//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 // Story: After the Nightmare // by CORACK //------------------------------// The two ponies appeared inside Celestia's chambers. With a flick of magic the door swung open revealing the rest of Twilight's friends standing outside. Pinkie Pie noticed the door opening and poked her head into the room and looked around. "Helloooooo princess!" she shouted upon seeing Celestia. She trotted into the room and noticed Twilight standing behind the princess. "and hello to you to Twilight!" The rest of the ponies walked up to the door and waited, not wanting to intrude. "Please, come in, there is no need to wait in the hall," Celestia said to the rest of the group. One by one they filtered in, forming a semi-circle around Celestia. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Princess Celestia said smiling at the crowd standing before her. "What's all this about yer highness?" Applejack asked. "The guards said it was urgent but didn't have any real details." "As you may know, Twilight and I have been working on a way to find my lost sister. We believe we have come up with a solution, but I will need all of you to assist Twilight in order for this plan to work." Princess Celestia explained what she would need from everypony, with Twilight jumping in every so often to fill in some extra details. When the princess was done, Rainbow Dash looked up and asked,"I understand why you need help from Twilight and I guess I understand how Rarity could help, but what about the rest of us? We aren't unicorns, so how will we help Twilight maintain the portal?" "It is through the Elements of Harmony that you will provide Twilight with assistance; your friendship, focused by the Elements, will provide more help to Twilight than even a team of unicorn mages could. More importantly, after the portal is opened, I will need assistance from the Elements to amplify my connection to Luna. When I am ready, Twilight will direct their full power through the portal; I will absorb that energy and use it to open a rift that should lead directly to Luna." "That helps, I'm still not sure if I understand entirely, but if I can help I'll be glad to do it!" Rainbow Dash said. "If everypony is ready, then I'd like to get started, I've already moved the Elements themselves to where we will be doing the work." The rest of the crowd nodded and Celestia teleported them all to a massive room with rocky walls and a high ceiling. The walls stretched on for hundreds of feet in all directions and the ceiling was tall enough that the highest tower of Canterlot castle would have fit in comfortably. The room was brightly lit by a giant glowing blue crystal jutting through the ceiling. As the ponies looked around they noticed that there was no exit to the room, nor any windows. It was completely sealed off. "Where are we princess?" Twilight asked. "Deep under Canterlot Mountain," Celestia replied. "Luna and I spent millennia vanquishing the most dangerous creatures from Equestria's physical realm. Other dimensions may not be so safe, and we have no idea what might follow Luna through the portal. I do not want anything getting through; this room is heavily enchanted, nothing can get in or out without my aid." Sitting in the middle of the room was a small table and on it sat the Elements of Harmony; Celestia lead Twilight and her friends over to the table and passed out the Elements. "Are you ready?" she asked as she levitated the golden tiara over to Twilight. "I am," Twilight replied. "Then get your friends into position," Celestia said. Twilight and the rest of her friends moved to the center of the room. Celestia followed the group over and then stood before them. "Remember Twilight, I will not be able to help you hold the portal open once I am through. You must maintain the spell, if you find yourself unable to do so, tell me. I will return and we can try again once you have rested." "Don't worry about me, I'm ready!" Twilight said. Celestia spread her wings and lifted herself into the air. Her horn lit up with a brilliant glow as she prepared to open the rift. "Shield your eyes my little ponies," Celestia warned as the light coming from the princess continued to grow in intensity. All six ponies dropped to the ground, closed their eyes and covered them with their hooves. Had they still been able to look at Celestia all they would have seen was a brilliant glowing sphere of white light, brighter than the sun itself, hovering in the middle of the room. There was a sudden flash and for a moment Twilight could swear she could see the light through her hooves, then it was dark. "It is safe now," she heard Celestia say as the sound of hooves landing on the stone floor echoed throughout the chamber. Twilight opened her eyes, staring in wonderment at the scene before her. The rift was incredible, it stretched out like a hairline crack in a pane of glass, floating in the air. It was both impossibly thin, yet wide enough to see inside all at the same time. Deep down a part of her brain told her that the thing she looked into wasn't there and she found it harder and harder to keep looking at it as her eyes tried