One Wish For Nothing

by BlackRoseRaven

A Clash Of Two Worlds

Chapter Five: A Clash Of Two Worlds
~BlackRoseRaven

Celestia scowled darkly, once more in the lead as Pinkie Pie mumbled apologies and followed nervously behind her and Twilight Sparkle. Twilight herself was struggling not to speak or cry out or plead with the Princess... all of it would be pointless. No, worse than pointless: it would make Celestia punish her, for being a bad filly.

Pinkie Pie had done a good job at first: she'd helped them find several passes they might have otherwise overlooked, and brought them into what was clearly the territory of the evil pony, marked by the dark swampland and the heavy, foreboding clouds. With Twilight lighting the way, Pinkie Pie had been able to easily navigate them through the marshland... but the moment they were again on solid, dark ground, Pinkie had led them right into a trap.

More specifically, she had somehow led just Celestia right into the trap: apparently Pinkie was very light of hoof, even hopping. She had bounced right over a thin covering above a pit, while Celestia had smashed face-first through it and almost ended up impaled on the wooden stakes below.

She had set off several more cheap booby traps on the way before she'd lost her temper, swearing furiously at Pinkie Pie until she'd caught herself and carefully pushed Pinkie behind her, saying in a voice somewhere between 'reasonable' and 'furious:' “I think it would be much more productive if I took the lead.”

Now, they were heading towards what looked like the edge of a forest... but in the distance, Celestia could see that black fortress. And even more telling than that was the fact that there was a stone path ahead, and several strange figures standing at the end of it with lanterns, waiting for them.

Twilight gasped quietly, and her friends gave sounds that varied from growls to terrified whimpers: less at the sight of the green, warty little goblins, and more at the sight of the undead mounts they both rode on.

They had once been ponies: now they were both just skeletons, with simple saddles bolted to their bones and heavy rawhide reins. Brightly-glowing lanterns were clutched inside the ribcages of each: it lit the area around the mounts, but made the riders look more intimidating, protected inside a cocoon of shadows.

Celestia narrowed her eyes a bit, but that was all: they were just animated bones, barely intelligent, completely harmless. She looked with irritation over her shoulder at the ponies: Rarity and Fluttershy were at the back, looking like they wanted to bolt, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both trying to look tough, but very clearly scared out of their minds.

Pinkie Pie was looking up at her almost desperately, though, apparently less concerned with the living dead and far more worried about the fact someone was mad at her. Celestia couldn't help but reflect wryly that in these maddening circumstances, that was actually the most logical reaction for any of them to have.

She shook her head slowly, then turned her eyes moodily towards the two goblins. They both cowered immediately, quivering on their steeds before one of them squeaked: “Lord... Lord Morpheus awaits your presence! Follow, follow!”

“Very well.” Celestia said evenly, and then she looked over her shoulder at the ponies and said calmly: “Do not fear these creatures. They are weak and cowardly. But stay close: Moros... or Morpheus, as he seems to have taken to calling himself... may be waiting to ambush us.”

“The boss isn't smart enough for that.” mumbled one of the goblins as he carefully reined his steed around. The other goblin jerked ineffectively on the reins of his own skeletal horse a few times... and then looked horribly embarrassed when, instead of turning around, the skeleton simply began to walk calmly backwards.

Celestia grimaced at the slow pace they set, striding along the black stone road as Pinkie Pie turned her eyes with fascination to the skeletal ponies. She hopped up in front of the one that was walking backwards, making Celestia scowl a bit, but she didn't bother calling her back. If Pinkie Pie died horribly in the next few minutes, she wouldn't complain. “Hi there! What's your name?”

The skeletal pony didn't speak, only continuing to walk backwards, expressionless and hollow. Pinkie Pie frowned a little, and then she leaned up and asked the goblin rider: “What's wrong with him? I mean, I can see he's kind of a skeleton and all but...that's no reason to be rude!”

“He's not rude!” the goblin said indignantly, putting his hands on his hips. “Don't be silly, pony! They're very nice, much nicer than diamond dogs!”

“Oh no, you have those dreadful things here?” Rarity scowled a little at this, flicking her mane to the side with a disdainful little huff. “This... Morphy must be truly despicable if he fritters away his time with such... creatures.”

Fluttershy mumbled something, and Rainbow Dash snorted as she leaned forwards, saying firmly: “Look, none of that matters, because we're here to save Equestria, you got that? We're going to put a stop to your boss, and you better not get in our way, or else!”

“Or else what, Rainbow? Y'know I agree with you, but we gotta think about this one. Right, Princess?” Applejack asked uneasily: she was trying hard to hide it, but she was trembling almost as much as Fluttershy at the sight of the skeletal ponies. But if Celestia remembered correctly, Applejack had never really gotten along well with the concept of death.

Twilight Sparkle only swallowed thickly, then looked up and said quietly: “We're all ready to do whatever it takes, Princess Celestia. Just like I promised.”

Everyone fell silent at this: even the most vapid of their group seemed to recognize that something was seriously off, as Celestia gave Twilight a moody look for a moment and Twilight looked up almost pleadingly at her mentor.

The uncomfortable silence lasted until they reached the bridge that led into the fortress: Celestia noted that in his usual half-assed fashion, Moonflower hadn't bothered to make a real moat, and the drawbridge didn't actually draw upwards: it was permanently fixed in the down position. It was also guarded only by a figure that Celestia instantly recognized, the mare giving a nasty little smile as she said clearly: “Girls, allow me to introduce this pony to you. This isn't Morpheus, but a pony who once was mentored by Starswirl the Bearded... and then ran away when things got too hard.”

