//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23: Those Who Stand Behind Us 
// Story: Oathbound 
// by ChronicleStone 
//------------------------------//

Royal Vault of Magic Artifacts
May 1, 9:20 A.M.

Another small cascade of debris fell from the ceiling.  Cracks were now evident in the walls and floor of the room.  And as powerful as Boulder had proven to be, Sky knew better than to presume that he was giving it his all.
He wasn’t even close.
Sky had often wondered how he would match up against Boulder in a brawl.  It was no secret that the earth pony’s strength was titanic, but Sky had figured that his own speed would prove as an effective countermeasure.  Everything about Boulder was physical.  He could have been Equestria’s best bouncer.  Intimidating stature, immense strength, near-endless stamina—the dude was a brute.  Even his magic went to further enhance his already impressive power.  But Sky was different.  He was a speedy little aerialist with a nasty bit of magic at his beck and call.  If anypony should have been able to defeat Boulder in a fight, it was Sky.
At least, that’s how it worked in his head.
But now that he was actually engaged in battle with Boulder, Sky saw how different reality was from his preconceived notions.  Boulder was strong, true, but he was also a bit faster than Sky had counted on.  What was more, with each kick, jab, and swing he fired at Sky, a shockwave emerged from the impact area, forcing Sky backwards.  Boulder could effectively just keep punching stuff and batter Sky from a distance.
The effects of the struggle had taken their toll on the chamber.  Displays had been upturned and tossed all across the room, and the priceless artifacts they once held lay scattered carelessly upon the floor.  Hoping to preserve what he could, Sky hovered in the air, avoiding any contact with the ground.
“Having a hard time, Blitz?” Ghost called out from the far side of the room.  He sat upon his haunches, watching with a distinct look of interest as the two combatants fought against each other.  He bore an infuriating smug grin on his face, but as he spoke, it seemed to transform into a sneer.  “I picked Boulder to come with me for a reason.  If you’re anything, you’re stubborn, and you’d fight to the death to make sure you got to face me.  So I had to make sure I was prepared for you.  Seems I’ve done well with that.”
“Save your breath,” Sky huffed.  “I’m saving my best for you.”
“I’m honored.  But you’d do well to make sure you get to face me, first.”
“Don’t mind him.  Focus on the task in front of you.”
Easier said than done.
The fight with Boulder was easily the focus of Sky’s mind, but the identity of the disembodied voice he had been listening to for about twelve hours now was a matter that had grown in importance.  He wasn’t comfortable with someone (or something) probing around his thoughts without his permission; much less someone without an identity.  But somehow, the voice seemed to invoke a sense of familiarity within Sky.  Somehow, he knew who it was; he just didn’t know how he knew.
“I promise, I am your friend, Sky Streak,” the voice said, apparently privy to Sky’s musings.  “I am just as invested in this as you are.  Perhaps more so.”
I’m not sure that’s possible, Sky returned.
“Perhaps it is not, but at any rate, you cannot afford to focus on anything but your opponent.  To battle!”
Sky couldn’t have agreed more.  Boulder had successfully won several tournaments of physical strength, even without his magical abilities.  Throw that in, and Boulder was a hooffull, at the least.  He probably could merit two or three hooffulls, no problem.
Which, of course, meant that Sky still had a hoof left over.
He came out of his contemplation just in time to see Boulder diving right for him, hoping to take advantage of Sky’s lapse in focus.  Sky surged forward, sliding underneath Boulder’s outstretched legs.  As he did so, he let loose a sustained bolt of magic into the earth pony’s underside.  Boulder roared in pain, landing awkwardly on three legs, while he clutched his scorched chest with his fourth.
“I really hate to do this, Boulder,” Sky said as he rose from his crouching position, a sincere sadness in his voice.  “I hope you’ll forgive me when all this is over.”
“I doubt he’ll have the opportunity,” Ghost interjected from where he sat, casually observing the battle.
“I don’t remember talking to you,” Sky snarled, casting a dark glance at the unicorn.  “It’s rude to snoop in on a private conversation, you know.”
“I’m afraid that Boulder isn’t home right now,” Ghost replied with a smirk.  “I can take a message for him, if you like.”
Sky’s wings sparked defiantly.  “You know, I’d rather give him the message in pony.”
“Good luck with that.”
