Episode 28: The War of Light Ignites!
Canterlot was turned into a battlefield, most of the buildings were either charred from constant energy, light, and magic blasts, and others were completely destroyed. The popular and beautiful capital of Equestria was now nearly in ruins thanks to the battle that had been going on. Discord was proving to be a great asset during the fight, using his chaos magic to trip up or disable the possessed for a time, allowing the alicorns, Star Beasts, and thunderbird to counterattack.
Unfortunately, the powers of Rage, Avarice, and Fear were proving to be more than a match for the small assembled fighting force. Spike’s Avarice constructs constantly went after Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and the magic simulacrums of Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was able to keep them off her, using her great speed and agility to out maneuver the construct Diamond Dogs. Pinkie Pie used her Pinkie Sense to avoid many of the creatures as they lunged and popped out of the ground, each one trying to grab hold of her. Every once and a while, the earth pony mare and pegasus mare would double team the constructs anytime they got near one of the fake ponies.
Nightmare Butcher, during the duration of this battle, had been focusing all her rage at the wounded Celestia, taking advantage of her flightless form. The white alicorn mare hated this, she could only fire powerful beams of magic from her halberd and summon shields to defend herself or the others, basically acting as a fixed heavy cannon. Luna did the majority of the engaging, fighting Nightmare one on one. The crimson blade of the ax clashed with the silver curved edge of the Luna’s sword, creating sparks of red light and blue mana with each strike.
Nightmare Butcher and Luna were locked, blades grinding against each other as their auras flared up. “Heh, heh, how long do you think you can prolong the inevitable Luna?! I’ll kill Celestia!”
“Shut up!” Luna ordered.
“I’ll break each bone in her wing, one by one, and then I’ll rip it off slowly and watch as each strand of bloody tissue and muscle snaps with each tug!”
“Shut up!”
“Then I’ll use my ax to gut her alive! And she’ll remain conscious long enough to see my good work before I choke her with her own intestines! Her screams will be like music to my ears!”
“SHUT UP!!!”
Nightmare Butcher’s aura doubled in size as she grinned happily at the rise in Luna’s anger. With a single swipe of the ax, Nightmare sent Luna spiraling into a nearby building, smashing through the wall. The midnight blue alicorn slowly picked herself up from the rubble as she glared angrily at her former dark persona.
“Oh Lulu, you are so easily riled up. Did you forget that I am Rage itself now?! The angrier you get the more powerful I become! Well, technically I’m already powerful, you feeding my power is just the frosting on the cake.”
Luna shook off the remaining debris before she flared her wings, preparing to take off. Nightmare Butcher then inhaled deeply and bellowed forth a torrent of blazing blood-fire at Luna. The Princess of the Night barely made it out of there before the red plasma drenched the building and ate away at the stone and glass, turning it into molten sludge.
Meanwhile, Chrysalis was having an aerial battle with Storm. The thunderbird fired off multiple lightning bolts at the Changeling Queen, making the possessed insectoid erect a barrier of yellow light around herself. One after another the lightning bolts struck the shield with a powerful, thunderous boom, forcing Chrysalis to hold fast. It was a strange thing, a bird fighting an insect, like some overly dramatic circle of life thing. But Chrysalis didn’t dwell on the irony right now; she needed to get around this bird’s offense.
Fanning her wings, Chrysalis unleashed her light of Fear, gazing into the deep recesses of Storm’s mind. Deeper and deeper she probed until she found what she was looking for. Chrysalis created a burst of power that gave her an opening to fly up and away from Storm. The Changeling Queen, from her new vantage point, thrust her right claw into the air, calling upon the power of Parallax. The yellow light of Fear coalesced around her claw, blazing like the sun. She then pointed it at the thunderbird and released it. The energy began to take the form of a giant hydra, its nine heads hissing and roaring at the young avian creature.
Storm’s mind immediately flashed back to that dreadful day, the day his mother died protecting him, and the image of her body being torn apart by the hydras, forever burned into his memory. The sight of this beast brought back the terror of that time, making him feel as if he were a hatchling all over again. The lightning and thunder died down, the clouds evaporating above as the thunderbirds unique weather magic wavered.
The Star Beasts saw this happening and were preparing to aid Storm, but the giant dragon that was Spike blocked their path. Even though the thunderbird was not their child, the two mother Star Beasts knew well the look of genuine fear in a young one and their motherly instincts fueled their strength to want to protect Storm, as well as stoke the fires of anger at the creature that kept them from doing so.
The Ursa Major charged for Spike, raising its right paw in preparation for a swipe of its claw. But Spike, despite his larger size, was quicker. He immediately grabbed the Ursa Major’s paw, applying pressure onto it and digging his claws into the starry, somewhat ethereal flesh. The Ursa Major roared in pain, but it only made her more determined. She then brought her second claw up to strike again. But this time Spike shot forward, opening his mouth and chomping down on the bear’s left shoulder, making his fangs sink deep into her body.
