Sunset awoke in Echo's room, with a warm smile on her face.
"Morning, Echo." She sighed. "Last night was amazing. You were so gentle, and caring...."
As she turned, she realized Echo was no longer beside her.
"Echo?" She asked, looking around. "Where'd he go?"
After checking the bathroom, Sunset decided to look outside. Before she did, there was a knock on the door. She answered it, finding Sterling standing outside, nursing a nasty head wound.
"Sterling!" Sunset gasped. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine... just got a nasty bump on the head." Sterling frowned, clutching his wound.
"What happened to you?" Sunset asked, "And where's Echo?"
"I was getting to that." Sterilng frowned. "Echo slipped out earlier to get some fresh air. He was gone for an hour and I was starting to worry, so I went out to look for him... only to get ambushed by that masked freak!"
"The masked pony?! But how?! I thought he was dead!" Sunset gaped.
"I don't know how! All I know is he's alive and he got Echo!" Sterling groaned.
"No..." Sunset pleaded.
"He wants the pages we collected." Sterling continued. "He said he wants them brought to a warehouse, deep in lower Carris." He held up a piece of paper. "He was 'nice' enough to provide directions. He says if we don't give him what he wants, we can say goodbye to Echo."
"We can't let that happen." Sunset said firmly. "We have to give him the pages."
"You sure?" Sterling asked. "I don't think that's what Echo would want."
"I'm sure he won't want to die." Sunset declared.
"But-ah!" Sterling cringed, his wound flaring up.
"You're not really in a position to argue." Sunset placed a hoof on his shoulder. "You need to rest."
"But, I can't let you go al-" Sterling started.
"No 'but's." Sunset said firmly. "You get into bed and rest."
"Yes, ma'am." Sterling sighed. "By the way, Echo hid the pages under the cabinet."
"Thank you." Sunset smiled.
"You be careful out there, okay?" Sterling urged.
"Of course I will." Sunset nodded. "Everything's going to turn out okay. Trust me."
Sunset grabbed the cylinder containing the pages, and departed.
"Who are you trying to convince, Shimmer?" Sterling sighed, as he laid on his bed. "Me, or you?"
Sunset made her way through Carris, following the directions, all the while trying to keep herself from fearing the worse.
'If that masked monster's done anything to him, I'll- no, stop it, Sunset.' She told herself. 'Echo's okay. He has to be. The masked pony's no fool. He knows Echo won't be much use to him dead... right?'
Shortly after, she reached the warehouse. She knocked on the door.
"I'm here!" She called. "I have the pages!"
The door slowly opened. With some trepidation, Sunset entered the warehouse.
It was dark inside the warehouse. Suddenly, a flash of light illuminated it. After her eyes adjusted, Sunset found herself surrounded by cloaked ponies. Some wore hoods, masking their appearances. But a few were unmasked. Earth Ponies, Pegasi and mostly Unicorns were among their number. The masked pony stood to one side, a chained-up Echo beside him.
"Sunset, no!" Echo called, "What are you doing here?!"
"Silence, you..." The masked pony hissed.
"What is this?" Sunset frowned. "Who are all you ponies?"
"Oh, where are our manners?" A voice echoed from the shadows. "I believe a proper introduction is in order…"
Then, stepping from the shadow, was a middle-aged dark blue Unicorn stallion, with a groomed black mane and piercing silver eyes, with a silver-tipped cane levitating aside him, wearing a cloak just like the others.
"My name is Silas Nebudis Necross, leader and founder of the Order Of Darkness..." He announced.
"So, you're the ones behind all this." Sunset frowned. "The ones tugging at that masked menace's leash. The 'Order' Brody was talking about... you're Flatfoot..."
"Correct." Silas nodded. "Though Flatfoot is such a droll name. I prefer 'Silas'."
"Why?" Sunset asked. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why, to make Equestria better, of course." Silas smiled. "But more on that later. Now, hand over those pages, and we will let Mr. Alchemy go."
"Don't do it, Sunset!" Echo pleaded. "Don't give the pages to him!"
"I'm sorry Echo, but I have to." Sunset declared. "I can't lose you. Not after everything that's happened."
"Good girl." Silas smirked.
Sunset gave Silas the cylinder.
"Sunset!" Echo yelled.
"Now, let Echo go." Sunset declared.
Silas started cackling. At the same moment, Sunset was levitated off the ground by the combined magic of half a dozen Unicorns.
