A Search for Something More

by HAKDurbin

Chapter 57: Civil War

So, this is really happening.

During our hunt for an unknown force of dark magic, my beloved ex-girlfriends got into a fight and bring their respective groups of friends into it, resulting in a fight between magic and non-magic people just over me.

...

Did someone drug my chocolate milk during lunch or something? It did taste funny.

Sonata and I stare in shock as everyone is fighting each other in the gym. E.M.R. people are firing their MN-DGs left and right. Vinyl is blasting people away with her bass cannon. Doc fires his pen against any person that comes near him or Derpy while she shoots the people he hits. Lyra and Bon Bon are firing multiple darts at the Crusaders only for Apple Bloom to block them with her magic shield while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hide behind her and attack with their magic harp and slingshot respectively. Bulk Biceps swings his fists as if he's carrying a pair of maces, knocking out E.M.R members left and right despite his body decorated with darts. Flash Sentry and his band are using music magic to try and fight Trixie and the Illusions. Rarity uses her diamond shield to protect Fluttershy, who fires back with her blunt arrows. Soarin and Rainbow Dash are flying in the air together, dodging darts while Applejack and Caramel fight with their backs against each other.

And in the center is Sunset flying as she swings her swords at Octavia, who blocks the attacks with her shield and swings her club at Sunset every chance she gets. I stand paralyzed as the battle rages on, feeling helpless as it looks like Sonata and I can do nothing but watch the chaos.

"Sonata, you're seeing this, right?" I ask.

"Everybody fighting each other with magic and anti-magic guns led by both of your ex-girlfriends?" She asks.

"Yeah."

"Then yup, you're seeing this for realizes."

"Darn."

I pinch the area between my eyes, trying to process what is happening.

"How did this happen?" I groan. "We were doing fine, and then just because Sunset touched the blade of my Stingsaber, all hell breaks loose."

"I don't think there was anything we could have done, buddy," Sonata says sympathetically. "There was tension between everyone, not just Sunset and Tavi alone."

"But we're in the middle of finding someone with dark magic," I protest. "We're never going to catch them with everyone fighting each other."

"I know, it's terrible," Sonata says glumly. "It's like when Dagi, Aria, and I hypnotized everyone to hate each other, claiming they are the best. They even have the green eyes to go with it."

My eyes snap open.

Green eyes.

"Sonata, you're a genius!" I shout.

Sonata turns to me, confused.

"I am?" She asks absent-mindedly.

"Yes, don't you see? The person with dark magic is behind this," I shout, waving my hands in the air. "Vinyl and Doc said this person was behind Lyra and Bon Bon getting hypnotized before our party, there were green eyes when that happened, and there were green eyes when people ganged up on me, Soarin, and Caramel at the cafeteria just like when you brainwashed us at the Battle of the Bands. And the one thing they all have in common was that they were all fighting over pride."

Sonata looks at me, shocked, and thinks about it before she replies.

"Wait, that's not true," she counters. "There was nothing about pride that had to do with your fight in the cafeteria or the Anon-a-miss scenario in general for that matter."

I wince, realizing she's right before I think hard.

"Maybe that wasn't supposed to be," I guess. "Maybe it was meant for something else."

"Like what?" Sonata asks. "Why would some evil magic person want to cause chaos unless - oooooohhhhhh."

"Unless it's just build-up for the big finale like you, Adagio and Aria were doing before the final round of the Battle of the Bands," I finish for her. "Whoever this person is, they wanted this to happen."

"But they have no way of knowing you were going to drop your Stingsaber so that Sunset can pick it up the wrong way," Sonata says.

"That's not true," I say. "I didn't get a chance to tell you or Sunset and Octavia why I panicked. A see-through cloaked figure appeared behind me, and I tried to attack it before it smacked me to the ground, making me drop the Stingsaber."

"How could it do that if it's see-through?" Sonata asks, confused.

"I don't know, but it has to be the thing we're looking for," I answer. "And it's possible that this is somehow a part of their master plan."

"But what do we do?" Sonata asks worryingly. "How do we stop the entire school from fighting? There's no way we can make Sunset or Octavia see reason even if we can reach them."

I take another moment to think before an idea clicks in my mind.

"I know, we can contact Princess Twilight," I say.

"But she's in Equestria. Are you suggesting we go to Equestria to go get her?"