to focus on something else. "Why can't I look at it?" Rainbow asked, shaking her head as she tried to clear the odd sensation prickling at the back of her skull. "This is a raw unfiltered view into the abyss between dimensions. It is not merely another dimension, it is the lack of one. Beyond this rift, reality itself ceases to exist, and you mind cannot comprehend this," Celestia said. Horn still alight, she walked over to Twilight and rested a wing upon the unicorn. "Are you ready to maintain the rift?" she asked. "As ready as I ever will be," Twilight responded. "Girls? Is everypony ready?" One by one her friends gave her the all set. Focusing her magic on the portal spell, Twilight prepared to take control of the rift spell from Celestia. When the princess saw that Twilight was ready, she leaned down and touched her horn to Twilight's. Twilight felt a sudden surge of energy as Celestia magic transferred the spell to her control. Celestia lifted her head and backed away from Twilight; with the princess's magic no longer helping maintain the rift, Twilight felt a great weight upon her. Unprepared for the sudden shift in power, her head drooped and her horn flickered once before she could attempt to compensate. With a grunt, the glow of her horn brightened and sparks of magic began to fly out of the end of her horn, popping and crackling as she poured even more effort into maintaining the rift. Even with her modifications to the spell, the magical drain was greater than any spell she had attempted before. "Look!" Pinkie bouncing up and down excitedly, as the Element of Laughter began to glow. "Mine as well," Rarity said. One by one the rest of the Elements lit up, until all six were glowing steadily. As each of the Elements lit up, Twilight could feel them connect to her own. Suddenly the burden of the rift spell no longer weighed heavily upon her; with the friendship she could feel flowing through the elements, keeping the rift open felt no more challenging than levitating a writing quill. "I can feel something," Applejack said. "It kind of feels like when I'm doing work on the farm, except it isn't mah muscles being used. Not exhaustion or anything, just the pleasant feeling of getting in a day of good honest work." "It feels like I'm giving somepony a great big surprise hug!" Pinkie said beaming. "Or maybe when I pull off a surprise party." "It reminds me of when I've helped nurse one of my animal friends back to health," Fluttershy said chiming in. Twilight looked at Princess Celestia and offered her a smile. "You're all set, we've got this," she said. "Thank you Twilight, I will be as quick as possible." "Take your time princess, we could do this all day!" Rainbow Dash said, jumping up into the air and hovering in place. Princess Celestia turned and walked up to the rift. She gave one last look at the group of ponies assembled behind her and then began to step through. ##### Luna felt her mind disconnect from Selene's dream. The moment she was free, she disrupted Malice's spell completely, waking up less than a second later. Luna gave Malice no time to react, with a speed that no mortal eye could follow, she beat her wings, propelling herself into the air and fired a beam directly at the twisted god. Malice sensed Luna's attack at the last possible second and attempted to raise a shield. Luna's spell slammed into the half completed shield, collapsed it and knocked Malice across the room. He smashed through a console and then crashed into one of the doors on the other side of the room, denting it severely. Pulling himself from the ruined door, he stood up and glared at Luna. "You dare challenge a god?" Malice screamed, firing his own spell back at Luna. Luna however, had been expecting this and was prepared. A shimmering blanket of stars appeared in front of her, and Malice's spell was harmlessly absorbed into it before it vanished. She took a second to quickly glance over at Selene, Malice's hold over her was almost gone, but the girl still hadn't woken up. Luna fired back at Malice, knocking him down to the ground again. While he was recovering, she dissipated the last bits of magic that held Selene in the nightmare world. A blast of energy pushed Luna across the room, forcing her to the ground. Malice had recovered more quickly than she had expected. He was already advancing towards her and Selene was laying helpless on the ground between the two of them. She had to get him away from this room and away from Selene. A single stray shot would kill the human instantly. Picking herself up, she launched into the air and flew directly at Malice. She slammed into him, grabbing a hold of his body with her hooves she continued forward, punching through the already damaged door and into the wall on the other side. Luna then reared up and slammed her hooves down into the crystalline body beneath her. There was a loud crack and splinters of crystal flew in all directions. One of her hooves had connected with Malice's injured arm, shattering the shoulder entirely. The rest of the arm fell to the ground with a thud, no longer connected to the magic that animated the rest of Malice's body. Laughter was the last thing