//------------------------------// // Fifteen // Story: The War for the Sun & Moon // by Maxes Altho //------------------------------// Several hours later, and we don’t have any way out of the cells. I tried to shadow-walk out and bend the bars with solid light, but I had stupidly forgot, these cells are made to protect against anything a pony could throw at it, plus whatever extra enchantments the General could have his unicorns create to bolster them against changelings, zebras, griffons, and Minotaurs. As far as I can tell, the order we were placed in is: on my side, Quick, me, and then Tiny. On the opposite side: Bard, C, Xenon, and Grenda. “So, one more time. Anypony have any ideas on how to get out of here?” “Bro, I already tolds you, I got an idea!” “Tiny, they took all your quote-unquote ‘toys’.” “Not all of them!” What follows is a series of high-pitched grunts and moans. “Holy shit. What are you doing, Tiny?” “Oh Faust. Shining, she just pulled a bomb out of her…” I hear the unmistakable sound of vomit hitting the floor from Grenda. “T-Tiny? What? Where did you get a bomb?” “Silly Shiny! They don’t call it the partyhole for nothing!” … $hining$tar_Brain.exe has stopped working. Would you like to send an error report? (Y/N) Error report not sent. Rebooting… Last recognized statement reloaded… $hining$tar_Brain.exe has stopped working again. Rebooting… ignore last statement… $hining$tar_Brain.exe online. “Uh… never mind. Can you use it without killing yourself?” “I dunno. Only one way to find out!” “Wait, young one!” Bard’s voice rings out. “I have an idea. Grenda, take the mattress, bed, anything you can and pile it in a corner of your cell, and get behind it. You too, zebra. It should protect you from the blast. Tiny, you do the same, and dive for cover once the explosive is armed.” A minute later, Grenda and Xenon signal that they are ready. With a few clicks, Tiny declares, “Fire in the hole!” and jumps behind her barricade. With a loud retort, I see half of the bars of her cell impact Xenon’s. She stumbles out of her decimated cell, a wide grin on her face. “Woo! Best jailbreak evar!” “Hey! What’s going on in here?” Shit, the unmistakable sound of a guard. I hear a gasp as he spots Tiny. “Hey! What are you doing? What happened to your cell?” She turns on him with those wide eyes that only fillies can achieve. “I’m sowwy, mistew! I don’t know what happened! The jaiow jus’ esploded!” $hining$tar_Heart.exe has detected dangerous rise in blood glucose levels. Running Heart_Attack.rar. Rebooting… When I come to with a slight pain in my chest, I see the guard unconscious on the floor, and Tiny with a ring of keys in her mouth. “Uh, Shiny? You okay buddy? Ya kinda went still for a minute there.” “I’m… good. Can we stop by the patent office? I need to declare cuteness a WMD.” With a giggle she unlocks the cell doors, letting the rest of us out. “Okay, now what?” Bard rolls his shoulders. “We’re trapped in the middle of a now-hostile base. We need to get to Canterlot.” “Yes. My visions come true today, or not at all.” I grin. “And not all the Warriors are hostile. I’m thinking, it’s probably all the soldiers who are hostile. A lot of the non-fighters follow the creed. And I know just who can help.” I lead my merry band of misfits through the base to a familiar forge. “Hey Battle! We need a way to Canterlot, fast!” He doesn’t even bat an eye. “Shining, just the stallion I was looking for! Hey, didn’t I hear something about you getting jail time?” “We got off early for good behavior.” “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything right now that’s fast. Ah, a Minotaur. Do you have any ideas?” “You could say that. How do you feel about wheels?” ---------- “Holy fucking shit, this is awesome!” We’re moving west at a fast clip, towards the center of the nation. In under an hour, Bard, Tiny, and Battle were able to rig together a three seater motor cycle (much easier to say than motorized bicycle), and only have it look a little bit worse than Bard’s. He’s driving his beast, with Tiny, C, and Quick in the passenger seats, and Scruffy on his shoulder, and he’s given control of number two to Grenda, given she has claws with which to hold the wheel, with me and Xenon riding shotgun. “By my calculations, we should be nearing the pass up the mountain soon. I would suggest a reduction in speed.” C’s voice comes over the radio. “Can do, Chryssid. Grenda, remember to go easy on the brakes. We didn’t have time to