed into a monster,” Rarity gasped. Applejack actually performed a cross symbol over her front in fear. How she knew about that is something to ask at a later date. “Dear mother almighty,” Celestia and Luna whispered. ...what? Okay, I really need to ask how their faith system works at some point. King looked over his new form with his glowing eyes, an evil smile forming. He flexed his fingers, forming a fist with his left. “I am reborn,” he said quietly. He turned to all of us. “Now you will all bow down before your new king. For I am...the Gravity King!!” Rita sneered at King. “Bow before you? As if I would ever bow to a fuckin’ bird-angel thing. What are you supposed to be? A fuckin’ anthro? Heh, ew!” I smiled, knowing that my Rita was back. “Maybe he wants to be king of the furries.” Both of us laughed out while he growled. “You will regret insulting your king.” He lifted his hand and I felt something coming towards us. “Brace yourselves!” I shouted out to everyone. I put hand on Rita’s shoulder as the gravity of the entire area suddenly shifted, increasing drastically. Even as prepared as I was, I was still forced to a crouch from the power. Rita was on her knees, struggling to stand. I turned my head as best I could, and caught glimpses of all of the ponies on the ground, struggling desperately against the force bearing down on them. The dragons were no better, actually being forced into craters due to their extreme size. Except for my dragon and Spike, who were just stuck on the ground. King laughed again, forcing me to look over. His razor sharp teeth glinted in the light of the moon as he smiled. “This has been over a thousand years in the making. I’ve been ever so patient, being forced out by common beasts! No more will I bow to others. No, they will bow to me or be destroyed like the scum they are!” I looked at Rita as she looked at me. “Rita, what say you we put this fucker in his place?” She smirked at me. “Oh most definitely, Ally. But how do we get out of this?” “With one of my worst powers.”I put out my hand and began to gather power into it. I could already feel the sting of forming it, burning slowly into my hand. A nice little, glowing, red orb formed into my hand. “The Gravity Burst.” Rita’s eyes widened. “You can do that? How?” “You never could?” I asked confused. “No,” she tried to shake her head, but failed. “Even though I could summon nevi, I was never able to use their fire power. How did you do it?” I looked away for a moment. “That’s a story for another time. Anyways, I’ve learned that it’s not affected by other gravity effects, so it should be able to ignore the Pressure he’s using.” Rita attempted to nod. “Go for it, Ally. I’ll be right beside you.” “Kat,” I corrected. “What?” “I go by Kat, nowadays. Allison died a long time ago.” I felt Rita’s hand tighten on my wrist. “I’m looking right at her. No matter what wrongs you’ve done, I’ll always be your sister; Allison’s sister.” I smiled thankfully at her. “Here goes something.” I fired the bolt, soaring over the ground at high speeds. King only saw it just as the blast slammed right into his face. He screamed in pain, putting his new hands to his scorched face, releasing us from the Pressure.. That gave us the chance we needed. Rita and I surged forward, our weapons brandished. I stuck at his left, while she struck at his right. It was going to destroy him. Or so we had hoped. Faster than we could see, he grabbed each of our weapons with his hands, stopping us cold. In our surprise, King twisted, sending us flying slightly. As we both righted in midair, King kneed Rita hard in the gut. “Rita!” I screamed before he warped in front of me and brought his fist into my face. “You’re going to pay for disrespecting me, you infidels!” Before I knew what hit me, his elbow crashed down on the back of my head. I plunged into the ground, Rita following after being kicked in the back. We both groaned as we pulled out of the rubble. “How is he this strong?” asked Rita. “He must have been siphoning energy off of you from the very beginning.” I looked up as he sneered at us. “He’s more powerful than Raven ever was.” “But that’s not gonna stop us,” Rita said as she stood up, teleporting her sword into her hand. I smirked, doing the same, but with my staff. “We’re military girls, ain’t no bird-angel monster gonna stop us!” “Bring it on, King!!” we shouted together, powering up and launching after him. “You will both be destroyed!” he roared. *****Third Person POV***** As Kat and Rita (or Raven, as she technically still was) fought desperately against the Gravity King, the ponies and dragons watched on in awe. Back and forth those three would go, fighting and clawing at each other. Kat would swing her staff at King, occasionally