Luna expected to hear from the twisted creature below her. The sound grated against her ears, she looked down and saw Malice staring back up at her. "I know what you are trying to do, I felt you break free of my spell and I saw you nullify the girl's nightmare. You seek to distract me so my prize can escape, but no there is no where she can run." Once again Luna was pushed back by a wave of force, but this time Malice didn't stand back up. With a flash of magic, he vanished from her sight. "Luna!" Selene screamed from the control room. Luna spun around, watching in horror as Malice threw Selene down upon the altar, he then seized control of the dark energies surrounding it and channeled them into his hand. "I had planned to keep you around, but that requires a finesse that I simply do not have the time for. Consider yourself lucky that you will not survive this." With that statement, Malice plunged his armored hand directly down into Selene's chest. Blood splattered in all directions as Malice's hand ripped through her rib cage, smashing the lower half of her torso to a slimy pulp. With her lungs torn open, all that Selene could manage was a gasping hiss she tried to scream in pain. Screaming in horror, Luna teleported into the room, and looked at Selene's broken form. A steady stream of blood and bile leaked out of the gaping hole in what remained of Selene's chest. It ran down the side of the altar, pooling onto the floor below. A righteous fury bubbled up within her, she advanced ready to tear Malice apart. Malice turned head away from Selene, looked at Luna and began to smile. "Stop and watch as I tear the divinity from this mortal and use it to regain my true power," he said. A beam of magic shot out of his eyes, but it was not targeted for Luna. The beam hit one of the few remaining control panels and a low hum filled the room. Luna continued to advance, she was just a step away now. Selene's bloodied form filled her mind. In the very depths of her core, she wept for the loss of her friend, but on the surface, rage boiled. A magical attack wasn't good enough, she wanted to feel Malice's boy shatter under her blows. She was within range now, she reared up, ready to strike a powerful blow... Luna continued to advance, she was just a step away now. Selene's bloodied form filled her mind. In the very depths of her core, she wept for the loss of her friend, but on the surface, rage boiled. A magical attack wasn't good enough, she wanted to feel Malice's boy shatter under her blows. She was within range now, she reared up, ready to strike a powerful blow... Something was wrong, Luna could feel it in the back of her head. Everything seemed normal, but at the same time something told her that she should have already reached Malice by now... Luna continued to advance, she was just a step away now. Selene's bloodied form filled her mind. In the very depths of her core, she wept for the loss of her friend, but on the surface, rage boiled. A magical attack wasn't good enough, she wanted to feel Malice's boy shatter under her blows. She was within range now, she reared up, ready to strike a powerful blow... Malice watched on with amusement as Luna's form skipped backwards before resuming normal movement, only to skip backwards again. He had to work quickly. With the girl dead, the spark he needed would soon die with her. A surge of magic and a rift opened, a gateway back to his prison. His true power lay bound inside that prison. The spark would provide him with the means to break those bindings and regain his true ability. A gurgling noise coming from the alter next to him interrupted his thoughts. Finishing the portal spell, he turned around and looked down at the bloody altar. He was surprised to find that Selene was still alive. "You are stronger than I gave you credit mortal," he said, watching her head slowly turn towards Luna. A glob of blood bubbled out of her mouth and she coughed weakly, turning to watch Luna's erratic movements. Malice followed her line of sight to the trapped blue pony. "She cannot help you now," he said. "The Eternals had intended to trap me in a time field, but not even time can hold a god. I eventually broke free and then took control of the field, modifying it to suit my own purposes," He returned his gaze to Selene. "Your friend is trapped in a slice of repeating time. No matter how strong she is, she cannot hope to escape, for every mortal in existence is bound by time." Tears would have been a normal reaction, or perhaps a cry of sorrow as the helplessness of the situation made itself clear. Malice would savor either, a life ending in misery and suffering was a delicacy for the evil god. In reality though, all Malice was expecting was for Selene to die, he could feel her life draining away, she clung only by a thread and he doubted she had the strength to carry on much longer. Selene continued to stare at the trapped alicorn. Her mind raced, trying to take advantage of what little time she had left. Memories of the day she crashed on this accursed planet played back in her head. She trudged through existence clinging on to a hope of rescue that grew fainter with each passing