• Published 15th Oct 2013
  • 3,169 Views, 198 Comments

The Price of Harmony - Priceless911



While Star Bolt tries to forget his life of sin. An ancient evil sits and waits for the day that its prison will weaken so it can break free and finish its goal that was started 2000 years ago. The extinction of the alicorn race.

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Ch17 The Fall of Canterlot

Star Bolt, Princess Luna, Niether, and Roseluck made their way towards the pillar as Niether asked, “Commander? Are you sure, it’s wise to head towards that thing? Shouldn’t we link up with Princess Celestia first?”
Star Bolt replied, “This… thing appeared after she told us to come find you. If I were her, I would mobilize my forces and head straight towards it. So my guess is that she is there.”
Roseluck added, “So… what will we do wh…”
“LOOK OUT!!!”
Before she could finish her sentence, a long vine from the towering pillar shot down and barely missed her as Niether pushed her out of the way. As the vine retracted back to the pillar, both Niether and Roseluck stood back up as Rose looked at the pillar, “What was that?”

Before anypony else could say anything, Star Bolt replied, “That was sand from the pillar… don’t let it touch you otherwise it will eat you alive.”
Princess Luna gave Star Bolt a surprised look as she started to ask, “But… how do you know th...”
Before she could finish her question, Star Bolt looked back at the pillar and asked, “What on the world?”
The group looked at the pillar to see the swarming Wonderbolts as they circled the pillar in an unusual way that made Star Bolt smile, “Clever… that’s a good battle tactic… considering they’re acrobats and all.”
“You’re darn right that’s a good tactic! Did you expect anything less from Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolts? I didn’t think so.”
The four ponies looked to the side as Princess Twilight, Zecora, and the rest of the element users approached them. Star Bolt smiled and replied to Rainbow Dash’s comment, “That may be, but once again she is relying on a strategy that requires a group. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it will be if she is ever caught alone.”

Before Rainbow Dash could disagree with his comment, Princess Luna asked, “Twilight Sparkle? Why are you here? I thought sister would have you and your friends confronting The Dark Alicorn.”
Twilight nodded her head as she replied, “She would… but she told me that… well she wants us to…”
Knowing that it was hard for Twilight to say, Applejack spoke up, “Well, what Twilight’s tryin’ to say is. Princess Celestia gave us explicit instructions to escort ya out of town.”
Princess Luna was concerned, “What? But what about her? While we run away, what does sister intend to do?”
The group didn’t reply, instead they all diverted their eyes as a look of depression covered their faces. Looking at their expressions alone, Star Bolt could guess what their answer was, “She’s going to face him… isn’t she?”
The ponies continued their silence as Twilight nodded her head yes. As soon as the nod was seen, Princess Luna immediately reacted, “I’m going to get her!”
“NO! Princess Celestia said that she wanted us to escort you both out of the city. She is doing this to keep you safe. She says it isn’t an order… it’s a command. In all my years as her student, I never once heard Princess Celestia command anything of anypony.”

Star Bolt smiled as he replied to Twilight’s words, “I haven’t either… luckily, I’m not one of her soldiers… am I?”
Princess Twilight started to reply, “Well yea… but tha…”
“I’m going! Twilight, Get Luna, Rose and Niether out of the city. I won’t put them at risk.”
Before Princess Twilight could reply, Princess Luna spoke up, “Where you go, I go! I’m not letting you do this alo…”
“Yes, you are Luna… I won’t allow you to risk your life for me.”
Princess Luna replied, “Then I'll risk it for my sister.”
“No… that’s what I’m doing. In the meantime you need to get out of the city and to a safe place.”
Princess Luna replied with an unhappy tone, “There is no safe place now… with The Dark Alicorn free, the entire world is in danger.”
Star Bolt replied, “Then you will be there to lead them from that danger.”
“No… cuz I’m going with yo…”
“LUNA ENOUGH!!!”

Everypony in the area was shocked to hear Star Bolt snap at Luna like that, as he calmed himself and continued, “Luna… I can’t let you do this… don’t let me witness it. Please, I can’t bear the sight of seeing your corpse, and I know that if you do this… then that possibility is….”
As Star Bolt went silent, Princess Luna sighed, “Star…”
“Please Luna… just go with them. You will be safer with them anyway. Remember I was beaten by The Elements of Harmony, so if they can’t protect you, then who am I to say I can?”
Princess Luna saw the distress in his eyes as she sighed and replied, “If you want me to stay back… then, I'll do that. Nevertheless, I won’t retreat from the city. I owe it to Equestria since they forgave me for my actions a few years ago.”
Star Bolt replied, “Then I want you to find a place to take cover until this whole thing is over. However, the moment you feel that something is wrong. I want you to leave. Understand?”
Princess Luna smiled as she nodded her head, “I understand Star… and I know that you would never steer me in the wrong direction.”