test any of that thing’s systems.” “I’m trying! You didn’t exactly set this for someone of my size!” Soon enough, we’re roaring up the train tracks leading to Canterlot. It’s hard to imagine I escaped from there two weeks ago only to come back willingly. My, how priorities change. Two minutes later, we come to a stop at the train station. As we clamber off the motor cycles, I look around, scoping out our surroundings. Everything is eerily quiet; no ponies are walking the streets. We have a straight shot from the station right up to the main castle gates. It would make sense; most ponies coming to Canterlot want a straight path to the castle. Where are the Warriors, the Royal Guards, the anypony? “Hey guys, we didn’t pass any trains on the way up, did we?” a chorus of ‘no’s answer me. I take a step down the main thoroughfare. “Get down, you idiot!” The voice comes from a side alley. I duck and roll. A high-velocity round impacts the street about two feet behind where I was. I keep rolling right into the alley. “Wait, Shining? What? H-How did you get out of jail?” Shank me with a shiv, it’s Epsilon. A quick glance out of the alley shows the rest of my group taking cover behind buildings. “Hey guys. Nice of you to, you know, turn on your teammate and everything.” Pulse won’t meet my eyes, Scout is very meticulously examining his new bat, and Dig stares at me with unbridled hate. Tread is the only one who’ll talk. “Man, it’s not like we had a choice. It was that or be charged with sedition!” “So you guys don’t think I’ve gone crazy again?” “We saw you as crazy. We’re still recovering. You ain’t crazy. Crazy Shining would have already tried to kill all of us.” He shuffles, uneasy. “The General says you’ve gone a different kind of crazy. He says ‘the creatures you’ve been associating with are plotting the downfall of the Warriors!’ Is that true?” “No! Well, maybe… I don’t know! Some of the Warriors want peace, but just for ponies. They want to keep all the other races under their hoof. You ever heard of the extermination of the Minotaur engineers and tool smiths?” “Yeah. Wait, are you saying-?” “Yep, the General ordered it when they wouldn’t go on a suicide mission.” “So, what do we do? Most of the Warriors here are completely loyal to the General.” Pulse steps forward. “You guys need to make sure my friends and I aren’t followed. The end of the War is determined by their actions today, and nopony else’s. Now, how do we take down that sniper?” “The problem is we don’t know where the fucker is. He has a view of the entire main road. We’ve tried sending troops up the side paths, but they don’t return. He can’t be a flyer, the splatter from Avalanche,” he motions to a red streak on a wall near the station, “means the weapons too big for anything except a stationary mount.” “It also means it’s a single shot. It takes time to reload a beast like that. Scout, care to show how fast you can move?” “Hell yeah!” “Then on my signal, get as far up the road as you can. Give yourself a five count, then duck behind another building. Let’s draw this fucker out.” I power my horn, and create a shadow doppelganger, like I did way back before this all started, during the Test. I walk it out into the street, and sure enough, a hole immediately appears in its head. “Scout, now!” He’s gone like a lightning bolt, and five seconds later, I hear the sound of another round hitting the pavement. “Yo. Got about three streets up. Still no sign of him. What now?” “Gonna try again. Grenda, you nearby?” “One street behind you.” “When you hear the first shot, take a peek up the main road. Use your eagle eyes and find that fucker. Watch for the flash.” I summon another shadow, this time one street up and across the main. Again, it dies the moment it steps out. “Got another two streets. He’s getting faster.” “Saw it. You aren’t gonna like this, Shining. He’s in one of the towers.” “Shit. The blue roof or the yellow?” “Blue.” “The Lunar Spire. I can take it from here. If I’m not back in five, move up without me.” “Shining, no! We have to do this together!” “It’s okay, C. Fate, remember?” I start powering my horn, but Pulse steps in front of me. “Just… just come back to us, okay?” Then she leans in and plants a kiss right on my cheek. Holy shit, she does like me! ---------- Celestia damn it, Pulse. That surprise kiss attack nearly threw off my aim. I’m thankful I picked the closet in the Lunar Spire; enough darkness that I could afford a little leeway. Feeling