Twilight was shooting a death glare at the large muscular centaur that was staring down at her. Her battle with Tirek had scarred the land’s surface with shattered fields, explosive blasts, even the Golden Oak Library, Twilight’s home that she has lived in since the day she had first moved to Ponyville was destroyed in the intense all-out battle. After delivering both of their strongest attacks, the two combatants had come to a standstill as they appeared to be evenly matched; the young Alicorn princess and male centaur were at a standoff as neither dared to make a move.
“It appears we are at an impasse,” Tirek was the first of the two to break the silence, his opponent simply listened on, watching him carefully. A smug grin formed on the face of Tirek as a brilliant idea caught his thought. “How about a trade, Princess Twilight?” Tirek snapped his massive fingers and the other Element of Harmony bearers along with Discord and Spike appeared trapped in bubble-like prisons floating above Tirek; each with their own distressed expression as they begged for freedom. “Their release, for all the Alicorn magic in Equestria.” Twilight let out a gasp at the words of Tirek, her friends all began pounding on their round prisons as they pleaded for their friend to decline the centaur’s proposal. Tirek’s grin widened as he witnessed the astonishment which appeared on Twilight’s face, “what’s it going to be, Princess?”
“Don’t do it Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called as she begged her friend.
“We’re not worth it!” exclaimed Fluttershy who almost looked on the verge of tears.
“Oh but you are Fluttershy,” Discord said sadly as he sat in a slump in his bubble, Fluttershy turned her gaze toward the draconequus to listen. “You’re the pony who taught me that friendship is magic, I had magic and friendship.” Discord paused shortly as he placed his mismatched paw and claw over his eyes to shield his shame. “And now, I don’t have either.”
“Enough!” Tirek snapped as he stomped his front two hooves onto the land in a fit of anger. “I want an answer, and I want it NOW!”
Twilight shifted her eyes to each of her friends, Pinkie Pie; Rarity; Applejack; Rainbow Dash; Fluttershy; a rainbow colored shine glazed over her eyes as she began to feel a strange sensation, like a switch was turned on in her head. It was then that Twilight knew what she had to do.
“I will give you my magic, in exchange for my friends.” Twilight’s answer was met with cries and shrieks of disapproval as her friends all gasped with shock.
“As you wish,” Tirek replied with a faint trace of a smile. Upon snapping his fingers once more, everyone’s bubble prison popped as they fell gently to the ground, everyone’s except Discord.
“All of my friends,” Twilight stated sternly as she noticed Discord still sitting in his entrapment, hearing her demands, Discord turned his head to face Twilight.
“After the way he has betrayed you, you still call him a friend?” questioned Tirek as he raised his arm and pointed it at the draconequus to illustrate his point.
“Release him!” Twilight commanded as her glare returned to her face.
“If that’s what you want,” Tirek’s reply seemed as though it were half question half answer, nevertheless, he snapped once more which caused Discord’s bubble to drop and popping upon impact with the ground.
“Thank you Twilight,” Discord expressed his gratitude as he tried to repress the strong feeling of guilt which was stirring inside him. He glanced over at Fluttershy, “I’m sorry.”
Fluttershy responded with a saddened, “I know,” tears beginning to take form in her eyes.
A devilish smile overcame Tirek’s face as he looked towards Twilight, “Your turn.” An orange-yellowish colored orb formed above the centaur’s head as he opened his mouth and began to drain the princess of her magic, screams and moans of pain rang throughout the land as Twilight felt her strength began to fade.
As the very last of Twilight’s Alicorn magic was drained, Twilight collapsed and the color from her eye faded. Tirek let out a mighty roar as his size began to increase exponentially due to his devouring of all the Alicorn magic in Equestria. “YES!” he screamed as his size grew high enough to rival even the tallest mountain in Equestria, Tirek continued his yelling as he felt his power rise and began to feel the land and tress around him crush beneath him.
Twilight struggled at first, but in the end managed to bring herself up on her hooves once again. She was soon joined by Spike and her friends who followed closely behind. “Twilight, what were you thinking?” Spike questioned.
“Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer me something more valuable than friendship,” Discord said as he approached the young princess with guilt still eating away at him. “But there is nothing worth more, I see that now. He lied when he said that this medallion was given as a sign of gratitude and loyalty; but when I say that it isa sign of our true friendship,” Discord removed the golden object from around his neck and placed it on Twilight. “I am telling the truth.” A strange sensation overcame Twilight again which brought the color back to her eyes, Applejack was the first to notice this new development and question it.
“You think that might be the last one we need?” the southern accented earth pony asked.
Twilight gave the medallion a hard glance and then finally spoke, “We have to get to the chest.” The princess took off running with everypony present following along.
The three ponies sat in the throne room in silence as they felt a sense of dread loom over them. The three once proud princesses of Equestria had bags forming under their eyes due to exhaustion from loss of magic, Princess Celestia; Princess Luna; and Princess Cadence all sat quietly, until a sigh was let out.
“Even without magic I can feel Tirek’s power, it’s almost immeasurable,” Luna began as she raised her head and looked at Celestia. “Sister, I believe this is the end of our rule.”
“Don’t say that!” Cadence snapped as she tried to stand but to no avail. “Twilight hasn’t given up, she’ll find a way I just know it.”
“I have faith in Twilight as well,” Celestia chimed in wearily as she sat up with a stagger. “But we also mustn’t underestimate the cunning of Tirek. Even without Alicorn magic, he is still a growing threat.”
“Sister, Cadence, you both cannot deny what we are feeling,” Luna was finally able to bring herself to stand. “Tirek has obtained Alicorn magic, all of it, meaning, Twilight has failed.”
“Twilight Sparkle has yet to fail you.”
The three princesses were left in a state of bewilderment when they heard a voice which belonged to neither of them. Their eyes lifted up to see a hooded figure slowly making its way into the throne room, it was now Cadence who slowly climbed to her hooves to better see the figure. It had the stature of a pony; though it’s only visible features were those of its grayish-phthalo blue muzzle and horn which poked out from under its black tattered hood and it’s hooves which shared a matching color.
“Allow me to express my most sincere apologies for showing up unannounced, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence.” At the mention of each princess’s name the figure bowed its head humbly and honorable. The voice of the mysterious figure was that of a male, a stallion who’s age was more or likely close to Twilight and her friends age. “I know you all may be having your doubts, however I assure you, Equeastria’s safety shall be preserved.”
“Who are you, and why have you come here?” Luna asked almost defensively as the pony crept closer to her and the other alicorns. “Are you in league with Tirek?”
“No!” the pony yelled his response startling the princess of the night. There was a moment of silence followed by a sigh from the hooded unicorn who then continued. “Please forgive me for my outburst dearest Princess Luna, I only meant to say that my allegiance lies with Equeastria, I would never side with the likes of Tirek after what he’s done.” Luna’s eyes were wide as she was shocked at the pony’s extremely apologetic demeanor.
“What is your name?” Cadence asked as she cautiously stared at the pony who was now standing only several hoof lengths away from where the three alicorns sat.
“Once again, I apologize, but I cannot provide that information to even any of you right now.”
“Then perhaps at least reveal your facial features,” Celestia said, though her statement sounding more like a question. “And how can you guarantee the safety of Equestria? Do you not know the current condition in which the land is on?”
“Furthermore how can we trust what you say if you won’t even provide us with the smallest of detail about your identity?” Luna was growing irritated with the vague words of the mysterious pony. “Sister, we can’t just stand around, we’re wasting time. Twilight Sparkle needs our—” Luna made an attempt to fly only to come crashing down, but before she hit the hard marble floor of the throne room, she found herself surrounded in a blue aura which looked similar to her own.
“Please, all of you, you have nothing to fear. I will see to it that Equestria is saved, I swear it.” The blue aura around Luna disappeared once she was gently placed back where she sat originally by her sister’s side. “I wish I could stay longer and talk with all of you, but I’m afraid I’m all out of time. I must be going..”
The hooded unicorn gave the princesses a nod before disappearing in a sphere of blue light, leaving behind more questions than he did answers.
Tirek watched in surprise as the vibrant colored sphere which contained the six Element of Harmony bearers raised out of a crevice in the ground and meet his gaze. Seeing this as some sort of pitiful last attempt, Tirek fired a large orange flame colored blast from his horn only to realize that his powers weren’t afflicting the ponies.
“H—how is this possible!?” Tirek stammered in in a fit of shock. “You have no magic!”