month. Years of solitude blinked by in a fraction of a second. The memories of the time long passed were dim and grey and the pain of loneliness was a constant companion. But then, in the distance, something changed. Hope fought its way back into her life. Color returned to her memories as she came to the final months of her life. A chance meeting with an unusual creature that blossomed into an unlikely friendship. Suddenly she was not alone any more. Luna's presence had made a powerful impact on the Selene's life. The visions slowed down, as she focused on the powerful memories she had forged with her friend. Each one bringing a sense of joy that beat back the approaching darkness. Selene turned her head and looked up at Malice. Slowly her lips curled upward, exposing her bloodstained teeth as they formed a smile. Malice stared down at the ragged girl, unsure of what to make of her reaction. A shiver ran down his crystal spine and he stepped backwards as a growing sense of unease crawled through his body. It took him a moment to realize what he was feeling. It was fear. In his eternal existence he had never felt this before, but now a broken and dying mortal, too weak to lift a finger filled him with a sense of dread. Selene's lips moved slowly and an almost inaudible wheeze escaped her mouth. Malice realized she was trying to talk. He lowered his head to hear the final words she had to say. Gasping for breath, Selene spoke again. "She... isn't... mortal" she said, in a nearly silent whisper. Selene began to glow. It was almost too faint to notice at first, but as seconds passed the glow became brighter and brighter. Fueled by Selene's friendship, the spark of divinity within her flared up into a roaring flame. It left her body, casually tossing aside the bindings of Malice's spell. Malice felt the spark escape his confinement. He reached out and tried to snatch it as it flew across the room but it brushed him aside. Screaming in anger he watched as it soared across the room piercing the time field with ease. Luna continued to advance, she was just a step away now. Selene's bloodied form filled her mind. In the very depths of her core, she wept for the loss of her friend... A flash of light appeared before her and for the first time in ages, Luna felt whole again. The fragment of her own soul had rejoined with her, and with it came Selene's love for her friend. The influx of power shattered the last remnants of the chains holding Luna back from her full potential and her true powers flared to life. Her godhood restored, she turned her thoughts to Selene. She continued to cling to life and that meant Luna still had time. Time! That is what had been gnawing at her. Malice had trapped her in the time field. He had altered the spell, instead of suspending her in an instant, she had been stuck in a loop. Her path was clear now, it was all so simple. Rage dissolved into joy as she realized what she would do. Malice watched as Luna absorbed the spark. Still inside the time field, she halted the progression of the loop, bringing time in the field to a standstill. A flash of light from within the field obscured Malice's view of the pony. When it dissipated, Selene's broken form hovered in the middle of the field, a gentle glow holding her steady, frozen in an instant. Malice sensed movement behind him, relighting the dark energy that had been flowing through his hand, he formed a fist, wreathed in black flames. In the blink of an eye, he spun around, slamming his fist into whoever dared try to sneak up behind him. Luna watched calmly as Malice began to turn around. His fist accelerated faster and faster as it approached her head. The massive block of crystal slammed into her skull with enough force to split a mountain. She didn't even flinch. There was a mighty crack and Malice's fist shattered into a million pieces. Malice stared in disbelief at the pony before him. It was the same creature that he had battled to a standstill earlier, but she was different. She was taller now, the tip of her horn almost eye level with him. Her coat had darkened slightly and the blue hairs that made up her mane were gone completely. In place of the light blue mane, a field of stars hung from her head, flowing in an field of magic that radiated from her body. A starry field for a tail matched the mane perfectly, but it wasn't the physical changes that concerned him. They were minor in comparison to what he could now sense from Luna. The pony that stood before him was no mere mortal. An aurora of divinity, strong enough for him to sense without need of a spell pulsed outward, filling the room. He had been so busy trying to strip the ember from Selene that he failed to check Luna for the same signs. "You can't kill me," he said. "You know as well as I even stripped of my power, I am immortal. Leave here, return to your own world; you can bring your pet with you." "I don't need to kill you, all I need to do is send you back to your prison," Luna said pointing to the rift Malice had opened. Malice seethed with anger. "I may have lost the spark, but that is not the only way to break my prison." Malice stumbled over to the console that he had