The Canis Major roared and dashed for Spike. The possessed dragon then raised the Ursa with his maw and tossed her like a rag doll at the incoming Canis Major. The two elder Star Beasts crashed into each other, skidding upon the ground until they landed up against a building. Unknown to Spike, the children of the two beasts, stealthily made their way around Spike. Straun, the Ursa Minor, leaped up and onto Spike’s back, chomping down on his exposed long neck. Liaetha bared her fangs and bit down on the dragon’s leg, making Spike drop to one knee. With an orange glow in his eyes, Spike unleashed his aura; making both younger Star Beasts fly out in two different directions.
“There’s something not right about this,” said Parallax.
Chrysalis quirked her head in confusion at the sound of the Entity of Fear’s voice, “What do you mean ‘not right’? We’re winning.”
“They have been fighting, but they seem…distracted. For some reason I don’t feel as if they’re trying to fight us for the sake of fighting, not even trying…Chrysalis, never mind with that overgrown canary, strike Princess Cadance! NOW!”
Chrysalis looked to the thunderbird and then to Cadance, who was standing beside Twilight Sparkle. The equine insectoid flew towards Twilight, her left forearm blade extended and gleaming from the yellow light. The young alicorn mare saw Chrysalis charging for her and fired multiple magic bolts at the possessed Changeling Queen. Chrysalis created a shield in front of her, but noticed that Twilight Sparkle was the only one attacking, while Princess Cadance stood idly by and did nothing.
Princess Cadance wouldn’t let her beloved sister-in-law fight alone, something is up!
The Changeling Queen lit up her horn and teleported in a blaze of yellow flames. Twilight frantically looked about, trying to determine where Chrysalis had gone. Suddenly, Twilight felt a tug around her waist; she looked back and saw that there was a yellow chain that resembled a spinal column. Twilight was then hoisted up into the air and slammed on the other side of the road, knocking the breath out of her lungs and making her let out a gasp. The chain whipped up again and threw her up into the air. Twilight caught a glimpse of her attacker, Chrysalis. The wielder of Fear then brought down her right hand, making the chain follow her movements as it sent her right back down into terra firma, creating a body sized crater.
With Twilight out of the way, Chrysalis turned her attention to Cadance, who was still standing, not moving an inch. Chrysalis made the boney chain tip change into an arrowhead spike. After a few movements she whipped the chain in Cadance’s direction, piercing the side of the alicorn mare. But, after a few seconds, Cadance’s body began to destabilize and fade into nothingness. Chrysalis’ face contorted in anger as she saw this and turned to the remaining two mares who hadn’t moved at all during the battle. Chrysalis lashed out with the spiked tip of the chain, making it slash in a wide arc. Pinkie Pie, sensing the attack coming, immediately ducked low to the ground just in time to watch the arrowhead spike cut the heads off the simulacrums’ heads. The illusions faded just as the first did, confirming to Chrysalis and Parallax that something was definitely going on.
Before she could sound off to her fellow possessed allies, Chrysalis was blasted with a powerful beam of sun yellow mana that sent her flying away down the street. Now with the equine insectoid gone, Rainbow Dash quickly made her way to the crater to help her marefriend. Worriedly she went down and helped her lover out of the crater and onto even ground. Twilight coughed a bit, groaning in pain from the blitz attack.
“Twi, I hate to say it, but our secret might’ve just been blown!”
Twilight looked around and gasped when she noticed the absence of three simulacrums. “Oh no…Nonononononono – NO!”
Chrysalis shot up into the air and made to rally the others to her. Spike made his way to her side, while Nightmare Butcher, reluctantly, disengaged with Luna and made her way to Chrysalis. It didn’t take long for the small band of resistance to notice the angered glares they were receiving from all three of them. The final indicator was that they were slowly stalking towards them. Making Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie regroup to Celestia and Luna. Discord landed next Luna, his eagle’s claw and lion’s paw glowing with chaos magic.
“Do you think they had enough time?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“I don’t know Pinkie, we never worked out a way for them to signal us if they did,” said Twilight.
“Have faith Twilight Sparkle, they will succeed,” said Luna.
“Just to be sure, you don’t want me to blow up the entire mountain? ‘Cause that option is still on the table.” Discord commented.
“NO!” The mares yelled at once.
Twilight continued to watch the hosts of the Negative Entities approach them. Spike’s Avarice constructs were gathering around him as fire dripped from his maw. Chrysalis had her forearm blades extended, and her horn glowing brightly as she stared at them with sadistic intent. Nightmare Butcher’s eye shined blood red as her ax floated beside her, ready to behead and eviscerate every single one of them. Twilight closed her eyes and silently prayed.
Please, let them be okay…I know you guys can do it, I believe in all of you! Especially you, Scootaloo!
At that moment a low rumble spread out through the ground and air. The hosts of the Negative Entities each stopped in their tracks as they sensed the disturbance. From the direction of the castle, four pillars of light erupted into the air. The four pillars then united into a single blinding light that shined out over the city of Canterlot, and further out around the mountain. Through squinting eyes the ponies below could make out four beings in the light as they descended to the city. From what they could make out, the beings within the light were equine, but at the same time appeared different. But there was one pony that Twilight noticed above the others, and seeing her made the alicorn’s heart swell with hope and cheer at the sight.
“Don’t worry Twilight…”
The light dimmed slightly, revealing the transformed states of Applejack, Cadance, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo, each donned in the uniform and gear of their respective Entity. Their bodies wrapped in the auras of the four different positive lights of the Emotional Spectrum.