“Your wrong Tirek. I may have given you my Alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all.” Twilight spoke with a confident tone with a triumphant grin.
As the sphere of magic began to glow brightly, it was quickly cut short as the bubble disappeared with a popping sound leading to the six ponies to fall to the ground. Several shocked and surprised gasps came from Twilight and her friends as their transformations faded and they were left in their normal forms.
“Hey, what gives?” questioned Rainbow Dash as she looked around at the rest of her friends.
“I don’t understand,” Twilight asked herself as she stood on her hooves along with the others present. “What happened to our magic?”
“Well, well, it appears that you don’t carry the strongest magic of all within you,” Tirek laughed as he stood over the six who were now like ants to him due to his size. “I won’t take anymore chances, time to get ready of you six once and for all.” Tirek watched as the six ponies huddled together and closed their eyes, his orange sphere of magic above his massive horns grew in size rapidly. He then proceeded to fire a magical blast down at his cowering enemies, when the smoke cleared, the only thing that remained was a crater from the devastation of the blast. “Now Equestria is mine!”
“Equestria will never be yours.”
Tirek turned around to find a pony-like figure wearing a tattered hooded cloak of black standing before him; behind him, were the six ponies Tirek had thought he destroyed. The pony removed his hood to reveal a sharp and rather long horn, his eyes were a shade of deep royal blue and his mane was ruffled and black with streaks of white and dark blue mixed in.
“So, you must be Tirek, funny, your not as threatening as I thought you’d be.” The unicorn looked up at the mighty centaur with a serious expression. “Tirek, I’m only going to ask you this once, return the magic you have stolen from Equestria and surrender yourself and return to your cell in Tartarus.”
“Twilight, who is that pony?” Rainbow Dash whispered as she leaned closer to the young princess.
“I’m not sure, I don’t recognize him at all.” Twilight watched carefully as the unicorn stood his ground against Tirek.
“Well whoever he is he’s suffering from a major wardrobe malfunction,” Rarity chimed in as she pointed a hoof toward the stallion’s torn cloak. “I mean seriously, how can one walk around in such an atrocious piece of—” Rarity was cut off by Tirek’s erupting laughter.
“You are quite the comedian,” Tirek began as he pointed at the small blue unicorn with a large finger. “You can’t possibly hope that I’d listen to a puny pony like you, I am Tirek.”
“If you don’t comply with my demands I’ll have no choice but to defeat you.” The pony adjusted his face into a glare, “You can’t win, so make it easier for yourself and just give up.”
“You must be an even bigger fool than Discord if you think you can defeat me,” Tirek began to flex his muscular arms as he spoke. “I have acquired all the magic from Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns ; and now thanks to Princess Twilight, I have obtained all of the Alicorn magic in Equestria.” Twilight’s face changed to one of guilt at the mention of her sacrifice.
“Your wrong Tirek, you may have acquired all the magic from Earth ponies, Pegasus ponies, and Unicorns, but you haven’t obtained all of the Alicorn magic in Equestria.” When the newcomer said this, there were expressions of astonishment on not only Tirek’s face, but the faces of the six ponies standing behind the cloaked pony as well. A cocky grin formed on the unicorn’s face, “that’s right Tirek, there’s still one more Alicorn left, an Alicorn who’s magic far exceeds the power of the ones you’ve stolen thus far; an Alicorn who is more powerful than you could ever imagine.”
“What!? There is another Alicorn!?” Twilight and her friends gasped in fright as Tirek’s massive hand scooped up the unicorn and held him inches away from his face. “Where is this 5th princess? Where is her castle?” Tirek became more enraged as the unicorn in his open palm began chuckling softly to himself. “What’s so funny?”
“I just think it’s funny how you assume that the last Alicorn is a mare, I never once even mentioned a princess or a castle.”
“Of course it’s a princess! Only princesses can be Alicorns!” Tirek gripped the unicorn with both hands and began to squeeze. “Your going to tell me where this Alicorn is and your going to tell me NOW!”
“How about I do you one better? I’ll show you!” Tirek’s grip on the unicorn was lost as the unicorn let out a yell, when the stallion was free, Tirek noticed two large pegasus wings keeping the unicorn hovering in mid air. Twilight and her friends watched on in shock, the pony whom they thought was a unicorn was actually the Alicorn himself. “I’ll give you one last chance, surrender now. If not, I will defeat you.”
