The blackness surrounded Twilight’s world, encasing her in a writhing mass of dark tendrils which flowed and contracted across her thin shield of magic. Yet for all its apparent frailty the barrier held, warping and deforming but not breaking. The strain however was causing Twilight’s horn to burn with pain.
“So this is the famous Twilight Sparkle? I have to say I’m a little disappointed, tales of your exploits led me to think your capture would be a least entertaining,” Ornex’s rumbling voice shook Twilight whole body with its force.
Twilight continued to struggle, but it was like trying to push against a mountain. The encompassing darkness seemed to dance with Ornex’s every word, reveling in his mocking tones as tiny cracks began to form in Twilight’s shield. They spread slowly, but gathered pace as the shadows continued to squeeze the rapidly deforming sphere.
“You’ve….not won yet, just wait until Celestia and….” Twilight grimaced only for Ornex to laugh all the louder.
“That’s the trouble with your co-rulers, they care too much about their little subjects, where as I am happy to ‘spend’ them where needed.” An unbidden vision pressed itself into Twilight’s mind. She saw the battle unfolding beyond her prison and to her dismay she saw both Celestia and Luna struggling against several rams and hundreds of minions.
They were smiting down foes with every sword stroke and casting down undead monsters with fire and lightning, yet they made little progress forwards. For every abomination dispatched there was a whole mindless horde ready to take their place.
Even as Twilight watched, Luna smashed a ram from his ugly mount. The mage was already dead, reduced to ash by the spell, yet the foul monster it had been mounted upon paid this little heed. Resembling a giant bat winged maggot, the riderless beast lunged forward, rancid fangs snapping at Luna who was forced to dodge backwards as stinking spittle splashed over her.
“Brave, noble but ultimately foolish,” Ornex continued on, “I have little doubt they would eventually defeat this rabble given enough time, but by then I will be long gone with my prize.”
The vision faded and Twilight could see the distorted face of Ornex pressing against her shield like an unpleasant crazy mirror. Huge and composed of dark fire, it leered nastily, ”I would ask for you to give up the Seed, but no doubt you will also have some foalish notion of heroism so I’ll spare us both the trouble.”
The spider-webbing cracks spread faster now and Twilight felt her panic rising. Her mind had gone blank in the face of those red pupiless eyes and with a final ‘crumph’ Twilight’s shield imploded. The enchanted fragments vanishing before the dark fire rushed inwards and Twilight screamed her defiance.
To her surprise the Seed around Twilight’s neck seemed to scream with her, but not with fear. It released a shout of anger so fierce that Twilight was forced to cover her ears. A blazing warmth spread across her body, filling Twilight with confidence and assurance.
Twilight recognised the familiar feeling of love and light, the same way she felt when using the Elements of Harmony. Twilight was at first shocked, but then chided herself for being absent minded. The Seed was from the tree of Harmony, of course its magic would feel similar.
But this was a more ‘vital’ power than Twilight had ever felt before. Astounding amounts of magic was flowing from the Seed. Twilight felt like a tiny mote in a whirlwind as the magic poured into her in a torrent. Yet it was also amazingly gentle, like a feather being stroked across her heart.
The feeling of dislocation was almost unbearable in its intensity, being tossed by a storm yet cradled easily in loving limbs all in the same moment. The world seemed to fall away and Twilight recognised the hazy images of time distorting.
“And here is where you prove your worth my little pony,” That frustratingly familiar voice from before came again and Twilight’s very soul resonated to it’s sound despite it being a tiny whisper. “The Seed is but an infant, one that is only now awakening and it needs a guide to help show it the way.”
Twilight looked down to the glowing crystal and felt more than ever the massive weight and potential held within, “I can think of no better example than you dear little Twilight, one who has spent most of their life learning the values and principles of friendship and love.”
Twilight blinked in surprised anger, “You want me to take on even more now? In case you haven’t noticed I’m mere moments away from being horribly killed! What exactly do you expect me to do?”
“I want you to show the Seed your heart of course, let it see the world through your eyes and feel what you have felt. The lessons you have learnt, the friends you have made. Let it see it all.”
“What good will that do, How do I even do such a thing?” Twilight asked desperately.
