//------------------------------// // Altruism // Story: Purity Corruption // by TheBlox //------------------------------// Altruise and Nebulous floated face to face in the air, glaring at each other with piercing eyes. The revealed moon and twinkling stars in the sky seemed brighter than ever before, gleaming down on the world with a bright twilight. The golden sphere of magic on the floor of Ponyville with protected ponies inside it seemed to light the town with a brilliant glow of warmth. “I created you.” Nebulous sneered to the frowning mare, “If it weren’t for me, you’d never be who you are today. You’d be weak, like them.” He pointed his snout to the ponies below for emphasis, and glanced back up to her. “Face it. I’m the only father you’ve ever had.” Altruise furrowed her eyes at that, “My true father stood up to you for the sake of protecting me from becoming like you.” She sighed in self-disgust, “I can’t believe I let that happen to me…” “You’ve always been a foal, Altruise.” Nebulous growled, “You’ve never grown up, you’re still that pathetic unicorn filly I picked up from the ashes of Trottingham.” He spread his wings in a threatening manner, “You’re no less of a monster than I am; only weaker, pathetic, and useless.” The white mare glared at Nebulous. “You won’t get away with what you did.” “Still mad, are you?” Nebulous grinned, “Then come at me!” He didn’t have to tell her twice. Altruise had already launched after him, growling angrily. As she was bulleting toward him, he charged up his horn and fired a black fireball at her. Altruise’s eyes widened at the sight of the oncoming fireball, and she quickly swerved sideways, dodging it. Flipping through the air, she regained her balance and continued moving toward him. “Hahaha… Give it up!” Nebulous laughed, and suddenly teleported. In a spark of energy, he reappeared next to her, and gave her a solid buck to the back. “Gah!” Altrusie groaned from the impact, and she lost balance momentarily, but caught herself and leveled herself out. Quickly turning to fight back, she charged up her horn and was about to strike him with a spell, when he vanished again. She winced, and waited for him to reappear. Off in the distance, he reappeared in a flash of light… And suddenly vanished again. And reappeared in another location; and vanished; and reappeared, and again he vanished— “AAAAGH! Stop doing that!!” —and he suddenly reappeared right in front of her with a glowing horn. “Hah!!” A blinding flash of light burst from his horn like an explosion, and she was knocked back several meters flipping through the air. “Aaaauugh!!” Altruise leveled herself as she was thrown back, and she made a quick U-turn, and reversed to charge after him again. Rocketing back toward Nebulous, he laughed at her. “So what are you going to do to me, huh?” He grinned, and just as she approached him, his black fur faded into a navy-blue shade, and his horn disappeared; his cutie mark was exchanged with the two crossing sword symbol—Drake’s cutie mark—and he smirked at her through his grey eyes she knew too well. “You gonna kill me?” Altruise went wide-eyed, and she stopped in her tracks, holding back her attack at the sight of Drake. “Uhh—w-wha—” She suddenly broke a sweat. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” He frowned at her, and quickly turned back into his Nebulous form, and while she was off guard, he fired another quick black fireball at her. With Altruise out of focus from nearly striking her former father figure, she lost concentration and failed to dodge. “Oagh!” It struck her with an explosion of black flames, and she hurled through the air. Falling several meters below, she leveled her wings out and stopped herself from falling further. Wincing angrily, she looked back up to the dark unicorn in the sky and rocketed back toward him. “That was a cheap shot!” She hollered angrily, “You coward!” “Coward?” Nebulous grinned and transformed again to take the form of Drake. Altruise’s launch slowed down a bit, as she felt uneasy to attack. “If I’m the coward, what makes it so difficult for you to attack? Huh? Come at me!!” “AAAH!!” Altruise shrieked and flew toward him, and her horn glowed, but she hesitated long enough for Nebulous to make the attack first. Quickly charging his horn, he fired a dark purple sphere of energy that was cast toward her. Altruise just panicked, but managed to dodge out of the way. “Come on!” Drake shouted to her, “This the best you can do?” “Shut up!!!” Altruise screamed, tears dripping from her face, “Shut!!! UUUUP!!!!” With that, she suddenly launched toward