The Cycle Anew

by ManeWriter

The Price of Victory

"How many..."

It was a question that Princess Celestia was unprepared to answer. It wasn't because she lacked knowledge of the answer. No. She wished she had, however, in the presence of what she now faced.

"Twilight..."

"Please! I have to know, Princess..."

Celestia couldn't very well deny her an answer in light of this need .Though Twilight Sparkle had already been denied enough as it was, the regal alicorn feared that the answer she sought would only destroy her.

All the same, she hesitantly obliged her most cherished protege.

"Twelve-hundred.", Celestia grimaced, being reminded of that dreadful number herself.

An over-exaggerated yet strangely appropriate gasp kept the silence at bay as Pinkie Pie displayed her shock.

At first, Twilight's reaction was as expected: wide-eyed and gaping. But soon, much to the worry of her very best friends and beloved Monarch, her expression fell into a cold dead-pan.

"I see..."

Her lack of emotion was troubling, to say the least. Despite this, her friends displayed the need to remind her that they were there for her no matter what.

"Twilight, I'm so sorry.", Rarity said through barely contained tears.

The lavender unicorn didn't respond right away. The vibrant, echo of the number of ponies that had lost their lives kept her silent for a time. Though her face portrayed no emotion, her heart was screaming. Tearing and bleeding with torment.

Twilight abruptly turned from her friends and Princess, and began walking toward the exit of the marred Palace Throne Room.

"'Sorry' won't bring them back, Rarity."

The lack of proper manners and respect wasn't even acknowledged by that point. The monsoon of tantalizing emotions that must've torn through the young mare was a far more important issue.

Each of the ponies left cold before Celestia's throne, stared after their troubled friend; feeling increasingly helpless as to what they could do for her.

"Elements."

Celestia's called garnered their full attention, noting the graveness in her tone.

"I want to start by saying how very proud I am of each and every one of you. In the face of horrors never before seen in our Kingdom, you've braved the dangers and ultimately salvaged our victory. I'm relieved beyond comprehension that my student has chosen such wonderful companions. She couldn't have done better."

It was common place for anypony to be honored beyond words to received such praise from Princess Celestia. But given the situation, the five friends could only wallow in doubt. A disturbance that the alicorn astutely detected.

"And it is to that end that I wish for my next words to be heeded with the utmost care.", Celestia elaborated.

They didn't have to be told twice. Their ears became stout and attentive, ready for what their Princess was about to say.

"Twilight Sparkle has proven herself in ways that I never thought possible at this stage in her life. She has demonstrated wisdom and courage far beyond her years, and has pursued knowledge that may have very well saved us from a terrible cataclysm. But I fear that the results of her actions, gallant as they were, weigh heavy on her."

Celestia paused for a moment; letting the nature of her words sink in.

"Its clear to me, as I'm sure it is to you all, that Twilight Sparkle is crippled with guilt over those who's lives were lost. You must go to her, my little ponies. Though the day is won, and Equestria is safe once again, she needs you now more than ever before. Do not let her brave this terrible storm alone."

It was all either of them needed to hear before falling into a respectful bow, and galloping away. All but one...

Celestia stared down to the remaining Element with a hint of knowing in her expression. She had recalled the conversation they shared earlier that very day, and was certain that the young mare was torn with guilt of her own.

"You are truly a most dependable of friends, Fair Applejack.", Celestia smiled sincerely.

"Princess, please? I... I shouldn't o' said a thing about Twilight freein' Discord. Please, won't you forget we ever had that conversation? I beg ya.", Applejack tearfully besought.

At this Celestia's smile broadened.

"Oh my, this is a rather disturbing upset. Discord is free? (Fake gasp) I wonder how that could've happened?", she feigned surprise with a mischievous wink.

Applejack was sure that at that moment, she had never appreciated her Princess more than she had that day.

"She's waiting for you, Honesty... Go."

With a most grateful 'thank you', Applejack galloped away to join her friends; knowing that Twilight was teetering at the precipice of her greatest challenge yet. One that she was unsure of how to assist.

The struggle against herself.

xxxxxx

What was it all for?

What were all of the blood, sweat, and tears shed for, if so many had lost their lives because of it? To what end was her campaign to stop the Reapers, if she was the sole cause of so much pain and strife?