Star Bolt nodded his head as he turned to leave, “You girls protect her… I’m counting on you.”
With that said Star Bolt continued galloping up the road making his way towards the tall pillar of sand. When he was out of sight, Zecora looked at Princess Luna and asked, “You’re worried it’s true, and you know he could die. Yet you still let him go… May I ask you why?”
Princess Luna replied with a depressed tone, “He wants to do this himself. He… he wants to save sister… not because he cares but… because he knows that’s what I want to do.”
With Luna looking at the ground in worry, Rarity trotted up to her and asked, “Nevertheless, you allowed him to continue without you… but, why princess?”
Princess Luna sighed, “He wanted me to stay here so I can be safe… and… since he is so serious about it… I'll stay here, because… I… I love him.”
Rainbow Dash thought to herself, “Ya know… just because he says you should stay doesn’t mean you have to… I mean, he says he wanted us to guard you… but what if we decided to go to support him… we can’t really guard you if we leave you here now can we?”

As Princess Luna looked back up at the group, Pinkie Pie jumped up and continued, “Oh… I get it! The old switcheroo! That sounds fun!”
Applejack looked at Pinkie and spoke, “Actually, I think that just word play. The switcheroo would involve us actually switching somepony with somepony else.”
Fluttershy added, “Well… it could be a switcheroo… I mean, we can always switch places with the princess we are guarding…”
Rarity added, “Actually Fluttershy, if we did that then we would be going against Mr. Bolt’s words by not guarding Princess Luna.”
Pinkie tried to speak next, “Well… what if we…”
“ENOUGH! We are wasting time! Princess Luna? What do you think? I mean, what is it you want to do?”
Princess Luna looked at the pillar of sand as strands of sand started attacking the Wonderbolts swarming around it, “I… I want to be with him… I want to stand beside him… no matter the odds.”
Princess Twilight smiled, “That’s what I thought. Zecora? Can you keep Niether and Roseluck safe?”
Zecora smiled, “For you my friend, I'll do it all and more. But stay safe yourself, that’s all I ask for.”
Princess Twilight nodded her head as she looked at her group, “Alright girls… let’s show that alicorn the power of our friendship.”
And with that said the group rushed off towards the sand pillar, leaving Zecora, Niether, and Roseluck behind.

Minutes later, Star Bolt approached the plaza to see Shining Armor as he called out, “NO!!! PRINCESS CELESTIA!!!”
When Star Bolt looked at the center of the plaza, he could see Osiris standing next to Princess Celestia as her body finished turning to stone, “No… Celestia…”
Osiris looked at the statue and spoke too softly for him to hear as Shining Armor turned to his soldiers and called an order, “All Archers! ATTACK!!!”
With that order given, every archer in the army of ponies raised their bows and fired directly at Osiris as he continued standing next to the stone princess. As the arrows whistled through the air, The Dark Alicorn smiled as a wall of sand shot upward and shielded him from each arrow as they stuck themselves into the wall. As the archers redrew their bows and fired a second volley, Star Bolt made his way to Shining Armor as the archers ran out of arrows and stopped firing.

The wall of sand that stood between the army and Osiris looked like a porcupine as the arrows almost completely covered it. With a chuckle being heard from the other side, the wall deteriorated along with all the arrows as Osiris smiled and spoke, “Commander Star Bolt of the Nightmare Legion… Prince Armor of the Crystal Empire… and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, also known as Cadence the natural born alicorn. I’m sorry to say princess… but you will be my next target.”
Shining Armor drew his sword as he replied, “Over my dead body! Soldiers! CHARGE!!!””
Osiris smiled in an evil way as all the armies began charging towards him, “… Very well…”
With that said, Osiris looked at the bottom of his front hoof as a small amount of sand started to spiral in it making a small sphere. As the ponies looked with curiosity at the alicorn’s actions, he placed the same hoof flat against the ground as if he had just crushed the little sphere with the same hoof. Then, as his actions seemed completely pointless. A glass spike slowly raised from the ground right next to his hoof. Then this time with an incredible speed that seemed almost instantaneous, a second spike rose right next to the first, then a third, then a fourth.