used to activate the time field. Another beam of energy struck the console, it lit up for a moment, panels glowing brightly before they slowly began to dim as the power flowing to them was rerouted. Then he lifted his foot, and brought it down on the console smashing it to pieces. The time field around Selene started to flicker on and off as the emitters in the ceiling lost power and the rest of the room went dark. Luna quickly channeled magic into the emitter and the time field came back up to full strength. The whole room started to shake, lightly at first then violently, a great cracking noise could be heard and the floor split in two. In the distance, long unused alarms started blaring before falling silent again as the violent quakes shattered them to pieces. A monitor lit up on the wall behind Luna and she heard a familiar voice. "What's going on down there?" Decima shouted. "Is that Vohaul?" she asked looking at the golem on the other side of the room. "Sort of," Luna said,"Vohaul was possessed by a entity from another dimension, Malice, he just did something on the console that was over there." Luna pointed a hoof at the smashed console where Malice was summoning a field of energy. "The planetary generator just spiked to 190% output, but that energy isn't maintaining the pocket dimension any longer. It's all being directed towards your location. The dimensional collapse is going to reach the surface of the planet in ten minutes, though I doubt the generator will last that long. If it goes, this solar system is going with it," Decima said. "You have to stop him Luna, I can't do anything, I'm on emergency backup power and it will be exhausted in minutes." Luna turned towards Malice, she fired a beam of energy at him, but the field surrounding him absorbed it, glowing brightly. She was about to fire off another shot when a brilliant light filled the room, coming from the crack in the floor. A massive beam of energy broiled up from the core of the planet, flew up out of the crack and joined into the field surrounding Malice. "What are you doing?" Luna screamed,"The planet is coming apart!" "The spark from Selene was never part of my plans, it was pure luck to find her, and it would have guaranteed my freedom. But you've forced me to fall back on my original plan; by supplanting my own power with the energy of the Eternal's thaumic generator I have a chance of breaking my chains." The field around Malice began to glow bright white, a great heat swept over the room. The wreckage scattered throughout the room started to smoke as it began to catch fire. "Get out of... " Decima started to shout before the monitor she was using started to spark, and then burst into flames. The intensity of the heat continued to grow, she watched on as the rocky walls of the room started to melt. Chunks of semi-molten rock fell from the ceiling as the planet tried to shake itself apart. She heard a noise and looked up, the time field emitter had been shaken loose, the heat blistered the surface and the time field cut out completely. Luna quickly pulled Selene's body to her and threw up a blue shimmering shield around the pair. She cast a minor healing spell over Selene, it would only buy a few minutes at best but that might buy Luna enough time to stop Malice and restore the time field. Meanwhile Malice brought up his remaining arm, pointing the stump towards the portal. A brilliant beam of white light lanced outward into the portal. Luna concentrated, gathering up enough energy to force Malice's rift closed. She was about to release the spell when she felt a familiar presence. "Celestia!" she screamed over the roar of the planet collapsing on itself. ##### As she finished entering the rift, the change was almost instant. A part of Celestia that had felt empty since Luna's encounter with Twilight suddenly was whole again. The connection was faint, but it was unmistakable, Celestia could once again feel Luna's presence. She turned back to the ponies behind her and shouted through the tear. "I am ready Twilight, use the Elements!" All six ponies began to glow, colorful rays of light sparked out of the Elements, all joining on Twilight who stood facing the rift. Seconds later a rainbow erupted from Twilight's Tiara, it crashed through the rift and hit Celestia. Her eyes lit up pure white and a pulse of energy flew out in all directions. The pulse cascaded through the non-reality, carrying Celestia's spell with it as it punched through the walls of the void and into the multiverse. Bursting with power, Celestia's connection to Luna grew exponentially. The magic of the Elements had helped even more than she had hoped; her vague sense of Luna's location rapidly grew more precise and Celestia was quickly able to narrow it down with pinpoint accuracy. She got to work and began to open a gateway from the void to her sister. The portal started to form and then without warning shorted out with a small pop. Celestia tried again, only to get the same result. Something was wrong, the dimension Luna occupied was unstable; it twisted and scurried away from Celestia's magic. But she had not come this far just to give up; Celestia abandoned all