bashing him. Raven would stab and slice with her rapier, often getting a nice cut along his body. Unfortunately, King kept getting the upperhand, his punches, claws, and kicks always beating the two shifters away. “This isn’t good,” Celestia noted. “He’s too powerful for them.” She watched as Kat was thrown against a wall, with King following as he repeatedly punched her in the face. Celestia flinched each time Kat was struck, letting out a breath of relief as Raven slammed into him, allowing Kat to get free. “We’re dealing with something so much more than familiar now,” Dusty noted. “How so?” asked Luna. “Look at King’s aura. Do you notice those small twinges of green in his form?” “Yes, and it looks very tacky,” Rarity said with a disgusted huff. “It’s much more than a fashion statement. Green aura is the sign of a rare nevi.” “A rare nevi?” asked Paco. “What’s so special about it being rare?” Fire Fang asked. Garble shuddered remembering them from before. “I’ve seen rare nevi before. They’re extremely powerful and very hard to get rid of.” Dusty nodded. “Correct. But this is something never seen before. King’s power has evolved. Rita completely severed her tie to her familiar, and as such he has reverted into his natural form.” “Natural form?” Applejack parroted. “What d’yall mean his ‘natural form’?” “He’s become a nevi. That’s what we technically are, but by being attached to a shifter, we are much tamer and far more in control of ourselves. But now that the tie has been severed, his power has skyrocketed. He’s become a boss nevi, but those twinges of green mean that he has become something never to have been existed before: a rare boss.” “That’s bad, right?” Dusty nodded. “Yes, Spike, very bad. Rare nevi are roughly ten times as strong as their normal counterparts, while boss nevi are roughly about five times as difficult compared to a normal nevi. Which roughly translates as,” Raven suddenly shot past them, blasted into the ground directly behind Paco. “About fifty times more powerful than your typical nevi. Merge that with stolen gravity powers...and who knows how powerful that monster has become.” Kat let out a scream, causing them all to look at her and gasp in fear. King had Kat in his energy, choking the life out of her. Rainbow shook with anger at seeing her father’s savior in such a position. Then she couldn’t hold it anymore. Before anyone could stop her, Rainbow Dash soared faster than ever towards the nevi monster. “Let go of my friend you bucking creep!” she yelled before going into a sonic rainboom that slammed into King. King yelped in surprise, letting Kat go. The rainboom blasted her back a ways, but she pulled out of her tumble before crashing. “What are you doing, Dash?!” she screamed out. “The same thing we all shoulda done!” Applejack shouted as she raced off to where King was falling. He righted himself just before he hit the ground, only to get bucked in the face by the farm mare. “Take that, ya damn varmit!” Rarity lit her horn, causing several nearby rocks to levitate off the ground. “This has been a long time coming, you dirty ruffian!” The rocks shot forward with extreme speed, colliding against King’s body, making him flinch. “This for making my friends tear themselves apart, you big meanie!” Pinkie yelled out before firing her party cannon, which actually fired a cannonball that exploded in King’s face. They all looked at her in shock. “What? It’s still a cannon, sillies!” They all shrugged. “It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.” King pulled himself out of the crater in the wall, groaining slightly, only to open his eyes at seeing Celestia and Luna in front of him. “This is for wrecking our family!” They bucked him right through the wall, flying into the adjacent room. All of the dragons them converged on the hole in the wall. As one, they let loose a torrent flames, turning the closed room into a massive, fiery oven. Yet, even as they finished, King pulled himself from the hole. “I...will not...be bested...by inferior beings!!” he roared before blasting the dragons with a simple push. Twilight watched each of her friends attack the monster with righteous fury, but she just couldn’t. Why? Why couldn’t she? Because it’s wrong, she told herself. I’m not a violent pony. I’ve never hurt anypony with my magic before. But...King is a true villain. There’s no redemption, no fool-proof plan to stop him. And because of him, Rita became Raven. Who destroyed Kat’s life. Which led her to hurt Celestia. And that led to… Twilight finally connected the dots that she needed to. It was because of King that her friends tore themselves apart and because of him they would never be whole again. She felt her anger boil as she increased the