Boulder’s hoof smashed into the floor, breaking the wooden panels apart, sending splinters in all directions, carried by the shockwave of the impact.  Sky leapt into the air, rapidly spinning as he aligned himself lengthwise to the point where Boulder had struck.  Fragments of the floor flew all around him, but Sky merely held his focus and opened his wings, catching the shockwave as it surged past him.  The force of the wave launched him into the air right as he triggered his magic, turning him into a high-velocity bolt of lightning, ricocheting off every surface until he came back around, slamming into Boulder’s jaw with enough force to snap a young tree in half.
Sadly, Sky found that Boulder’s durability far surpassed that of any tree.
A split second later, and Sky would have been turned into a grease stain on the wall.  He saw Boulder heft back into a terrific swing, hardly even flinching from Sky’s savage blow.  With a sudden jolt of adrenaline, Sky dropped to the floor, avoiding Boulder’s hoof by mere centimeters.  The force of the swing was so powerful that the wave of air behind it caused Sky to slide along the ground for a foot or two.
The adrenaline continued to pump, but Sky managed to retain his wits.  OK, beating him with my hooves obviously isn’t gonna do it.  What plan am I down to now?  D?  E?  Z, probably.
The floor directly in front of him shattered into a thousand wooden splinters as Boulder’s hoof again smashed into it.  Reacting instinctively, Sky backflipped away from the blast, allowing the shockwave to carry him away.  He winced as his body was peppered and scratched by the shrapnel from the initial explosion while he spun through the air.  His hooves made contact with the floor, but he continued to skid along its pockmarked surface for a few more feet before he finally came to a stop beside the unmoving forms of his partners.
One look at their limp bodies lit a fire in his brain.  They’re counting on me.  I’m fighting for all of us now.
But just before he looked away, Sky caught the gleam of a twinkle from Ace’s right eye.  A quick second glance confirmed his suspicions: Ace had just winked at him.
Take him down, Blitz, Ace’s voice came to him.
Have you been paying attention?  I’ve been working on that for a while now, Sky fired back.
Scope’s voice was next.  If you had been paying attention, you’d know that any kind of physical attack isn’t going to do much.  You have to attack him in a way that will hurt him.
Nice a thought as that is, Sky answered, I’m running a little short on magic.  I used a ton of it before I got here, and I’m sure I’m gonna need some left in reserve to take down Ghost.  He eyed Boulder warily as the earth pony paced back and forth before him.  Unless you think he’s just gonna surrender as soon as all of his lackeys hit the dirt.
Not likely, Ace agreed.  But don’t worry; we’ve got that covered.
Masking his shock took almost all of his willpower.  You?!  You just tossed around by this guy, and you’re expecting to take on the mastermind of all this?  Are you insane?
One crisis at a time, Blitz.  Boulder first.
Sky took a deep breath, exhaled, then swallowed.  I sure hope you guys know what you’re talking about, or we’re all dead.
Boulder was basically immune to attack.  No kick, buck, tackle, or blow of any kind was going to do much damage to him.  Which left only one real option.
It had to be Sky.  He was unique.  Celestia had told him that the rest of the Alicorn Guard had been given their special magic through artificial means.  But Sky’s power had come to him by the union of magic and raw conviction in the crucible of adversity; birthed into existence not only by the spark of magic, but by the very Element of Magic.  It could not be replicated in a laboratory or experiment chamber.  It was an achievement of the highest order.  Magic in its purest form.
But would even that be enough?
It’ll have to be.
He looked at Boulder, stationed between Ghost and himself like the final obstacle he had to overcome to prove himself.  He glanced at Ace, who winked again; a silent show of confidence and support.  He looked down at his ragged shoulder wrap, ripped and torn.  But with the touch of his hoof, two brightly glistening brooches fell from the folds in the cloth, dangling from the tattered scarf and flashing in the occasional lights of the vault.
Sky was never able to explain what happened next.  It seemed to him that it happened almost in slow motion, but everypony else that witnessed it swore that it took only a few seconds, and that Sky was little more than a shining blur of motion.  All Sky knew was that at that moment an irresistible compulsion rushed over him, like when his friends had rallied to him as he faced the Chimera for the last time.  It was as if all of reality was tugging at him, urging him forward to the point that he lost the ability to resist.
He flew like a missile, ramming straight into Boulder with an explosion of magic that lifted the earth pony off his hooves.  Sky didn’t let up; his wings flapped in the air with the pace of a drumroll.  His momentum and power carried Boulder into the air and into a far wall, where Sky pinned him.