“I don’t know where you acquired your magic,” Tirek’s flame like orb returned, “But it’s mine now!” Tirek’s mouth opened as he prepared to taste the sweet magic that the newcomer had to offer, however, he closed his massive jaws when he realized nothing was happening. “What!? What is going on!?”
“Your spell won’t work on me Tirek, you see I’ve been studying you and I came prepared.” The light blue Alicorn replaced his cocky grin with one of burning intensity. “And now…..your through!” The large red and black centaur was sent flying across the battle scarred land by a large neon blue blast of magic which had resembled the size of the one that Twilight had used against Tirek before. The Alicorn hovered to the ground and met up with the six ponies who were all carrying expressions of great shock as he turned to face them. “This won’t take long, but just to be sure your all safe,” the pony paused as his horn began glowing a light shade of blue, a bubble-like structure of similar color trapped Twilight and her friends. “I’ll be right back.” Without another word, the Alicorn took off at blinding speed to where Tirek lay on his back on the ground.
“How!? How do you have this much magic!?” Tirek questioned the Alicorn as he rose to his hooves. The stallion didn’t answer Tirek’s question but instead fired a blast similar to the one he did earlier. Tirek wasn’t going to let it happen again, he fired his own orange flamed blast in return; the two powerful attacks connected as a beam struggle began to take place. “You pest! I will not fall to a pony!”
“Its over TIREK!” With a loud yell that shook the heavens and the ground itself, the Alicorn’s blast changed from blue to a flurry of rainbows which swallowed Tirek’s blast along with him. The centaur’s mighty form quickly diminished as his size shrunk gradually and he was restored to his original, weak state. The Alicorn landed next to the elderly Tirek as he opened up a portal which led to an empty Tartarus cell, the centaur was sent through the portal and dropped into the cell by the Alicorn’s aura. “I told you before, you had no chance of winning.”
“Who…,” Tirek’s raspy voice began as he looked back at the Alicorn before he closed the portal, sealing the centaur’s fate. “Who….who are you?”
“I’m the hope that remains in a world of despair and suffering, a dead world that stinks of war and death; I am the hope of the future.” With those final words, the portal was shut and Equestria had been saved, however, one more thing still needed to be done.
Twilight and company watched as an explosion of colors sent shockwaves of vibrant rainbow force across the land, they more or less would have been swept away by the force had it not been for the bubble shield which had been provided conveniently to them by the mysterious youth who had saved them only moments before. When the dust began to settle, Applejack was the first to take notice of the Alicorn silhouette exiting the cloud of dust and was approaching their prison.
“Is everypony okay?” No pony answered the stranger’s question, they just all wore expression of shock and disbelief, everypony except Fluttershy who was hiding behind Rainbow Dash. “Your right, now isn’t the time to talk, magic still has to be returned all over Equestria.”
“How are you going to do that?” Twilight asked.
“It isn’t up to me.” The male Alicorn shot a rainbow colored ray at Twilight and her friends who immediately transformed into their previous long multicolored hair forms. He gave the young princess a nod.
“Come on girls!” Twilight exclaimed as she and her friends all flew in different directions causing an explosion of vibrant colors to spread all over the land, following their trails.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way, I shouldn’t have intervened,” the light blue Alicorn gave himself a slap in the face as he said this. “I goofed, who knows how much damage I’ve just done?” The Alicorn took notice of a rainbow which seemed to fall in the nearby town over the horizon, he then watched as a crystal looking castle rose from the ground and touched the sky; seeing this sight, he grinned happily with a sigh. “At least everything is back to normal so far, but I should check just to be sure.” With that, he jumped into the air and spread his wings out wide as he took to the sky, his destination: Ponyville.
“But what is the Princess of Friendship without her friends?” Celestia asked as she watched Twilight along with Discord and her other friends all join in for a large group hug.
“Wait a minute!” Discord exclaimed as he realized something, “Where is my throne?”
“I don’t think your there just yet,” Fluttershy said as she flew near the draconequus and joined in laughter with her friends and the princesses.
“Oh good, your all here,” came a familiar voice from the entranceway of the throne room. Everypony’s gaze turned to meet the gentle smile of the male Alicorn who had entered in the room, everyone except for Twilight and company who had witnessed the heroic deeds of the Alicorn earlier were shocked.