"No!" Sunset yelled at Silas. "You said-"
"I lied." Silas smirked. "We still have need of Echo, and you might come in handy too."
"Why Echo?" Sunset struggled. "What does he have to do with any of this? In fact, what does any of this have to do with anything?"
"Well, since you two seem to be so... close, perhaps I should enlighten you." Silas declared. "Bring her over, brothers and sisters."
The Unicorns levitated Sunset over to Echo, and two Earth Pony…
"How could you do that, Sunset?" Echo groaned, "After all that work…"
"They were going to harm you... I didn't want anything to happen to you." Sunset frowned.
"Compared to the fate of Equestria, my life isn't important." Echo declared.
"It is to me." Sunset said firmly. "If the situation were reserved, can you honestly say you'd do any different?"
"...No." Echo admitted. "I couldn't bear to lose you, Sunset. I love you."
"I love you too." Sunset placed her hoof on his.
Silas opening the cylinder, and glanced at the pages within, as the ones the masked pony collected were added to it.
"Ah, the spells of Enslavement, Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Darkness, Pride, Envy and Magic Draining, together at last." He gloated. "Hard to believe so much power could be contained within ten pieces of paper..." He grinned darkly. "Soon, we will use the power of the great King Sombra to rule Equestria in his stead!"
"What?" Sunset growled. "How is conquering Equestria going to make it better?"
"Equestria as it is now is weak, and complacent." Silas declared. "Under our rule, it will become strong and powerful. A force to be reckoned with."
"How dare you use dark magic for evil!" Echo spat. "It's because of ponies like you that my research has suffered such setbacks!"
"Oh, is that what you think?" Silas glared. "I thought you believed it was the ponies to blame for misuse of dark magic, not the dark magic itself."
"...How do you know that?" Echo asked.
Silas didn't answer, instead gesturing to the Order ponies.
"Bring in the projector." He ordered.
Moments later, an old film projector was brought in, a screen set up on the wall.
"Time for some home movies." Silas remarked.
The projector whirred to life. As the images on the screen came into focus, a slightly younger Echo appeared, studying some ancient scrolls. There was no sound, only images.
"Echo? Is that you?" Sunset squinted at the picture.
"No... no it can't be." Echo frowned.
"Oh, but it is." Silas snickered.
The screen quickly turned to a letterbox, saying:
'Echo Hyperion Alchemy'
'Head OOD Researcher'
"W-what?" Echo gaped.
"No way..." Sunset whispered.
"That's right. Echo was once our lead researcher." Silas revealed. "His studies boosted our knowledge of dark magic tenfold. His brilliance and intelligence was unmatched by any of our other scientists."
"Echo?" Sunset frowned. "You were part of this... order?"
"I... I don't remember that..." Echo frowned. "I don't remember any of it."
"Well, maybe these scenes will refresh your memories…" Silas pointed to the screen.
Various scenes were shown. One featured Echo and his fellow researching casting a spell on a wounded pony. The wounds vanished instantly. Another involved the creation of an electrified shield spell that repelled any and all attacks. Yet another depicted the transforming of water into an acid strong enough to melt stone. Another still involved the transformation of simple plants into snarling beasts. The last scene involved a spell that made the test subject break out in hives, which then started erupting... popcorn. The Order members laughed their heads off at that one, while Echo and Sunset watched with stern dignity.
"Yeah, we had some good times, Echo." Silas smiled... before he frowned. "But then came the day of our master plan... funneling the power of King Sombra's spell book into a well-preserved Unicorn horn."
An image of Unicorn members of the order (Silas included) gathered around the book and horn appeared.
"You see, we had this big takeover planned, where we would use a Unicorn horn infused with every dark magic spell imaginable to bring chaos and anarchy upon Equestria and overthrow the Princesses." Silas explained. "A plan that was years in the making…"
As the image showed dark magic flowing from the book into the horn.
"Wait... it was you..." Sunset realized, as she stared at Silas. "You were the ponies that were trying to tap into the powers of the book... the ones that nearly caused the major catastrophe."
"That we were..." Silas nodded. "But you don't know the whole story... you see, just as we were moments away from achieving our goals, Mr. Alchemy barged in..."
On the screen, Echo stormed onto the scene, obviously confused and outraged by what he was seeing. Ponies were attempting to sooth him as he was 'yelling' at Silas and the others, but then, the Earth Ponies made to drag him off... only for Echo to break free and pushing Silas aside, grabbed the book, in hopes of breaking the circuit, but instead, the dark magic began flowing into him, as Echo let out a scream that went unheard thanks to the lack of sound. Then there was a massive explosion, everything going purple and green.