“All will be well!”
The four of them incased themselves in spheres of green, blue, indigo, and violet light and shot towards their friends, zooming around the Negatives and landing before them. With light spheres faded away the ponies, and draconequus, looked in awe at their new forms. Rainbow Dash quickly trotted up to the pegasus filly, admiring the four blue shimmering wings on her back. Despite seeing them, Dash hurriedly enveloped the filly in a fierce hug, followed closely by Twilight who wrapped her forelegs as best she could around Rainbow and Scootaloo.
“Oh Faust, Scoots, I can’t believe it! You guys made it! And you have, like, four wings now!” Rainbow Dash separated herself a little from Scootaloo and looked at her for a moment. “So…is Adara…you know, with you?”
Scootaloo smirked at that question. “I am indeed Rainbow Dash. And you and Twilight give warm hugs.”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked upon Scootaloo. Her lips didn’t move, but they clearly heard Adara’s voice. “She’s inside me – Actually, I think the better way to say it is that she’s in my soul or something like that, it’s the same with the rest of us, right?” Scootaloo looked to the others, each of whom nodded.
“What about Rarity and Apple Bloom…are they alright?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Don’t worry, Pinkie,” said Fluttershy, “we just wanted to be sure of where everypony was before we moved them. Give me just a moment.”
Fluttershy then disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. Not two seconds later did she reappear with Rarity and Apple Bloom at her side, both looking very confused at how they got there.
“Rarity!” Twilight, Rainbow, and Pinkie yelled in unison.
“Girls,” cried Rarity.
The fashionista was quickly swarmed by the three mares, having a group hug. She didn’t care that she looked a mess; she just missed everypony and needed her friends right now. Apple Bloom walked up to Applejack, looking upon her with wide eyes. She had never seen her big sister like this before, she was always her hero growing up, but now she actually looked like one. Her green uniform, the glowing symbol upon her chest, and of course the outline of her emerald aura, it was all fantastic. For a moment she contemplated that this appearance might’ve changed more than her body, that maybe her personality was different too.
“Um…sis, are ya still you?” asked Apple Bloom with trepidation.
Applejack’s gaze softened at the question, she then leaned down and nuzzled the side of Apple Bloom’s cheek. “Don’t worry little sis, Ah’m still me. And Ion is still Ion, ain’t that right?”
“Eeyup,” responded the Entity of Willpower.
Luna’s eyes were transfixed on the fierce form of Cadance. The pink alicorn took notice of this, and so too did Predator.
“Cadance, I think Luna is checking you out,” said Predator.
“I am doing no such thing!” Luna yelled with a blushing face.
“Now Predator, no teasing right now, even if Aunt Luna looks cute when flustered,” said Cadance with a grin.
Celestia smiled at her niece, sensing a change within the Princess of Love. “I am proud of you Cadance, you and Predator appear to have found harmony between each other.”
“Yes, although it was a bit difficult, I think we’re better for it.”
“Princess Celestia…”
The older ponies ceased talking as they looked to Scootaloo. She leisurely walked up to the elder Princess and motioned for Celestia to lower herself down. Curious, the white alicorn mare did as she asked, folding her legs beneath her. Scootaloo’s aura began to ignite, expanding and shimmering. The filly looked deep into the alicorn’s eyes; the symbol of Hope appeared in them, as well as in Celestia’s eyes.
“Celestia of Equus, you who bring the day and warm sunlight upon this world. You carry the hope of all on your shoulders, for with each dawn brings the promise of a new day and renewed hope for a better future. You have great hope, and you inspire others to spread that hope throughout this world. For this you shall be made whole.”
Celestia closed her eyes as Scootaloo brought their foreheads to touch. The blue light of Hope gathered to the stump that was once her right wing. The blue light then surged forth, expanding and taking the shape of Celestia’s missing wing. The blue light then shattered, revealing Celestia’s white feathered wing. It was unreal; it was as if it had been erased, all the damage to the muscles and bone around the wound, it was all just gone. Scootaloo separated their foreheads and stood before the Princess with a smile. Celestia slowly opened her eyes, gasping at the familiar presence of her once missing wing. She looked back and saw that it was indeed there, her lower lip trembling. With tears in her eyes, Celestia smiled back Scootaloo.
“Thank you, Scootaloo, Adara.”
“No problem Princess.”
“No one should be denied the freedom of the skies.”
Just then a blast of orange plasma fire roared towards the group of ponies and untied hosts. Sensing the attack, Cadance raised her left claw in a sweeping motion. A line formed in front of them as a wall made of star sapphire crystal rose up and blocked the roaring inferno. The flames lost a good amount of power as it tried to demolish the crystal wall. When the flames died out, Cadance dismissed the wall and glared at the ones who dared to interrupt their reunion. The four united hosts each looked to each other and nodded. They rose up into the air and moved towards the possessed hosts, keeping a sizeable gap between them as they stared each other down.
“Kckt, it would seem that you have decided to finally get serious,” said Parallax.
“You unfortunately made it come to this, Parallax, all of you,” retorted Ion.