Twilight gazed upon the destruction of her hometown down below, and painful emptiness suffocated her heart.

She was confident, before-hand, that her shame would catch up to her when she first stared into Trixie Lulamoon's lifeless eyes. The eyes of the mare she had mutilated. But she was not nearly as prepared as she'd imagined.

It ate at her very bones. Tore into her very cells. At the realization of her obvious hoof in the destruction that had befallen Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle could only see a monster in the reflection of the window she peered out of.

And it rendered her apart.

The thought of the innocent ponies that had been destroyed because of her stubborn impatience, prompted her to doubt her worth as an equine. Her mind began to shake rigorously at a question that had become a very hated cipher.

What if?

What the Hell did it matter anymore? What could have been, meant close to nothing in the wake of such blood-soaked folly. Twilight Sparkle was responsible for the death of twelve-hundred ponies that didn't deserve it. Her hooves were now stained with the blood of her People.

Just as Trixie's were.

A cold, humorless laugh escaped the mare's mouth as that thought occurred to her. She let her forehead plop unto the window as a smooth stream of tears rolled off of her face.

"Its not your fault, Twilight..."

The absurdity of the outside contradiction distorted her self-degrading muse, but no reaction was had.

"Fluttershy, I'm... I'm a murderer."

"NO!"

Unable to bare the thought of her best friend degrading herself, Rainbow Dash lunged into her with an abrasively affectionate embrace.

"Don't you DARE to about yourself like that, Twilight! Your a buckin' hero!", she insisted.

Again, Twilight could only chuckle lifelessly as she held her indignant position.

"If it wasn't for me, those ponies would still be alive. Sovereign didn't kill them... I did."

Unable to take even an ounce more, Pinkie Pie immediately burst into tears.

"Stop it, Twilight! Just stop it!", she cried, "Stop saying such awful things! You're the most courageous pony in Equestria! You're not a bad pony!"

"Pinkie is absolutely correct!", Rarity eagerly chimed in her own tears, "Nopony else would have had the courage and honor to face the truth and FIGHT it like you did!"

Twilight felt her cyan friend released her embrace. Her friends' words seemed empty and toneless to the crushing despair that fed upon her conscience.

"And because I was too blind to see what my actions would have caused, I opened the Conduit! I brought Sovereign here! Don't you get it?! It's my fault!", the disturbed protege lamented, "It's all my... fault."

The agonized tears of their most cherished companion hurled Twilight's fellow ponies into a frenzy of adamant, albeit tearful, objections.

Of course they wouldn't understand. They weren't her. They didn't free Discord. They didn't revel in forbidden knowledge. They didn't unleash an insufferable Hell upon Canterlot and condemn so many lives.

Soon the objecting spurs of positive affirmation became too much to bare, and Twilight whirled around with only a fraction of the dignity she possessed. She wailed furiously at her companions; trying to drown out the seeds of blind acceptance they had planted within her.

"Stop it! Just leave me alone! You saw what happened to Trixie! You saw what I DID TO HER! I'm a monster! I've done horrible things! I should be tried and executed! I-... I-..."

"You're right."

Everypony snapped their attention to the direction of the new voice. Sputters of disbelief spewed from the lot of them at the revelation of who uttered such distasteful words.

"I reckon y'all did do some pretty nutty things."

Twilight's knees began to shake at the sight of the orange mare that marched briskly toward her.

"Applejack! What ever could you be implying?!", Rarity fumed.

"Yeah, Applejack! Twilight's our friend! We should be supporting her!", Pinkie Pie dejectedly threw out.

Hardened with resolve, the Element of Honesty retained a strong poker-face against the protective opposition of her other friends; zeroing in on her trembling target with every step.

By this point, even Fluttershy wasn't hesitant to show her displeasure of Applejack's behavior. She even caught the brunt end of a rather scathing insult that beckoned the farm pony to wreak horrible vengeance upon a certain polychromatic pegasus at a later date.

Despite all of this, Applejack ignored them and marched onward.

"Y'all got every right to feel like this, Twi. Look at what ya did."

Twilight's legs mimicked that of brittle stilts as Applejack closed in on her; her tears falling even more fierce than before.