"Interrupting that ceremony could have destroyed us all." Silas declared. "But instead, something else happened. Something... unexpected..."
As the light cleared, the camera angle was sideways, as the camerapony himself was on the ground, as everything was hazy. Then Echo stumbled around, his coat and mane singed and bruised, his glasses broken, as he clutched his head, his breathing uneven, his body shaking.
Suddenly, his eyes grew wispy, then his body began shifting. The camera then immediately darted upright (presumably because the camerapony did) as he increased in size, his frame growing massive, his mane turning shaggy, his wings becoming like a dragon's, his teeth becoming long and sharp, and his wispy eyes turning bloodshot. Everypony in the room let out murmurs, as present Echo and Sunset looked on in mortification. The Echo on scene let out a silent roar as he charged at the camera. The camera view became shaky as the camerapony began firing magic while trying to keep away from him to no avail, as the beast lunged at him, knocking the camera to the ground, as the jaws of Echo tearing into the camerapony was the last thing that was shown before the screen cut to static.
"Poor Lenny. He was a week from retirement before you went and ruined everything." Silas shook his head.
"So... this beast inside of me... this curse... my transformation was your fault." Echo gasped.
"Hardly." Silas retorted. "We offered you unlimited research opportunities. We didn't force you into our group, you came willingly. That day, in that bar in Carris... it was I who offered you the chance to make a difference with dark magic... and it was you who accepted my offer. It was us who had given you everything you could have wanted... and in the end, you betrayed us. What happened that day was your fault, all of it. Your sense of morality and pride was the product of all your misery since then, not us."
"Echo stepped back, horrified.
"Don't listen to him, Echo!" Sunset declared.
"But in a way, he is right." Echo acknowledged. "You saw me on that screen. I was willingly doing research for them. I chose to work under this Order. That decision set it all in motion."
"As you can imagine, Echo's little outburst really set us back." Silas sighed. "Not only did we lose a few members to his savage form, but it caused enough commotion for the authorities to become involved. They confiscated everything, forcing us to start again from scratch. It's only now that we'll finally set everything in motion for a second attempt."
"Second?" Sunset frowned. "After what happened the last time?"
"Of course. We couldn't give up after only one try." Silas nodded. "It wasn't easy, but we've managed to put together a replica, much akin to that horn that was lost in the explosion." He lifted up an artificial horn. "This faux horn will do the job just nicely. And thanks to you, my dear, we now have everything we need to get underway. My compliments."
"No!" Sunset struggled to escape her captors' hold. "I won't let you!"
"You have no say in the matter, Ms. Shimmer." Silas taunted.
Using his magic, Silas reattached the pages to the spell book, which glowed a deep purple as it was made whole again. The Unicorns released Sunset in order to take part in the ceremony, with two burly Earth Ponies holding her down instead.
The book and horn were placed on pedestals, just as in the recording, and the Unicorns' horns lit up.
"At last." Silas declared, as the book began to glow. "A new age for Equestria will finally begin!"
However, all of the sudden, the masked pony made his way towards the circle...
"Um, what are you doing?" Silas glanced back at him without noticing at what he was doing. "This ceremony doesn't concern you…"
"Oh, that's where you're wrong." The masked pony stepped forward. With a wave of his hooves, a surge of dark crystals knocked them all away from the book.
"What is this?" Silas groaned, as he got up. "What are you doing? You obey me! I'm Flatfoot! Your master!"
"Sorry, 'master'." The masked pony shrugged. "Consider this my resignation."
At the masked pony's urging, crystals formed around Silas's hooves, then thrust him upwards, slamming him into the ceiling. As Silas collapsed to the floor in a daze, the masked pony walked over to Echo and Sunset. The other members of the Order tried to stop him, but were knocked aside with crystal whips.
"What are you doing?" Sunset asked. "I thought you were with them!"
"Please." The masked pony snorted. "This ridiculous Order was just a means to an end."
"What do you mean?" Echo asked. "What's your real reason for being here then?"
"Why you, of course." The masked pony declared.
"What?" Sunset gasped.
"Me? Why me?" Echo asked.
"Allow me to explain." The masked pony chuckled. The pony clutched his mask and took it off, throwing it aside, and removed the cowl covering the back of his head...