“You didn't give them my name. It's Antecedes.” said the cloaked figure moodily, and then he reached up and pulled his cowl back to reveal his bare skull, which was fraught with crimson, wiry veins. “Lord Morpheus is waiting in his throne room. Shall we?”

Princess Celestia nodded shortly, and Antecedes turned around to lead them in. The ivory mare was fearless, but behind her, the six traded worried looks as they marched after her into the terrible black fortress, Applejack whispering: “Guys, I ain't so sure this is such a good idea...”

Fluttershy meeped an agreement, and Rainbow Dash began to open her mouth.... then leapt into the air and shot up almost to the ceiling when the gates slammed behind them, her eyes wide and whole body shaking before she hurriedly dove back down to rejoin the group, saying hurriedly: “Well, we... there's no turning back now, so there's no point in being scared!”

Twilight hesitantly nodded, then bit her lip before hurrying away from her friends, crossing the short distance towards where Antecedes and Celestia were walking almost side-by-side. She stayed back a little, but she could make out their quiet conversation now, as the skeleton muttered: “-idiot, but the idiots conquered our country a long time ago.”

Celestia laughed shortly at this, then she glared at him and said through gritted teeth: “It is not our country. It is my country, and I am fully aware that you and Moonflower have some stupid plan in place to try and take it away from me. But I'm not going to just roll over and die, Antecedes.”

“Of course, can't do that now. God forbid, somepony might get a splinter.” the skeleton replied dryly, and Celestia snarled at him as they started up a wide flight of steps.

“You and I both know it's far more serious than that... although monsters like you only want to see the world in pain, the country reduced to nothing but black-magic-wielding unicorns and barbarian earth ponies, reduced to nothing more than mindless slaves!” snapped the mare, and the two halted at the top of the stairs.

Twilight flushed, frozen on the steps themselves, while her friends were still at the bottom of the stairs: she felt all eyes suddenly lock on her as Antecedes calmly looked back over his shoulder, and then the skeleton turned around before he asked loudly: “Do any of you know the legend of the Killing Light?”

“Enough games!” Celestia shouted, snapping her horn out, and Antecedes was blasted off his hooves and slammed cruelly into the wall, before the skeleton hissed as he was crushed back into the stone by intense waves of psychic force, Celestia's eyes blazing as she snarled: “You are the monster here, Antecedes! And I will not have you telling them... ghost stories and old lies!”

“I'm not telling the story right now, Celestia... you're doing it for me.” Antecedes replied calmly, the crimson light of his eyes blazing with defiance. And Celestia bared her teeth in disgust at this before she snorted and stepped suddenly back, the glow around her horn vanishing and letting the skeleton drop to the ground.

He landed unevenly, barely managing to catch his balance. But almost the moment he steadied himself, he gestured moodily with one hoof to the side as if nothing had happened, saying disdainfully: “Shall we continue on our way?”

Celestia only snorted in contempt, and then her horn glowed brightly before she snapped it sharply to the side, smashing the wall beside her with telekinesis. And to the surprise of the ponies and the exasperation of Antecedes, the entire section of wall toppled forwards, smashing into another wall section behind it and causing a domino effect that spread through the entire open fortress.

In his 'throne room,' Morpheus had enough time to look dumbly up before he squeaked and flung himself backwards, narrowly avoiding being squished as one of the front wall sections was smashed out of place and nearly landed on top of him. He blinked stupidly a few times at this before one of his eyes twitched as Celestia stepped into the hall she had created, crushing broken stone panel under her hooves as Morpheus shouted furiously: “What the hell are you doing?”

“I am not in the mood for games, Moonflower!” Celestia thundered back, striding carelessly through the trail of wreckage. Behind her, Antecedes sighed tiredly and rubbed at his face before he gestured irritably at the ponies, and Twilight winced before hurrying after her mentor, with the other five ponies straggling behind.

Rainbow glared at Antecedes as she passed, while Fluttershy dropped her head meekly and mumbled an apology. Then she squeaked as she tripped over one of the broken plates, but she was quickly caught and steadied, the skeleton saying dourly: “Careful.”

Fluttershy smiled over at him meekly, then scurried quickly away and promptly tripped over another piece of stone, but she at least managed to catch herself this time and not look too embarrassed. Antecedes shook his head moodily at this... then winced a bit when he found a bright pink pony standing beside him and looking at him with a big bright smile, the mare saying warmly: “I knew it! You guys just need friends, right?”

“No.” Antecedes said bluntly, and then he turned and walked away, leaving the mare staring dumbly after him as he shook his head with a tired sigh, feeling a strange pity for these poor, deluded ponies, who clearly had no idea about what they were getting into.

His point was further confirmed when one of the ponies ahead of him complained to the yellow Pegasus, as they shifted their way through the wreckage: “I simply cannot stand all this mess! And this fortress, it's so... uninspired, so ugly, so... icky! Why, this villain, he must be absolutely...”

Rarity and Fluttershy stepped out into the main room, and the ivory unicorn stared at the stallion who was now seated in his throne, glaring at Celestia. Rarity's eyes slowly widened as they drew over him, taking in his perfectly-styled mane, his handsome features, his gorgeous body... and then she squealed loudly, clapping her hooves together as she exclaimed: “He's beautiful!”

Twilight dropped her face in a hoof as Morpheus blinked dumbly, but then smiled and sat back, looking pleased as he polished a hoof against his chest and said pleasantly: “Well, I wouldn't quite go that far... but I am very attractive, yes.”