"But I-... But-... But-!"

"There ain't no excuse for it. Ya alienated yourself from your friends. Threw Harmony away like yesterday's mail. Freed one of our greatest enemies. And 'cause of all that, Canterlot darn-near went up in smoke!"

Now completely and utterly shamed and striped of all of her dignity, Twilight's legs finally crumbled beneath her, and she collapsed onto her belly. She stared up unto Applejack's cold eyes; biting on her trembling lip as her eyes were almost completely blackened by her glistening irises.

At any moment, Twilight felt as though she would break down into a fit of pathetically uncontrollable sobs.

"And y'all know what the most unbelievable part about this whole thing is?!", Applejack now shouted.

If there was ever a more dominant desire to vanish off the face of existence, it was right then and there. Twilight had felt so small and insignificant, she could only squeak and mewl before her prosecutor.

She felt so unworthy, she couldn't even summon the gastric fortitude to plead for mercy.

In the murky depths of her despair. The choking grasp of her weakness. The stabbing pain of her shame, she felt only warm, tender hooves around her withers.

"You saved us all..."

Twilight nearly puked from the surge of her misunderstanding, and her dwindling courage to maintain eye-contact with Applejack held on by a thread. The now smiling farm pony sat on her haunches as she held Twilight's withers; her own eyes glistening.
"There's a lotta things in the world I don't get, Twi. But I reckon I know a selfless hero when I see one.", she said.

"I-... I-..."

"You saved my family, Twilight. Thanks to y'all, I can see my little Appleboom smile one more time. Big Mac. Granny Smith. Hay, you saved the whole Apple Family, Twi. And not just my family, either. You saved Rarity's family: her little filly, Sweetie Belle. Her Ma and Pa. You saved little Scootaloo and every pegasus on Cloudsdale. You saved Pinkie's family too. Because o' y'all, they can carry on."

Applejack's words sliced into Twilight's heart; filling her with so much overwhelming emotion that her tears were now literally pouring down her face.

"Y'all saved our kin, Twi. Because of what ya did, families all over the world can stay together and live. They can watch their little ones grow up and have foals o' there own. Billions: all alive because o' you and that big ol' stubborn brain o' yours. I'm... I'm proud of you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight frowned.

The words spoken to her were the most powerful blows to her soul she had ever experienced. Despite the harsh grimace on her face, her tears continued to fall, and she could no longer hold eye-contact. She glared at her hooves, blinded by both her tears and her unbearable emotions.

At that moment, she had lost all sense of herself.

No longer able to utter a shred of coherence, Twilight threw herself at Applejack; latching her forelegs around her waist as if it was the last thing she'd ever do in her life.

Slowly and progressively, her sobs began to emerge, then amplify along with her overhaul of emotional distraught. And Applejack didn't even care.

Her orange coat, from the waist down had become increasingly drenched from her fellow mare's tears. Yet she could only smile and stroke her mane; ushering smooth whispers of comfort and understanding.

Now in full agreement and compliance with the farm pony's method, the remainder of the friends all converged upon Twilight in a collective embrace, unable to care any less of her humiliating wails.

Not since her foal-hood had Twilight Sparkle cried so loudly.

"I suspected you would be here."

The soothing, rapturous bemusement of Discord's meditation dissipated upon the smooth entrance of the voice that addressed him.

He opened his mismatched eyes to see that the room he was in was flipped upside down. Memory of the previous hours all came back to him at once, and he flipped back onto his feet, his back turned towards his disturber.

"Can you blame me, Luna? It's been such a long time...", Discord murmured.

The dark Goddess of the Moon could only smile at Discord's relaxed disposition as they stood within the dusty confines of his old Archive.

The draconequus floated toward one of the old tomes that still remained since before his rule over Equestria.

"To think: it's been a whole millennium since I had looked upon these books. Oh, how little I knew back then.", he mused.

Princess Luna shifted on her hooves for a time as she gazed uncomfortably upon Discord, unsure of how she would explain her reason for being there. The Spirit caught onto this astutely.

"You seem troubled, Princess. Something the matter?", he asked without even a glance in her direction.

Doubts crept upon Luna as she continued to shift; grimly reminded how indescribably intelligent Discord was. She knew, from experience more than anything, that further hesitance would only complicate things: a suicide method as long as Discord was involved.