"What the..." Echo gaped.
"No way..." Sunset gaped.
The masked pony's face was certainly something to be shocked about. His face looked hauntingly similar to that of Echo, albeit a bit older, his mane mussed up, and a jagged scar running along his cheek...
"Impossible..." Echo whispered, "Who are you?"
"Allow me to introduce myself at last." The formerly-masked pony declared. "I am Synchro... and I am your twin brother..."
Sunset's and Echo's jaws dropped lower.
"No, no it can't be..." Echo frowned, before growing angry. "I don't have a brother!"
"Oh, but you do." Synchro countered, "I'm here, aren't I?"
"But that can't be!" Echo insisted. "I remember the explosion! The destruction of my home! I would have known if I had a brother! Because if I did, I wouldn't have been left alone in the ruins!"
"You were lucky, Echo..." Synchro muttered.
"Lucky?" Echo glared, "I was thrown into an orphanage and ostracized by everypony around me. Those were the worst years of my life! I spent nights trying to remember what my mother and father looked like, but I couldn't... I was alone..."
"Trust me, Echo, those memories are best forgotten." Synchro declared.
"Why?!" Echo yelled, "I demand to know why!"
"You wanna know why?" Synchro growled. "Fine... ours was a noble Earth Pony family in Trottingham. At least, it was... Our mother, who was in a loveless and possibly abusive marriage, had an affair with a Thestral, and ended up pregnant with the two of us."
"Who was that Thestral?" Echo asked.
"I don't know. To my understanding, he bailed and left the country... leaving us with..." Synchro paused, as if trying to refrain himself from growing angry. "Nero... our stepfather. A wolf in pony's clothing..."
"What do you mean?" Echo frowned.
"Heh, how you think I got this scar?" Synchro gestured to the scar on his cheek. "Our stepfather, upon realizing what our mother had done, was furious. He hated us from the very beginning. Ever since he found out, he'd try to get us aborted, and when our mother refused, he tried to stage a miscarriage... he was so determined to have us gone... but here we are…"
"I still don't believe any of this." Echo glared.
"Oh, but it's the truth... but being honest, I wish it wasn't." Synchro declared. "The moment we were born, Nero's hate for us grew even more. He would beat us, starve us, treat like dogs... and I mean that literally. He forced us to live in kennels outside for a while. And let's not even get into all the insults and put-downs he barraged us with daily."
"No... that can't be... our life couldn't have been that awful..." Echo whispered.
"You actually believe that?" Synchro sighed, as his voice grew cold. "Let me show you what our lovely stepfather did to me one fateful night…"
He turned away from them, and began taking off his trenchcoat down to his lower back...
Echo and Sunset immediately turned away from what they saw.
"Dear Faust..." Echo whispered.
On Synchro's back, where there should had been two leather wings... there were only two stubs, along with a few fading scars.
"Not a pretty sight, is it?" Synchro pulled his coat back up, as he turned to face him. "Nero did that to me as punishment for the abominable crime of sneaking food from the pantry. He brought me to the attic, tied me up by my hooves, beat me around a little... but then he saw my wings... and it set him off... he began grabbing one of them and began pulling. In that moment, I realized what he was going to do, and I cried and screamed for him to stop... but you know what he did? He laughed... he laughed, and laughed... and tore it off. I was in so much pain, that I could barely feel it when he went for my other wing, and the pain grew worse when he ripped that off too."
"Good lord..." Echo gasped.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Sunset grimaced.
"Well, none of that compared to when he cut me down. The last thing I remember that night was laying there, trying to flap my bloody stubs of wings, seeing that god-awful smile of his... and hearing that laugh... it was the worst day of my life." Synchro mused, his eyes growing misty.
"But our mother... why would our mother allow this to happen?" Echo asked, trying to make sense of all this.
"Our mother?" Synchro glared at him, "Our mother was no better. Even after we were born, our mother just let him do what he wanted with us. All through our childhood, she just stood by while her 'sons' were beaten, tortured, and humiliated by that bucker... and you want to know what she did when that dunglicker tore off my wings?" He slammed his hoof down, his microcrystals strengthening the blow, making a crater. "NOTHING!"
"...No... it's... it just... cannot be..." Echo murmured.
Suddenly, flashes of his past started running through Echo's mind. Jolts of fear and pain, interspersed with a face he thought he'd never seen before, cackling madly.
"Echo, what's wrong?" Sunset asked worriedly.