somewhat drained after the shadow-walk, I quietly open the closet door. Sure enough, a pony with a target for a butt tattoo sits on the balcony, a huge freaking sniper rifle mounted to the railing. He’s pulling back the bolt to chamber another round; he’s not getting off another shot if I can help it. As he puts his eye to the scope, I summon a field of darkness to obscure the scope as I silently move towards him. He curses, takes his eye off the scope, sees the sky is still perfectly clear, and settles in to put his eye back on the scope. “You know, buddy, you look through those too long, your vision’s gonna get all messed up,” I say, laying a hoof on his shoulder. Before he can react, I grab his shoulder and slam his head into the railing. Instant K.O. I summon a light blade and sever the mount, completely obliterating the usefulness of the gun, then send up a flare, signaling that the sniper is down. “Well well, the prodigal son returns. How… expected.” Oh shit. How did I miss the marshmallow on the bed? Before I can react, a bolt of magic hits me in the back of the noggin. “Oh poo! What did those shrinks do to you?” I whip around and raise a shield as she tries to hit me again. “Guess what, bitch? I’m not under your control, or the Empress’s control, anymore.” I begin pushing a bolt of light towards her, forcing it up her stream of magic. “So just get out of my way, you mindfucking bitch!” “Oh, you want a mindfuck, do you? Well, how does this feel?” With a flip of her mane, Sweetie Belle’s magic changes. It flows all over my shield, and into the point of origin: my horn. My magic breaks apart as the feeling of a thousand bees, scorpions, and spiders stabbing my brain at the same time forces me to my knees, writhing in pain. “Feels good, doesn’t it? Why don’t you try some more?” “Sweetie Belle!” The pain immediately ceases. I can see a blurry marshmallow in front of me, with a more blurry larger marshmallow behind the first one. “That’s the Crown Prince you are torturing!” “You think I don’t know that? You know as well as I do that he’s not really the prince. So, really, I can do whatever the buck I want to this peasant!” The small marshmallows top starts glowing green, but is swamped by the large marshmallow’s blue glow. “No, Sweetie! The Empress shall decide his fate.” Now my hooves are glowing blue, and I can’t feel the floor anymore. Oh, wait. She picked me up and is taking me to the Empress. I should be worried about that, shouldn’t I? Oh Celestia, I need to be worrying about that! I wriggle, trying to break free so I can defend myself, but her magical grip is too strong. Soon enough, I’m back in the throne room. Sweetie Belle broke off from her sister at some point, so it’s just me, the Queens, and the Empress, all six wearing the blackened Elements of Harmony. She’s looking less than amused. “Really? You seriously thought you could attack my capitol and live to tell the tale? What part of that plan made sense to you?” “Didn’t… know… the plan. Was… locked up… at the time.” She stands from her throne, beckoning me to follow. Seeing as how I’m currently surrounded by six of the most dangerous mares in the world, I comply. She goes through a door I hadn’t seen before, and with the tang of a fixed teleportation spell, we end up in a cave in front of a deep chasm. “Spike? Oh Spike!” The ground shakes, and a large black and purple head rears out of the chasm. “Yes, Twilight?” It growls. Even its voice causes rumbles in the earth. “We have some uninvited guests down in the city. I want you to go have some fun.” The dragon sniffs. “Hmm, zebra, griffon, and ah! Minotaur.” He starts salivating. “Yes, I want you to make them go away, by any means necessary.” With a nod, the cave turns into a tornado simulator as he beats his massive wings and takes off towards a gap in the roof of the cave. Twilight calmly, regally walks back through the door. “Now we sit back and observe the destruction of your little rebellion.” She points her horn at a blank wall which promptly turns to water. She casts what is obviously a scrying spell, and we now see what the drake is seeing. Clouds rushing past, then he cranes his neck and focuses in on the small group moving up the main road. He lands about thirty feet in front of them, and something catches his attention. He looks down to reveal a mare I don’t know between his feet. He rears back to roast her alive when a small black shape shoots out of nowhere and shoves her into a side alley, leaving