With a clever smirk, Osiris looked up at the charging forces that were almost close enough to attack him as Star Bolt immediately know what was going to happen next. With a hasty call Star Bolt yelled, “ALL PONIES TAKE TO THE SKY!!!”
Just as the call was made, thousands of spikes started shooting up from the ground in a wave motion from where Osiris was standing. Thinking fast, Star Bolt grabbed one side of Shining Armor’s hooves while Princess Cadence grabbed the other as they pulled him from the ground, mere seconds before the spikes reached them. Most of the soldiers in the armies that were pegasi managed to get off the ground before the spikes could reach them, however all the unicorn and earth ponies could only turn to run before being impaled by the glass threat. As soon as the spikes had passed the last rank in the mass army, they stopped spreading as they all turned back into sand and dissolved all those who were killed by the attack. With all the pegasi still hovering in the air, Osiris smiled as he spoke, “Do these alicorns really mean that much to you ponies… funny… this is what they mean to me.”
Osiris then turned around and placed his hoof against the statue of Princess Celestia. Then with a smile of pure evil, he watched calmly as the statue exploded into many pieces leaving behind only the royal crown, which fell to the ground with a soft chiming sound.

The pegasus, the alicorn, and their unicorn cargo glared down at the evil creature as he looked back up and continued, “Now then… where were we? Oh yes… the natural born alicorn, but first… I think I'll return your gifts from earlier… they just don’t suit me.”
With that said the large pillar of sand that towered above everything in Canterlot, stopped its attack on the residence as it slowly deteriorated into sand that was absorbed by the alicorn’s hooves. Then as the last of the sand receded into his hooves, Osiris smiled as he used his magic to bring out hundreds of arrows that he himself had stopped with his wall of sand earlier. As the remaining airborne ponies looked in worry at the levitating arrows that were hovering around him, Osiris smiled, “Now… DIE!!!”
With that command, the barrage of arrows flew into the sky towards everything that was airborne above the city, to include Star Bolt and Princess Cadence as they were carrying Shining Armor. Trying to dodge the attack, Star Bolt looked at Cadence as he asked, “you trust me?”
Cadence tried to answer, “Trust you? What are you tal…”
Before she could finish her question, Star Bolt released Shining Armor and kicked him out of the way of a flying arrow, as Princess Cadence lost her grip and dropped her flightless husband by accident.

As soon as she realized what she’d done, Princess Cadence dove for Shining Armor as the arrows whistled by, killing or injuring every pegasi soldier in the sky. With Princess Cadence trying as hard as she could to catch up with her falling husband, she didn’t notice that Star Bolt had already caught up with her and passed her in the attempt to save him before he hit the ground. Just feet above the ground, Star Bolt curved his path and flew right under Shining Armor as he caught him and crashed to the ground between the falling prince and the coble stone surface of the plaza. As soon as Cadence caught up with the two, both Shining Armor and Star Bolt stood up as Shining Armor punched Star Bolt as hard as he could, “That’s for dropping me!”
Star Bolt rubbed his cheek and replied, “Hey! I caught you didn’t I?”
Shining Armor punched him a second time as he replied, “And that’s for almost being late in catching me!”
Osiris looked at the three ponies as he mumbled to himself, “Reckless… yet courageous… This really is the pony you respected as commander of the Nightmare Legion. However… that won’t save him.”