“There’s still a chance to stop this. Leave your hosts and surrender peacefully, and we shall show you mercy,” said Cadance.
“Relatively speaking, I still plan on tearing Nightmare Moon apart for nearly killing Sweetie Belle!” Predator growled.
Ophidian’s mocking laughter could be heard echoing through the air as Spike gave them a toothy grin.
“And so a new ‘War of Light’ ssshall be waged!”
Spike raised his fist and struck the ground, sending a burst of orange light erupting between them. Applejack flared her emerald aura, allowing it to grow and take shape around her. The aura solidified itself, taking the shape of the Emerald Giant, but donned in battle armor and with the glowing symbol of Willpower on its chest. The construct rushed through the explosion and tackled Spike, sending the both of them hurling down the street. Scootaloo took off after them, wanting to help her “big brother”.
“Do you mind taking on Chrysalis, Fluttershy? I want to deal with Nightmare, since Predator, and I as well, have a score to settle.”
Fluttershy shook her head, “No, I don’t mind. Go right ahead.”
With Fluttershy’s okay, Cadance lunged for Nightmare Butcher, catching the black and red mare by surprise. The two mares growled ferociously as they plummeted to the street below, sending up star sapphire crystals and acidic blood blasting from the point of impact. With both sets of teams set on their specific targets, Fluttershy was now alone with Chrysalis, floating in the sky as the Changeling Queen looked at the transformed mare with a disapproving shake of the head.
“Of all the ponies I was expecting to fight, you weren’t even on the list,” said Chrysalis. Her muzzle then split into a sinister grin. “But, that doesn’t mean that this won’t be any fun. A timid scaredy cat like you, fighting me on your own, there’s no limit to the frightful things I can torture you with!”
Fluttershy’s calm expression did not falter; she merely shook her head in disagreement. “I am not afraid of you Chrysalis, maybe once a long time ago, but not now. Not when my friends need me, and I’m not alone, my friends are with me even now.” The first two tentacles that made up Fluttershy’s wings as well as the one that acted as her tail began to change color, the symbols of Willpower, Hope, Rage, Avarice, and Love forming around them. “I have Applejack and Ion’s courage, Scootaloo and Adara’s hope, Princess Cadance and Predator’s love, the rage to fight back, and the avarice to protect what’s mine.”
Chrysalis got tired of Fluttershy’s drivel and fired a concentrated beam of yellow light at the pegasus mare. The powerful blast sailed towards Fluttershy, but she didn’t dodge it. Right before it hit, Fluttershy’s mane tentacle glowed yellow. She then commanded the tentacle to lash out at the beam, coiling into a spiral. The beam smashed against the yellow tentacle, making Chrysalis grit her teeth from the resistance. The Changeling Queen poured more of her power into the attack, forcing Fluttershy back. But with a flick of the tentacle, Fluttershy redirected the beam letting it flyby harmlessly past her and into the open sky.
Agitated, Chrysalis flew at Fluttershy, creating a yellow scythe construct. She slashed in a wide arc at Fluttershy, but at the last second, a puff of purple smoke appeared where Fluttershy was. The Changeling Queen continued her cut, but the yellow blade only passed through the cloud, parting it and revealing nothing. Chrysalis heard a poof sound from behind her; from the corner of her left eye she spotted Fluttershy reappear. Chrysalis extended her forearm blade and swung her arm in a backhand motion.
But just as before, her blade only passed through smoke and air. Chrysalis scanned the area, looking for any sign of the tricky pegasus. Just then a giant purple smoke cloud poofed up around her, obscuring Chrysalis’ vision, she swung wildly within the cloud, hoping to land a decisive blow to the shy mare. Chrysalis found her right arm constricted in an indigo tentacle, another latched onto her left arm, and then one around her midsection, and one last one around her throat. The tentacles went taut, making the Changeling Queen gag from the sudden vice grip. She was then hoisted above the cloud and brought before Fluttershy as the mare stared at her with a stoic expression.
“The war between Fear and Compassion is an ancient one, Parallax. If a new War of Light is to be waged, then so too will ours!”
Fluttershy whipped Chrysalis higher into the air and slammed her back down to the ground with a thunderous boom. She then dragged the insectoid along the ground and right into a building. The tentacles retracted and pointed their tips in Chrysalis’ direction; each one glowed with one of the seven lights of the Emotional Spectrum, gathering the energy of the respective lights into a sphere.
“Nok.”
Fluttershy’s tentacles then unleashed a barrage of energy blasts at the rubble that Chrysalis was under. A yellow barrier was quickly brought up, just in time to get pummeled by a rainbow of light blasts that exploded on impact in rapid succession.
Cadance and Nightmare Butcher were fighting a fierce battle. The pink alicorn had smashed Nightmare Butcher clear through the street and out the other side of the mountain. Both of them squared off on the side of the mountain, from their vantage point, they were looking at each other straight on, but from further away, they were standing vertical on the mountain, gravity having no power over them.
“Love and Rage, always destined to be on the opposite ends, both never willing to back down to the other, how fitting that you and I are fighting, dear niece!” Nightmare shouted with tone of slight mirth.
“You are willing to kill everything and anyone, even little foals; such evil will not be tolerated, not in this world!” Cadance yelled.
