Last Chance.
The words echoed in Silver's mind and he glanced around. The words had no voice, and no source. Was it the Text? A warning? He wouldn't give in, ever. They were doing what needed to be done, and doing it well at that. He spread his wings and got Twilight and Night gently. "I just wanted to say I'm proud to be your stallion."
Rainbow landed before them with a smirk. "Shame you didn't measure up to be mine." She turned with a flick of her tail. "C'mon, I think we're almost there."
The green line they had been following terminated at badly bent doors that looked like they slid together, but did so at tortured angles. Twilight trotted forward and sent electricity running out in powerful waves, coaxing the metal to squeal loudly as it came back together in its original configuration. They could hear metal even beyond being healed as the doors slid open smoothly, revealing a spacious command area.
"Welcome, Captain," spoke the voice of the computer. "Error! Intruder has greater number of control artifacts. Correcting." The ceiling collapsed down in a neat section and Silver jumped aside just in time to avoid it.
Night's wings snapped open in surprise. "Stop! Computer, cease, stop, halt!"
"Your commands must be assumed to be compromised. Relax until correction is complete." Lightning spat out of the walls at Silver and he rolled away from them. Twilight threw up a hasty shield, deflecting much of it away even as new turrets formed and wheeled to aim at Silver. "Correction underway."
Silver thought back to his spells, but there was no time to look them up while he was being attacked. He tried blinking away, and his wives were gone. He was in another portion of the ship. He heard a soft click and wheeled around to see a new sort of gun directed at him. With a fwoosh fire and heat bathed him in pain. He blinked again, and somehow ended up back where he started. Why couldn't he jump away?!
Twilight rushed for Silver. "Don't do that again! We can at least help you here."
Night stomped on the ground. "Computer! Stop! I command you! I'm the captain!"
"You will be. Please stand by."
The turrets, briefly pushed back in, sprung back out and began spraying the area in that heavy energy that the ones guarding the entrance had. Silver tried a shield, only for it to shatter on the second bullet. They were too powerful. He was... He felt words rising him, spoken without his volition. "Tell Rough Tumble and Shei they are wonderful people, and that they both have my eternal respect." He heard something whirring behind him and turned just in time to see a buzzing saw coming at him. He ducked beneath it, but that only put him in position to be peppered more easily. His vision swam with stars and dimmed with pain as his body was battered with unearthly force. "Tell Nefertari I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough. T-tell... Don't forget, I love you, both of you. And if you hold this against yourselves, it will be the last insult I'll never forgive." He didn't mean to say it, but he did anyway. He tried to channel force into his lungs, to move faster and more surely.
He dove through the powerful bolts, but never came up. The floor flowed around his neck on contact and held him down. He was trapped. He was trapped and he was going to die. Was this really how it was supposed to end?
Night suddenly landed on his back. "You'll have to kill me to get to him!"
Night's hooves suddenly wrenched off the ground and she was pulled to the ceiling, as if magnetically held to the ceiling. "You are experiencing mind control. You will feel better shortly. Engaging purification."
Walls slid down around Silver, walling him away from the others. He could hear someone banging on it. Sounded like Rainbow Dash somehow. It was getting hot. He was on fire. He was being cooked. There was nothing he could do. A thought came to him and he played the magic he used just an hour prior, trying to gather the he... Oh no... He must have gotten some letter wrong somewhere along the line. The heat wasn't gathering at his horn. He was just cooking. Not learning the alphabet by rote would be his undoing. So many teachers would feel so vindicated.
He focused on the bright purple necklace he still wore, as if he could draw on Twilight's magic somehow to save himself. Part of the wall crumbled inwards. Was that Twilight's magic? A static charge mended up the metal. It wasn't enough. Nothing was enough. He... He failed. He laughed bitterly at himself. To think, he was shedding tears about a world without Night, but he would never experience that. The world would live on without him. He was the one going away. Forever. So called immortality, it didn't stop you from being murdered. His laughter became bitter as tears flowed. He had failed so badly. His wives would be so sad, torn apart. He would be dead, gone, his suffering would end, but theirs was just starting. Why couldn't he do something to stop this? This enemy has no empathy, no care, but still...
"I yield! I surrender! You don't need to kill me."
"Negative. Protocol d-demands death. Your surrender has been logged and will be reported to your nation of origin once it is confirmed." There was silence a moment, just heat. "Go in peace."
Twilight sagged against the wall. All her magic hadn't gotten through it. They'd tried pounding on it. They'd tried begging, screaming, everything, but nothing changed. With a soft hiss, the walls began to rise. Silver wasn't there in the ash and soot left behind, at least not that they could see. Reaching graspers snatched out a few artifacts that brought near tears to Twilight's eyes.