Rarity giggled as she looked over him with awe... before wincing when Celestia stomped a hoof, the ivory mare glaring up at the black winged unicorn and saying coldly: “Don't let his looks fool you. That doesn't take away from what he is. Evil. Cruel. A master of black magic. Powerful...”

Celestia narrowed her eyes, resisting the urge to lick her lips as she felt a horrible, ironic yearning run through her body, hating that she was feeling the same way Rarity was at the moment. But then she shook her head quickly, breathing slowly and saying in a quiet voice: “Moonflower, you will either surrender, or you will be punished.”

“No, Señor Morpheus, he's gonna punish you, ladies!” shouted a voice, and even Celestia looked surprised when an earth pony stallion seemed to appear out of nowhere on one side of the throne as Antecedes rolled his eyes in exasperation and sat down on the other side. The glaring little earth pony hopped from hoof-to-hoof, and Celestia's eyes narrowed: she didn't see anything special about him, but she guessed that this was the stallion that had attacked Canterlot.

Morpheus smiled thinly as he sat back in his throne... then turned beet-red as Neato Burrito continued firmly: “And he is gonna punish you in a completely non-sexual manner, because he is a homosexual and I and you and we all should respect his decision, even if it gives me the heebie-jeebies. But I still respect him! He is still my master! Not in a creepy homosexual way but in a way that honors the traditions of the mighty Luchadores!”

Pinkie Pie cheered loudly, and Neato Burrito nodded violently at this, hopping up on his rear hooves and pointing at Morpheus as he awkwardly tried to shrink back in his throne, saying proudly: “That's right! You mares can fawn and plead all you want to my master, but your beautiful bodies won't have any effect on him because he don't like you none, he likes other stallions, who are made of meat and muscle and big solid-”

“Thank you, Neato Burrito, you've made your point!” Morpheus snapped in a strangled voice, and then he dropped back in his throne, trying unsuccessfully to glare over the ponies who had entered his fortress.

But all of the Elements of Harmony were staring up at him: Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were actually giggling, while Twilight was looking at him with disbelief as Applejack and Fluttershy only seemed confused. And Rarity, lastly, looked dismayed as she held up a hoof, asking awkwardly: “But... but you can love anyone for their personality, right?”

“Quiet, Rarity.” Celestia said irritably, and the unicorn looked shocked but dropped back into silence as the other ponies looked with surprise at Celestia. But she ignored all of them as she and Morpheus resumed glaring at each other, the tension between them like electricity before the Princess of the Sun finally asked curtly: “How? And why?”

Morpheus smiled coldly: of course, Celestia always just had to know. But he was more than happy to answer. “Well, Celestia, I'm not the first pony you banished to that abyss, am I? Oh no. I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me, but there were quite a few others down there... although none quite so powerful as me. But I was able to learn a lot from them, all the same... they taught me enough that it was just a matter of training myself until I was able to break free from that hell of hells.”

Celestia frowned darkly, then she snorted in disgust before saying contemptibly: “So you talked to a few other evils that I sealed away and then used brute force to get out. Of course.”

“You do enjoy throwing around that word, 'evil,' don't you Celestia?” asked Morpheus wryly, and he chuckled quietly as he sat back in his throne, saying easily: “But I suppose it makes it that much easier to convince yourself that you're doing the right thing, doesn't it? It must be nice. Everyone you don't like is 'evil,' and everyone who agrees with you is 'good.' Every time you take a life, you do it because they are 'bad' or 'wrong,' or because it was a 'just' thing to ultimately do, yes? But I have to tell you, Celestia... I don't think that old architect I met was very evil after all. Why, really, he was a rather nice old stallion... and he knew quite a bit about a certain princess...”

Celestia's eyes widened, and then she bared her teeth and leaned forwards, snarling: “I did what had to be done to protect Equestria!”

“And it almost sounds like you really believe that. Almost.” Morpheus retorted, looking with a mix of contempt and triumph over at the mare. “But that wasn't it at all, was it, Celestia? Oh no. He knew the truth about you. And more than that, he knew the truth about the Tablet of Dreams. After all, he was one of its caretakers, until you decided anyone with knowledge of that artifact was a liability.”

Celestia's eyes widened... and then she snarled as it all locked together in her mind, leaning forwards and saying with disgust: “So that's it. That's why you lured us here. But you're an idiot if you think any of us will let the Elements of Harmony fall into your hooves... which I'm sure you must know you need to access the tablet.”

“I do. And it's funny, Celestia...” Morpheus stood slowly, smiling thinly down at the mare as he gestured to the six confused-looking Elements of Harmony. “You don't seem to regret your decision to bring these innocent little fillies along with you. That makes me think you're willing to sacrifice the Elements of Harmony to me after all.”

Princess Celestia was silent herself for a few moments... and then she looked up and said softly: “No. That's where you're wrong, Morpheus. Oh, I'm sure you could kill them all with ease. But you have a problem there: if you kill or seriously injure them, their Element will lose power until another pony worthy of its abilities claims it.”

The stallion scowled, and then Princess Celestia smiled calmly before she looked over her shoulder, ordering: “Twilight Sparkle. Lead your friends in the attack. Morpheus cannot put any of your lives at risk.”

The black stallion stared in disbelief at this, and then he hurriedly looked over at Antecedes, blurting: “Is she right? Can we not... what do we do?”