attempts at finesse and instead shifted to raw power. She brought up the portal spell again, and this time the solar goddess thew all of her magic into pushing through the dimensional barrier. The portal tore open; there was a massive explosion and everything went white. ##### Luna shook her head, and stood up from the floor. She was in Equestria, she could feel it deep down in her core. She was home! She could feel Celestia's presence, a tear rolled down her cheek as she realized how much she had missed that feeling. Her senses told her that her sister was close by, she turned her head, looking around the room. To her left the six ponies that bore the Elements lay in a semi-circle. They weren't moving, but Luna watched and she could see the chest of the lavender unicorn rise and fall slowly, they were just unconscious. Just past those ponies she spotted her sister. The large alicorn was on the floor, just coming to herself. Luna watched as Celestia raised a hoof and began rubbing the base of her horn, eyes just beginning to flutter open. She heard a sucking noise to her right and her head whipped around. There were two more ponies in the room. The first was a pegasus pony. She had a dark black mane, with thin stripes of brilliant silver and a pale grayish white coat. The most unusual thing about the mare was though she was clearly full grown, she had no cutie mark. A sickly wheezing sound caught her attention and it was then that Luna spotted the blood stains on the mare's coat. Further down was a large hole that was leaking fluids fast, as the injured pony struggled to breath. Surrounding the pegasus were tatters of cloth, for a moment, Luna wasn't sure what they were, but then she spotted a torn piece of one of Selene's shoes, that looked as if it had been ripped apart by timberwolves. Luna panicked as her mind slowly pieced together what had happened. Malice had been trying to shatter the chains that bound his true form to its prison. He was pulling energy from the planetary generator which was damaging the already unstable pocket dimension. Then as she prepared to stop him, her bond with Celestia reestablished itself, her sister must have found where she had been cast off to and opened a portal. The second portal, another tear in the bubble dimension's surface, must have completely destabilized the bubble. When it fell apart, they were pushed through the opening of the rift back into Equestria. It was sheer luck she hadn't ended up in Malice's prison. When Selene passed into Equestria through the portal, the magic that formed the stable and safe dimensional gateway had changed her to a form more suited for the world she was now in. That pegasus pony who was currently bleeding out on the floor in front of her was Selene! Luna then realized she had seen two ponies, the other was already in the process of standing up. It was a large black unicorn, but something was different. Light glinted off the hard surface of the unicorn, it was a crystal pony! It had to be Malice, his true body was still trapped in the prison, the golem he occupied lacked the protection a god's power normally provided against transformation. Malice limped over to Selene's body and his horn began to pulse with a sickly green light. A green light snaked over the pony and her body started to shake. Luna needed to stop him, with a powerful flap of her wings she launched herself at the unicorn. She collided with him, sending Malice careening across the room where he smashed into the rocky wall. "LUNA, STOP!" Celesta shouted. At the sound of Celestia's voice, Luna turned around, she started to explain when a bolt of green energy struck her in the flank, knocking her out of the air. She skidded several feet before flaring her wings to slow her movement. With a quick flash of her horn, Luna picked Malice up and slammed him into the wall again, this time with enough force to crack the stone. Chips of crystal flew off his back but he just glared at her and teleported out of her hold and sent another bolt of energy flying at her. Luna took back to the air, dodging the bolt as it scorched the floor. Celestia was dumbstruck; no pony should have been able to survive the what Luna had just done. But this crystal pony not only survived but was actively attacking back. Something was going on, there had been no reports of crystal ponies since Sombra's defeat and something about that unicorn felt familiar. Luna landed next to Celestia, a desperate look in her eyes. "Sister please, save my friend," she pleaded. "I must stop Malice." Before Celestia could respond, Luna took off again. "Princess Celestia, what is going on?" Celestia turned to see Twilight standing next to her, watching as Luna and the dark unicorn traded blows. Since she had first met the young unicorn, Celestia had known there was something special about her. The fact that she was up and about so soon after the rift spell collapsed only reaffirmed this. "I do not yet know. Quickly now, check on your friends for me, we may need the Elements, but I suspect they are in no condition to help. I need to check up on that injured pegasus over there." Celestia teleported over to the pale pegasus and