him with a thunderous sonic boom, and she bulleted straight into him. Colliding with the pegasi-disguised unicorn, she knocked him several meters back; as she pushed him through the air, he grinned, and gripped onto her front hooves. With a quick flip, he used her momentum to throw her off course of her attack, and she went soaring through the air like an aimless bullet, and crashed into the side of the tall mountain just off the coast of Ponyville. “Hmh…” The dark stallion switched back into his true unicorn form, and waited for Altruise to come back. Not a moment too soon, some of the debris caused from her collision with the mountain began floating in her golden aura. Hovering away from the mountain, Altruise glared back at him through her gritting teeth. Yelling in anger, Altruise began throwing the boulders toward the dark unicorn. “Hahahah!” Nebulous laughed over the thrill, and he began swiftly dodging the oncoming boulders. Zigzagging up and down and from side to side, he dodged every single boulder that were thrown at him. “YEEeeah… Come at me!” Altruise briefly went wide-eyed, but it didn’t take long for her to furrow her eyes back into a furious frown. “Come ON!” “You should realize by now, Altruise, fighting me is a joke!!” Nebulous shouted, and suddenly teleported, appearing behind Altruise. Giving her no time to react, he swiftly bucked her in the head, and teleported again before she could react. “AGh!” Altruise was knocked forward briefly, and she quickly turned around to see that he had disappeared. Waiting momentarily, she felt another hoof slam into her backside, and she flung forward briefly, and turned to the unicorn behind her; he had disappeared again. A sweat broke, and she quickly turned around to try and catch him doing this a third time, but he wasn’t there. He suddenly came from above, and slammed his hind hooves into her shoulders, sending her flipping through the air downward toward the ground. At an intense speed, Altruise fell into a rushing river that was flowing through the forest. After a few moments, she resurfaced from the water and struggled with the river’s rapid current. Coughing a few times, she flew out of the water and wiped her hooves through her wet mane. “Uuugh…” Her eyes then jolted open at the realization her tiara was missing. “Aw, shoot…” Nebulous was rocketing toward her from off in the distance. Taking a dive, she flew back down into the river and disappeared under the rushing rapids. The dark unicorn stopped and looked beneath him at the river below, waiting. After a few seconds, Nebulous rolled his eyes impatiently, and he charged his horn with an electrical surge. A grin on his face, and he cast a loud lightning bolt into the rushing river; the water erupted of conducted electricity all the way down the river. After a few moments, he stopped his lightning attack, and watched as several fish floated to the surface of the water, dead, and floated down stream. However, there was no sign of Altruise. Suddenly right in front of him, his target appeared in a flash of light, glaring right at him. She squinted with the tiara back on her head that she managed to retrieve from the river. “Two can play your game.” That grumbled, she teleported again out of sight. Nebulous looked up and saw her reappear off in the distance, and immediately after, she teleported again, reappearing somewhere else, and continued teleporting to different random locations around the dark unicorn to confuse him. “Hmm…” The stallion remained floating in place, waiting for her to act. Then in a quick random teleportation, Altruise appeared beside him to strike with a glowing horn, about to fire a spell at him point blank, but before she could even fire it, Nebulous quickly turned to her and cast a lightning spell on her. The lightning bolt struck from horn to horn, and Altruise was groaning in pain, slowly backing away. The black lightning bolt continued trailing from his horn to hers, and he growled at her. “You can’t win, Altruise! Stop trying!” “AaAahhh…” Altruise winced in pain, and tears began to trickle from her eyes. She was frozen in place now with his levitation magic, while being electrocuted each passing second. “You’re a foal.” Nebulous frowned at her, holding her in place with his black aura, “You have no idea how much power I possess, do you?” Altruise frightfully looked into the piercing eyes of her enemy, and he continued striking her with more magic attacks while he held her in place. At this point she was growing too weak to escape his levitation grip, and he continued pelting her with continuous