Friendship's End

by Thought Prism

Chapter 2

Twilight awoke gasping from a terrible nightmare.

The scene spread out before her eyes wasn't too far off. She was still in Canterlot, at the party. But the sun hung low in the sky, ready to set, and Twilight inferred that she had been knocked out for a while. All the other ponies were in a deep sleep, breathing heavily. Some, like Twilight, remained standing. Others had fully collapsed onto the marble.

She tried to trot over to her friends, most of whom were within sight, only to find that she was tethered to the ground. Looking down, she saw that her hooves were bound to the stone by what appeared to be ethereal blue chains. Upon attempting to break the chains with her magic, she found, shockingly, that her spell didn't seem to work at all, as if her magic was cut off entirely.

"Twilight!"

She turned left towards the direction of the shout, only to see the Celestia and Luna bound in a similar manner. They looked worn out, and completely devastated.

"What's happening?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know," said Celestia, equally distressed. "We also just woke up. What is all this?"

"Pinkie gave me the idea to turn the census into a party for the whole country."

"Then thou must have been having a much grander time of things than we," said Luna.

"Something was wrong in the Empire? Is everypony alright?"

Luna shook her head, mane billowing behind her. "When I arrived, the whole population was in a state akin to this; in a deep sleep. My magic failed to wake them, despite my efforts. Soon, I too was incapacitated. Our magic also seems locked by these despicable chains; I cannot even start the night properly."

This was even worse than she thought. Panic began creeping its way into the forefront of Twilight's mind. Turning to Celestia, she asked "Is Discord ok?"

Celestia turned her eyes away. After a long silence, she replied. "He's dead."

Her eyes widened with shock. "Discord is... dead?"

The white alicorn nodded solemnly.

"H-How did that happen?! Who could have done this?"

"I don't know Twilight, all I know is that we're now in grave danger. Whoever, or whatever killed Discord did so in a most gruesome fashion. Before I could act on this new information, I too was placed into a deep sleep."

Twilight's thoughts began spinning out of control. She couldn't move or use her magic. The Spirit of Chaos was gone. All four alicorns were out of commission. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to come up with a single feasible method of escape, nor could she even begin to fathom what had caused all this. And she liked being able to fathom things.

It was at that moment that a certain pink mare decided to pop up out of nowhere.

"Pinkie Pie?!" they all shouted in unison.

"Hi you guys! Enjoying the party?"

Twilight just couldn't formulate the proper response.

Celestia could. "Let us go, Pinkie!"

"No can do!"

Luna's eyes narrowed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US, YOU INSOLENT CUR?"

She giggled. "Oh, you mean this?" she asked, gesturing to the sleeping partygoers. "It's all going according to plan!"

Celestia's jaw dropped. "You planned this for this to happen?"

More giggling. "Of course not, you silly! This was all my master's idea."

"Your master?" she asked.

"He's, like, suuuuper great. All big and evil and shiny! He tooootally brainwashed me to do his bidding in no time! Like, it was as easy for him as flying is for Dashie! I've been feeding him tasty, tasty info for months! And he asked for me to convince Twilight to throw this party! That is, once he made sure Celestia and Luna would be distracted."

Now, everypony was speechless.

"I-I thought you were my friend, Pinkie!" Twilight managed to stammer. "How could you betray us like this?"

"Don't worry," she said, playing a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll always be your friend, Twilight. But I'll always be his friend too!"

Luna looked quite peeved at this point, and felt so inclined as to interrupt. "WHERE IS THIS MASTER OF YOURS? TELL ME, SO THAT HE MAY TASTE THE FULL WRATH OF THE NIGHT!"

"Don't get your horseshoes in a knot, princess. He'll be here soon to enact his diabolical plan!"

A brief spark of clarity flashed within Twilight. "Why don't you tell us what his plan is? I'm sure it's something super fun!"

"You're right!" she said, glancing at the other two. "It is super fun! First, he's gonna suck out your immortality, then use his mind powers to turn everypony into his own private slave army! With the Mirror Pool, that becomes an INFINITE private slave army! And then he can use that other mirror over at Cadence's place to conquer, like, ALL the worlds in the UNIVERSE!"

Before the three captives could finish comprehending the terrifying implications of what Pinkie had just said, an enormous form suddenly appeared behind her in a flash of light.

A deep, menacing voice spoke. "You've said too much."

With a huge claw, the new arrival quickly snatched her upwards. Then squeezed. Hard.

The sickening crunch of breaking bones echoed through their ears. Pinkie's now lifeless body was then unceremoniously flung against a nearby building.