began to check on her condition. The physical damage was intensive, but worse there was a taint of dark magic coursing through her veins. Celestia recognized it immediately, it was a dark spell that King Sombra had used to torture captive ponies. That vile energy would keep the victim right at the edge of death, and in incredible pain. A normal healing spell would trigger the dark magic and cause instant death. Fortunately Celestia had a cleansing spell, a gentle glow spread out over the pony and her body seemed to relax. Another pulse of magic and the ponies organs began to knit themselves back together. "The rest of the girls won't wake up, and I can't use my magic," Twilight said. "My horn feels like I just smashed it into a wall." Twilight looked down saw the pegasus's wounds and choked out a quiet scream. "Will she be OK?" she asked. "It was close but yes, she will recover, as will you and your friends. Your magic will return in a short while, you are simply exhausted from using the Elements." Celestia looked over at Luna and the unicorn her sister had named Malice. "I need to find out what is going on, please watch her, if her condition changes notify me immediately." "You can count on me!" Twilight replied. Celestia took off towards the other side of the room. "Give up Malice, you cannot hope to win," Luna said, deflecting yet another attack. "The chains were breaking you wretched creature, a few more seconds and I would have had everything!" Malice said. "But I have regained enough power to burn this world and you shall watch on as it dies." A green shield surrounded Malice and he began to soar into the air, upwards he rose towards the center of the room. With a bright flash a wave of magic flew upward hitting the large crystal in the ceiling. It began to darken, blue shifted to black, and the massive chamber started to shake. Celestia flew up alongside Luna. "What is going on, who is this pony?" "Tis no pony sister, he is a dark lord. Remember we searched for the source of King Sombra's power? Well here he is in all his depraved glory. I had been trying to send him back to his prison when you opened the portal, we were all pulled through." "Where is this prison?" Celestia asked. "Another dimension, I do not know where for sure and I doubt he will be kind enough to tell us," Luna replied. "Then we must stop him together," Celestia said. Luna glanced around the room. "I have an idea, distract him for me sister," Luna said, then she vanished in a puff of smoke. "Stop!" Celestia shouted at the unicorn. "Your foul magic is not welcome in my domain." Malice snarled at the elder alicorn. "Who are you to tell me to stop?" "I am Celestia, Mare of the First Dawn, Eternal Princess of Equestria, and I. AM. THE. DAY!" her horn crackled with power and a blinding white beam shot towards Malice. The beam pierced his shield, punched a hole through his body and continued through the other side of the shield. The wave of dark energy faded immediately, the dark crystal faded back to blue and with a mighty crash, Malice fell back down to the floor below. Slowly he stood back up on shaky legs, viscous green fluid oozing out of the hole in his body. "You cannot kill me, I am immortal!" he said coughing badly. A shout went out across the room "We do not need to kill you." Celestia turned to see three small objects flying at her, she grabbed them out of the air. When her magic touched the items, her connection to Luna flared up, suddenly she could feel more than just Luna's presence. Every emotion was exposed, flowing freely between the two ponies, sadness, shame and regret but also love and repentance. The connection went both ways and Luna could feel Celestia's anger toward her actions, but she knew that her sister loved her, missed her horribly and there was joy at her return. Celestia had not felt their bond this clearly in over a thousand years and she instantly knew what she now held. "Your actions virtually destroyed a race. You feed on the suffering and pain of others. This ends today! I sentence you to an eternity of confinement, never again will you harm another." Hovering in the air, with wings spread to their fullest Luna gazed down at Malice. Honesty, Kindness and Loyalty orbited the Moon Princess, glowing with power. Magic, Laughter and Generosity lit up and began to spin around Celestia. The Elements twirled faster and faster, the air was so thick with magic that Luna could taste it. Finally the magic reached its peak. A bright rainbow exploded out of the two princesses. Malice had just enough time to let out one last scream before the rainbow struck him. In an instant his body flashed from crystal to solid rock. Malice's scream echoed off the walls of the room before finally dying out. Luna flew over to Selene, Celestia landed next to her. Luna checked on Selene and saw that she was in no danger, she then turned to Celestia and wrapped a wing around her. Nuzzling her sister, tears flowed down her face. "I am so sorry sister, for everything," Luna cried. "I do not deserve your forgiveness but I beg for it." Celestia didn't answer, she didn't need to. Instead she returned the hug as Luna cried into her shoulder.