“Never underestimate the power of example little Twilight. All the dormant Seed has known so far is greed and indifference. hidden away by those who coveted its power instead of sharing such a gift as intended. The Seed has only perceived the world as a bad dream, one that has pained it dearly. Now it is ready to awaken and needs to be shown that the world is not entirely evil. There is light and hope as well as darkness and hate. Most importantly of all it needs to see which of these forces is stronger.”
“I don’t understand,” Twilight replied in confusion.
“You will.”
“When!” Twilight snapped.
“In time. Step by step, day by day you grow, each experience laying a foundation for a magnificent finish. What that end will be all depends on the choices you make. The seed is just beginning on its journey and I want it to have the greatest chance of fulfilling its purpose…..”
The world snapped back into focus and in that instant Twilight acted purely on faith, trying her best to prepare herself. The Seed which had already been glowing brightly suddenly blazed with light. She felt it reach out with a glowing root which passed through Twilight’s chest, meeting no resistance and touched her heart before the world exploded before her eyes.
Smoke, fire and magical sparks filled Pip’s world. The whole ship had lurched, picking up the crew and tossing them around like dolls in a box. The air smelt of burnt metal and Pip nursed his aching head before staring around desperately. Where was Applebloom!
Pip picked himself up, ignoring the cuts and scrapes covering his body and tried to shout through the thick haze only to be rewarded with a lung full of smoke. Coughing, Pip saw several shapes moving in the fog but all details were swallowed by the pandemonium gripping the chamber.
Cries and painful shouts surrounded him, but the burning imperative to find Applebloom drove Pip onwards. She’d only been a room’s length away, a mere fifteen meters before the catastrophe had hit but now it seemed like miles separated him from her. The shields had overloaded and with them several banks of delicate machinery had exploded, turning engineering into a scene from Tartarus.
“Ap..plebl...oom!” Pip coughed before he stumbled over debris, no not debris, it was too soft for... He quickly turned away, not wanting to take in the grisly sight but more so because the limb was the wrong colour. It wasn’t her.
He laboured around a fallen stanchion, every painful hoofstep causing Pip to cry out all the more. His left hind leg was aching and only now did he look down and see the sharp barb of twisted metal poking through it just below the knee joint. Only now did he truly feel the pain.
Stunned and battered, Pip sagged against the nearby wall and instantly reached to remove the jagged shrapnel. Before he could even begin to try a muffled voice yelled at him through the smoke, “Do that and you’re a dead fool!”
Pip started as the serious face of Stave materialised from the choking smoke, the unicorn medic continued to shout through his protective mask, “You’ll bleed out in under a minute if you pull that out.”
Pip felt magic grabbing his hooves and holding them still. The world seemed to spin around him and he felt suddenly light headed, but the image of his beautiful wife forced itself through the hazy mess Pip’s thought had become, “Gotta save Ap…”
“The only thing you’re going to do is sit down before you cause yourself any more harm!” Healing Stave ordered as something else vital in the ceiling failed with a shower of magical sparks.
“But I…” Pip began.
“You’ll do her no good if you get yourself killed by being a heroic corpse,” Stave snapped, his horn aglow.
Pipsqueak could already feel the numbing effects of Stave’s magic dulling not only his pain but his fears, “She’d….never...forgive me if….I…” Stave simply didn’t understand, Pip had to find…. The numbness seemed to be spreading.
Stave produced a small medical syringe as Pip tried feebly to push him away and get to his hooves. The murky liquid inside the tool sparked a random flash of information in Pip’s mind, “Did you know that most of our healing herbs and serums are of Zebra origin? They can do wonders with plants you couldn’t…”
“Yes I’m well aware, can you name any of the plants they use?” Stave asked as he slipped the point under Pip’s skin. Pip hardly felt the puncture and watched in dazed fascination as the plunger depressed.
“I think that there was a green one with blue spots, or was it a blue one with green spots?” Pip mumbled as the ache began to die back, there was something terribly important he needed to do but suddenly it seemed to be so far away.
“Really and that’s called?” Stave replied with a grim face.