spells. Fireballs, lightning, and dark energy; all blasting her, scorching her, torturing her. She couldn’t move, and pain was constantly being delivered. She could feel herself fading, the way he kept striking her body with dark magic; she couldn’t stop anything, taking each blast with painful impacts. * * * * * The other ponies all watching the fight were frantically panicking, and standing at the edges of Celestia’s transparent golden magic shield. Twilight turned to the Princess and gasped to her. “Celestia, please, we have to get out and help her!” Celestia sighed, “Altruise requested that I kept this shield up, and that I am to keep you inside.” “I don’t care what Altruise said!” Twilight marched up to the Princess, “Please, she shouldn’t have to do this by herself…” “And she doesn’t have to.” Celestia declared, “I still have faith in her, that she can protect all of us.” “But just look at her!” Twilight frantically turned to look at the unicorn being tortured in the distant sky beyond the transparent wall of the magic shield. “She can’t do anything to fight back. She’s stuck; he’s killing her!” “Twilight. You and your friends are all there for her.” The Princess exclaimed, “She asked you and your friends to do your part.” “But… But I…” “Believe in her.” Celestia solemnly said. Twilight slouched, and her ears fell to the sides. In a whimper, she turned to her five friends; Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. With a brave nod, she trotted to them, and they formed a discussion circle. “Altruise may have done her wrongs, but she needs our help…” Twilight said to them quietly. Applejack sighed. “I know what she did was unforgivable.” “What she did can’t be undone.” Rarity added. “But everypony deserves a chance for redemption.” Fluttershy modestly whispered. “And right now, she needs us!” Pinkie Pie chanted. “Come on!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “Let’s help her!” With that, she stood tall, and she turned to face Altruise in the background beyond the magic barrier. The others all turned toward her too, strongly standing together. Standing like soldiers, the other five stood with their elements all exposed, and solemnly looked over to the struggling unicorn up in the sky. Twilight’s horn glowed, and a faint spark of magic trailed like a chain through the other five element necklaces worn by the others. “We’re all here for you Altruise!” Twilight shouted to her, with her horn glowing brighter. “Use the Element of Magic!” * * * * * Off in the distance in the sky, Altruise slowly opened her wincing eyes while more spells continued to pelt her; and though the ponies below were far, they felt so close. She could hear their voices, as if they were right there for her. “Be strong!” She heard Applejack shout. Her ears perked, and suddenly the pain on her began to fade. She found herself in a purple aura, and her wounds were slowly being healed. “You can do it!!” Pinkie Pie squeaked loudly, “Your friends are here for ya!” Altruise felt sudden warmth in her heart, and she noticed the tiara on her head was slowly beginning to glow brighter. “Friends…?” She murmured, closing her eyes; it felt as though time had slowed down, as the attacks from Nebulous appeared to be mere echoes. Tears trickled from her eyes, and she felt as though she was being lifted up. “B-but I… I don’t deserve friends…” “Nonsense!” Rarity snapped at her. “What you need more than anything right now, is friends.” Fluttershy exclaimed. “We all believe in you, Altruise.” Twilight exclaimed with emphasis from the heart. “We’re there for you. Until the end.” “Now go kick his flank!” Rainbow Dash yelled cheerfully. With that last voice echoing in the back of her mind, she felt the magic from her tiara, as if it had linked to her. With a sudden burst of motivational strength, her eyes shot open, and she glared into the eyes of the dark unicorn in front of her; and the black aura surrounding her shattered. “AAgh!” Nebulous flinched and he threw his hooves to his horn; he felt a painful jolt in his horn when she broke free of his magic. After a quick wince in pain, he looked back toward her with sudden fear. “How did you…?” Altruise floated there in a purple aura of magic; she solemnly glared at him. Nebulous noticed that the aura was coming from the tiara on her head. “Impossible!” Nebulous backed away from her, “How can you possibly control it?” Frowning, he shook his head in disbelief. “No. You won’t stop me!! I’ve come too close to fail now!!” With that, he launched himself toward her, “I’ll end you!!” Altruise gently closed her eyes, and