She swallowed a lump of air as silently as she could, and approached the ancient draconequus.

"I... We never properly thanked you for your help, Discord. What you've done... Had it not been for you, we would have surely perished.", she said with nothing short of sincere gratitude, "We're especially grateful to you for your assistance in helping us rebuild. There is much for us to salvage."

Discord was silent for a time as several open books floated around him. He backed away from the shelf and lifted an unquestionably familiar tome into the floating pile.

Staring unto the Grimoire of the Lost, Discord seemed to consider Luna's words, as far as she could tell.

"Come now, Luna. You're a smart mare. You should know that I'm not the one who secured invaluable archaic lore. I merely found it. It's the Humans you should be thanking.", he said.

"They're dead, Discord: lost to the emptiness of Extinction. A fate that we would have certainly shared. I only regret that it took the near destruction of our species to realize the great lengths you have traversed to prevent it.", Luna clarified.

"Indeed."

Luna tried to ignore the sharp stab of guilt in her heart. But she knew. She knew that Discord had every reason to be short with her. Things were different now, and the past could not be changed.

The books around Discord dropped to the ground as he now turned directly toward the troubled Monarch.

"There's that look in your eye again, Little One. Why are you here?", he questioned more authoritatively.

He was just too good at that.

Knowing, now, that hiding her true motives was futile, Luna walked as confidently as she could toward the now cross-armed Spirit. When the distance between them was reduced to but mere inches, Luna's heart quivered, as did her lips.

A different air filled the room, one that Discord was uncomfortably familiar with. His bushy eyebrows raised upon the sight of welling tears.

"I'm sorry...", Luna whispered.

The chaotic Spirit remained silent.

"I'm sorry we didn't understand. I'm sorry I played a hoof in your wretched imprisonment. I didn't want-!"

The crying Princess was silenced by a swift eagle talon to her lips. Blushing from her uncontrolled tears, Luna stared up at Discord; hoping against hope that he understood her position.

To her amazement... he smiled.

"You already told me, Luna... centuries ago. And I never forget, even when reduced to a garden decoration.", he assured.

Luna's eyes narrowed as she was sudden overcome with relieve and joy. Her tears jettisoned from the brim as she launched herself into the draconequus' mismatched arms; crying softly.
"I have missed you... I have missed you so much.", she whispered.

Taken completely by surprise, at first, Discord stared wide-eyed at the shuddering mare. It had been a thousand years. He wasn't exactly sure what to do at this point as he stood frozen where he was.

But as he began to settle into the contact, he was graced by a montage of bittersweet memories. Old memories that hadn't crossed his vast mind for centuries. Memories that had once caused him pain as he rotted within his stone prison.

At first there was resistance. He had frowned at having these memories haunt him again.

But how could he help it? How could he deny the longing for such wondrous things to rekindle. How could he revoke the forbidden bond once shared with the mare that desperately clung to him, not willing to let go?

Now, relishing in the warmth of an old flame, Discord could only sigh with both defeat and content.

"You're such a sap."

A union of such abstract beauty could only be witnessed. Nopony could fathom the spark that ignited between the draconequus and the alicorn. Not a thousand years before. Not then.

Celestia was humbled beyond all contention as she peeked through the cracked door of the old Archive; holding back the stream of her own tears.

She smiled almost despite herself, and turned from the Archive in silence; completely forgetting why she had arrived there in the first place.

The long train-ride back to Ponyville was quiet.

The silence was very much expected amongst the Mane Six, who, for the most part, found a certain comfort in it. With the horrors they had faced, and ultimately stopped, the silence was more a reward than a vexation.

Further relief was gained among Twilight's companions, who were satisfied beyond recognition that she was no longer crying. The lavender unicorn merely gazed emptily upon the orange sunset; marveling at what she was doing.

After all, it felt like years since she had a chance to reflect.

Throughout the train-ride, Twilight's friends would break away from their own bemusing gazes and look upon their most cherished friend: their savior.

Though her eyes portrayed little to no emotion, to them, she was practically glowing. Each and every one them had ensured Twilight that she had made them magnanimously proud and that they loved her very much.