the dragon with nothing but some burned pavement. Spike refocuses on the group of five in front of him, especially Bard. “He did always have a hankerin’ fer Minotaur after tha’ one visit to Trixie, didn’t he?” Queen Applejack remarks. I say nothing; I know how this next part plays out. Sure enough, he bathes the group in green hellfire, bringing a gasp from the Queens. I smile; they’re in for quite a shock. The fire fades-no, contracts, to a single point, that point being in Grenda’s claw. Then, half of the spell shuts off. “What? What happened to Spike? How did that griffon--? Who could--?” the Empress turns on me. I can’t help but keep smiling. “You. You know what happened. Explain!” “What can I say? You underestimated us.” I lean back on my haunches. “You know what? I’m getting kinda bored. Unless you have something for me to do, Your Royal Plothead, I’ll just be going.” She looks ready to rip me a new one, but then a light comes on behind those brilliant eyes. “Yes, I do in fact have something for you to do. One of Applejack’s favorite games. It’s called ‘Dodge’.” “Dodge wh—” my world explodes in pain as I’m flung backwards. I shake the stars circling my head, and see Queen Applejack’s hindquarters as she lowers her back hooves. “Okay, I get it now. Do you want to know one of my favorite games? The Clapper.” “Ooh! How does that work? I mean, we can’t clap since we don’t have hands or claws like Minotaurs or griffons but we have hooves so we clop instead!” Ignoring Queen Crazy in the corner there, I continue my explanation. “It’s simple. You just follow a little jingle. Clap on *stomp stomp*, Clap off *stomp stomp*, Clap on clap off. The Clapper!” Like before, I plunge the room into darkness, gaining just enough time to launch a wall of solid shadow at the Apple Queen. She dispels the darkness just in time to get a face full of shadow, knocking her backwards, onto her back in front of the throne, dazed. The Empress looks wary. “Hmm. Rainbow, please make him… not conscious, please.” “You got it, Twi!” She flies right at me… And right through me, landing muzzle first into the carpet. I step out from behind a curtain and cancel the spell. “They never expect the shadow clone.” She gets to her feet cockily. “You know what? They say the same about the Sonic Rainboom. Twilight, which window can you live without?” “Oh, pick any of them. I’ve been meaning to commission a new one anyways.” Queen Rainbow grins, then shoots out the window of ‘my’ birth. I glance in the direction of the Empress. She’s thrown up a pretty solid shield in front of her and her Queens. What the heck is a Sonic Rain— BOOM! I’m thrown against a wall again; I taste colors. “Did anypony get the number on that bitch?” I moan. “Rainbow Dash.” “Thank you.” I stumble to my feet. I try and spit the taste of red out of my mouth; too spicy for my tastes. “Ugh, what are you ponies doing? I said knock him out, not make him tumble! Well, if you have to do something,” a shadow appears in front of me, “might as well do it yourself. Hello, son.” I feel a hoof press down on my back, hard, forcing me to my knees. “Just lay down and forget all about this. It will be all over soon.” She thinks she has me beat. I’ll show her what I can do. She foolishly left herself open by getting so close to me. I power my horn, ready to do a reverse crusher and send her into the ceiling, when her other hoof almost breaks my horn in half. She tsks at me. “Oh, we can’t have you using your magic against your Empress, can we? I have a much better use for that instead!” She leans in close, and whispers in my ear, “Shining Resolve, your mother needs you.” Immediately, I’m thrust out of control of my body. I can still see, but somepony else is telling my limbs what to do. “Yes, Mother? You called?” ----- “Resolve, you fucker. Give me back my body!” “He won’t listen.” Inwardly (I guess you could say my mental self-inside my own mind), I turn and see a small scared colt trying to hide in a corner. “Bright Star? Is that you?” “Yes. Resolve won’t listen; his mom called him out, so he has to listen to her. If he tries to listen to us, he’ll come in here and hurt me again.” “Bright, nopony’s gonna hurt you while I’m here.” “That’s what you said the last time too, Shining. Then Resolve’s mom called you, and you went, and then you came back, and tried to hurt me.” “No, I wouldn’t hurt you. I would never--!” My head starts pounding. Well, my head as in my mental representation of—you know what, just