“Do not fear! I am here to protect you, Señor Morpheus!” Neato Burrito said immediately, stepping forwards before he suddenly grinned and readied himself, then leapt high into the air and flipped backwards, most of the eyes in the room watching in surprise as the tiny stallion vanished behind Morpheus' throne.

And then a moment later, the earth pony flung himself back over the throne to land in front of the stallion in full costume, roaring: “Or rather, El Casco is here to save the day! Now come, one at a time or all-together, and I shall defend the honor of my master!”

Morpheus looked almost embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his head, before Antecedes said tiredly: “Except Celestia is right, yes. I thought you knew that, oh Prince of Darkness and King of Evil. Furthermore, if you disable one of them, they'll all become useless. They work harmoniously.”

The dark stallion gritted his teeth, then he snapped: “Neato Burrito, knock them out, but don't hurt them badly! Do you understand?”

The Luchador completely ignored Morpheus, and there was an awkward silence for a moment before the winged unicorn slowly closed his eyes and dropped his face in a hoof, muttering: “Oh, fine. Fight with honor, knock them out, etcetera etcetera. So commands Señor Morpheus to his honorable Luchador, El Casco.”

“And El Casco hears him, and shall punish his enemies!” roared the earth pony as he leapt forwards, and then Morpheus and Antecedes both shouted uselessly at the stallion as he charged straight at Celestia-

The Princess of the Sun simply snapped her horn to the side, and El Casco was blasted through the air to slam face-first into a wall with a resounding crack. The large section of stone swayed back and forth for a moment, and then it toppled slowly forwards to land on top of the earth pony that had been squished into it with a resounding crash.

Morpheus dropped his face in his hooves, then rubbed slowly at his temples as Antecedes sighed before saying plainly: “Well. I'm not going to rush to your defense. You started this. You can deal with the consequences of it yourself.”

“Oh, thank you, Antecedes. Your loyalty, that's truly your best quality.” Morpheus retorted irritably, and then he turned an icy glare towards Celestia as she gave a thin, mocking smile. “You can laugh all you like, Princess, but you seem to be forgetting something: I don't need the help of my minions to fight you on even ground.”

“And we won't give you that chance! Girls, come on, we need to focus together and use our Elements!” shouted Twilight... but her friends hesitated, and the violet mare trembled violently as she spun around, almost pleading: “Please! Please, we need to-”

Morpheus snorted in derision, and then he leapt out of his throne, leaning forwards and snapping: “Oh please, it's not as if I have anything to fear from six little ponies who don't even understand this... this game of superior minds and magic that Celestia and I have been playing for-”

Celestia snapped her horn down, and Morpheus gasped in pain as golden rings of energy formed around his body, binding him in place as he gritted his teeth and struggled helplessly against the magical restraints. Antecedes's eyes flashed at the sight of this, staggering to his hooves... but then he was blown backwards by telekinesis, pinned against the rear wall with a curse of pain as Celestia ordered sharply: “Twilight Sparkle. You and your friends must act now.”

“We have to stop him! He's... he's evil! Evil things must be punished and destroyed!” Twilight said almost desperately, looking to her friends, trying to rally their support. Her friends looked back at her, uncertain, afraid, and Twilight shook her head vehemently before she cried out: “Please! We need to do this!”

“You can't do it! You lack both the strength and the will!” Morpheus snarled, yanking against the golden rings before gritting his teeth as energy shocked over his body, Celestia's eyes blazing as she glared at him furiously.

“Do it! Stop him, he is a threat to Equestria, he will put our entire nation in jeopardy!” Celestia shouted, then she glared over her shoulder at Twilight, and the violet mare shrank back fearfully as her five friends flinched away from their Princess. “I am your ruler! I am giving you an order!”

“We have to!” Twilight shouted, and then she clenched her eyes shut, calling up all the magic she could as her friends trembled, but then stepped forwards one after the other, focusing on their own Element, channeling their powers together...

There was a static between them, a hesitance, a fear, even as the sense of magic began to grow, and Morpheus gritted his teeth as he glared between the ponies. Even with their tension, their worry, there was unity: even if they didn't entirely believe in what they were doing, they were still determined to do things together.

There was something to admire in it, even if he was stuck in the awkward position of being on the sharp end of their magic... or so they thought. As he felt the magic push past the point of no return, he bared his teeth before shouting: “Antecedes! Now!”

Celestia's eyes widened before she snarled in fury as the skeleton nimbly shoved himself off the wall, somehow sliding right out of her telekinetic grip. She began to prepare a second spell, but before she could release it, her concentration was broken as Morpheus simply tore his forelegs to either side with a wide grin, shattering the loops of magic around his body into nothing but motes and making the ivory mare stagger as recoil zapped along her horn.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she mouthed wordlessly before snarling in fury as she realized that Morpheus hadn't been trapped at all. No, he had wanted to appear vulnerable, he wanted...

She winced in surprise at the force of the blast of energy that tore past her, her eyes widening as a rainbow of energy shot towards Morpheus, but the stallion didn't so much as twitch, only grinning widely before Antecedes appeared in front of him and thrusted his hooves into the air, tracing a pattern of glowing red runes into the fabric of reality before the crimson sigils glowed brightly just as the rainbow of energy smashed down on top of them.

But Antecedes seemed to catch the rainbow, the skeleton skidding backwards a few inches with the force of the collision against his own magic. Multicolored sparks ripped up along the bottom of the rainbow as Twilight and her friends cried out, twitching back and forth on the spot before each pony was almost torn off her hooves as the Elements of Harmony were wrenched free of their holders, one after the other.