“In Equestrian its Speckled Dewdrop, I know because Applebloom’s sister has a book on…” Pip began and his mind latched onto the vital fact evading him, “Where’s Applebloom? She needs me and I can’t..let..her...down…”
The urge to close his eyes was almost overpowering, they felt so heavy and despite the fires all around Pip felt oddly cold, “You know I...I can’t recall what I was…”
His eyes drifted closed before an insistent hoof tapped Pip’s face. “None of that now alright, you were telling me about Speckled Dewdrop,” Stave’s voice called Pip back from the darkness.
“You know she knows so much about plants and stuff, funny if you think about it,” Pip mumbled, “Being a chief mechanic you would think she….” The world darkened again for a moment and when Pip was able to open his eyes he saw a vision that made his heart leap.
There she was, smoke blackened but smiling at him, “Hi Honey, I tried to…”
“Yer just stay still now yer hear,” Applebloom’s tearstained face filled Pip’s world.
“You’re so beautiful, how did...I...ever marry such a pretty mare?” Pip said quietly before he caught sight of Repose standing by her side, “And you! Who do you think you are?”
“I gave him something for the pain but he might get a little delirious,” Stave stated, sounding as if he was speaking through water. His face still grim.
Even through the heavy haze Pip saw they all looked worried but it couldn’t be about him surely? He didn’t feel painful anymore, just a sort of numbness, “Coming around for dinner and, and giving my dearest that look! I won’t stand for it you know….”
“Can yer do anything else fer him?” Applebloom’s deadened question only confused Pip.
“He’s got several deep shrapnel wounds but it’s his leg..” Stave left the word hanging in the air, “It’s a miracle he got as far as he did.” Pip narrowed his eyes, Respose’ legs looked fine.
“Always did push himself too hard, I guess I kept pushin him too,” Applebloom said with a sad smile and Pip felt his heart do a little somersault, she really was so beautiful. Applebloom leaned down until she was nose to nose with Pip, “Don’t yer be chekin out on me yer hear! I need yer now more than ever yer silly colt.” It was a tiny whisper but Pip heard it as clearly as if she’d shouted it from the rooftops.
“I’m not going anywhere Honey, we...gonna...have..a…” Pip began when another wave of weariness swept over him.
“Don’t yer dare! I order you ter stay awake yer hear me!” Applebloom’s shout brought Pip back from the comfortable darkness.
Pip smiled sleepily, “Of course Honey...anything..for..” he managed before the world greyed around the edges and finally went out.
One hoof in front of another, almost there. The bridge was in tatters, the gaping hole in the main view screen funneled air into a torrent that fanned the hungry flames dancing about the catastrophically damaged consoles. Injured and groaning crew members were scattered among the carnage.
“Gossip? Sky? Respond!” Bold shouted before heaving himself another few feet towards the main communications station. There was no answer and Bold cursed for the third time. He could clearly see the towering form of Ornex hovering beyond the smashed windows.
Ornex leaned over a ball of darkness which floated in between his hooves and seemed to be gloating at the prisoner held within. Powerless to act, Bold felt his blood boiling with anger as he could only watch Ornex weave his hooves around the imprisoned Twilight as if searching for a hidden latch on a novelty box.
“Belrio! Are you still with me?” Bold called before gritting his teeth in pain.
“Oui...Captain….I am still here,” Belrio’s laboured response filled Bold with fresh determination.
“That beast has got Twilight, you still able to fly the ship?” Bold looked to the sorry griffon. His feathers were soot stained and several nicks could be seen on his claws and paws. Belrio finally nodded after a pause and Bold snorted approvingly, “Good then I want you to drive the Bloomberg right for him!”
Bold finally dragged himself to the alcove where Gossip was lying next to his seat. Patches of his coat were scorched but to Bold’s relief he was still breathing.
Bold reached for the controls only to see a blackened mess of wires and warped panels. Letting loose a string of curses Bold was amazed when Gossip suddenly turned and smiled up at him, “Wow sir I’ve been doing communications for seven years and I’ve never heard…” Gossip’s comments were interrupted by violent coughing.
Bold couldn’t help but admire his gumption, “Glad you’re still with us, no doubt medics will be on their way. Think you’ll live until then?”
Gossip chuckled humorlessly, “Takes more than an exploding console to take me out.”
Bold glanced back at the ruined mess, “Any chance of getting it working again?” He helped Gossip to his hooves and watched as his face fell.