my head. “Knock, knock, Shiny. We were wondering when you would join the party again.” I look, and who enters the ‘room’ other than me. Well, crazy me, I guess. Wild eyes, crazy mane, evil sadistic smile. Yeah, totally me when I went off my rocker. “Oh, don’t be like that. You never went off your rocker; we just found a new one, so to speak. One that Momma says we can decorate with the pelts of all our friends!” “Okay, okay, whoa. First off, crazy me, who from now on in this setting I will call Star, fuck off. Go back into whatever dark corner of my mind you crawled from, and never come back. Secondly, Bright, why don’t you fight Resolve? In here, you have at least as much power as him. Thirdly, I need a way out and a way to force Resolve back in.” “Oh, don’t shove me away from such a good show, Shiny!” Star points towards the eyes. Through them, I see the General and a small force of Warriors behind him at the end of the throne room opposite the throne. He’s shouting something at me, but I can’t tell what. Then, Twilight’s voice comes to me. “Shining Star, would you kindly come and play?” “That’s my queue!” Suddenly, Star is gone, replaced with Resolve. He looks at Bright. “I never did like that one, Bright.” Then, he notices me. “What? Aren’t you—how did— *sigh* He came back, didn’t he?” “If you mean Star, yeah. So, Resolve, any ideas on putting me back in control?” “Why should you go back to the driver’s seat? I mean, yes, Star is insane, but I am obviously the better fit, and Bright outright refuses to do so.” “It’s all my fault!” Bright shouts out. “What?” “That day, the day we got our cutie marks. I got a star flare, Resolve got a shield with a magic burst. We thought we were invincible, so we went to that cave on the edge of the orphanage property the caretakers always said to stay away from. We were both Daring Do, searching for lost treasure in the Forbidden Mines.” “What happened?” Resolve points towards the eyes. “Now is not the time to focus on the past. It seems Star is having fun, and that buys us enough time to get rid of him.” I look, and yeah, fun would be putting it lightly. He’s dancing my body through incoming unicorn and gunfire, moving like a ballerina and breaking a bone whenever an unfortunate pony gets too close. Star is making a beeline right for the General, who is backing up and forcing his soldiers to take the brunt of ‘my’ assault, the ass. “Resolve, this is MY body. I need to be in control, or risk that,” I throw my hooves in the direction of the eyes, “getting loose. He’ll kill everypony we love.” “I understand that. Do you know how long the Lady Sweetie Belle tormented you and us? You held out four weeks before she was forced to resort to torturing us. Every day, he grew more powerful until he forced himself into your place. As far as we knew, you and Star were the same pony.” “Well, we’re not. We need to beat Star; he’s the one who forces control out of my hooves. Any ideas?” “Two of us alone are not enough, even if Bright wanted to fight him. The only way is for the three parts to work as one to force down our errant ‘brother’. And the only way for us to fight him is…” “For you to resist the Empress’s call. So all we can do is wait.” “It would appear that way.” So we settle in to watch the show of Star mercilessly breaking the Warriors apart to get to the General. ----- “Soldier, what are you doing? I order you to stand down!” The General is quickly running out of ponies to put between him and Star. Star tsks at him. “Silly stallion, I don’t listen to you. I only listen to Momma. Right, Momma?” The Empress nods. “Yes, little Shining Star. And right now, Momma wants to see what the inside of a Pegasus looks like. Bring me his cutie mark.” “Okay!” He darts forward. The General backs up against the door; he’s out of ponies. “No, please! I’ll do anything you want! Just don’t kill me!” A coward to the core. “Okay, I want to hold your heart in my hooves. Literally.” Then with a sickening crunch, Star actually punches into the Pegasus’ chest and pulls out his heart, Maretal Kombat-style. After the body slumps to the floor, Star rips apart the combat uniform to reveal the General’s cutie mark: a single jag lightning bolt with wings sprouting from either side. “S-Soarin?” Rainbow flaps over to the body. “How? You died at Cloudsdale. I buried you. You fought the hardest of any of the Wonderbolts, and you were the only one to die that day. How are you here?” “It doesn’t matter, Rainbow. What