And Celestia watched in horror as the Elements of Harmony were sucked along the glowing rainbow before they crashed, one after the other, into a solid marble shield that Antecedes was now holding above his head, the skeleton seeming to smile as he slowly lowered the smoldering stone protector, saying calmly: “Thank you, Celestia. But you always did have a bad habit of getting a little bit too aggressive.”

Celestia trembled as she stared at the shield: five Elements of Harmony were embedded along the border, and the Element of Magic sat in the dead center. Furrows that ran between the captured Elements formed the distinct pattern of a pentagram, and Celestia swore under her breath before she whispered: “How did you... that's not possible...”

“It was quite easy, as a matter of fact.” Morpheus replied pleasantly, and Antecedes scowled at him as the skeleton carefully lowered the heavy shield so he could lean on it. “You see, the Tablet of Dreams wasn't the only thing that this architect I met told me about... he said that in the past, you had collected many other artifacts of great power, hiding them away or destroying them as you saw fit. Some you even sealed away in Tartarus or other places of exile and punishment; rather silly, really. I certainly understand the reasoning, but if, say, a particularly strong and handsome young god broke free of his imprisonment in one of those places, he might just be tempted to take a few keepsakes with him on his way out...”

Celestia smiled thinly, and then she said softly: “So you stole the Shield of Heaven and absorbed the Elements of Harmony into it. Well, good for you, Morpheus, but a dark, evil pony like you could never use a tool of justice like that.”

“I'm curious, Celestia: if it's a tool of justice, then why was it sealed away in Tartarus? Is it because you admit that you fear giving the ponies the powers to protect themselves?” Morpheus asked mildly, and then he gave a nasty little smile as Celestia snarled at him. “No, you fear any threat to your rule, to your... pathetic idea of order. But I plan to bring your entire country crashing down. Because, as a matter of fact, I can use the shield.”

Morpheus flicked his his horn, and the marble shield crackled with energy before it suddenly vanished in a burst of dark smoke, and the stallion chuckled quietly as he said calmly: “But of course, there's no point in me wasting my time demonstrating my vast array of powers to you, Celestia. Not when I'm about to kill you.”

He smiled pleasantly at her, and Celestia swore before she snapped her horn suddenly downwards, Morpheus looking blank before a golden blast of flames hammered into his face and knocked him backwards into his throne. Immediately, she snapped her horn to the side, following up with a second fireball at Antecedes, but the skeleton only batted it away with one hoof, not flinching as he said calmly: “I'm not interested in fighting, Celestia.”

Celestia snapped her horn forwards, blasting Antecedes with telekinesis, but this time he barely skidded backwards instead of being thrown away, the strange red veins over his skeletal body pulsing with eerie light as he resisted her attack. It made the ivory mare snarl... before her eyes glowed with rage even as she smashed a burst of black flames away with her horn with barely a flinch, Morpheus looking dumbfounded for a moment before he bared his teeth and shouted: “Your battle is with me! Celestia, this is our destiny, this is the epic climax of our conflict, which began six centuries ago when you first refused me the position of-”

“Twilight Sparkle, kill him.” snapped Celestia, and Morpheus' mouth fell open as he stared blankly at the ivory mare, barely able to believe what she had just ordered. And then he watched stupidly as Twilight Sparkle hurried forwards in spite of the fact she and her friends still seemed stunned and confused, the stallion still trapped in a state of disbelief and failing to notice the jerky way that Twilight was moving, or how she didn't seem entirely in control of her own body.

Morpheus began to scoff... and then Twilight's horn glowed blackly, a toxic miasma starting to spill from her eyes as she snarled and snapped her spire forwards, a blast of dark lightning shooting out and blasting across Morpheus' frame. He squealed in pain, leaping backwards and slapping wildly at himself before bolting, and Twilight yelled wordlessly and leapt after him, snapping her horn angrily out and firing bolts of black magic after the winged unicorn.

“We... we have to help Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted after a moment, shaking herself hurriedly out and getting her senses back... but even she sounded uncertain with how Twilight looked almost like she was being jerked along by something, her face contorted with rage... and that magic she was using, it felt so... evil...

“Yes, you should.” Celestia said coldly, bringing the attention of the five ponies to her before she smiled thinly over her shoulder at them. “Keep them distracted. I need a few moments. Then I'll settle things with Morpheus once I'm ready.”

“I... Princess...” Applejack looked worriedly up at Celestia, but the ivory mare only turned away and shoved her way through the group, heading to the far side of the throne room. The five mares traded fearful looks...

And then Twilight cried out, and Rainbow cursed under her breath before the mare snapped: “Look, either way, Twilight needs our help! We can't just sit back and do nothing!”

But before any of the mares could speak, the stone debris on one side of the room suddenly exploded upwards, El Casco leaping to his hooves and looking completely unharmed despite the fact he'd been buried under a pile of rubble, his eyes blazing as he thrusted a hoof in the air and shouted: “If you wish to harm my master, then first, you must push your way through me!”

“Okay, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, let's deal with this one! Fluttershy, Rarity, you two do something about that skeleton guy, keep him distracted! Once we get these two out of the way, we can grab Twilight and focus on fighting Morpheus together, Elements or no Elements!” Applejack said quickly, and Rainbow and Pinkie both nodded firmly before the three ponies leapt forwards to face the stallion.