focused. Her horn and tiara glowed with a golden aura, and she remained calm and somber. “You will not…” She whispered solemnly, and the moment he was a mere foot in front of her, he stopped in his tracks with a levitation spell catching him in mid-flight. “…I repeat… You will not… hurt anypony… ever again…” That said, an explosive aura of magic erupted from her tiara and horn, and Nebulous flung through the air like a missile toward the ground, and he crashed into a rock that exploded into debris on impact. Collapsing into the ground, he quickly sprung back up to his hooves with an angry huff. “What is this?!” Altruise gracefully floated down to the ground, and landed on her hooves in front of him, standing tall. She slowly sauntered toward him, as if casual. “No more, Nebulous.” She exclaimed to him factually, “You’re done.” “No.” Nebulous frowned, “You can’t stop me!” “You took me away from civilization and turned me into a monster, believing I’d never find another friend to stop you with this very tiara on my brow.” Altruise exclaimed, standing before him with pride, “You can’t defeat the one thing that keeps Equestria together.” Her eyes wandered a bit, “Yes, it is true I was weak all this time. But that’s because I’ve been alone.” She turned back to glare at him with a frown, “I’ve been alone all these years, Nebulous. We ponies? We need each other. It’s the bond that keeps us strong. Not power.” The tiara on her head began to spark. “Power is for the real weak ponies; the ones who have nothing.” She winced at him and her horn sparked brighter, “Ponies like you!” Nebulous was sidestepping, wide-eyed. With a growl and a kick of dust, he galloped toward her with a glowing horn. “I can destroy you just as easily as I created you!” “Honesty: Something you never showed me.” Altruise exclaimed as he galloped toward her, “Well allow me to be honest with you.” She stopped him in mid-gallop with another levitation spell, and she trotted up to him, glaring eye to eye. “I will remain Loyal: The ponies beneath us are not to be harmed; they still have a chance to live and grow, so I won’t allow you to go any further!” With that, she hurled him backwards, and he slid across the ground, crashing into a tree with a loud thud. “Laughter: Something everypony needs.” Altruise continued, trotting toward the frantic dark unicorn. “Nothing can be brought back that had been lost, but laughter and memories certainly can bring them back through the heart. Though my parents are both deceased, they are here with me, and they are supporting me!” Nebulous panicked, and backed away from her wide-eyed. If there was one thing he was afraid of, it was the Elements of Harmony. He knew of their power, and he knew what they could do to him. “Get away from me!” “Kindness: I used to know what that was; I used to be that kind pony that everypony knew.” Altruise continued, “And if it wasn’t for the Generosity expressed by these ponies who gave me a second chance, I would never have remembered what it all meant…” She looked up to the moon briefly, and back down to the cowering unicorn, and the tiara on her head suddenly burst of energy, and it glowed with several spiraling colours. “You shall harm nopony, ever again!” Seeing the blazing colours of the Element of Magic shot fear through Nebulous’ spine, and he slouched where he stood like a coward, wide-eyed and trembling. “Altruise, don’t!” Altruise briefly held back from her attack and looked down at the cowering unicorn, waiting an explanation. “You… you wouldn’t… end my life…” Nebulous whimpered, and he turned into the form of Drake, which made Altruise feel hesitant. Slowly standing to his hooves, he looked to her with a friendly smile. “Would you…?” Altruise froze. “I…” She looked up at the tiara on her brow, which had its attack readied to fire. “I can change…” Nebulous murmured helplessly, “Please give me another chance… for redemption…” The tone in his voice; the sadness, the fear and the sorrow. Altruise couldn’t attack him now. “Not like this.” She murmured to herself, backing away from him. “I-I can’t.” Nebulous looked up at her through Drake’s trembling eyes. Altruise looked back, and there was a long pause between them. After a long brief hesitation, she heard Twilight’s voice in the back of her mind. “Altruise…” Her voice was a mere echoing whisper in her mind. Altruise’s ears perked, and she winced at the sound of the lavender pony’s voice. “Twilight, I can’t…” She clenched her eyes tight, and tears slowly trickled down her cheeks, “I can’t…” Drake slowly approached her with innocence, looking to her