magic flow to her horn. Twilight stared down King with deadly fury. Her horn brightened to frightful proportions and her eyes turned white. King took notice of this, his eyes actually going wide along with everyone else. “This for Fluttershy, you son of a bitch!!” Twilight fired a massive burst of magic at the nevi, his form disappearing in the light. When it cleared, the remains of the wall were completely gone, as well as the next several rooms down. In the middle of the path of destruction, laid King, groaning from the pain. Everyone moved to surround him, Kat and Rita on either side of him. “You’ve lost bird,” Kat said emotionlessly. “You can’t win now,” Rita added. King glared at both of them and at the group around him. “I. Never. Lose,” he growled at them as his body began to glow. Kat and Rita blinked, but that quick moment of hesitation was all King needed. He shouted in anger as a wave of gravity energy burst from his body, sending everyone flying and digging a massive crater into the floor. Kat groaned in pain as she pulled out of the rock and rubble. She looked around, noticing everyone else had been knocked out cold from the blast. King stood in the middle of it all, floating above the gigantic crater. She tried to stand, but fell to her knees, falling slightly into the crater due to exhaustion. King took notice of her as he floated down to the bottom of the crater “Now who has lost, Gravity Queen?” he questioned snarkily. Kat glared at him with a slight growl. He lifted a hand towards her with an evil smirk. “You’re time has come, Shifter.” “Not today!” Kat and King both were surprised by the outburst, but even more so as Rita fell on top of King’s back. She planted her feet in the ground, instantly locking them there with her power as King struggled against her grip. “You stupid girl! Let go of me!” “Not a chance, bastard!” She looked at Kat. “Now Ally! Do it!” Kat nodded, lifting her hand towards King. “Get out of the way, Rita!” Rita’s face suddenly softened as she held on tight. “If I let go, he’ll escape. You have to Extinguish us both. “WHAT?!” Kat and King shouted. “Are you insane!” Kat screamed. “I can’t kill you like that!” “You have to, Ally! We can’t let this monster win!” “There has to be another way!” Tears started to roll down Kat’s face as she kept trying to come up with someway to save Rita yet still destroy King, continually failing to come up with one. Tears were present on Rita’s face as well. “It’s better this way, Ally. Think about it, no one is going to believe I was controlled by a fuckin’ bird. The ponies will call for blood, just like they did for you and the Elements. Either way, I’m dead. At least this way, I can say I died for something.” She sniffed. “I can’t live with the things I’ve done to you, my dear sister. Please, give me peace.” “I can’t!!” Kat shouted as she bawled. “I can’t kill you! I just can’t, dammit!!” “You have to! Your big sister orders you to!” Her face softened one more time. “Be the girl I know you are. A protector, a savior, be the greatest hero there ever was! I know you can!” Kat’s eyes were red from her tears as she struggled to lift her hand back up. “That’s it,” Rita whispered as Kat’s hand began to glow. “Be the hero, Kat. Just like our fathers. Be the hero I know you always were.” Rita felt the pull on her body, grunting as the pain began to escalate to excruciating levels. Yet still she remained, keeping King right where he was. Kat watched as her power began to surround the calm Rita and the struggling King. They both looked to be in extreme pain, but still Rita held on. Tears continued to fall as Kat began to absorb the wisps off of the two, their bodies slowly starting to fade. “I’M SORRY RITA!!” Kat yelled through her tears. Kat saw Rita smile, her teeth showing. The last time she would ever see that smile. “We’ll see each other again, Kat!” she yelled. “I’ll be waiting for you on the other side. Just don’t show up too soon!” Kat sniffled as her power increased the pull. “RITA!!” she screamed as Extinguish blasted right through King and Rita. The final wisps drained from them as their bodies burst apart into trillions upon trillions of particles that disappeared into the surface below. She stared at that spot for what felt like hours, tears silently falling down her face. Kat felt a wing drape across her back, making her look up to see a crestfallen Celestia looking back at her. Kat’s sobs picked up anew as she threw herself at Celestia, crying and wailing into the mare’s fur. Dusty teleported by her side, cuddling up to his dear kitten in her time of need. Celestia just kept the girl close, being the comfort she so desperately needed as the others gathered along the crater’s ring in respectful silence.