The earth pony glared at them, raising his masked head high, the immense horseshoe attached to his face gleaming. Then he raised both forelegs high, beady eyes glowing with passion and determination as he shouted: “For the honor of Señor Morpheus I shall fight! Very well, I show no fear to you, come at me however you like and I shall show you the strength of El Casco, and he shall teach you the ways of Lucha Libre!”

“Let's kick his flank!” Rainbow Dash growled, and Applejack nodded firmly as Pinkie Pie only yelled loudly, cheering from the sidelines as the two mares rushed forwards.

And they were both caught by their faces before they could strike, the two staring before yelping when El Casco whacked their heads together. Then he laughed loudly as he plucked Applejack's hat off her head before shoving it firmly into Rainbow Dash's face, sending the Pegasus stumbling backwards as she shook her head wildly to try and dislodge the stetson.

Applejack snarled, spinning back towards El Casco... and he slammed a headbutt into her that knocked her senseless thanks to the enormous metal hoof on his mask, sending her flopping down in a stunned heap. Then he turned easily towards Rainbow Dash and slammed a jab into the hat the Pegasus was ineffectively trying to pull off her face, knocking her sprawling on her back as the stetson finally popped off with a sound like a cork.

El Casco laughed brazenly again, punching his hooves together before he posed quickly, declaring: “I am among the greatest of all Luchadores! I fight with honor and pride for the stallion who saved my life and my village!”

Rainbow Dash only bared her teeth as she rolled up to her hooves, and Applejack scowled as she slowly crawled up to her own hooves, her head ringing and her words slurring a bit as she said slowly: “Y'know he's... gonna destroy Equestria and all... and your village is part of Equestria, innit?”

But El Casco only shrugged, sitting back and saying calmly: “The code is a difficult thing sometimes, señorita, but I must obey it wholeheartedly all the same. With all my heart, all my honor, and all my pride! Besides, Señor Morpheus is not so bad. He has a good heart. He has tener cojones! And he will do the right thing in the end, I know it!”

Rainbow and Applejack both only glared at the earth pony, and then the Pegasus said flatly: “You're delusional, pal. And your boss ain't so tough... Twilight's still chasing him around all by herself! I bet we aren't even going to need the Princess' help to take down him and his freaky skeleton pal and a giant jumping bean like you!”

El Casco reared back, looking offended before Applejack added sharply: “We ain't scared of any lucy-doors, either, since all you seem like is some short weirdo wearin' baby booties and a big piece of metal glued to his face!”

“You insult the Luchadores? You insult my mask?” El Casco reared back, and then he pointed at them sharply, saying furiously: “You leave me no choice now but to defend my honor, and the honor of my family!”

The two mares only glared, even as Pinkie Pie winced and waved a hoof wildly, calling hurriedly: “Wait, wait, they didn't really mean it, they just-”

But it was too late: Applejack and Rainbow Dash had flung themselves towards El Casco, who met them with an impassioned roar. And Pinkie Pie winced away, half-covering her face as the two mares were thrown around like rag dolls as El Casco shouted proclamations and preached about the art of Lucha Libre.

Rarity and Fluttershy, meanwhile, had awkwardly approached Antecedes, who had seated himself down beside the throne and was pointedly ignoring everyone... including Morpheus, who swore at him every time he ran past with a grinning, insane-looking Twilight following, zapping the winged unicorn with black energy every now and then.

Fluttershy winced as she looked up and watched them complete their narrow loop of the room for the dozenth time, and then she looked worriedly at Antecedes, before asking the skeleton hesitantly: “Can... can't you do something? Your friend is in danger and... Twilight looks so strange...”

“She's being influenced by your Princess.” Antecedes said moodily, not looking up from the newspaper he had unfolded before he added irritably: “And unless you want me to kill her, it's better to just leave her alone until she tires out. But I suppose that Celestia will be ready to fight by then, and the silly games will end and she and Moonflower can have their little ego-battle.”

“My name is Morpheus!” snapped the winged unicorn as he skidded to a halt... and then he cursed as a black fireball smashed into him, knocking him to the side with a wince. But a moment later, he blinked stupidly as he realized it had little effect, absently brushing at himself before he groaned even as Twilight Sparkle ran at him, yelling furiously. “What am I doing, running away from... stop it.”

Morpheus flicked his horn irritably, and Twilight ran face-first into an invisible barrier, whimpering as the magic whiffed out from around her horn and her eyes. And a moment later, a solid box of dark stone formed around her, leaving her imprisoned as Morpheus huffed before he approached and added moodily: “And you, ingrate. Come. Up on your hooves, we aren't done here yet.”

“Y-Y-You're not going to h-hurt us, are you?” Fluttershy whimpered, looking over at him fearfully, and Morpheus turned to scowl at her.

He only managed to look at her for a few moments before he blushed awkwardly and cleared his throat, turning his eyes away and mumbling: “I... just... Antecedes!”

“What Lord Morpheus is trying to say is that if he kills you, the Elements of Harmony will cease to function. Even if they're trapped in the shield, you're still connected to them.” Antecedes said mildly, not looking up from his newspaper.

The winged unicorn sighed in what almost sounded like relief, nodding quickly a few times in agreement as he cleared his throat. “Yes, that... that is precisely it. So... stay out of my way, and we won't have any problems. That's all.”

He peeked awkwardly at Fluttershy, then winced when Rarity leapt up beside him, her eyes gleaming as she rubbed a hoof along his breast and said encouragingly: “Maybe we can all... put all this silliness aside and just be friends, what do you say, darling? Oh, I can see there's certainly some bad blood between you and Celestia, but my dear, that doesn't mean we're all bad...”