"PINKIE!" screamed Twilight, tears already cascading down her cheeks.

Celestia's mane stopped billowing. "What have you done?!"

The three alicorns began processing the being in front of them. At first glance, he appeared to be a dragon, one unlike any they had seen before. His scales were a rich, golden color, and he wore gleaming silver armor on his limbs and chest. Lithe and almost regal in build, he towered over them, standing only on his hind legs. Huge wings splayed out behind him, along with his long tail and the faded red scarf draped around his neck. Atop his head sat two wickedly curved horns, and a golden orb hovered between them. But by far his most menacing feature were his eyes. They glowed with a sinister blue light, and his gaze was as condescending as it was cruel.

The dragon tilted his head downward to face Celestia. "I have simply disposed of a tool no longer useful to me."

Twilight was sobbing now, collapsed to the ground. "How could you? Whoever you are, you're nothing but a horrible monster!"

He laughed maniacally, flaring his wings and pointing a clawed finger. "I am no monster, Twilight Sparkle. I am Lord Nicol Bolas, and all shall bow before me!"

"WE WILL NEVER BOW TO LIKES OF YOU! NO MERE DRAGON CAN POSSIBLY DETHRONE US!" proclaimed Luna.

A wicked grid spread across his toothy mouth. "Let me ask you this, then. How old is your sister?"

Normally, Luna would dismiss such an inquiry as quite rude. However, under the circumstances, she would attempt to intimidate him. "My sister has lived for 2986 years! And I, almost the same! Our strength and experience is unparalleled!"

"Really, now? That is most impressive. Or, rather, it would be if my age did not exceed yours by over two orders of magnitude."

Though she kept her composure throughout, Celestia was now quite puzzled as well as enraged. "But that's impossible! The world itself is not nearly that old!"

"Did I ever say I was from this pathetic world? The lot of you all seemed so misguided and exploitable when I first arrived that I regret not finding this place many centuries ago!"

She snorted. "Well, you're old. So what? We control the heavens themselves, what makes you think you've won? Once we break these chains, we will stop you!"

Nicol Bolas shook his head apathetically. "I'm afraid you don't have that kind of power, dear princess. I know of a certain golem who built his own world from scratch once. It had five suns. Let's just say he's not doing so well at the moment."

He sighed, flexing his tail. "Anyway, enough of this banter. Here's the deal: since ailcorns are apparently immune to my mind control, you shall submit your minds and powers of your own volition. Open yourselves. Bow to me as your new lord and master, indomitable and immutable. Choose to rebel, and there will be... consequences."

"We will never give in to your threats, Bolas!"

"Celestia, it seems you fail to realize something quite important."

"Oh?"

"I wish for true immortality, but to get it, I only need one of you alive. Of course, I would be absolutely thrilled to have an ageless thrall at my command, but I can live without one. The question is: can you live without your sister?"

This gave her pause. She turned to Luna as despair crept its way onto her face.

It was at this point that Twilight managed to reign in her emotions, replacing grief with courage. "Don't do it, princess!"

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle. How about you, then? Will you swear your loyalty to me?"

"Of course not! You killed Pinkie in front of me! How could I!"

Lord Bolas placed a claw to his chin in thought. "Birth and death are both reversible. Cooperate, and I shall consider resurrecting miss Pie for you."

Twilight didn't even bat an eye at the proposal. "Not a chance. All of my friends would lose faith in me. Instead, I'm going to put my faith in them! That's what I've learned, what I believe!"

Bolas laughed at her sentiment. "It seems that you already understand friendship quite well. However, such a thing is utterly useless. Friends are unreliable, too abstract. All you need to know now is pure, abject terror. Twilight Sparkle, you will fully understand fear when you discover it is the final thing you put your faith in."

Raising a claw towards Luna, misty purple energy began swirling around it, rising and dissipating into the air. The three alicorn's eyes widened as Bolas gestured to the mob of sleeping ponies behind him with his other claw. "Tell me, do you still have faith that your friends can save you? Or are you terrified of what is about to happen?"

"Of course I'm not afraid!" Twilight replied, trying her best to conceal her true emotions. "Pinkie Pie was the one who taught me to laugh in the face of danger! And that's exactly what I'm going to do!" She then put on her best smile and began laughing awkwardly.

"So be it. Watch, you might learn something."

His eyes flared with dark energy as he slashed through the air. A tearing sound could be heard, followed by that of rushing wind. A featureless black void ripped forward towards the motionless blue form. It was as if the very fabric of reality had been cut.