“Maybe with a week’s work and a whole crate of replacement parts,” Gossip concluded and Bold nodded in resignation. “But I can see if the backup lines are working.” Gossip shifted his smouldering seat aside and opened a panel near the floor.
The Bloomberg begin to turn with agonising slowness, the floor tilting slightly as Belrio angled the ship about, “We only ave minimal steerage Captain.”
Bold snorted as the bad news kept coming, “Just tell me you have enough control to position us for a broadside.”
“I will try Captain,” Belrio added.
Bold Storm was only half listening to the reply. He watched as Gossip unfolded a complex looking set of levels and buttons before giving a triumphant laugh, “Sir we have backup comms working, it will take longer but I can at least talk with the rest of the ship.”
As if eager to prove the point the device began to click and clatter, evidently others were trying the same system to reach the bridge. Bold secretly thanked Applebloom’s insistence that a simple semaphore had been put in place for just such an occasion.
Gossip’s blackened face formed a scowl, “Looks like most of the systems have been shorted out sir. Engineering is doing their best to get us moving again but chief reports it won’t be any time soon.” Gossip explained as the collection of cables and switches danced.
“At least tell me we have enough power to give that Ornex a volley to remember?” Bold almost pleaded.
The reply was awhile in coming, but finally the answer came after a series of ‘clacks’, “Chief says the whole power grid is shot Captain, it’s lucky we’re still afloat.” Gossip translated and Bold grunted.
“Sky I want you….” Bold began only to remember that Skyeye had been ominously silent up there in scrying control. Ice filling his heart, Bold gazed up. The dome was still intact, but had a certain stillness about it.
The shared look between Gossip and Belrio showed Bold that they both harboured the same sudden fear. Stepping forward and peering into the glassy bubble, Bold tried vainly to see if the zebra was moving but there was too much smoke and grime masking its contents.
“Sky? Answer me you daft foal!” Bold bellowed but all that greeted him was the sparking and fizzing of broken machinery. Wheezing, Bold stomped past the other recovering bridge before glaring up at the dome as if it had personally insulted him. With a trembling heart he pressed the release command to the scrying pod and caused a small hatch to pop open a few inches.
Several wisps of smoke curled out of the gap and Bold felt his chest tighten, “Oh Skyeye….”
Bold forced the hatch wide open and peered inside. He stood there for several long moments taking in the sorry scene. The young zebra was still in his chair, but had trails of blood leading down his muzzle and from under his goggles. Several guttering fires were all that was left of his delicate controls and Bold felt the rising anger fighting with empty loss within his chest.
“I want those guns working this minute. Tell Applebloom I want her to squeeze every last ounce of power, even if we have to take it from the floatation enchantments!” Bold’s voice had taken on a dangerous edge now.
Several things happened in quick succession, breaking the sombre silence that had settled upon the bridge. Blood chilling screeches filled the air and Bold saw that several of the flying dead converging upon the stricken Bloomberg.
Quickly pressing themselves through the now breached viewscreen came a mass of snapping jaws and raking claws. The already shaken crew began to cry out in panic but Bold simply reached down and, with cold fury seething inside, picked up a discarded rifle off the ground. The weapon’s former owner had little use for it now.
Raising the barrel in an almost detached manner, Bold sighted along its length with an expression hard and cold as stone. He was dimly aware that several soldiers and medics burst onto the bridge but blocked out their cries of alarm. He ignored the swarming monsters forcing their way onboard along and the eruption of gunfire that greeted them. His vision narrowed to a point beyond scrabbling undead who were ripping their own wings on the jagged hole and looked right at the source of their woes.
A tiny voice in Bold’s mind was telling him it was an impossible shot, the distance was too far and even if he did hit it, beyond his power to harm. Still Bold defiantly took aim at the gloating face of Ornex just visible past the horde of horrors and with furious calm pulled the trigger.
The shot passed cleanly between two scrabbling beasts and shot out into the world beyond but Bold never saw if the round hit its target. The swarming mass quickly hid Ornex’s triumphant expression and Bold felt the rest of the world coming back into focus. He’d made his personal act of defiance and so with heavy heart turned his attention back to the undead already falling upon the crew all around. Bunching his muscles and squaring his barrel chest Boldstorm roared, “By Celestia we’ll make them pay for all this!”