Nightmare Butcher let out an evil cackle at hearing Cadance’s outrage. “Have you forgotten the Nightmare Night tales?! I eat little foals who don’t run and hide!” Nightmare then bared her sharp teeth at mare. “Of course that’s just a made up tale, but, who says I can’t live up to the legend?!”
Cadance, letting a little of her more bestial side out, channeled Predator’s ferocity and roared at Nightmare Butcher, her teeth becoming pointy to match the dark alicorn’s. Nightmare Butcher bellowed out a roar as well, and with the challenge accepted, the two alicorns took off towards each other. Cadance lashed out with her right claw, and Nightmare Butcher slashed with her ax. The claw and blade made contact, creating a shockwave of power that made a crater appear below them. Their auras flared up as they went at it again, with each powerful strike the crater got bigger and bigger, nearly boring a hole in the mountain itself.
Nightmare then bellowed forth her acidic blood stream at Cadance. The Princess of Love brought her crystalline wings forward, increasing their size till they formed a makeshift shield in front of her. The force from the blood blast made Cadance dig her claws into the rock to keep her rooted, when the stream ended, Cadance flicked her wings to the side, making the acidic blood splash against the rock as the surface sizzled and bubbled.
Cadance then slammed her left claw onto the mountain’s surface, making star sapphire crystals jut out from the ground in sharp spikes. When the spikes reached Nightmare, she flapped her wings and took the skies, with Cadance following close behind. The dark alicorn summoned a demonic construct, a giant bipedal monster with four razor sharp pincers around its mouth, three protruding spines from its back, four long talons on both hands, and a long whip like tail. In essence it was a grotesque creature. Cadance countered with her own creation, her light-crystal construct formed behind her, creating a lion with giant feathered wings. The beast roared at the demonic construct, to which the red demon hissed and clicked back.
The winged lion soared at the demon, swiping its paw across its face making the demon construct retreat a few steps. Four violet-pink claw marks appeared on the monster’s face, but it quickly sealed them up and counterattacked. The red demon delivered a punch to the right side of the lion’s face, and then another to left, and finally, as the lion flailed, the demon construct sunk its pincers into the left foreleg of the winged lion. The crystalline cat roared in pain, but quickly rounded on the demon by biting it back, right in its neck, and, using it free foreleg, dug its claws into the creature’s body.
Meanwhile, Candance and Nightmare were exchanging fire, one blasting with violent red light, and the other with clear violet-pink light. The two contrasting lights of Rage and Love lit up the sky and detonated along the mountainside and forest below. Several times did Nightmare Butcher unleash her blood-fire breath, and Cadance countered with jagged spikes and shields of star sapphire crystals. The forest and mountainside boiled and sizzled from the acidic liquid life essence, turning almost everything into bubbling pools of red sludge. Several violet crystals obscured the landscape, piercing the rocks and trees, and acting as dams to stop the progression of the still acidic sludge.
The winged lion and demonic monster separated from each other, growling at their respective enemies. The Cadance stood beside her construct, and so too did Nightmare Butcher. Both mares were panting hard from their primal battle, what wounds that were dealt to each of them were quickly healed by the power of the Entities dwelling within them. It was quickly becoming apparent that this battle would not end anytime soon.
“Heh, you’re better at this than Celestia, she has no taste for the savagery of battle! No way of seeing the elegance of being unrestrained and primal, indulging in your desires! We’re not so different Cadance; we both want to indulge in our vices. And it would be a shame to kill such an attractive mare, niece or not.”
“First of all: Ew, not even if you were the last mare on Equus! And second: We may be two halves of the same bit, but we are nothing alike!” Cadance shouted.
Nightmare Butcher scoffed, “You can’t rid the world of all hate! It will always exist!”
“True, but at least we can overpower it!”
The constructs and mares roared viciously into the air as they both charged for each other. From a distance, all that could be seen was a giant winged lion and red demon battling in the forest below, as well as torrents of acidic blood and star sapphire crystals jutting out from the ground and snaking their way around and through everything in their path.
Applejack was in the middle of grappling with Spike, the Emerald Giant’s hands locked with that of Spike’s claws, both trying to overpower the other. The orange earth pony could feel the draining effects of the Avarice light, seeing some of the green light seeping into Spikes arms as he grinned evilly at her. Applejack pivoted on her right foot and used the momentum to toss Spike into the air. His hulking form spiraled for a bit before he stopped himself and glared down at the construct.
“The Emerald Giant again? Really Ion, I thought you and your hossst would be more creative than that!” Ophidian mocked.
Applejack dismissed her giant construct and smirked underneath her face mask. “Who said Ah ain’t creative?!”
Spike felt a surge of Willpower light behind him, watching as three flashes of emerald light went off behind him. The light took shape and form, turning into constructs of varying size. Spike’s eyes widened at the sight of them, they each looked like him, but in various forms. The one on his left was a bulky beast, with large forearms that were riddled with sharp spikes, a squared jaw, and powerful muscles. The one on the right was a more regal, standing on all fours, with a broad chest, well sculpted muscles, a fierce visage, and large membrane wings. The center one was bipedal, slender, but with well-toned muscles, his wings were spread out, and his fists were clenched tight. Spike didn’t know what to say as he saw his counterparts, but he didn’t have time to say anything as the bulky construct raised its large forearms and brought them down on either side of Spike’s collar bone.