While the three ponies had their guard dropped, a large amount of sand appeared under Princess Cadence’s body and quickly covered her from her neck down, before solidifying into black glass. When they realized what happened, Princess Cadence started to struggle to free herself as both Star Bolt and Shining Armor drew their swords and tried to chip away the glass, “CADENCE!”
“Hold on princess we will get you out of there!”
While the two stallions were trying to chisel the princess free with their swords, they were both pushed away from her as a gust of sand gathered under her glass cast and raised her high into the air on a pedestal that towered about as high as one of the lower towers in the city. With Princess Cadence now raised high enough that the entire city could see, Osiris flew up and hovered right in front of her has he placed his hoof under her chin and raised her face to look him in the eye, “Don’t waste you strength princess… even the royal alicorn couldn’t hope to break free from this cast. Face it, you’re trapped… and now you’re next. I'll see you in the afterlife. Princess Ca…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Osiris was caught off guard as a bolt of lightning came from nowhere and hit him directly in his chest. Causing the pedestal of sand to turn back to normal as it melted away allowing Princess Cadence to free herself as she landed next to her husband. Feeling dizzy from the attack Osiris looked in the direction the bolt of lightning came from to see Star Bolt standing there with his hooves braced and a cloud above his head. Seeing this sight greatly annoyed him as he glared at the stallion and spoke, “How dare you strike an alicorn! Have you forgotten your place pony?... but then again, I couldn’t expect any less from the son of the Cutters.”
Thinking he had heard wrong, Star Bolt looked at Osiris with curiosity as the cloud disappeared, “Son of… what?”
Without giving him a clear answer, Osiris sent a vine of black sand at Star Bolt with alarming speed, giving him barely enough time to dodge it as it hit the ground right next to him. But unlike the other vines from before, this one didn’t retraced, instead it widened as it dragged against the ground with great force, hitting him like a club and tossing the stunned pegasus through the air before he hit a slanted rooftop and rolled off the edge only to hit the ground below.

Osiris quickly turned his attention back to the royal couple as he made the sand that was in the plaza turn into a large solid cylinder that resembled the head of a mallet. Then he quickly raised it up and dropped it down on the two lovers only to have a combination of their magic to stop it by creating a barrier around them. With a determination to stop wasting time, Osiris raised up the sand cylinder again and slammed it down a second time, then a third, then a fourth. Over and over, he slammed the cylinder of sand on the magical barrier as the two ponies started getting weaker and weaker with each hit. Finally, after almost twenty hits the magical barrier shattered knocking the two to the ground under the extreme force of the impact. With the magic gone and the two ponies too weak to even stand, the two looked into each other’s eyes as the cylinder was raised for the final attack. Shining Armor sighed, “we… we tried our best… didn’t we?”
Cadence placed her hoof against his cheek, kissed him, and smiled as a tear rolled down her face. “If we go… I’m glad we go together… I love you Shining Armor.”
Shining Armor smiled as he gripped his sword, “And I love you… Cadence.”

Star Bolt struggled to his hooves as he tried to ignore the pain from the hit he just took. Then he charged at the two with an attempt to save them. As Osiris brought down the cylinder of sand one last time, Shining Armor drew his sword and pointed it at the Cylinder in a desperate attempt to save his princess and himself. Nevertheless, the sand hammer came down and crushed the two as it shattered the blade and sent a shard flying through the air towards Star Bolt. Seeing his incoming projectile, Star Bolt raised his right wing as a reflex to protect his eyes. His reflex worked as it stopped the tip of the sharp blade shard from dinging into is face… however, the shard did manage to hit, and pierce his wing entirely. As the pain from his impaled wing quickly rose, Star Bolt dropped to a knee as he held his wing and screamed in a combination of anger and pain. Then he slowly looked up to see the massive sand cylinder as it sat inside of a crater that it had made in the Canterlot plaza. Griping his wing and breathing heavily to ignore the pain, he watched as the large cylinder melted away into the sand that made it and returned to Osiris’s hooves, leaving behind only two things… the shattered royal sword, and the royal crown of a Crystal Princess.

Osiris smirked at his actions as he mumbled to himself, “And now… only two remain… but first…”
Osiris turned to look at Star Bolt as the wounded pegasus was panting trying to hold in the pain he was feeling from the sword shard that could be seen on both sides of his wing. Then the dark alicorn began approaching him as he spoke, “A good commander will always continue fighting… no matter what. Am I right Commander Bolt?”
Star Bolt didn’t reply, instead he just glared at The Dark Alicorn while his wounded wing continued to bleed around the sword shard that was embedded in it. As Osiris got within a few feet of his foe, he stopped and continued, “Your eyes say yes... normally I would just kill you and be done with it, but seeing that my shadow was so fond of you, I think it would be best if a soldier of your reputation died fighting. I rather that then a dishonored execution don’t you think?”
Using his magic, Osiris drew Star Bolt’s sword and laid it on the ground in front of him as he continued, “Secure your weapon commander.”
Knowing full and well that he didn’t have the strength or energy to face so mighty a foe, Star Bolt thought about his options only to come to one conclusion. Slowly he picked up the sword and held it at the ready.