“Wait! Your voice,” Luna began as she stared in disbelief at the male Alicorn. “You’re the unicorn who we had spoken with earlier today….how are you an Alicorn? That’s not possible.”
“I have quite a bit of explaining to do,” the stallion laughed as he rubbed his head nervously. “Oh where to begin? I guess I’ll start with the basics. My name is Sol, and as hard to believe as this sounds, I’m from the future.”
“Are you from next Tuesday morning?” Twilight chuckled to herself.
“Actually, I’m from a millennia in the future,” Sol watched as everyone present stared on in shock, but none seemed as shocked as Luna, and he knew why. “A thousand years from now, Equestria is locked in a state of terror and death; under rule by a heartless monster known as Obsidian Black who was taken over and worked just about every creature into slavery.” Sol know carried with him a stern expression, several others looked on in dismay.
“Things couldn’t have gotten that bad!” Rainbow Dash snaps as she soars into the air and launches a glare at Sol. “Princess Celestia wouldn’t let things get that bad.”
“Your right Rainbow Dash, except, Princess Celestia is no longer.” Celestia and Luna both exchange glances as Sol continued to speak, but not before looking at the princesses. “I hate to inform you of this Princess Celestia, but you are destroyed when Tirek breaks out of prison once more and conquers Equestria. Shortly after, Obsidian destroys Tirek and takes command of his forces.”
“What about the Elements of Harmony?” Celestia asked, letting the worry drain from her face as she tried to regain her composure. “Surely they still remain.”
“That’s actually why I’m here princess, in my time, the Elements disappeared mysteriously without any explanation. It was somewhere around this timeline that they vanished, so I traveled back in time to try to find out what happened to them and prevent their disappearance.”
“If I may ask,” Luna commented as she raised a hoof. “If what you say is true, and my sister does fall in combat, what becomes of me?”
A complete look of dread overcame Sol as the color drained from his face, he stood frozen in a shocked state before attempting to speak. “You, Princess Luna, you grow to become as powerful if not stronger than Princess Celestia, you were the leader of the freedom fighters that fought back against Obsidian’s tyrannical regime.”
“This creature, Obsidian, is he truly that powerful?” Celestia questioned, her concern growing evermore.
“He’s a heartless monster who is practically the embodiment of evil. He’s overwhelming powerful but he doesn’t normally leave his fortress of a castle, but that’s why he has his three generals.” Sol shot a glare and bared his teeth at Discord who looked confused and shrugged. “His generals include a newly resurrected King Sombra; Chrysalis, the changeling Queen; and the last one,” Sol choked on his words, he immediately shot a death glare at Discord and pointed a hoof. “And the fourth is a Draconequus that you all know very well.”
“What? I’d never do such a thing,” Discord responded with a defensive tone. “Why, I’m reformed.”
“Maybe in this time period you are, but in my time, your just as heartless as Obsidian. Your chaos falls over Equestria like a wildfire, your Obsidian’s right hoof creature,” Sol began slowly making his way into the room, inching closer to Discord gritting his teeth. “I hold a personal vendetta against you, Discord. I could never forget the one who murdered my mother.”
Everyone let out shocked gasps at the mention of this, Fluttershy flew in front of Discord as if to protect him from the slowly approaching Sol. “But he’s nothing like that here, he’s our friend.”
“Be that as it may, in my time, he’s just another pawn being used by a heartless monster. He took everything from me!” Sol was beginning to lose his composure as his rage was now entirely noticeable; his path was soon blocked by the princess of the night.
“The Discord of your time and the Discord of our time differ greatly, while he may have committed atrocities in your time, keep in mind that he has yet to do such here.” Luna gave Sol, a slight smile. “You mustn’t hold a grudge against him for something he didn’t do, and if you can’t help it, than the least you can do is try to forgive and forget, I’m sure its what your mother would have wanted.”
Sol’s eyes quickly began to fill with water, tears slowly falling from them like rain. “How ironic that you, Princess Luna, would say such forgiving and comforting words,” he laughs through his sobs, “I’m sorry….I just…..I need to be alone right now…” Sol runs out of the room, his sobs louder than ever, leaving everyone left in a state of confusion.