“I’m sorry, Boulder,” Sky said with unnatural calmness.  “But I’m done letting Ghost use you like one of his pawns.”
His wings began to shine—not glow, shine—and his eyes followed suit.  Magic swirled around his legs and through his mane, making his hair stand on end.  For a moment, Sky saw his reflection in Boulder’s eyes, and he found himself truly frightened by what he saw.  Whoa…that’s me?
He couldn’t afford to dwell on it.  Beyond his own reflection, he saw the unmistakable pulsing of Ghost’s magic in Boulder’s eyes, and the color had taken on a distinctly menacing hue.  The glow spread from the pony’s eyes and encased his entire body in a blanket of violet flames; a direct contrast to the radiance of Sky’s own body.
You’re done using my friends against me.
And at last, the emotions that had consumed Sky’s life over the past week erupted like geysers to the front of his mind, but instead of clouding his thoughts, they energized him; gave him power and focus.  Darkness…darkness isn’t evil.  Princess Luna taught me that.  It’s where evil likes to take root, but it’s not bad in and of itself.
“You’re right.  And what’s more,” his head-voice added, “your darkness does complete you.  It is yours, just as your light belongs to you.  You do not need to fear it.  Control it.  Use it, just as you use the light.”
You know, last year, I would never have taken that advice, Sky thought.  His mind was aware of his current dearth of magic power, but his convictions would not be denied.  His body rose up in response to his outpouring of emotions.  But now I understand it.
Twin beams of magic burst from Sky’s wings like high-pressure water cannons.  They washed over Boulder’s body, extinguishing the dark flames.  The earth pony roared in defiance, but Sky was undeterred.  He could feel sparks of magic leap from his body as he worked, forcing even more power into his attack.  Boulder writhed against the wall, but Sky continued to hold him where he was.
The grey-maned stallion tried to coordinate his flailing limbs into a desperate counterattack, but every time he did, Sky increased the power of his magic beams, causing him to fall back into an uncontrolled frenzy.  Sky watched in silent resolve as he was unwillingly subjected to the images of what his friends had to endure at his own hooves.
Is this what the darkness has done to you, Ghost?  Turned you into a monster that would pit friend against friend in battle?  That’s not the power of darkness.
A cold chill ran down Sky’s spine.  That’s the touch of evil.
Boulder began to glow as a result of his prolonged exposure to the magic assault.  An aching sensation grew in Sky’s chest as he watched Boulder’s agony, while another ache swelled in his head as his last reserve of magic power dried up.
Finally, just as Sky believed that he could sustain his attack no longer, Boulder’s eyes rolled up and his eyelids closed.  Sky’s magic came to a halt, and the earth pony fell limply to the floor with a heavy thud, causing several pieces of nearby debris to rattle across the floor.
Sky dropped to the floor as well, barely managing to get his legs under him as he landed.  He was thoroughly spent.  He thought he had been tired after the final battle with the Chimera, but this was something altogether different.  Instead of being exhausted from the kind of magic he had used, he was now tired because of the amount of magic he had used.  He simply had nothing left to give.
The sound of a stamping hoof echoed from where Ghost stood.  “Bravo, Blitz,” he said over his own applause.  “There isn’t another pony out there that could have made it this far.  Only you.  Bravo, indeed.”
Sky was in no mood to take compliments from his adversary, but he didn’t have the breath to offer a response.  Spots danced in front of his eyes, and it took a fair amount of concentration just to stay on his hooves.  Even taking a few short steps was out of the question.
“It seems such a shame for it all to end here for you, after all you’ve been through and how far you’ve come,” Ghost continued as he slowly made his way towards Sky.  “I mean, I’m not blind, Blitz.  Anypony can see just how much you love Princess Luna.  You’d do anything for her, wouldn’t you?  I can appreciate that.”
Sky was still too winded to speak, but Ghost’s words still registered in his brain.  “Our disagreement seems to revolve around Celestia.  You seem to think she’s just doing a splendid job.  But I can see the truth.  The empire is crumbling around her.  It has been for hundreds of years.  And now, she’s brought it to the verge of collapse.  What we need is a regime change.  Luna realized that a millennium ago.  But Celestia refused to see reason, and now, here we stand again.  Only this time, things will be different.”