"Starting to come back to you, huh?" Synchro said with dismay. "A real nightmare, wasn't it?"
"No, please..." Echo pleaded to a stallion who wasn't there. "Stop... please..."
"It was from that day forward that I wasn't going to take it anymore." Synchro declared. "I was going to wipe that smirk off that stallion's face and kill him right where he stand before you suffered the same fate. It just so happened that in our library that there was a dark magic tome, ripe for reading. I began studying into it, looking for a spell that would help me kill him and let me get away with murder, spending weeks after weeks trying to find it... but then, our loving stepfather found out... and he was willing to do unto me what I was going to do unto him."
"He was going to kill you?" Echo murmured.
"Not just me. When he grabbed me, he told me that he was going to kill you as well, so he could rid himself of us once and for all... and then... he said something to me... called me something that pushed me over the edge..." Synchro explained, as he then whispered "A monster..."
"What?" Echo gasped.
"That's right. The stallion who abused us, tortured us, and was going to kill us out of sheer hate, had the audacity to call me, a poor wingless Thestral, a monster!" Synchro snarled. "It was there and then that I decided I was going to rid myself of him once and for all! Using the first spell I could think of, I impaled him on a crystal spike like THIS!"
He brought his hoof up, as a spike formed instantly.
"And I kept summoning spikes after spikes, stabbing him over and over, even after he drew his last breath..." Synchro seethed, before calming down, prompting his crystal spike to dissipate into microcrystals. "However, I used so much dark magic that my body couldn't handle all the stress... in a flash, everything went boom."
"So that's why....." Echo gasped. "That's why I'm an orphan... you destroyed our home, killed our mother..."
"Yeah, wasn't exactly my proudest moment." Synchro continued. "That explosion really did a number on me. It put me in a coma for years... when I woke up, I was alone, nopony to help me. I thought you were dead, just like the others, for a long time. I wandered around Equestria, trying to figure out what to do now with my life, but no matter where I went, I was shunned. Shunned by the ponies for being a Thestral, and shunned by the Thestrals for being a wingless freak, caused by something beyond my control. I was just a lonely poor boy with nothing, but all they saw was a monster and a freak!" Synchro snarled, his hooves shaking, "However, it soon came to my attention that that explosion changed me..."
Synchro pulled open his jacket, showing the microcrystals coursing around his body.
"When that explosion happened, a part of the magic that was in that book somehow infused itself in me, and gave me the power to control these crystals." Synchro explained, holding up a hoof covered in the coiling crystals. "When I realized I could control them... I realized that I didn't have to stand around and be shunned and hated by everypony no more. I was going to make them all pay... I soon found this Order, and 'Flatfoot'..." He glanced at the still dazed body of Silas, "Flatfoot took me in, helped me master my magic... when I learned that they were attempting to use Sombra's spell book to create a new horn... I realized that the time for my vengeance had arrived."
"So what are you going to do? You're going to absorb it's power?" Sunset asked. "After what it did to Echo? After what it did to you and your mother?"
"Of course not." Synchro snorted, as he then had his crystals carry the horn and book to him. "My goal is not to become more powerful....." His eyes grew wispy, as suddenly, the book's magic flowed into the horn, much to Echo and Sunset's shock. "And it is not take over Equestria..." After a bit, he shut the book, cutting off the flow, as the horn now glowed with a dark green hue. "My true goal is simple... the corruption of the Crystal Heart."
"What?!" Echo blanched.
"Corruption?!" Sunset gaped.
"You see, you two, the Crystal Heart spreads light and love across the lands of Equestria, filling each and every one's heart with joy and all that stuff... but, if something like this horn." Synchro held up the horn. "Were to find it's way into said heart, the light would become tainted, and instead of 'light and love', it will spread dark magic!" He then gave a insane smirk. "Every pony in the land will become infused with dark magic. They will know what it's like to be a monster, just like us!"
"Us?" Echo gasped.
"Ponies with dark magic." Synchro remarked. "You and I are special, Echo... that explosion that should have killed me back then... that explosion that should have killed you in the film... it changed us! It gave us the power to use dark magic at a whim! Me, with the power of 'Swarm', the spell of the microcrystals, and you, with the 'Berserker', the spell that transform you into that beast! We became cursed... tainted. And the world has made us suffer for it. But soon, we won't be alone in our suffering! We will curse them with dark magic just like us, and they will come to realize that they are monsters... just like us! The age of dark magic will begin with the chaos that will consume everypony! Every stallion, mare, and foal..." He spread his hooves wide, as crystals formed around him. "We're all just savages!"