Osiris smiled, “Good… it does me pride to see that you’re determined to fight till the end.”
Star Bolt glared at Osiris with intense rage, but before he could reply, Osiris bundled a large amount of sand around his hoof and used it as a wrecking ball as he raised his hoof up and punched the wounded stallion, tossing him a number of feet before slamming him into a wall. As Star Bolt struggled to pick himself up, Osiris picked up his dropped sword and laid it next to I’m as he spoke, “You’re still alive commander… continue.”
Star Bolt tried to pick himself up but with his body acing from every angle, and his blood loss apparent he didn’t have the strength to do so. Osiris sighed as he looked at the defeated pony, “I was hoping for more of a fight from somepony of your heritage and reputation… but I suppose you’re nothing but a simple mortal.”
Star Bolt slowly opened his eyes as he tried to speak, “H-heritage?... Wh… wha…?”
Before Osiris could reply, a rainbow beam came out of nowhere hitting Osiris on his side and throwing him through the wall of a nearby building as it collapsed on top of him.

With a surprised stare, Star Bolt slowly turned his head to see Luna, Twilight and the rest of her friends as they rushed up. The element users cheered as Rainbow Dash hoof-bumped Applejack, “Aww yea! Bull’s eye! Naturally we showed him what’s up!”
Fluttershy and Princess Luna rushed to Star Bolt’s side as Princess Luna spoke, “Star!... are you ok?”
As the two mares helped him up, Fluttershy looked at his wing and gasped, “Oh!... dear me… that’s a nasty wound you have there… we better get you fixed up and fast…”
Before anypony could touch his wound a dark voice was heard, “The… The Elements of Harmony. It’s been a while since I’ve seen those in action. Sadly… they don’t affect me at all.”
Everypony looked at the collapsed house as a hoof step was heard and the rubble went flying in all directions leaving nothing on the foundation but Osiris as he stood there smiling wickedly. The group of ponies couldn’t believe their eyes as Osiris started trotting from the foundation without so much as a bruise.

Twilight spoke in shock, “but… we hit him directly… not even Discord could come out of that without anything changed.”
Osiris stopped as he replied, “Yes… my brother was turned to stone because his magic was weak and essence of good was in him… however you will find no such traits in me.”
Pinkie Pie rushed to Fluttershy as she reached behind her and pulled out her party cannon, “Ready Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy gave her a nervous look as she replied, “oh… um… well… I don’t thi…”
before Fluttershy could finish her sentence Pinkie Pie put a daredevil helmet on her head along with goggles and gave her a round shield as she picked her up and shoved her into the cannon bore, “Nonsense! You’ll be fine! All you have to do is aim for him and it will be a piece of Pie!”
Fluttershy tried to reply, “Isn’t aiming your job?... and don’t you mean piece of cake?”
Pinkie Pie aimed her party cannon at Osiris as she replied, “Silly Billy… who eats cake in a cannon?”

Before Fluttershy could reply, Pinkie Pie finished aiming the party cannon and yanked the cord as the cannon fired the nervous pegasus through the air. As the terrified pony flew straight towards The Dark Alicorn, she held the shield in front of her as it hit the alicorn’s head, completely removing it as Fluttershy, the shield and Osiris’s head hit the building behind him, completely embedding the round shield into the wall as Fluttershy fell to the ground. As Fluttershy stood up trembling in anxiety of what she just went through, she started to speak, “W-w-what… j-j-just… h-happened?...”
when she looked at Osiris’s body as it remained standing in place without a head, she immediately cried with her faint frantic voice, “Eep!... Headless pony!...”
with that said she rushed back to Pinkie Pie and hid behind her as she slowly peaked out from behind, “is… is he dead?”
Pinkie Pie looked at the headless pony and giggled, “Oops! Looks like we took a little too much off the top.”

As the group looked at the headless stallion, they froze in shock, as sand started running up from his torso and slowly rebuilt his head. As Osiris opened his eyes and looked at the group of ponies, Pinkie Pie cheered, “Oohe!... Again! Do it again!!! That was neat!”
Osiris smiled at the playful pony as he replied, “How about… I do one better.”
With Pinkie Pie staring in curiosity, Osiris turned to the building that the shield was embedded in and watched as it popped out of the wall and fell to the ground. Then the sand that was once his head, melted down and wrapped the shield up as it began crushing and bending it into a solid metal ball. With all eyes on the iron sphere, the sand started to cover the ball then it began to grow until the black sand surrounding the metal ball took the form of a large cannon that had a tube that was the same caliber as the iron ball. With a smirk on his face, Osiris looked back at Pinkie Pie and replied, “How’s this… Pretty neat hmm…”