Morpheus looked blankly down at her, and then he carefully reached up and pushed the unicorn away, shivering a little. But as he started to turn away, he found Fluttershy looking up at him meekly, the Pegasus asking hesitantly: “Mister Morpheus, why... why do you want to destroy Equestria? You don't seem like an evil pony...”

“Well, I am. I am evil. I am the Lord of Darkness!” Morpheus said after a moment, raising a hoof high in the air... and then he scowled over towards Celestia, who was only calmly standing on the other side of the room, the stallion saying in a colder voice: “And for too long, the sun has shone. Isn't that right, Killing Light?”

Celestia only smiled thinly from where she was standing, and Morpheus narrowed his eyes uncertainly. There was something strange about her now, something different... yes, she had put on some kind of choker. And he thought he could sense her magic power rising...

But before he could question it any further, there was an almost-frantic knocking before Twilight Sparkle's voice called weakly: “Can... can someone help me, please? I can't... it's... I'm scared! And I... P-Princess Celestia, it hurts!”

Morpheus scowled at this, and Antecedes slowly folded his paper closed and looked up with disgust as Rarity and Fluttershy traded confused looks. But Celestia only continued to smile calmly, coldly: she and Morpheus locked gazes, both refusing to look away as they tested each other's resolve and power, their horns sparking faintly now and then as they saw into one-another.

Across the room, El Casco put Applejack into a headlock, then yanked her along with him as he charged at Rainbow Dash before leaping up and slamming both rear hooves into the Pegasus. The light blue mare was knocked flying through the air as Applejack gargled when she was slammed down on her stomach, and then El Casco laughed as he leapt up to his hooves, shouting: “You two know nothing of what it means to be a Luchador!”

“They don't! But I do!” snapped Pinkie Pie, and both Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked groggily up to see the pink mare had somehow pulled out a multicolored, blue-and-yellow costume that covered most of her body, a mask covering the upper half of her face like a cap, her eyes glaring through narrow holes in the checkered fabric. “El Casco! I am Ex Parte! And I challenge you to máscara contra máscara!”

“You dare? You dare?” El Casco drew himself up to his full height, pointing back at her as his eyes blazed with passion, but Pinkie Pie.. or Ex Parte, rather... only glared and pointed back, and El Casco laughed loudly. “Yes! You have the passion! You are fearless! Very well, I accept!”

“Oh horseapples. This is not going to end well.” Applejack mumbled from the ground, and Rainbow Dash wheezed as she tried to push herself up.

“P-Pinkie! You don't stand a chance against that jerk alone, just...” And then Rainbow wheezed and dropped back on her face, mumbling: “Just wait for us to... do stuff...”

El Casco lunged at Ex Parte, but Ex Parte caught him by the face before she spun around and flung him to the side. The moment he landed, however, El Casco yanked himself around and leapt back at the mare, but with ease, Ex Parte leapt over him and then dropped onto his back, slamming an elbow into his spine and driving him to the ground as he howled in shock.

Then Ex Parte seized him around the neck and twined one of her forelegs into his own, and the stallion shouted in shock as he was pinned on his stomach... but after only a moment, he grinned widely, eyes blazing with passion as he roared: “Yes! You have the passion, and you have the skill! But I am the greatest of all Luchadores!”

El Casco suddenly leapt upwards and yanked the mare off his back, swinging her down into the floor back-first with a crushing thud before he wrapped both forelegs around her throat, crushing down on her neck as she gasped. She began to weaken as El Casco grinned... but then, in a surge of sudden strength and vitality, she seized both his forelimbs and yanked him forwards into a roll with her, slamming the stallion down onto his back.

His forelegs went comically wide, and Ex Parte flung herself high into the air, then dropped elbow-first onto the stallion, making him gasp in surprise more than pain... but it still left him vulnerable for long enough that Ex Parte was able to seize one of his forelegs and roll onto her back, locking her rear legs in a scissors around his neck as she stretched his foreleg out over her body.

The stallion was rendered helpless, gritting his teeth as Ex Parte growled like a chihuahua and fiercely pulled back on his foreleg. But then her eyes widened as El Casco roared and slowly began to raise his foreleg, pulling her along with him before he suddenly rolled to the side and yanked the mare through the air, slamming her face-first down into the ground and knocking her loose with a gasp.

Immediately, he pounced on top of her, then attempted to slam his horseshoe-covered face down in a vicious finisher, but Ex Parte roared and slammed her own head back against him, surprising him as he was repelled. He stared down at her for a moment, then said incredulously: “But El Casco has never failed to crush his foes beneath his mighty hoof!”

“That's because I already submitted my injunction!” Ex Parte shouted, and then both her rear hooves slammed up under his chin, knocking him crashing off her as the mare rolled backwards. El Casco barely managed to stagger up to a standing position, starting to get into a defensive pose before his eyes widened as the mare pointed at him. “And now it's time for a declaration of irreparable harm!”

“This can't be happening!” El Casco cried, stepping back as he shielded himself as best he could with his forelegs, and then he gritted his teeth when Ex Parte charged before suddenly leaping into the air, launching himself straight at the mare as he started to swing his head down... but fearlessly, Ex Parte leapt up and caught him around the neck, letting her legs kick out as they spun wildly together before slamming down to the floor with a tremendous bang.

El Casco gasped, and then Ex Parte rolled on top of him, yanking him back by the shoulders before slamming him face-first down into the ground. She yanked him up again, then held him in place as she shouted: “Where's your counter-motion?”