Ghost’s neutral face once again twisted into a gleeful scowl.  “You see, Celestia thinks she’s safe.  She’s so lost in her own delusional reality that she would never think that anypony would dare to stand up to her.  But her time is at an end, Blitz.  Her day of reckoning is here.”
The unicorn threw his head back and began to cackle like a maniac.  “Finally!  After a thousand years, the day has finally arrived!  One thousand years of vengeance will at last be unleashed upon my family’s greatest adversary!”
Then, with a sudden stoicism, he let his head fall as his eyes drew into narrow slits in his head.  “You see, Blitz, revenge is like a debt: it always finds you in the end, and it’s always bigger than the initial investment.  And this one just happens to have a millennium’s worth of interest on it.”
Sky could taste the bile in his mouth, but he felt like an ursa was sitting on his chest.  Every breath he took made his throat feel like it was on fire.  His wings resembled limp blankets as they hung at his sides.  His brain wanted to lash out and stuff Ghost’s stupid face in a feeding trough somewhere.
But his body simply had nothing left to give.
An orb of dark magic appeared and began to grow into an enormous ball of impending death.  “Was it worth it all, Blitz?” Ghost asked, a curious sincerity in his query.  “Was everything you did worth it all just to come here and die alone?”
Sky’s voice still refused to come.  But before his mind could succumb to his fate, another voice broke the silence with a defiant reply.
“He’s not alone.”
A feeling of hope surged in Sky’s mind.  Right…Ace…
“Oh, please,” Ghost scoffed and rolled his eyes.  “You two?  You couldn’t even handle Boulder.  You think that you have what it takes to stand against me?  You’re in for a rude surprise.”
“You’re not as clever as you think you are, Ghost,” Scope growled.  “You may have heard everything we’ve said over the last few months, but you obviously haven’t remembered it all.”
Sky remained where he was, still fighting to regain his breath.  Ace and Scope were behind him where he couldn’t see them, but even in his dazed state, he could sense the dramatic magic buildup and growing light from where their voices spoke out.
“Oh, what?” Ghost sighed.  “Some ill-conceived, last-ditch effort to beat me?  How cliché.”
“I guess you could call it that,” Ace said, and Sky found some small comfort in hearing the typical mischievousness again in his commander’s voice.  “But you’re right about one thing: we’re no match for you.  I wouldn’t even dream of trying to face you.”
Sky’s mental gears began to turn.  Hold on.  What’s he up to?
Ghost seemed equally perplexed.  “Then what’s all this about?” he asked, gesturing towards the pair of ponies.
“It’s not our right to finish this fight,” Scope replied.  “Only one pony here has earned the distinction of taking you down.  We’re just here to back him up.”
“Blitz!” Ace shouted.  “How about you take this creep down so we can all go home?”
The truth of the situation suddenly hit him.  “Wait, Ace!” he croaked as he finally found his voice.  “You won’t have any magic power left!”
“Then you’d better make it count!” Scope answered.
Sky didn’t have a chance to respond.  Before he could manage another word, he was swallowed within a glowing wave that rushed all around him.  It felt familiar, but as it brushed up against his skin, it tingled and sparked as though it was trying to interact with him.  And the longer he stood within its flow, the more it swirled around him in a gentle embrace...
Until it began to enter him.
Sky never found words to describe the sensation.  It was like sweating in reverse, or like an ache that worked its way deep into his bones from the outside.  It made him nauseous and queasy.  He felt as though a slimy eel had worked its way under his skin and was slithering around within his body.  It was a completely foreign entity that had entered into his system.
But even so, Sky knew exactly what this was.  In spite of all the discomfort, it was exactly what he had needed, just as Ace had promised.
It was magic power.
Ghost’s dark magic globe abruptly fired a beam aimed right at the pegasus.  Sky didn’t need to see it to know that it was powerful enough to have turned him into a puddle had it caught him unaware.
But as it was, Sky sensed it coming.  Perhaps it was some leftover remnant in Scope’s magic that made him more aware of his surroundings, but Sky could feel the shift in Ghost’s spell the instant it began.  In a move that was too quick to follow with the naked eye, Sky launched himself into a furious series of somersaults, extending his magic-bolstered wings like a pair of electric blades.  He landed on his hooves and slid to a stop across the room as the beam split apart and the dark sphere dissipated from where Sky had sliced it clean in two.
He stood up straight and tall, finally able to breathe freely again.  He turned back towards Ghost, who was still staring at the place Sky had been mere moments earlier.  Ace and Scope had collapsed onto the ground, now devoid of any magic power.