matters is we finally cut the head off of those wretched Warriors. Shining Star, your job is done. Shining Resolve, your mother needs you.” ----- With a poof, Star returns to the room in my mind. He looks around, and sees both me and Resolve standing to either side of him. “Hey, what’s going on? Resolve, aren’t you supposed to be out there now?” I clarify his question. “Oh, Resolve’s decided to ignore our half-mother. That, and a dose of sensory magic assures that we all stay here until we resolve this unfinished business; namely, you.” “What? What’s the problem with me? I’m awesome!” “No, you’re an out of control psychotic fragment of my mind that shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Are you gonna come quietly, or do we have to beat you into submission?” Star raises his hooves. “Alright, I’ll go quietly, let me just—” he darts left, driving his hoof into Resolve’s stomach. I leap at Star, but he pivots, planting his other hoof into my nether regions, making me fall to the ground with a squeak. “Bright?” I croak. “Could use a little help here.” He looks fearfully at Star and Resolve duking it out all around the room. “I… I can’t,” his voice comes at a whisper. “I don’t wanna hurt anypony, not like the last time.” “What happened?” “I didn’t know the cave was weak. I saw something shiny in the wall. I grabbed it, and the cave collapsed. Resolve teleported us out, but also got a lot of the falling rocks out too. They landed on us, it was all my fault.” I drag myself near him, careful not to do any more damage to my jewels. “It wasn’t all bad. You guys survived, I was born, so to speak, and look where we are now! Fighting to free the world.” “But that doesn’t free us from our own demons, like Star. You know what he is, right?” “I have an inkling of an idea.” I wince as Resolve gets the business end of a vicious uppercut. We need to help him, soon. “He’s my desire to be free, to not be such a weakling. Unfortunately, it’s also all my bad feelings. That’s what Sweetie pulled out when she tortured us, all our evil, and combined them into Star.” “Then you two are the culmination of the good things you had before me. Your innocence, Resolve’s endurance, your willingness to help others, which transferred over to me, Resolve’s desire to protect those he loves. Together, we can stop Star, but only together. Come on.” “No. If I do, I’ll hurt one of you.” “Fine. Just join in whenever you’re ready.” I’m about to leap into the fray again, when a voice I shouldn’t hear bursts through the room. “Shining Resolve, get your flank out here right now young stallion!” A shaft of purple light shoots down to the center of the room. “Yay! More fun time!” Star makes a move for the light, but I knock him away. “Don’t let him into the light! There’s no telling what’ll happen!” I pick up where Resolve left off, giving him a much needed breather. I don’t make much progress in wearing Star down, but I do keep him away from the light. “You wanna know what’ll happen if I get control? Well, your friends will be here soon, and then I get to play all sorts of games with them! I wanna dance around in a zebra pelt, stab a minotaur with his own horns, see how he likes it, de-claw a griffon, then pluck every beautiful feather from her wings and make them into a hat to wear on my butt, just because. And Momma will love me no matter what, even as I snuggle into her fur and break her neck.” The shock from that statement allows him to land another kick to my groin. “Yeah, Momma will love me so much after that! Then she’ll come back and be all better and will love me even more!” I gasp for air. While I recover, Resolve goes at him again. “Bright, please. We can’t do this without you! Think of all the ponies he’ll hurt if he gets free!” “But what about hurting you? You need to be in control of this body; I can’t do it.” “Just help us al—” my eyes pop out of my head as Star AGAIN slams me in the no-go-zone. I fall to the ground even more. “He keeps kicking me in the dick. Why does he keep kicking me in the dick?” “Cause its fun!” He spin-kicks Resolve away, and makes a mad dash for the light. “Bright, you have to stop him!” “No!” the shout rings out across the room, then everything falls silent. I chance a look up. Bright is standing in front of the shaft, head down, his horn piercing through Star’s chest. Star coughs up blood, cackling. “You think a little wound like that can stop me? I’m you, I’m him, I’m Shining, I am all of you. No matter what