Celestia strained desperately against her chains. "Sister!"

A single tear fell from Luna's cheek as the spell approached. "I'm sorry."

The void shredded Luna's body to ribbons as it pulled her inside, sealing itself shut soon after. All that remained was a gash in the floor where she once stood.

Neither mare could move. Celestia burst into tears.

Bolas leaned in closer to Twilight. "Now do you see? The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists. And I, Lord Nicol Bolas, have more power than any who breathes!" he declared, practically roaring in her face.

He then extended his arm within reach. "I'll ask again. Join me, Twilight. I could teach you magic that would make the very earth tremble before you. Become the second mightiest of all creatures."

Twilight was afraid, but she would never agree to be his puppet. Bolas was right; they had no chance. However, she would not betray her friends, or her family. Not to this, nor any tyrant. She was afraid, but she stood firm. "Do. Your. Worst."

"With pleasure."

Bolas turned around, arms outstretched towards the unmoving ponies. Suddenly, a large number of them opened their eyes, revealing that their usual colors were replaced by an unearthly magenta. Small motes of dust and confetti began rising into the air, encircling their heads. All the ponies who woke this way were unicorns, Twilight noticed.

He raised his volume, adding an aura of command to his tone. "Listen, my new slaves. I have no need for the ones without magic. With the power I have granted to you, prove yourselves. Kill them all."

"NO!" the princesses screamed in unison.

As one, every unicorn in Equestria replied in a dull monotone. "Yes, Lord Bolas."

No longer in control, but still frightfully aware of their actions, the unicorns slowly turned to their nearest sleeping neighbor and began charging a terrible spell none had used before. Among them was Rarity, and she, along with her four sleeping friends, were within sight of Twilight, who could only stare.

Their horns produced beams of shadowy energy which connected with thousands of prone targets. The sounds of magic discharge and searing flesh filled the air as colt and mare alike were scorched into oblivion, reduced to nothing but charred bones. In her mind, Rarity was overwhelmed with sudden sorrow, along with most everypony else.

Twilight screamed.

* * *

Sweetie Belle screamed.

Standing over the corpses of Applebloom and Scootaloo, the filly was not happy. However, the emotion currently consuming her entire being was not sadness or grief. For the entirety of her short life, she had been taught to suppress it. Previously, she had felt this way only on occasion, whenever a pony treated her particularly badly. Diamond Tiara produced such an effect on her, and so did her sister on occasion.

It was hatred.

As she screamed, she felt the pull on her mind recede as it was replaced by a different, overwhelming force. This force wished to drag her body away from it all, and through an enormous whirling mass of wholly unidentifiable colors and shapes. But Sweetie Belle didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay. Thus, she willed the force to release and empower her.

Her friends gone, her sole desire was to punish the one responsible, to make the dragon who's voice she had obeyed suffer a pain ten times worse than the one he had inflicted.

Using her newfound strength, the filly lifted herself into the skies with her magic, arching towards Nicol Bolas.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

You lost me after Pinkie got her skull crushed. The opening is dull, there's no sense of tension in Discord's absence, you consistently make vague pronoun references when moving from one speaker to another, you seem to repeat Twilight telling Fluttershy about the search for Discord (Once in exposition, once in dialogue,) you describe happens in dialogue in its own attribution a few times, your characterization is iffy at times (Why did Dash immediately dismiss the party?) and you have no sense of scale. The population of an entire country simply will not fit in one city, especially not one hanging off of the side of a mountain. Also, why couldn't Twilight have just sent a letter to Celestia via Spike?

Then you make an abrupt turn into pointless grimdark, wherein characters are killed just to show how badass the villain is, the entire cast is incapacitated without a chance to fight back, and everything is generally horrible for the sake of being horrible. Yes, Nicol Bolas is a powerful enemy. Yes, he very well could've orchestrated something along these lines. But it makes for a terrible story, especially as presented here, and especially when you neglect the Dark and Gore tags, thus springing it on people without any warning in or out of the story.

On a personal note, you picked one of the worst possible people to look at this. Crossover aside, this is practically the polar opposite of my usual tastes. Even if you refine your technique—which I strongly encourage you to do—I would have no interest in reading this story unless you rewrote it to the point of being a different story. Don't stop writing, but definitely read more, especially professional works. Look at how authors use language and try to improve on your own.

Sorry for raking you over the coals, but you did literally ask for it.

[Snow123]

Nicol Bolas may have a weakness for theatrics... but not even Dominaria's Most Ancient Evil, the Mind Ripper, would stoop so low and petty for 'mere' immortality.