Sky had remembered hearing Cubic speak of an old magic spell that would allow one unicorn to transfer a certain amount of magic essence to another, though he hadn’t stuck around long enough to hear how the spell was performed…or if there was a limit to how much magic could be passed on.  He shuddered slightly as he stared at their fallen forms, wondering how much they had sacrificed to give him this one chance to end it all.
Suddenly, Ghost began to laugh, loud and full, yet it was not a happy laugh.  It was cold and unfeeling, as though he had dreamed up some new dark thought to entertain himself.  “Hahaha!  Oh my, Blitz.  Maybe I was right the first time!  Ha!  Maybe you really are impossible to kill!”
Sky sighed.  “If that’s the case, then it’s only because I have so many ponies supporting me that refuse to let me die.”
“Is that so?  I almost feel bad for having to shatter that dream of theirs.”  Ghost once again began conjuring a powerful attack spell.
“Now hold on a second,” Sky interrupted.  “I think you said that if I reached you, you’d explain everything.  I’m holding you to that.”
And, to Sky’s surprise, he did actually pause.  “Well, how about that?  You did make it to me.  Well, Blitz, I’m an honorable pony, so I’ll keep my word.”  The spell vanished into thin air.
I’d say that the “honorable pony” part is up for debate, but if it buys me some time, I’ll let him have it.  “Alright.  The Chimera.  Why was it able to shapeshift?”
“Ah, yes,” Ghost said, nodding.  “I know that you’re aware of my family’s accumulation of magical knowledge over the last several hundred years, correct?”
Sky nodded, unblinking.  Ghost continued.  “The Chimera was a creature that they planned to use in the plan to oust Celestia.  Only my family or Princess Luna could release the creature from its sealed state.  There were dozens of such creatures, but…
“So it’s true,” Sky blurted.  “You really did have a horde of monsters at your beck and call.”
“Indeed I did,” Ghost admitted, grinning cruelly.  “My family gathered all manner of vicious monsters and sealed them all over Equestria in preparation for Luna’s return.  We would have an army ready prepared to march against Celestia the moment Luna came back.  But unfortunately, I couldn’t mobilize quickly enough, and I missed my chance.  But all the preparations were in place.  I just had to change the date.”
Ghost shook his head dismissively and began again.  “But I digress.  At any rate, before they locked them away, my ancestors granted these monsters some rather unique powers.  And the Chimera was granted the skill to change its form.  All it had to do was absorb the body of its victim, and the Chimera would then be able to use that form.  Clever, isn’t it?” he asked, giving Sky an unnerving smile.
“Hardly,” Sky retorted.  “But what about its apparent schizophrenia?”
“I’m sorry?” Ghost asked, looking uncertain.
“It kept changing how it referred to itself.  Like, when I first met it, it said ‘I’ and ‘me.’  But when I saw it at Polarmino, it had changed to ‘we.’  And it kept going back and forth.  Why?”
“Oh.”  A shadow of anger slid across Ghost’s face.  “The Chimera was never a willing tool in my plan.  Luna had inadvertently released it when she went to the Everfree Forest after her return.  That’s where it was sealed, but when she arrived, the seal was broken.  I found it a short time later, and I used a little of that ‘mind control’ you’re so familiar with, and voila!  But the Chimera was never completely under my control.  It was rather stubborn and strong-willed.  It never liked the idea of being under the control of another.”
“I wonder why,” Sky muttered.
“I suppose that it changed its words as its own way of trying to subvert me.  Whenever it had the strength, it would change the words as some sort of subversion.  Perhaps as a sign that it was not the final foe you thought it was,” Ghost explained.
A light clicked on in Sky’s head.  “Of course,” he whispered.  “That’s why it gave me that final warning.  About the source of hatred in Equestria.  It was warning me about you.  It had been all along.”
“Anything else?” Ghost asked, as he began to stretch.
“Yeah,” Sky answered.  “Why?  Why the Chimera and all the monsters?  Why raise an army against Celestia?  You can’t honestly think that starting a war was the best way to protect the land?”