Bellowing his anger, Bold rushed forward and butted the nearest creature full in the chest. It was hurled back and Bold was coated in a mix of slushy vita and powdered ice, yet he didn’t stop. Rage fueling his blows, Bold turned the rifle in his hooves into a club. The delicate weapon crumpled, never being designed to be used in such a manner but the lumps of misshapen ice fared far worse. What passed for their faces and chests crumpling under the flurry of blows.
Bold rampaged about himself, bellowing his loss in snorting shouts as he rammed his horned head into rotting bodies. Limbs crumpled, necks snapped as Bold threw all of his pent up grief into his blows. Yet it wasn’t enough.
Even as the other crew rushed forward, taking heart at Bold’s fierce example, the undead were gaining ground. Moment by moment more were pouring onto the bridge and Bold thought he heard the sounds of claws scrabbling on the hull even other the desperate roar of battle. He could picture the monsters forcing their way into the various rents that now covered the Bloomberg’s hull.
Bold could imagine the desperate fighting that would be taking place in the cramped corridors and felt his despair threaten to smother his anger. They were failing, dying and his beloved ship was falling with them. Would Equestria be able to stand after this? Should Ornex get the Seed would there be any force in the world that could stop him from spreading his domination across the nations? Not without even more bloodshed and pain.
Just when he felt the last of his heart’s fire burn out the undead suddenly wavered. The press of abominations slackened and to Bold’s astonishment they began to mewl about like blind infants, each one emitting a blood chilling wail. Nor was that the only surprise. The room was growing brighter, a fiery glow was building outside the ship and its reassuring light caused the undead to cower like rats from a thunderstorm.
Not waiting to see what had caused their foes to slacken Bold lunged forward, fresh zeal rising within himself. He battered down one confused monster before stomping it into slushy ice. The crew all around followed suit, beating back the beasts with improvised clubs and blades.
What had been moments away from a valiant last stand had suddenly become a brave countercharge. The undead were thrown back, not even making an effort to defend themselves. All the time the fiery glow beyond the ship continued to grow, its radiance filling the sky with searing light.
Bold barreled forward, casting one of the last undead clean through the hole in the bridge’s screen before finally catching sight of the amazing event before them all. It was as if a new star had come down from the heavens and was now being held reluctantly in Ornex’s hooves.
Dazzling lines of light were reaching out from the orb like questing vines and ensnaring Ornex like glowing roots coiling around a stone. Where they touched the dark fire waned, choked by the reaching tendrils which bound themselves all the tighter around the ram’s limbs and horns.
Shielding his eyes, Bold thought he saw the glowing outline of an alicorn at the centre of the light before the radiance built so bright that Bold was forced to look away. A thunderous cry of anger and fear shook the world and just when it seemed the world would break at its sound a shattering noise arose. It was as if a thousand windows had just exploded before a ringing silence followed.
The light winked out and left burning after images in Bold’s sight, but that didn’t stop him from looking back in wonder. There, in the sudden peace, was Twilight with her wings beating slowly.
Of the massive shadow ram there was no sign, except…. Bold could hardly believe what he was seeing. A tiny figure ram, not much bigger than a foal was silently raging within a crystal ball which floated between Twilight’s outstretched hooves. Her eyes were closed and an almost beatific smile graced her face.
The wailing horde was muted and even as Bold watched they began to fall from the sky. Their ice melted and their corrupted flesh burned away as each was engulfed in its own personal ball of white fire. They filled the skyline with trailing motes and as his view sank down Bold saw that the ground was also covered with similar twinkling lights. The numberless hordes had vanished, replaced by a carpet of tiny candles which were even now winking out as the last traces of dark magic was burnt away.
Bold swayed as a huge burning beast bounced off the Bloomberg’s hull above him, its rider also flailing wildly as the mount disintegrated. The ram itself was unburnt and Bold found he couldn’t help but watch as its tumbling form fell away towards the ground below. Only the undead were being burned by the cleansing flames.
He looked back to Twilight who still hovered calmly in the air. She was surrounded by trailing wisps of magic which were even now fading and then Bold caught an unbelievable sound, It was cheering. The call of thousands of voices celebrating the sudden passing of nightmares and war. It rose from the city below, from the soldiers in the sky and from the crew all around Bold in a roar. They had won.