fearfully, “I… I won’t hurt anypony anymore…” he whimpered, slouching low as he approached, “Please, have mercy…” “Altruise, look out!” Twilight’s voice shrieked, but a moment too late. Drake jumped up without warning, and using a quick swipe of his wing, he batted the tiara off her head. Sudden silence; Altruise no longer could feel the connection with the other ponies, and the tiara hurled through the air, and bounced across the ground, landing in a patch of grass several meters away. “AAAH!!!!” Yelling angrily, Nebulous transformed back into his true dark self, and fired a black fireball at her; it exploded on contact, and she flung backwards, rolling across the ground. In mid-tumble, with a quick maneuver she managed to flip herself back up onto her hooves, and stood up defensively to see a charging dark unicorn. “I’ll destroy you!!” Nebulous shouted, galloping toward her with his powerful legs. During his charge, Altruise hollered and began galloping in his direction, playing a game of chicken. Both horns glowing menacingly, they galloped closer and closer to each other, growling at each other. “HAA!” Nebulous was the first to fire a black fireball, and it launched forth toward Altruise. The white unicorn dove to the ground, and rolled under the oncoming black fireball. When she brought herself back to her hooves, she jumped up with her hind legs, and took off over Nebulous’ head. Just as she leapt over top of him, she used her hind legs to slam the back of his skull with a full-forced buck, which rammed Nebulous flat on his face into the ground, and he slid to a stop. Altruise landed gracefully back into the ground, and continued galloping away from him, running toward the spectrum glowing tiara. Nebulous only took a moment, and he was back on his hooves. Angrily, he turned back to Altruise and with a glowing horn, he activated a large-scale barrier surrounding them for a good half a mile; the same spell Altruise used at the castle to prevent teleportation. “You’re not going anywhere!” He growled, and fired several dark energy missiles at her. One of them struck her, and she fell over with a thud. Twitching a few times, and she managed to push herself back up to her hooves, and she continued galloping for the tiara. “No you don’t!” Nebulous shouted, firing a dark missile toward the tiara. It struck the Element of Magic, and with an explosion, the tiara flung through the air and bounced further away from her. Nebulous then cast more lightning from the sky that struck down toward Altruise; she dodged from side to side, and continued running for the tiara as explosions erupted near her every step. “Why don’t you just give up?!” Nebulous shrieked, lifting off the ground with his faux wings, and launched himself toward her. “AAAAH!!!” Colliding into her side, they tumbled across the ground, and came to a stop with Nebulous on top. He began vigorously throwing hooves to her jaw, ramming her to the ground. “You’ve messed with my plans enough!!” Hopping off of her, he lifted her in another aura of magic, and he flung her through the air; she collapsed into the ground and rolled to a stop. “The sun and the moon are mine! And nopony is taking away my victory!!” He stood tall and marched toward her furiously with a glowing horn. Altruise pushed herself to her hooves once more, and stood before the dark unicorn. Nebulous was now in full gallop, running toward her, growling with a bright sparking horn. “Twelve years you’ve been training me for battle!” Altruise shouted as he approached her, and just as he reached her, an explosion of magic burst forth from her horn, repelling Nebulous further away from her onto his back. “Not very wise!!” With that, she turned back to the tiara and continued galloping toward it. “Stupid… Foal!!!” Nebulous quickly stood back up and galloped toward her. Altruise was nearing the tiara on the ground ahead of her. Yelling angrily, Nebulous fired a few dark energy missiles at her, and she sidestepped as she galloped toward the Element of Magic, with the bullets of magic zipping passed her and striking at her hooves, missing her. “No!!” He thrust his wings, and flew toward her as fast as he could. “No you don’t!!” He flew closer to her, and Altruise took a dive for the Element of Magic. Grasping the fully charged tiara in her hooves, she quickly threw it upon her head, and turned to Nebulous who was a mere meter away and closing in. Time felt like it slowed down as she prepared herself as quickly as she could, and with all the courage in her heart, she unleashed the magic from the tiara that struck Nebulous point