At the very least, it soothed her to the point of long-drawn silence, which was no problem to them. No problem at all.

"Huh. Hey, Rainbow Dash?"

The friends snapped their attention to Twilight, amazed by her genuinely curious tone, never mind the fact that she was speaking.

"Yeah? Whats up, Twi?"

Keeping an eyebrow raised as she looked unto the sky, she asked a very interesting question.

"Do the Wonderbolts have a show scheduled at Ponyville today?"

If ever there was an odder question...

"Um... No, not that I know of. Why do you ask?", Rainbow question with a raised eyebrow of her own.

Twilight motioned for all of her friends to her.

"Look at them all...", she murmured through slight awe, "Isn't that the weirdest thing?"

The Mane Six stared unto twilit sky, and marveled at the rarity of seeing such a number of Wonderbolts at once. Once it was clear that they all seemed to be converging upon Ponyville, it became obvious that something was amiss.

Applejack gasped as she yanked on her Stetson.

"Candy Apples! What the hay's goin' on?!", she shouted.

Rarity squinted hard unto the not so distant Ponyville; trying to gather a clearer view.

"Is that... smoke?!"

Once again, Pinkie Pie was hurled into a nonsensical loop of 'Ohmygosh!'.

Twilight and the rest of her friends were now quickened by a devastating dread of what was happening. Somehow, no matter what had to be done, they had to get over there. Thankfully, Twilight could gauge the distance perfectly.

With teeth clinched and blood running Olympic track races, the esteemed protege's horn went ablaze.

"Girls, grab onto me! We're ending this train-ride, NOW!"

Ground Zero.

That was the Ponyville Library codename in this hour of disaster.

Surrounded by the smoldering destruction of several other buildings in the vicinity, the Library was practically smothered with barricades of wood, metal, sandbags, and barbed wired.

Several Wonderbolts perched themselves behind the barricades communicating with one another as the rush of battle permeated their demeanor. One of them in particular was sure he had never been more terrified in his life.

A laughable notion in the presence of what they faced.

"I can't believe one little guy can cause all of this damage. What are they feeding these kids?!"

"Soarin!"

The scratchy familiarity of the female voice shook the Wonderbolt out of his muse. He straightened up as best he could, given he was in cover, and saluted.

"What's our status?!", she demanded as she dived into cover.

"Captain! We got the little menace contained! It took out half our squad, and ten neighboring homes were caught in the cross-fire! We've secured this barricade, and are awaiting further orders! Ma'am!"

The Wonderbolt Captain tore off her goggles, and gawked at her subordinate.

"Half of ou-! Not a single Wonderbolt leaves this barricade until the threat is neutralized! IS THAT CLEAR?!", she bellowed.

With an enthusiastic 'Yes, Ma'am!', Soarin stealthily made his way toward his compatriots to spread the word.

Spitfire, the Captain of the Wonderbolts, glared unto the Library; seething with both anger and fear.

"It's just one enemy. ONE ENEMY! How can one enemy take out half of my bucking squad?! What are we up against?!", she thought.

Just as she began to mull over how to bring this threat to it's knees, Spitfire was beckoned by a nagging familiar voice.

"Spitfire!"

The golden pegasus turned toward a group of six ponies that she was sure she had seen before. Her memories were confirmed upon spotting one with a rainbow mane, for there was truly no other.

"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?", Spitfire squinted.

The Mane Six galloped toward the Wonderbolt Captain, who hastily beckoned them to cover behind the barricade.

"We were hoping you'd tell us!", Rainbow said.

"Whats going on?! Why is my Library-!"

"Wait a second...", Spitfire interrupted with a hoof, "You're Twilight Sparkle, right?"

The lavender mare nervously nodded, and gulped by the sudden address.

"Finally, some leeway! Maybe you can shed some light on just what the hay's goin' on here!", Spitfire chimed.

At this Twilight became a little perturbed and frowned out of desperate anger.

"We all just got here, not even five minutes ago, and passed a slew of destruction and injured ponies on the way here! How in the world can I-!"

"You have a dragon assistant right? Helps you around the library? That sort of thing?", the Captain interrupted again.

At this, Twilight's ears flopped, and a look of expectant horror twisted her expression.

"Spike? W-What happened? Is he alright?! Where is he?!", she sputtered.