"You won't get away with this!" Sunset stepped forward. "I'm sorry about all that has befallen you, but I won't let you bring everypony down to your level because of it!"
"Wanna bet?" Synchro sneered, before turning to Echo. "It's not too late, brother. Join me, and we'll have our vengeance together! No more will ponies call you the monster they fear you to be!"
"Never." Echo growled. "I would never ally with a pony like you. Even if you are my brother..."
"Oh no?" Synchro smiled. He summoned a wave of dark crystals, ensnaring Sunset "What if your lady friend's life was part of the bargain?"
"You wouldn't..." Echo growled.
"Wouldn't I?" Synchro pointed a crystal spike at Sunset's head, "Either help me... or she dies."
"No, don't!" Echo yelled. "See reason!"
"Oh, I'm afraid I'm beyond reason now." Synchro grinned wickedly. "I thought you'd be smart enough to realise that!"
Suddenly, there was an explosion, blowing the three ponies back, and sending the horn flying. The wall of the warehouse blew apart, as a squad of Royal Guards, led by Shining Armor, arrived on the scene.
"Shining?" Sunset lifted her head, "How did you..."
"That doesn't matter." Shining declared. "Just stay down and leave this to us."
"Well, well, well... if it isn't the prince." Synchro mused, the blast only pushing him back a bit, as he rubbed off some rubble. "Had any trouble finding the place?"
"That voice..." Shining glared, "It's you... the masked pony..." He then noticed his face, "...So the monster finally rears his ugly head..."
"Monster?" Synchro sneered. "Can't say I'm surprised you'd use that word to describe me..."
"I call them like I see them." Shining growled. "As it is, even a blind pony could see your evil..."
"Funny how such a noble Prince would be so judgmental." Synchro sneered.
"Funny how mad in the head a stallion can get nowadays." Shining retorted.
"You want mad?" Synchro made his crystals rise up. "I'll show you mad!"
"Attack!" Shining ordered.
The Guardsponies charged in.
"What...?" Silas groaned, as he finally recovered. He realised what was happening. "No, no! Not now! Brothers, sisters, defend yourselves! For the glory of the Order!"
By this point, the rest of the Order members had recovered, and found themselves fighting against their intruders. Shining himself took on Synchro, using his incomparable shield spell to block the mad Thestral's crystal attacks.
"Your tricks won't help you, fool!" Synchro yelled.
"Funny, that." Shining sneered. "I was just about to say the same to you."
"Thank Faust for that." Sunset sighed with relief. "Some nice timing on Shining's part, right, Echo?"
As Sunset turned toward Echo, she was aghast to find him seizing up on the ground. The explosion had elevated his already-aggravated stress levels to beyond breaking point.
"Sunset..." He groaned, his eyes becoming wispy. "Get away..."
"But I can help." Sunset urged. "Like last night, remember?"
"Won't work..." Echo clutched his head. "Not this time..."
"I can still try-" Sunset started.
"Run!" Echo roared, his voice deepening.
Echo's roar drew the attention of the combatants. As Echo transformed, they looked upon him with mounting dread.
"Oh, no..." Shining gasped. "Not now..."
"Brother..." Synchro stared, amazed at seeing his transformation for real.
"Lauren Buckin' Faust..." Silas gaped, "Not again..."
"Synchro, get ready to die!!" Echo growled, charging into the fray.
"Guards, restrain him!" Shining ordered.
"Brothers and sisters, kill it!" Silas demanded. "Kill it now!"
Echo charged across the battlefield, savagely attacking anypony, Guard or Order member, who got in his way. He broke the spine of one Guard, and biting into the neck of an Order member. As he reached Shining, the Prince threw up his forcefield.
"Don't bother trying." Shining declared. "This forcefield kept out an army of Changelings. You can't possibly-"
Echo brought his hooves down on the shield, shattering it.
"Impossible." Shining gasped.
"Get out of my way!" Echo backhoofed Shining, knocking him into the way. "I want some quality time with my brother!"
"Brother! Control yourself!" Synchro ordered, "You're letting the spell control you!"
"I don't care!" Echo roared.
"Keep back!" Synchro fired a stream of crystals, but Echo shattered them with one hoof.
"Why so hostile, bro?"Echo jeered. "I just want to make up for lost time! All brothers fight, right? I figure we've got a lot of that to make up for!"