Night watched with wide-eyed terror as those graspers brought a necklace, four horseshoes, and a smaller ring towards her. "Command artifacts recovered. Restoring to c-captain." She stood there numbly as the necklace was put around her neck, and the shoes slipped over her others, merging together into ornate iron horseshoes. The jewel that had once hung behind Silver was slipped onto her tail, where it grabbed near the base and held tightly.
Rainbow trembled with emotions she didn't betray. "N-no way. This is just another stupid magic trick, right?" She spun on Twilight. "He's going to show up any second with his cocky grin, or maybe he'll be crying his eyes out. But he's alright, right?"
Twilight shook her head slowly, but said nothing. Night reached up a hoof to feel the necklace, still warm to the touch. It still smelled, however faintly, of him. The stallion she'd never see again. "You... You promised... We were supposed to raise them, together, as a family." She slowly sank to the floor. "You weren't supposed to ever run away again."
Twilight moved towards Night, her steps stiff and wobbling. "He didn't run away. You know that. He died... as we made him. He died like a stallion."
She bared her fangs in a soundless gesture as tears stung at her eyes.
Rainbow stepped forward towards the mess and reached forward with a hoof. She found Twilight's soul crystal, dull and dead without a pony wearing it. She picked it up and held it close. "Uncool..."
"Captain." It was the computer, speaking without empathy for the event of any kind. "The remaining control artifacts await you. Please give the command to restore them to you."
Night scowled as she rose to her hooves. "Fine, give them to me! I'll use them to tear this whole place apart!"
"Affirmative." Her threats were unheard or simply ignored. A new green line appeared along the ground, directing them into the depths of the control room. "Place your hoof on the indicated panel."
Night Watch walked like a zombie across the room, each step bringing a little shudder. "You killed him, just like that. After everything..." She slammed her hoof on the light panel and it softly beeped at her. "I'll kill you. I'll rip you apart. I'll destroy you and everything you are down to the smallest pieces. They'll forget you even existed."
A crown descended from above. It looked like it could accommodate a horn, but Night Watch had no horn. Wearing it, it gave the vague impression of one anyway. She could feel new senses coming to life within her along with new power. It was synchronizing with the other three artifacts she wore, all becoming more potent in one another's company. The wall beside her slid open with a hiss of steam, revealing a silver tabard. It was a loose garment with a simple hole for her neck and forelegs, with the back part open. She grimly marched up to it and shook loose her saddlebag before stepping into the tabard. "I will destroy you."
In Ponyville, the fires had been tamed and the town had entered an uneasy peace. Eyes turned to the huge silver construct floating over them. What did it mean? With a bright flash of light, Celestia appeared, and a loud cheer erupted through the populace. Celestia was there, and everything was certain to be alright. She told them Twilight and Silver were handling it personally. They had everything well-in-hoof.
Celestia didn't tell them. She had a dream of a majestic pony, a lunar pony, wreathed in powerful magic and victory. It had to be Silver. She remembered it having a horn, and those wings. Why, it even had the jewelry he had. Everything would be alright. "Don't worry anypony."
The silver object visibly shuddered, then lurched to the left as it began to sag. Fire and bits of debris exploded out of one side of it as a figure emerged only to loop around and dive into it, punching a hole in it. Celestia gasped in amazement. "I didn't know Silver had grown so strong." She smiled at the display as the huge thing was torn asunder from the inside. She saw Rainbow Dash and Twilight emerge and began descending. Hmm, had Night Watch simply not gone with them? Curious.
Twilight landed before Celestia and bowed. "Princess... I have bad news."
Celestia perked an ear. "Bad news? It looked like things are proceeding smoothly."
Twilight sucked through her teeth. "Not... Not exactly."
Rainbow suddenly blurted, "He's dead!"
Twilight glared at her, but didn't correct her.
Celestia felt something inside her twinge. Had she misheard? "Who's dead?"
Twilight swallowed heavily. "S-Silver Stars... He's..."
Celestia's expression fell from delight to horror. "How? I just saw him!" She thrust up a hoof as the figure exploded free of the ship. "Who is that?"
Rainbow crashed to her haunches. "Night Watch. She's super pissed."
The entire town watched as the several more huge holes were ripped into it, then things went quiet. It shuddered, then shot up into the sky, becoming as small as a dot in just a few moments. Night Watch descended from the sky with a tear-stained face, but wearing armor fit for a prince that was no longer there.
The town was safe, but their newest royalty, lost. Everyone headed home. Some simply confused and sad in a detached way. Others wore the hurt far closer to their hearts. Twilight and Night supported each other on their way back to the castle. Rainbow flew home, insisting she was fine.
The day was saved.
The story was over. Once human, once foal, once mare, once princess, once prince, once diplomat, now dead. He never got his rainbows. They never shone for him. His part in the grand play of things was over. Perhaps it was for the best. There were others who needed their time in the light. The world would spin without him, as it had before him.
He can only hope the words of his story were worth remembering. That he was worth remembering.