Spitfire peeked from behind her cover to observe any disturbance from the secured Library.

"Maybe you can tell us why he started destroying buildings and hurting everypony!", she forcefully suggested.

Those words hit Twilight with enough force to shatter bone. Her world steadily plunged into darkness as the words resounded in her conscience.

"What? That... Th-Thats a lie! Spike wouldn't do something like that! He couldn't! He's just a baby!", Twilight dutifully defended.

At this, Spitfire glared unto the lavender unicorn.

"Tell that to the Wonderbolts that died by his CLAWS!", she shouted in barely suppressed anger.

Though the ponies abound exchanged their sputtering remarks at the sheer absurdity of these implications, Twilight could not hear them.

Her assistant was in trouble.

Her baby was in trouble!

Instinct that she wasn't even privy to before, began to over take Twilight, and her breath became shallow and rugged.

"No! That's impossible! That doesn't make sense! I... I have to get to him!", she bellowed.

Just as Twilight opted to leap into a frantic gallop, a pair of strong forelegs clasped unto her flanks.

"Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea what he's done?! He'll tear you apart!", Spitfire warned as she struggled to keep the unicorn at bay.

Once again, all words from the outside were deadened by the sheer magnitude of her desperation.

"Let... Me... GO!"

Completely consumed by the maternal need to tend to her beloved assistant, Twilight's hind leg shot back; not caring what it had just slammed into. A pained grunt and the freedom of release spurred Twilight to gallop toward Ground Zero.

"DAMMIT! SOMEPONY STOP HER!", Spitfire shouted as she held the stinging welt on her forehead.

"SPIKE! SPIKE, IT'S OKAY NOW! I'M HERE! EVERYTHING'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!", Twilight screamed as she unwittingly evaded several attempts to be stopped by the other Wonderbolts.

As Twilight drew closer to her destination however, Spitfire's eyes widened tremendously as an all too familiar glimmer of piercing yellow light beamed from the cracks of the barricaded doors and windows.

"GET DOWN!"

Before Twilight could think to react to the strange occurrence, she was taken clean off her hooves by a powerful blast of energy that obliterated the entire front of the Library. Dust choked the air, and splinters of broken wood pattered unto the ground.

With Ground Zero now compromised, every Wonderbolt in that area leaped from cover and fell into defensive stances; sweating bullets at what they faced.

Twilight's friends practically shrieked her name as they rushed to her side, and aided her to her hooves.

All ponies around the barricaded Library, including several terrified Ponyvillians gazed upon the center of the debris with dreadful anticipation. As the dust began to settle, a small shadow became visible.

"SPIKE!", Twilight squealed.

In response to her call, a pair of eerie, otherworldly eyes shined behind the concealing cloud.

Spitfire glided in front of the Mane Six; solidifying her own defensive stance.

"Stay behind me! This could get ugly!", she warned dangerously.

The creeping, steady pace of scaled foot-steps pattered on the ground, and the shadow behind the debris thickened with every step. Shudders of nervous anxiety plagued the Wonderbolts that stared into the face of this unlikely, but deadly enemy.

As the form emerged from the falling dust, Twilight began to tear up as she trotted forward, only to be blocked by a very, very serious Spitfire. If she didn't get the hint before, Twilight got it then.

This was dangerous business.

A voice that transcended the boundaries of dominance and power rumbled into the air, described inwardly by everypony to be visceral and utterly terrifying.

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE. YOU HAVE BECOME AN ANNOYANCE. YOU BATTLE AGAINST INEVITABILITY; DUST STRUGGLING AGAINST COSMIC WINDS. THIS SEEMS A VICTORY TO YOU, OUR VANGUARD OBLITERATED. BUT, EVEN NOW, YOUR GREATEST CIVILIZATION IS DOOMED TO FALL. YOUR LEADERS WILL BEG TO BE HARVESTED."

A stomach wrenching sense of acquaintance paled the faces of the Mane Six. They weren't certain of what was going on, but what ever it was, it was bad.

Real bad.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me...", Rainbow Dash grimaced.

"Spikey?! Darling, what has gotten into you?!", Rarity questioned, completely in denial of what was happening.