The impact made Spike let out a painful roar and sent him crash landing into the streets below, demolishing many of the structures nearby. The regal construct opened its maw and unleashed a blazing inferno of emerald flames that poured over the crater Spike created. Spike pushed against the powerful torrent, gritting his sharp teeth as he tried to absorb the green light of Willpower. But in the blink of an eye, the fighter construct appeared in front of Spike. Emerald light gathered to its right fist as the construct thrust forward, connecting with its fist with Spike’s armored chest and throwing him back at least thirty feet. Spike dug his claws into the ground, tearing up the street as he did so to bring himself to a stop.
“Ferget somepony?!”
Spike turned around and watched as Applejack gathered the green light of Willpower overhead. Applejack then brought down the sphere of energy on Spike, exploding as soon as it struck him. The earth pony mare floated in the air, watching to make sure she didn’t overdo it. A powerful roar erupted from the dust cloud, Spike’s dragon Avarice construct appeared and began fighting with the regal construct. Spike then let loose a torrent of plasma fire at the bulky construct, hitting it right in the chest and making it topple to the ground. The Diamond Dog constructs rose up and started heading in Applejack’s direction. The fighter construct moved swiftly to the possessed dragon but Spike quickly caught it by the throat, applying pressure and making the construct squirm under his power.
“No matter how powerful you and Ion are, you are still able to be affected by my light!”
“The same holds true for you Ophidian.”
All of a sudden the fighter constructs’ aura roared and its eyes glowed with blue light. The bulky construct rose back to its feet, and the regal construct made quick work of the Avarice construct dragon. The fighter construct wrenched himself free from Spike’s grip, and struck him in the jaw with an uppercut, and followed with a kick to the chest, sending him into a building. Sparrows made of blue light flew from behind Applejack and towards the Diamond Dog constructs. The birds continued to speed towards them, glowing brighter as they got closer. The moment the birds got into range they exploded, destroying the Diamond Dog Avarice constructs. Applejack looked behind her and saw Scootaloo flying up beside her.
“Thanks for the save Scootaloo,” said Applejack.
“No problem Applejack,” Scootaloo then turned her attention Spike, “Can you hold him steady, I might be able to our power to bring him back!”
Applejack nodded and willed her three constructs to converge on Spike. The bulky construct wrapped his powerful arms around Spike, keeping him pinned to his chest. Scootaloo flew towards her surrogate big brother. The possessed dragon roared and writhed under the strong grip of the empowered construct; Spike saw Scootaloo coming and released an orange plasma fire blast at her. Scootaloo, didn’t stop, she merely created a spherical shield to protect herself from the attack. The pegasus filly got closer and closer, despite the raging inferno, she floated right before Spike’s face. The possessed dragon growled angrily at the filly, baring his fangs.
“LET ME GO!!!”
“No Spike, this isn’t you. You’re head’s messed up because that Ophidian Entity inside you. Please listen to me, come back to us.”
“NO, I WANT WHAT’S MINE, YOU TOOK MY MARES! I WANT THEM BACK, AND I WANT YOUR LIGHT!!! GIVE ME YOUR LIGHT!!!”
Scootaloo eyes grew determined as she spread her wings and her aura expanded. “You want my light? Fine, here it is! The light of Hope!”
At that moment Scootaloo’s body shined, lighting up the whole area. Her eyes were filled with sparkling blue light as she reached out with her hoof. The symbol of Hope appeared in Spike’s eyes and his thrashing ceased.
“It isn’t too late Spike; everypony believes that you’re still in there. Even Rarity still believes in you, and Apple Bloom never lost hope. Just let go of that power…you can do it, I believe in you big brother.”
Spike’s eyes softened at hearing those last words. “BIG…BROTHER…? YOU…You called me your big brother…”
Spike’s aura raged into an inferno, rising up and taking the form of Ophidian himself. The Entity of Avarice’s face was contorted in pure rage. The construct that was holding Spike could not withstand the pure power of Avarice that was Ophidian and shattered apart.
“I will not be thrown from this host! I have found a true being of Avarice and I will not be separated from what is MINE!”
The sheer power and force of Ophidian’s outburst pushed Scootaloo away, making Applejack create a pillow construct to catch the filly before she hit the ground or castle.
“Don’t worry sugarcube, ya almost got through to him,” said Applejack.
“We’ll have to weaken Spike physically if we want to have a chance of exorcising Ophidian from Spike,” said Ion.
“It’ll be hard; Ophidian is not one to give up a host easily.”
“That doesn’t mean we can give up, we will get Spike back, and defeat that overgrown orange snake!” Scootaloo proclaimed.
Scootaloo flew towards Spike; ten dozen sparrow constructs appeared around her as she had them fly at the armored dragon. The shadow of Ophidian retracted back into Spike and flew at Scootaloo, summoning his own constructs to match her own. As hard as this was, Scootaloo knew it had be done, to save Spike and to stop the Negative Entities, she had the faith, and she was going to see this through.