you do, I will be there, in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to regain control. I will be waiting…” Star slowly dissipates. I stand, as does Resolve. We move to stand to either side of Bright in front of the light. “Now what?” ----- “Shining Resolve! You answer me this instant!” Twilight is on the edge of panic. Ever since she called her son back out, Shining Star’s body has been unnaturally still, not even breathing. Then, after about a minute, he takes a sharp breath. He smiles at the Empress. “Sorry for worrying you, Mother, I was having a disagreement with Bright Star and Shining Star, is all. Also, it would appear Shining Star’s friends are here.” Sure enough, a moment later the doors burst open and six figures step into the room. They stare in shock at the mostly unharmed body of their friend, not realizing he isn’t in control. “Good. Shining Resolve, please show your friends the proper hospitality regarding rebels.” “Why, of course, Mother.” He gives a grand bow. “But first, Mother, I have something to say to you.” “Hmm? What would that be?” She leans forward expectantly. “You are a horrible fucking excuse for a mother.” The smile drops from her face. “What?” “You don’t even know when your true son is in control. You granted a white-coated bitch permission to dig into your son’s mind. You made me go insane out of your fucking pride that everything must be perfect for you. You never cared for your son at all. In fact, Resolve is telling me he’s glad the Warriors took him in. He couldn’t stand how you treated us. And look, as Shining Star, I’ve made more friends than you would ever allow, from all walks of life. And these six are the ones who, today, are going to utterly destroy you. You know why? Because there is one thing, one fucking thing, you can’t plan for: fate.” As if that was a hidden command, the six step forward, between Shining Star and the Empress and her Queens. The words come unbidden from Shining Star’s mouth as the Elements begin to shake of their own accord. “Chryssid, who came to the Warriors when they knew they would kill him, all on the hope I would help, represents the Element of Courage!” Chryssid nods. “Indeed.” “Tiny, the crazy filly who pulled us out of the control of Sweetie Belle, who will never give up, no matter the cost, represents the Element of Will!” “Boom, bitches!” “Grenda, who holds within a raging fire, ready to ignite at the slightest touch, yet always in control, represents the Element of Emotion!” “If you say so.” “Quick Writ, the Pegasus who found weaknesses in buildings and who holds as much knowledge in his head as an entire library, represents the Element of Wisdom!” “Are you sure? You know what I did before this.” “Bard, who thought he lost everything when he left his home. You didn’t lose anything. In fact, you gained a new clan to call your own, representing the Element of Honor!” “I… I have a clan? Yes, my own clan!” “And finally Xenon, who knew the risks of coming to the Warriors, but trusted in her heritage to see her, and us, through thick and thin, represents the Element of Spirit!” “That I can see. I can tell it suits me.” While Shining Star has been talking, the Elements of Harmony worn by the six mares burst apart, one by one, the shards circling the six other beings. “These six have faced every trial thrown against them by friend and foe. These six have shown you no longer have the ability to wield the Elements, and so they take up their mantles as the new Elements of Harmony!” “No! you will not take us down so easily! Girls, give me your power!” A brilliant beam blasts from the Elements to meet another blast from the Empress and the Queens. They dance back and forth, but something is amiss. The Elements are losing ground, bringing the new Bearers closer to destruction. “That should be it! What’s missing?” We are. Two ghostly apparitions appear to either side of Shining Star. The group is not complete. Alone, they will fall. They need a binding force. They require Balance. “Balance? How do I represent Balance?” You are the very definition. Two souls intertwined into one being, both vastly different, yet coexisting as one. “But the dream—” The dream only showed part of the outcome, as every dream has. Fate is fickle. “Balance. I-we are the embodiment of Balance.” Shining Star moves forward, into the maelstrom. Immediately, the beam triples in strength, quickly overtaking the Empress’s beam, washing the throne room in white, blinding light.