No matter what Synchro did, he couldn't stop Echo. Echo tried to stomp on Synchro, but he dodged. As Echo tried to attack again, the Guards and Order ponies leapt into the fray. They jumped on him, grabbing onto to his hooves and back.
"Get off me, losers!" Echo swung and threw them away, and continued his chase.
As Synchro slipped through some support beams, Echo smashed through them with his bare hooves. The other ponies tackled him, trying to push him back.
"Back off!" Echo yelled, kicking them away. "You can run, Synchro, but you can't hide!"
Synchro found himself in a dead end, Echo bearing down on him.
"Gimme hoof, bro!" Echo thrust his hoof downwards.
Synchro leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed. But he ended up in a corner, with no way out.
"No!" Synchro snarled, as he turned around to face his brother. "It won't end like this!"
"I'm afraid you have no say in the matter, Synchro." Echo sneered, as he stepped forth. "You murdered our mother, who was innocent! She loved us!"
"She didn't love us! She was no better than our stepfather was! As far as I'm concerned, she deserved to die just like him!" Synchro roared.
"Wrong answer..." Echo snarled, as he closed in.
Synchro attempted to escape by elevating himself with his microcrystals, but before he could get far, Echo slammed his hoof against him, pinning him to the wall.
"Echo!" Synchro gritted his teeth, glaring viciously. "Let go of me! I'm your brother! You wouldn't kill your brother, would you?!"
"I lived all my life without a brother." Echo spat. "So I won't really be missing anything."
"No!" Sunset rushed to his side. "Don't do it, Echo!"
"Stay out of this!" Echo yelled. "This is between me and my brother and it is time for him to perish!" He raised his other hoof.
Sunset used her magic to hold back Echo's hoof.
"No! I won't... let you..." She strained.
"Let... go!" Echo pulled his hoof free. "Now you're gonna get it!"
Echo hit Sunset hard, knocking her down. He un-pinned Synchro (prompting the wingless Thestral to fall to the ground unceremoniously).
"I think it's time we broke up... and when I say 'me', I mean 'you'!" Echo raised his hoof, prepared to end Sunset.
"Echo... please..." Sunset pleaded, her eyes filling with tears. "Don't do this..."
As Echo glimpsed down at her, into her fear-filled eyes, all the rage began to dissipate, as well as the wisps around his eyes. He soon realized what he was doing…
"Wait, what am I..." His voice started reverting back. "Sunset..."
"E-echo?" Sunset murmured.
"Sunset..." Echo whispered, as tears began filling his eyes. "I... I..."
Suddenly, Echo was struck in the head by a magic blast from Shining.
"Gah!" He tumbled to the side.
"All at once, troops!" Shining declared, leading the charge of the surviving Guardsponies.
The Guards Diamond Dogpiled Echo, punching and blasting him with all they got.
"Echo!" Sunset screamed, as she tried to stop them, only to be stopped herself by Shining. "Leave him alone!"
But her pleads fell on deaf ears, as Echo, without any will left to fight, soon fell unconscious. His body then reverted back to normal, albeit with bruises and his glasses broken.
"Echo!" Sunset ran over to him, checking to see if he was alright... before glaring at Shining. "What's wrong with you?! You could have killed him!"
"We could have killed him?" Shining frowned. "He was going to kill you! This is what we were afraid of the moment Echo left the Empire!"
"It wasn't his fault!" Sunset insisted, "He... Synchro..."
"It doesn't matter." Shining frowned. "As of now, Echo Alchemy is under arrest."
"No!" Sunset yelled. "You can't!"
"I can and I will." Shining declared. "Echo almost killed us all. For the safety of all ponies, he must be contained!"
"Echo..." Sunset fell to her knees. "It can't end like this... not after everything we've been through..."
One of Shining's Guards walked over to him.
"We are currently in the process of securing the book and the cult, sir." He announced.
"Good." Shining nodded. "Make sure to get all of them."
"You won't get me!" Silas suddenly charged towards Shining, waving his cane. "In the name of King Sombra, I will crush-"
Shining struck Silas with his hoof, knocking him out.
"Especially the one who was wearing the mask." Shining continued, as if nothing had happened.
As Shining turned to where Synchro was, he found the spot empty. As they glanced around, they saw that the artificial horn was gone as well.
"Oh boy..." Shining murmured.
"This isn't over..." Sunset gasped. "Far from it..."