blank with its full spectrum, right in front of her. A sonic boom echoed with thunder across the distant sky, and his barrier of anti-teleportation shattered. Nebulous was launched back with the spectrum of colours, shrieking in pain, and he flew across the sky, and fell back down toward Equestria. Crashing into rubble, a loud earth-shaking thud echoed across the land, and a cloud of dust emerged from his landing. Silence… The tiara on Altruise’s head was no longer glowing. Cautiously, she trotted toward the pile of rubble where Nebulous had crashed. Off to the side, she noticed the barrier that Celestia had held up had turned off. Curious, she turned to the Princess who was now approaching her, with the rest of the ponies along side. “Princess Celestia…” Altruise murmured. “Nopony could possibly take the full force of the Elements of Harmony at that close range.” Celestia declared, trotting toward the debris. Altruise and the other ponies all trotted toward the pile of rubble with suspense, and found Nebulous lying on his back in a pile of rock. His eyes were half-open, and he could barely move. Looking up at the others looking over him, he squinted at them angrily. “You… ponies…” He grumbled, and gritted his teeth, “I… ugh…” He felt a pinch of pain, and noticed something that terrified him. Looking at his hooves, he was beginning to dissolve. “I… No…” He quickly stood up in a panic and held his hooves up, watching himself vaporize. “No!! What’s happening to me?!” Trotting backwards, he tripped over a rock, and frantically stood back up, feeling himself fade away with the wind. He took a glance up at the Princess with wide, terrified eyes. “I… I’m dying…” He collapsed to his haunches and looked up at the moon. Slowly, his terrified, weak eyes gradually turned into a painful frown. His head trembled in anger, and his teeth gritted together. “If I can’t have the moon… Then nopony can have it…” With one last ditch effort, using the last bit of his strength, he suddenly teleported out of sight. “What? Where’d he go?” Altruise panicked, looking around frantically. Then from the sky, they heard a thunderous clash. They all watched in terror, as the dark unicorn used the last bit of his magic to push the entirety of the moon down toward Equestria. “I’ll kill you all!!” He shouted down to them, with his body continuously fading with the wind, “Die, you pathetic ponies!!! Dui…uh…” his last breath, and the rest of him burst into a puff of dust, and he blew away in the wind, dead. The ponies on the ground all ran screaming, and the moon began falling toward them. The large ball in the sky came closer by the second, falling at an exceedingly fast rate. “We’re gonna die!!” Voices were heard screaming. “This is the end of Equestria!!” More voices of terror. Altruise and Celestia stood dumbfounded, and they looked at each other with deep concern. The unicorn took the liberty to make some orders, and using her faux wings, she flew up above the others and raised her voice. “Everypony!!!” She shouted down to them, “Stop panicking!! We need to work together!!” The ponies all stopped their frantic galloping, and they all stood and looked up to the flying unicorn. “This isn’t the end!” Altruise shouted to them, pointing a hoof up at the moon, “Celestia! Unicorns! Use your horns and try to push the moon back into its orbit!” The ponies all looked at each other, and back up to the mare overhead. Celestia was the first to listen, and she stood tall and strong, and used her horn’s magic to take control of the moon. “AAh!” She flinched and lowered her head, “It’s coming too fast! I can’t hold it…” “Together!!” Altruise yelled at the other unicorns, “Help the Princess!” The unicorns all looked at each other, and back up at her. “Do it now! It’s our last hope! We only have a couple of minutes or Equestria will be destroyed!” “Come on!” Twilight was next to obey, and she stood to point her horn up at the moon, taking control of it with her magic. “Hnn!” She winced, and gave it as much effort as she could to push it back up with her magic. Rarity nodded to the lavender unicorn, and she too activated her magic, trying to help push the moon. A brief hesitation, and several nods, all of the unicorns on the ground pointed their horns to the sky, and took control of the moon, and tried pushing it back up like the others. Altruise then proceeded using her own magic as well, and tried pushing the giant orbit. “HHnH!” With the Princess and all of the unicorns now pushing the moon with all their strength, the moon was gradually slowing down, but still rocketing toward