“Weren’t you listening before?” Ghost replied, an edge of irritation with each word.  “Celestia had failed to protect the Empire.  It wasn’t my plan to start a war, Blitz.  Only to show that Celestia was drastically incapable of protecting Equestria from danger.  I had everything I needed to do that.  It would be the final straw in the long list of her failures.  It would have been its own propaganda.  The citizens of Equestria would call out for Celestia to step down because of her inability to protect the land yet again from this sudden horde of monsters, clearing the way for Luna’s ascendancy.  I bestow upon her the Shards of her former self, she vanquishes the monsters, and Equestria emerges stronger than ever.”
“Wait a second,” Sky said, a sudden recollection becoming clear.  “In the windigo colony, the Chimera said something about trying to conquer other kingdoms.  Was that its idea, or yours?”
“Ah.  For once, the Chimera and I agreed upon something, though it was for different reasons,” Ghost explained.  “We both sought the overthrow of surrounding lands, but the Chimera only desired that out of a thirst for destruction.  I, on the other hoof, understood that the destabilization of our neighbors would serve a higher purpose in making Equestria stronger.  We would be the dominant power, forcing our enemies to think twice before assaulting us.”  A toothy grin stretched across his face.  “You see, Blitz, the security of Equestria has always come first with me.  It always will.”
Sky shook his head in disbelief.  “The amount of thought that has gone into this is astounding,” he admitted.  “But answer this: did you ever stop to think about the cost?  About how many innocent ponies would be affected by this plan?”
“Everything has a cost, Blitz,” Ghost retorted.  “You know that.”
“But innocents are never an acceptable casualty!” Sky roared back.  “They are the reason the Alicorn Guard even exists!  And this plan of yours would sacrifice them in order to serve them!  That is the very definition of betrayal!”
And Ghost did something Sky did not expect.  He paused and said nothing.  There he sat, one final step from achieving a goal hundreds of years in the making, and one young pegasus had confronted him with a truth that had forced him to stop and consider his actions.
Sky held his breath and bit his lip.  Was it possible?  Did Ghost still have some shred of nobility and honor that would hold him back from the final step into irrevocable evil?
The silence lingered, piling tension on the scene to the point that Sky could hardly stand it.  Darn it, Ghost, say SOMETHING!
Then, finally, Ghost took a deep breath, then exhaled.  “I have no desire to do harm to any of the innocent citizens of Equestria.”
Sky waited with baited breath.  But before he could say anything, Ghost concluded his thought: “And, thanks to your meddling, there is no need to do so!  I do not need the monsters anymore!  I only need to be rid of you!”
A dozen black globes burst into existence around the room, and, before Sky could even complete his gasp of surprise, they each fired a beam of deep violet fire, converging in a violent explosion where the young pegasus stood in the center of the room.
Ghost chuckled for a moment, clearly enjoying the scene.  But his pleasure was cut short as a piercing stab of shining blue light stabbed through his spell and tore it apart, revealing Sky Streak, wings wrapped forward around his face in a defensive position.  And as he pulled his wings apart, his eyes appeared as the tempest in the heart of a thundercloud, ringed with lighting and swirling with a furious wind.
“Oh, please,” Ghost scoffed.  “You can try to make yourself look as intimidating and fearless as you want, but you’re not hiding anything.  I’ve been in the Guard long enough to know fear when I see it.  You’re scared.  And fighting afraid is a sure way to lose.”
Sky splayed his wings wide at his side and crouched, ready for battle.  “Yeah, I’m scared,” he admitted.  “I am scared of losing to you.  I’m scared of facing an uncertain future.  I’m scared of going through the rest of my life without my best friend there with me,” he yelled, his voice cracking.  “But that fear isn’t who I am!  That fear reminds me of everything I love and all the things I have to live for!  And I refuse to let you steal that from me, and from all the other ponies in Equestria!”
“You refuse?” Ghost replied.  “Don’t even try to lecture me on stealing something from somepony.  Storm Emblem’s descendants have waited for hundreds of years for this chance to reclaim the honor and dignity that was stolen from them.  I have a history spanning centuries at my back.”  His horn lit up as he gazed at Sky menacingly.  “What do you have?”
But Sky was undaunted.  “You may have hundreds of years of hatred behind you, but I have the strength of thousands of ponies in this very instant standing with me!”
“But they’re not here with you,” Ghost countered.  “You’re all alone here.”
Sky smirked and jostled the brooches at his chest.  “Shows what you know.”
The time for words is over.  For everypony in Equestria, I will end this.
His magic power grew like a thunderstorm behind him.  And all around the room, Ghost’s dark magic seeped in through every crack in the walls and ceiling like oil through a sieve.
Here and now.