During all this mayhem, the group of ponies waited and watched. Rainbow Dash and Luna were especially anxious, they were both not the kind of ponies to just stand by and let others do the fighting for them. Discord on the other hand had decided to take the initiative and pop into the castle in search of the Elements of Harmony. Not three minutes later, the draconequus reappeared, holding within his paw and claw the very objects that imprisoned him for a thousand years. For a moment Discord considered maybe plunging the items into a black hole, or hide them away so that none of these ponies could try that again.
An explosion drew his attention. Turning around he saw Fluttershy and Chrysalis battle. The timid mare was doing her best to confuse and disorient Chrysalis, teleporting instantly all over the place and launching one attack after the other. Seeing the pegasus mare fight so valiantly for everyone, even him, it made Discord feel…bad. With a sigh Discord presented the Elements to Twilight.
“Here you are, six Elements of Harmony as requested.”
“Thank you Discord, although they won’t do us much good without all of us together, it’s better than not having them,” said Twilight.
Rainbow Dash growled loudly as she watched Scootaloo fight Spike. “Twilight are you sure we can’t use them to fight back or something?! Scoots and AJ are fighting alone against Spike! And Fluttershy is up against Chrysalis – Chrysalis!”
“You must be patient Rainbow Dash, have faith in our friends that they will stop them,” said Celestia.
“Does anypony else feel that?” asked Luna.
Everyone stopped moving and talking, now listening intently. There was a deep rumbling emanating from deep below. The ground beneath their hooves began to shake violently and only got worse as the seconds ticked by. Before any of them could get to safety, the ground exploded, sending everyone flying in different directions. Apple Bloom was flailing in midair and on a collision course with a street lamp. Thankfully, Luna rushed towards the apple filly and held her close to her body. Luna then used Midnight Crescent to cut the pole down so that their landing was unobscured. Rarity and Pinkie were about to smash into a building, but Pinkie quickly reached into her mane and tossed an object at the incoming wall. The object struck the wall and burst open into a raft. Both mares landed, somewhat, softly within the rubber raft, cushioning their impact. Rarity then looked to Pinkie confused, grateful, but confused.
“Why in Equestria did you have a raft in your mane darling?”
“Well duh, I always keep a raft somewhere close, in case of raft emergencies,” said Pinkie Pie as if that was the most obvious question in the world.
Celestia and Rainbow Dash were in the air, but quickly corrected themselves. Twilight was blown further away, she groaned as she raised her head to see just what sent them all flying in different directions. The spot where they were all standing was riddled with violet star sapphire crystals and a little acidic blood. Twilight looked up and saw Cadance and Nightmare dueling in the skies above. The Princess of Magic watched as Cadance grabbed Nightmare by the throat and threw her to the ground like a rag doll, striking the ground with tremendous force. The pink alicorn mare was about to attack again when Chrysalis fired a beam of yellow light, sending Cadance into one of the castle towers.
Twilight looked back down the street where Nightmare Butcher had landed. The dark alicorn mare was already starting to recover from the attack, shaking off the debris of the crater. It was then that her bloodthirsty eyes locked onto Twilight and her anger shifted to the young alicorn.
“Twilight Sparkle…How I’ve waited to kill you! Without you, I would’ve still had my eternal night, and I wouldn’t have been condemned to being a mere shadow within the body of a weak, scared mare!”
Nightmare’s horn glowed blood red with her dark magic and red light of Rage. Twilight was about to create a shield to protect herself, but suddenly felt a sharp pain within her right wing, when she looked, Twilight saw that the wing was bent at an awkward angle. Twilight didn’t feel it a first because of the adrenalin, but now that she saw it, she was becoming aware of the pain shooting through her wing and into her back, making her concentration falter.
Twilight then heard a discharge of magical energy; she quickly looked up and watched as the beam of red light sailed towards her. Time slowed in that moment, her mind becoming acutely aware of the details around her. The smell of burning rubble, the thunderous sounds of explosions, the sweat dripping from her brow, the pain within her, and the rush of cyan that somehow filled her vision…
Wait cyan?!
The alicorn mare snapped out of her stupor as the painful cry of Rainbow Dash ran in her ears. The beam shot straight through the pegasus mare’s torso, exiting out her back and farther into the distance. When the beam stopped, Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs, forelegs and wings spread out in a protective fashion. Twilight’s eyes widened with horror at the sight of the gaping wound on her marefriend’s back, she could barely speak as the tears began to flow from her eyes. Rainbow Dash seemed to have lost all control of her limps and began to fall towards Twilight.
Twilight quickly used her telekinesis to grab Rainbow Dash and ease her down in front of her. Rainbow Dash coughed up a little blood as she stared up at her marefriend, smiling her usual cocky smile.
“You okay…Twi?”
“Rainbow Dash, that was so – so stupid! Why did you do that?!”
“You mean, why did I save my marefriend…? ‘Cause I love you Twi, what other reason do I need…?”
Twilight took Rainbow’s hoof into her own, squeezing it as she trembled. “I could’ve teleported away! I could’ve blocked that attack! You didn’t…You didn’t…” Twilight shook her head, trying to focus her thoughts. “I’m going to heal, I know some healing spells!”