Before anything else could be said by either side of the conflict, the large black cannon fired the large iron ball with great force and speed, landing the ball inside Pinkie’s cannon before exploding and throwing metal shrapnel at both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as it tossed them away from the now destroyed cannon. As soon as the explosion was seen Twilight called out, “Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy!”
Before anything else could happen, Princess Twilight glared at the dark alicorn and yelled, “FREEZE!!!”
Using a freezing spell Twilight shot a beam of ice at him only to have him dodge the attack by jumping into the air. While hovering above the ground, Applejack quickly threw a rope around his neck as Rarity quickly used her magic to wrap it around him numerous times to try to hold him in place. However, he quickly phased through the rope by letting that portion of his body turn to sand. And as the rope fell, he then used his magic to wrap Applejack in it and fling her through the air knocking Rarity over with one attempt. Trying to get his attention Rainbow Dash flew right up to him then punched him before flying behind him and kicking his back as she circled around the side to do the same thing as before.

Thinking she was too fast for Osiris, Rainbow Dash continued drawing his attention while Princess Twilight focused and fired a second ice spell at him. Sensing the magic, Osiris used his sand to create a glass prism to split the magical beam, and a series of glass mirrors to deflect them out, hitting Rainbow Dash’s wings with the first, and sending the second to Twilights hooves. As rainbow dash fell, she was quickly caught by Osiris’s sand as he raised her high and smiled, “Very loyal… as resembled in that element you wear… but foolish.”
As Osiris made a glass dagger appear in his hoof, he raised it high to kill Rainbow Dash as he yelled, “Let’s put an end to your loyalt…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a bolt of lightning came from behind as it hit him in his back causing him to drop both Rainbow Dash and the dagger, and flinch under the strain of the attack. Osiris was now enraged as he turned and glared at Star Bolt who fell to the ground after straining his energy with the lightning orb. In a fit of anger, Osiris grabbed Star Bolt with his magic and tossed him through the air, hitting Rainbow Dash as she was rushing towards Twilight to free her frozen hooves.

As the two pegasi were tossed to the side Princess Luna tried to rush to their aid, but before she got to them, The Dark Alicorn made a small pedestal of glass shoot from the ground, hitting her in the face as she was running, knocking her to the ground and stunning her completely. Then Osiris smiled as he looked back a Princess Twilight and spoke with the anger that he was still feeling from Star Bolt’s attack, “You… you’re nothing but a mockery… A cheap reproduction of what should only be pure. Why do you bear those wings, Unicorn? Was it some kind of spell? Some kind of false identity to con your way into a higher society of true alicorns?”
Twilight was terrified from the sound of the anger that was in his voice as she replied, “I… I’m an alicorn because I was told that it’s my desti…”
With anger in his eyes, Osiris created a sand vine that he wrapped around her neck and raised her in the air as he interrupted her, “Shut up!... what do you know of destiny? You think it was destiny that brought you into this world? Destiny that raised the mountains, brought day and night, and paved way for species like you to thrive? Do you think it was destiny that created the very elements that you so willfully disrespect by parading about like you were something special?... No… it was the Alicorn that brought the day, night, and mountains. It was the alicorn that brought forth life and created The Elements of Harmony. But you… you are not one of us. So… I think that I should do as nature intended. And bring you back to your birthright. I rather you live a unicorn… then die an alicorn.”

With her body being helplessly held in the air by the vine, Twilight struggled as a small amount of sand started running from the vine to her wings s it covered them completely. Twilight tried to fling the sand off by flapping her wings as much as she could, but after a few seconds, her wings stopped moving as she started screaming in agony. Hearing her cries of pain, the surrounding ponies struggled to pick themselves up from the ground but none had the strength to come to her aid, as Osiris smiled while watching her wings melt away into the sand leaving only two massive wounds in place of the missing appendages. As Princess Twilight continued hanging in the air by the vine, she cried as she tried to bear her pain as much as possible, but even the tears of the poor wounded pony didn’t faze Osiris as he dropped her to the ground and turned away from her with no sympathy for the wounded princess. As Osiris turned towards the last alicorn on his list, he was shocked to see a trail of blood leading across the ground left behind by Star Bolt as he dragged himself all the way to Princess Luna’s body to check on her. Seeing the wounded pegasus as he ignored his wounds to aid the princess he loves made Osiris sigh, “Soldier, or not… he is getting on my last nerve. It’s time to end him.”