Spitfire was nearly beside herself with confounded disgruntlement as Twilight, once again, slipped passed her and confronted the baby dragon with seething hatred.

"You! Whatever you are, let my assistant go! RIGHT NOW!"

The possessed Spike further approached Twilight with glowing yellow eyes.

"WE ARE HARBINGER. THE LIBERATOR OF YOUR GENETIC DESTINY. YOUR RESISTANCE IS POINTLESS."

Twilight sneered unto the heartless glowing eyes with nothing short of contempt and loathing.

"You must be one of the Reapers... Why are you here?! We've already destroyed one of you! We can do it again!", she threatened out of anger.

"WE ARE LEGION, FOR WE ARE MANY."

"We are more! And we will deny you! ALL OF YOU!"

"YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND THE MAGNITUDE OF OUR PRESENCE. YOUR PURPOSE IS NOT BUT OUR TOOL. THE HARVEST OF YOUR SOCIETY SHALL BARE THE FRUITS OF ORDER. THE GRAND DESIGN CANNOT BE ALTERED."

"Then the only other option is to destroy you, and live the rest of our days in peace! We won't let you take everything we've worked for!"

"A PHILOSOPHY REMINISCENT OF THE HUMANS. BEHOLD THE RESULTS OF THEIR EXTINCTION. IF NOT FOR US, THE SEEDS OF EQUINE GRACE WOULD HAVE NEVER EXISTED. WE ARE THE CATALYST FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE IN THE COMING CYCLES."

"NO! You're ALL MONSTERS! I've seen what your method of 'preservation' is! You corrupt anyone to serve you like mindless husks! You revel in senseless destruction, and you're not welcome here! When we destroyed Sovereign, we ended your pointless Cycle! We've changed our fate! Why can't you just LEAVE US ALONE?!"

"IMPERTINENT ORGANIC. YOU HAVE CHANGED NOTHING. YOUR SPECIES NOW HAS THE FULL ATTENTION OF THOSE INFINITELY YOUR GREATER. THAT WHICH YOU KNOW AS 'REAPERS' ARE YOUR SALVATION THROUGH DESTRUCTION. YOU WILL SURRENDER YOURSELVES TO THE GROWING VOID, AND YOU WILL BE RAZED INTO A NEW EXISTENCE. YOUR SPECIES WILL BE MELDED INTO HARMONY WITH OUR OWN. YOU... HAVE FAILED."

Unable to keep from shaking with pure unadulterated fury, Twilight briskly marched toward the possessed Spike. Now nose to nose, the lavender unicorn, was confident that she spoke for everypony when she uttered her next words.

"Harbinger... We will fight. And we will win."

The conviction etched into Twilight's voice sent chills down everypony's spine, yet Harbinger was unaffected. Impassive. Impenetrable. The two remained face to face as the conversation drew to an unnerving close.

"KNOW THIS AS YOU DIE IN VAIN: YOUR TIME WILL COME. YOUR SPECIES WILL FALL. PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE ARRIVAL."

(RELEASING CONTROL OF THIS FORM)

To everypony's jolting scare, Spike's body erupted a wave of power that knocked them to the ground and shattered windows of the surrounding buildings.

Regaining herself quicker than the others, Twilight sharply looked toward her assistant, and immediately noticed the lack of his otherworldly possession. Shrieking his name again, Twilight lunged forward and caught the falling dragon.

She instinctively cradled him in her forelegs as he shook violently.

Murmuring soothing whispers to the green eyed assistant, she suddenly burst into tears; berating herself for ever leaving his side. But nothing could prepare her for what happened next.

"T-T-Twilight... I... I can hear them. They just keep whispering. Please... make them stop!"

Just as Twilight was about the offer further comfort, her words were cut by her shrill gasp. As Spike looked up to her, his eyes signified something that was as soul-crushing as it was surreal.

She knew not how. She knew not when. But as Twilight Sparkle cried hopelessly into her assistant's scaly hide, she was all too aware of the problem.

Indoctrination.

Author's Note:

Finally indoctrination is incorporated into the story, but I don't think this is what anyone expected. Anyway the next chapter will be the last one and thank you to everyone for reading it.

Comments

[Sgt Dash]

ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!!!

[Grif_Bladefeather]

now the ponies need allies