Rainbow Dash coughed a few times before speaking again. “Twi…you and I both know that your magic doesn’t work too well on this light stuff…I’m fine…I got to be who I really am, and share part of my life with somepony I called my best friend and then marefriend…”
Twilight shook her head slowly. “No…I don’t want to lose you…!”
Twilight looked around, Scootaloo and Applejack were busying fighting Spike, but they continued to try and to make to them. Fluttershy was too, but Chrysalis was making it nearly impossible to do so. The only ones who could help Rainbow Dash were being prevented from getting to her, and Twilight was utterly powerless to save the first pony whom she loved honestly.
It’s not fair…none of this is! Why do you have to die?! Why should those who wish to be happy have to be forced into battle and strife?! They all deserve to live their lives! Adara and Scootaloo, Applejack and Ion, Proselyte and Fluttershy, Cadance and Predator, Rarity, Pinkie, Celestia, Luna, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and even bucking Discord!
Twilight looked towards Nightmare Butcher who grinned evilly back at her.
“You have no respect for life Nightmare! I won’t let you take away another loved one! I won’t let you extinguish another life!”
Just then a pillar of white light rose from beneath Twilight causing her to gasp from the sudden rush of power. The fighting stopped immediately as the possessed hosts and the united hosts, along with the Twilight’s friends, all looked upon the pillar in awe. But to the Entities that dwelled within their hosts, this was no ordinary light, this white light was familiar.
Within the column of light Twilight’s head swiveled about. This light wasn’t threatening, but it was powerful, yet familiar, as if Twilight had always known it. Twilight looked back down to Rainbow Dash and gasped happily when she saw the white light begin to heal the wound on the pegasus mare’s chest, as well as her broken wing.
“She will live, Twilight Sparkle…”
Twilight recognized that voice. She looked up and stared with wide eyes as the Entity of Life floated before her. His large feathered wings fanned out, encircling them. A kind smile was upon his face as he looked at the two mares, but his eyes seemed to be focused directly at Twilight.
“Great Life Entity…what…how are you here?” asked Twilight.
“I am not entirely here, Twilight Sparkle, you are seeing a projection of myself. I have sensed your willingness to protect life, and your love for it as well. It is time I granted you a gift, something to bring order and balance to the warring lights.”
The Life Entity brought his hand before Twilight; he then opened it and revealed a white ring, one that bared the same symbol on his chest.
“With this, you will be able to channel the power of my light. With it, you will do wonders Twilight Sparkle. Will you accept it?”
Twilight looked from the ring, to Rainbow Dash, and then to the Life Entity. There was no sign, verbal or nonverbal, that he was ordering her to do it. This was a sincere and honest question. Twilight didn’t take long to answer.
“If it will help me to protect my friends and loved ones, then I accept this power!”
“Then…Twilight Sparkle of Equus…”
The ring rose from the Life Entity’s hand and flew to Twilight, slipping over horn. The power of life flowed through the alicorn mare, her eyes lighting up with the same white light that surrounded them.
“…………Live…………”
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Awesome battle! White Lantern Twilight Sparkle! Keep it up, please happy ending! First comment!
White Lantern Twilight Sparkle,
oooooooooooooooooooof course twilight gets life powah
the one mare to have everything placed in her lap.
no offense towards your choice, but... Twilight has enough power as it is... especially seeing as she never truly earned any of it.
5153699
5154734 why are you hating on twilight? She's fine rolled as a white lantern. Who else would you pick Celestia? Seriously it's a fine choice.
Dash getting nearly killed by Nightmare Butcher reminded me morbidly of when Goku got a Special Beam Cannon through the chest. White Lantern Twilight Sparkle, for the win!
0_o well then...
You know.... I know it's a little late but I think this constitutes a video clip:
5155488 yes, its a fine choice... but i'm just irked about how much her character has been given, not just in the story, but in the show.
i mean, she was just given her status of being an Alicorn by fixing her own mistake... you don't reward a child for righting their own wrong
Wait... since they don't have hands, wouldn't it logically be pezuña-a-pezuña?
5157013 CRAP!!!
5155488 She is the one you always gets chosen out of the main 6
5156398 True, though I think that more came out of HOW she fixed it, but your point is still very much valid.
5157380 And I will admit twilight gets a lot of the attention in the show, and is the go to mare of the series. But that's partly because [at least in the show] she's meant to be the sort of main protagonists. I mean yes, the main 6 are all the stars of the show, but it's the same with like say the power rangers. They're all equally powerful and by default important, but the red ranger is always appointed as the leader, the go to person for shit in the story. It's just natural alignment of story telling. Does it mean that any of the other girls are any less important? No, but the fact remains that this iteration of MLP does have it's base around twilight.
AWESOME!!!!!
There's a slew of typos and poor word choices, as well as at least one run on sentence. In the three days since being pointed out, the Mano a Mano error hasn't been fixed... I'm beginning to lose faith in this story.
5170072 I'm sorry, I've been working at my job for the past three days, so I do apologize.
Edit: Fixed the mano-mano, no longer there.
Twilight Sparkle of Equus... Destiny awaits.
........I I I have no idea what to say to this chapter other then good job