With the dark alicorn slowly approaching them, Star Bolt reached Luna and started shaking her, “Luna… Luna stay with me… you have to get up… you have to run…”
As Luna slowly regain consciousness, she looked at Star Bolt and replied, “Star… where?...”
“Luna… Run… Now… you have to run…”
when Luna looked up behind Star Bolt she saw Osiris as he raised his hoof up and made a glass spike appear. At first, she was still too dazed to understand what was happening, but when she saw Osiris raise his hoof in a way to bring the glass spike down into Star Bolt’s back, she made the only move she could think of at the time. The only thing she could think… to save the stallion she loved. With extremely little time to act, Princess Luna quickly picked herself up from the ground and lunged forward as the glass spike that was meant for Star Bolt, pierced her body instead. The very moment this happened, Star Bolt and Osiris were equally shocked, as Princess Luna looked Osiris in the eye and spoke, “You… you have what you want… now please… g-go…”

With that said, Luna started to fall backwards as she landed on the ground next to the shocked pony she loved. Star Bolt was speechless; he had no idea if this was real or an illusion. He could only stare at Luna as she turned her head to him and smiled, “Now… I can look after you for once…”
Star Bolt put his hoof on her face as the wound in her chest started to turn grey, “L-Luna… what?… what did you do?...”
As the grey coloring quickly spread across her body she replied, “I only did what you would have in the same situation… I saved the stallion I loved…”
With those final words, Luna smiled peacefully as the grey coloring spread across her face, and she turned to stone. Stunned and at the same time afraid, Star Bolt slowly regained his energy as what happened a second ago slowly set in, “L-Luna… Luna… L-LUNA!!!”
As tears started to build up in his eyes, Star Bolt started placing his hoof on her face, but when he felt that it seemed to be merely a statue, his worries skyrocketed “No… no… Luna no… no, no, no! NO! Luna! LUNA!!! NO!!! NO LUNA!!!”
After taping almost every inch of her face, Star Bolt used every bit of strength he had as he wrapped his hooves around her with tears now pouring from his face, “NO!!! LUNA!!! NO!!! Not again… not again… NOT AGAIN!!! LUNAAAA!!!”

Star Bolt cried his eyes out as he held the statue against him, hoping with all of his might that somehow, it would turn her back. But it didn’t… Star Bolt’s cries echoed through the now empty streets of Canterlot as he held onto the stone princess for dear life. With Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash back on their hooves, they were quickly tending to the wounds that Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight had sustained, however, Rarity couldn’t help but tear up as she saw the heart broken stallion clinging onto his love with every fiber of his being. Osiris stood calmly and watched the morning Stallion for a few second until finally, he turned around, “And so… it ends. Suppose I should deal with the rest of th…”
“You’re a monster…”
Osiris turned to look at the anger enriched eyes of the stallion who had a look of near insanity in his anger. Then Osiris replied, “If I had a bit for every time I heard that… I'd be a rich stallion.”
Osiris then started to trot away as Star Bolt spoke, “Where are you going… I’m still alive you know… get your plot back here and finish what you started…”

Osiris stopped and smiled, “perhaps… another day. For some reason, seeing you with this much heartbreak puts me in a mood to leave. Funny, I can’t tell what worse… the fact that a royal alicorn would demean herself by sacrificing her life for a mortal pegasus… or the fact that she could fall in love with one to begin with… through all my studies as the top professor in Eden… Love, has always managed to escape me… but I suppose, some things should never be explained. It just makes the journey of life that much more enjoyable. I shall leave you with a parting gift commander… a challenge of worth for the great Commander Bolt. Truly a test that only you could pass.”
Star Bolt never let a single gram of his rage slip by as he replied, “Test… what are you talking about?”
Osiris could only smile as he opened his wings and began to fly away. After he was out of sight, Star Bolt looked back at the peaceful smile that remained immortalized on her face as the tears continued to pour, “Luna… I’m sorry… I… I couldn’t save you… I… I failed you too… I’m sorry…”

In the distance at the summit of the very mountain that Canterlot sat on, Osiris landed and looked down at the city as he sighed, “This city is the legacy of the immortal princesses… and its residents, accomplices to their blasphemy… It’s time to end this.”
With one powerful stomp, The Dark Alicorn stomped the highest point of the mountain and created a small crack on the ground. As soon as the crack was made, sand started pouring from his hoof as it entered the mountain and started pushing the crack more and more until the crack started to spread outward in a single line. Further and further the crack spread as Osiris’s sand guided the crack perfectly as it very precisely circled vital parts of Canterlot’s foundation. Meanwhile in the city, Star Bolt finally stopped clutching Luna’s statue as he struggled to stand. Applejack and rainbow dash rushed to his side as Applejack spoke, “commander? Are you gonna be alright?”
Star Bolt wiped the tears from his eyes as he replied, “I… I'll be fine… how are the others?”
Rainbow dash replied, “We wrapped Twilights wounds… but we don’t know how to treat Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie. They are covered with metal shards.”