She slammed him down into the ground again, then yanked him back as he gargled, eyes rolling in his head as she snapped: “Because I'm gonna petition for habeas corpus! And it's gonna be your corpus, El Casco!”

She slammed him down into the ground again, then yanked him back up and this time flung him onto his back, leaping forwards and dropping to pin him as she straddled the helpless stallion, who stared up at her with amazement. “And it's just about time for the judge to make his ruling!”

Ex Parte growled down at him, and El Casco stared up at her before he gritted his teeth and reached up to grab her shoulders, shouting: “Well, El Casco never stops walking! And he's gonna walk all over you, Ex Parte!”

He reversed the hold, slamming her down and grinning... and then he stared as Ex Parte only grinned back, snapping: “Except in this court, the only right you have is the right to a fair beating! And I'm about to serve you up a notice of smackdown!”

Ex Parte suddenly rolled beneath him, slipping free from his grip and then bouncing to her hooves under the short stallion to lift him off the ground. For a moment, he laid across her back, looking stupefied... before Ex Parte bucked hard forwards and caught him at the same time, flinging him down and slamming him headfirst into the ground.

For a moment, El Casco tottered back and forth on his head, awkwardly balanced on his face before he slowly keeled forwards and landed with a thump on his back. He stared blankly up at the ceiling, and then he whispered: “Madre de Dios. I cannot believe it.”

“Well you better, because the jury just found you guilty on all counts.” Ex Parte retorted, and then she reached down and forced the stallion to sit up, El Casco wincing before his eyes widened in horror as the mare seized the metal horseshoe on the front of his mask. “And the sentence is death for El Casco!”

Ex Parte tore the Luchador's mask off and thrust it into the air above her head, and Neato Burrito grabbed at his face before throwing his forelegs wide and howling a denial to the ceiling. Then, slowly, he tottered to the side and curled up in the fetal position, staring off into the distance with glassy eyes.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked up disbelievingly as Ex Parte nodded firmly and flung the mask down, and then the Pegasus scowled as she carefully approached, peering down at the stallion and poking him a few times as she muttered: “Hey. He doesn't look that badly hurt.”

“Well, duh, I wasn't trying to hurt him you guys. We were wrestling, not fighting.” Ex Parte said reasonably before she reached up and yanked her mask off with a bright smile. “It's all about the show and the style and the substance, not who throws the hardest punch! Don't you guys know anything?”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both stared at the mare disbelievingly... and then Celestia said coldly: “Thank you, girls, you've all made my job much easier.”

All five mares looked up as Morpheus' eyes widened, Celestia suddenly breaking contact to slash her horn out, and a massive wave of golden flames tore through the air. Antecedes and Morpheus both immediately shielded themselves, but the mares screamed as the waves of aureate fire passed over them before their bodies – along with Neato Burrito's – were all encased in solid stone.

Celestia smiled ruthlessly, throwing off her cloak as her mane sparked and her eyes glowed with anger and power, saying icily: “Now I've eliminated one problem. The Elements of Harmony will no longer function. Now you can't reach the Tablet of Dreams... not that I'm going to give you the chance to. Either surrender, Morpheus, or I will kill you.”

“I can save them, Morpheus. For... for the sake of the plan, of course.” Antecedes said in a low voice, and Morpheus hesitated, biting his lip and feeling a strange churning inside his stomach...

“No, you can't.” Celestia said almost gently, interrupting the stallion's thoughts, and she chuckled softly before her horn glowed brightly, continuing with the faintest hint of regret: “It's too bad, though. They were good little listeners, the perfect little 'heroes' for our nation. But at least I might be able to salvage Twilight, if she's still alive in that box you put her in.”

The glow around her horn grew brighter before she suddenly snapped her head back, closing her eyes and arching her back with a cold smile, a tremble running through the world before cracks tore through the floor around her and the ceiling high above. The fractures spread as the earth began to shake, and Morpheus snarled as Antecedes leapt into action with a curse, almost tackling the statues of Rarity and Fluttershy before they both vanished in a flash of red light.

Morpheus leapt up over the dais his throne sat on, before his eyes widened as he saw the ground around the other four statues was already heaving apart. So, acting on instinct more than anything else, he snapped his horn out as he shouted: “Only you, Celestia, could make me want to save these stupid goody-two-hooves!”

A black sphere formed around the statues, the wall of the forcefield disintegrating whatever it touched even as it lifted the four petrified ponies into the safety of the heart of its dark embrace. Morpheus gritted his teeth as several massive chunks of stone ceiling collapsed over the shield, but they too were dissolved into dust and ashes on contact with the terrible orb, before the winged unicorn's eyes flashed, and the sphere of dark energy vanished, statues and all.

Then he turned a glare towards Celestia, stepping back in front of his throne even as the world rocked and shifted around him, ignoring the chunks of ceiling hailing down all around his once-beautiful fortress as their eyes locked. Darkness and Light faced each other, and in that moment, it wasn't about saving Equestria or destroying it, about good or evil, right or wrong: all that mattered was that one pony was going to win... and the other was going to die.

Comments

[BarrenBaron]

So...Celestia is....your Celestia still....by which I mean an evil bitch as always... also Mucha Lucha....

And I'm also guessing they're going to use the elements on bitchlestia?

thenosebleeds.nextimpulsemedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/WaltJrBullshit.gif

I'm going to my corner

[BarrenBaron]

4066897 Did this one even have an excuse? She seems pretty unapologetic and ruthless in...whatever the hell her final goal even is?