Equestria at a critical speed. The closer it got, the more the ground beneath them began to rumble. “It’s not enough!” Other ponies on the ground were freaking out. “What do we do?!” More voices shrieked. “Stop panicking!!” Altruise yelled again, “Pegasi! Go to the sky and use your wings! Try pushing the moon with a wind storm!!” “Your heard her!” Rainbow Dash hollered and flew up into the sky, “Let’s get up there and help!!” The pegasi all nodded, and flew up after her, flapping their wings upward toward the moon simultaneously. Not too long after they started, the wind began to pick up, all thrusting up into the sky like a hurricane. Even with the pegasus’ help, the moon was still falling closer toward them, and didn’t seem to be slowing down at all. Each passing moment, the closer it got, the faster they felt their hearts beat with devastation. “Keep trying!” Altruise yelled while using her horn to continue pushing the moon, “Everypony keep pushing!” Soon everything began rumbling harder as the moon got closer. Equestria was shaking as if a dozen volcanoes were about to erupt in the vicinity. The ponies all on the ground lost their footing and collapsed. Altruise looked down beneath her at the struggling and panicking ponies, and she took a glance at the moon above them that was still falling faster with each passing second. Nothing was working; it was all entirely hopeless. They only had seconds left before the moon were to reach them; it was long passed the atmosphere, and they could feel the moon dust falling over them like ashes as the rest of the giant rock continued falling. Altruise’s ears fell back, and time felt like it slowed down… “This… this can’t be it…” She whispered to herself, hearing the cries and echoes around her of the desperate struggling lives. “This… this can’t be the end…” She looked up at the moon, staring straight into the heart of it; and for some reason… she stopped feeling scared. “Mom… Dad…” She whispered to herself, hearing the echoes of the voices around her, and the rumbling of the earth below. She closed her eyes, and a few tears fell from her face as she clenched her teeth. Her whole life flashed before her eyes… From when she was a foal, to the day she met Drake and carried on living a lie that turned her into somepony different. But there was one significant memory that stood out from all her other ones, and it pierced her mind. “Altruise.” She heard the voice of her father; her real father. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she remembered his final words. “Don’t forget who you are…” “Dad…” She cried, hearing the shrieks of the ponies. Opening her sobbing eyes, she smiled. Her smile was warm, and it was absolute with purpose. A glamorous spark emerged on her flank, and there on her blank flanks, her silver-outlined heart cutie mark reappeared with a magical flash of light. Spreading her wings, she flew up toward the moon that was closing in on everypony else. Celestia witnessed her flying toward it and went wide-eyed. “Altruise, what are you doing?” Altruise didn’t respond, and flew faster, toward the falling orb in the sky. And without looking back, her horn glowed powerfully, and she crashed straight into the surface of the moon; and upon impact, there was an enormous flash of light that lit the entire sky. The moon sparked and glowed, and the ponies all shielded their eyes from the blinding light. And all at once, everything that was bright went dark… The ponies all looked up… and the moon was back in its orbit. Then from the sky, the tiara came falling down to the ground, and bounced across the land a few times, and rolled to Twilight’s hooves in the grass. Altruise was nowhere to be seen. “She…” Celestia took a couple trots forward, looking up at the moon, “She teleported it…” There was loud chatter among the crowd of ponies. Twilight knelt to the tiara, and levitated it before her, looking at it in front of her. “But that’s suicide.” Rarity exclaimed in shock, “Nopony can teleport an object larger than one’s self and stay alive!” Twilight looked over to Rarity, “And half the time anypony would even attempt it, chances are high that it won’t even work.” “Wait, an object any bigger than your own size could kill you?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, “She teleported the flippin’ moon!” “Nopony could survive that…” Fluttershy’s ears sank to her sides, and she lowered her head. They all looked up at the sky in their sorrows. A cold breeze whispered by, and the realization of the situation slowly began to sink in. “She’s dead…?” Applejack whispered. * * * * *