As Star Bolt nodded his head Applejack asked, “So… where are Princess Celestia, and Cadence? Did… did he get them too?”
Star Bolt nodded his head, “Yea… they’re gone…”
Rainbow Dash asked, “What about Shining Armor and Spitfire?”
Star Bolt sighed, “Shining Armor is gone too… and Spitfire… I can only assume the same.”
Applejack sighed, “Well… thank Celestia we managed to scrape by on this…”
Star Bolt nodded his head, “Yea… thank Celestia…”
Rarity then trotted up as she spoke, “Well… I don’t know much about medicine, but I do know that Twilight should be alright, but I don’t know about the other two.”
“I know of medicine, for it is my knack, I'll do what I can so they survive this attack.”
The ponies turned to Zecora, as she trotted up, “I could not leave, for my help you could use, a medicine mare’s talents, are one to not lose.”

Star Bolt looked around and asked, “Roseluck and Niether… did they get away?”
“As Zecora trotted to Pinkie Pie and looked at her wounds as she replied, “They’re gone and saved; you shouldn’t need to worry, for to keep them safe, they left in a hurry.”
Star Bolt smiled as he sighed with relief, “Good… that makes me feel better than”
The Rarity nodded her head, “Well if Zecora can help them then perhaps I should help you Mr. Bolt… that sword isn’t going to come out on its own.”
As Rarity grabbed the sword shared with her magic, Star Bolt braced himself, “Alright… I’m ready…”
However, before Rarity could move the shard, the ground beneath them shifted with enough force to knock them all to the ground. Star Bolt ignored his pain as he picked himself back up, “What? What was tha…”
Again the ground shifted with extreme force, however this time, it wasn’t a sudden shift… but it started to feel as if it were sliding.

As the ground beneath them shook, Applejack spoke, “Is?... Is the city fallin’ apart?”
Star Bolt looked to noticed that the mountain’s peak was getting further from them as the ground continued to shake, “No! It’s just Falling! EVERYPONY BRACE YOURSELVES!!!”
At first Star Bolt tried to open his wings to fly, but with the sword shard still in it, he couldn’t even open his wing entirely, so he grabbed the doorway of a nearby building as everypony else did the same. However, with the entire city sliding down the side of a mountain, many of the buildings started to collapse as everypony tried to keep themselves from being crushed by the falling debris. This seemed to go on for a few more minutes until finally, the edge of the city hit the valley below turning the entire city vertical as towers and unsupported structures started collapsing and sending rubble falling on the group. When this happened, Star Bolt reached out for Princess Luna’s statue, but the force was too strong, as it fell down the street and shattered as it hit the rocky river below, “NO! LUNA!!!”
“STAR LOOK OUT!!!”

With all his attention on Luna’s shattered statue Star Bolt didn’t notice that one of the large Canterlot towers had toppled over and was heading straight for the building he was using to support himself. Before he could react, the tower had plowed through the small shop as Star Bolt was tossed from its foundation and hit another building as he fell leaving the rest of his friends still supported above. As Star Bolt fell from the center of the city, he continued to hit buildings before he landed in the rushing river below. As soon as he hit the water, Star Bolt swam to the surface and caught his breath, but as soon as he did, Star Bolt looked up, only to see many buildings falling towards him from the vertical city as it slowly fell apart above. Star Bolt tried all he could to avoid being crushed by the falling debris until a large building fell into the water next to him, creating a wave that washed him down river away from the city. As the rushing waters pushed him down stream, Star Bolt tried to keep his head above the waterline, but as he did so, he didn’t notice a large rock in his path as the waters slam him into it like a hammer striking an anvil. From the shock of hitting the rock, Star Bolt lost all control of his hooves, as his body slowly sank into the waters that carried him. With the air knocked out of his lungs, and his immobility preventing him from surfacing, Star Bolt slowly drifted away as everything around him went black.