"No, I'm suggesting we send her a message to come here," I answer. "If we can message her to come here, she can at least help us stop the Rainbooms and their Loyalists from fighting and work our way there. After all, who better to stop people from fighting than the Princess of Friendship herself?"

"How are we going to send her a message to come to our world?" Sonata asks, confused.

I turn my head to the exit and say determinedly, "We need to go to the library. That has what we need to contact her. Come on."

I grab Sonata's hand, and we run off the stage and head to the exit, dodging darts and students wrestling each other as we run. But just then, Sandalwood and his hippie friends step in front of the exit.

"Sorry, bro," he says, aiming an MN-DG at us. "We can't let you guys leave."

"Why not?" I ask, annoyed.

"We need to make sure you're protected from these Rainboom jerks," he answers. "And Tavi is gonna want you in her arms as soon as we win."

I roll my eyes at his brainwashed logic before Sonata places her hand on my shoulder.

"I got this," she says.

I look at her, confused as she walks to Bulk Biceps, who is still knocking down E.M.R. members while injected with dozens of darts.

"Oh, Bulky," Sonata calls out in a cute, innocent voice that makes Bulk Biceps immediately turn to her in interest. "These big bad E.M.R. people are trying to capture Sunset Shimmer's baby while we're trying to leave to get something that will defeat them. Please help me."

Sonata bats her eyelashes at Bulk Biceps for good measure, and he smiles and nods before turning to Sandalwood and his friends with a deathly glare. Sandalwood only has a moment to scream like a girl before Bulk Biceps charges and rams Sandalwood and his team to the door, forcing it open. The three E.M.R. fighters fall down unconscious, and Bulk Biceps turns to us and bows like a gentleman, making Sonata giggle cutely. I nod to Bulk Biceps in thanks before turning to Sandalwood's unconscious body.

"Nothing personal, bro," I say before Sonata, and I race out of the gym and start running down the halls.

"How did you do that?" I ask as we run.

"Dagi and Aria would sometimes flirt with guys to trick them into doing what they want without magic. Eventually, I asked Rarity to give me a few pointers on how to do it," Sonata answers before she sighs sadly. "Although deceiving is not the Apple way."

"Well, don't stop now while we can use it to save our friends," I say. "Besides, you have your whole life to learn to be an Apple through and through."

Sonata smiles cutely, obviously thinking about her upcoming adoption before we turn to see the library dead ahead until...

"Excuse me."

We stop and turn around to see a curious Principal Celestia and a skeptical Vice-Principal Luna looking at us.

"What are you two doing running around the halls?" Vice-Principal Luna asks. "Shouldn't you be at home studying for your finals?"

Sonata and I look at each other before I say, "Normally yes, but right now, there's another person with dark magic who is tricking everyone into fighting each other at the gym."

Both sisters stare at me and then turn to each other confused.

"That sounds like a tall story, Mr. Draft," Principal Celestia says.

"No, it's true," Sonata protests. "There's a big fight going on with magic and anti-magic guns and everything."

"Then why are you two the only ones not fighting?" Vice-Principal Luna asks skeptically.

I scratch the back of my head and answer. "Because I'm kind of the reason they're fighting since their leaders are my ex-girlfriends, Octavia Melody and Sunset Shimmer, who are determined to get back together with me."

The two women stare at us again before they suddenly roar with laughter. I give them an unamused stare while Sonata looks at them with a frustrated pout.

"It's true," she demands. "They're fighting partly because Tavi and Sunset both want my buddy back."

But her protest makes Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna laugh harder.

"Oh, my goodness," Principal Celestia giggles. "That's the silliest thing I've heard all year."

"Indeed," Vice-Principal Luna chuckles. "The whole student body fighting over you, Mr. Draft? Surely even if that's true, you should just get back together with Ms. Melody and end your little -"

"Excuse me?!" Principal Celestia shouts, suddenly giving her sister a death glare with a hint of a green glow in her eyes.

Oh no.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Vice-Principal Luna says, still in a humorous mood. "If he is to get back together with anyone, then he better take Octavia Melody back. Do you not remember how she proudly declared her love for this boy in front of a whole crowd of people?"

No, no, no.

"So what?" Principal Celestia growls. "Sunset Shimmer was willing to stay friends with him if it meant she could be with him. Everyone but him knew that! That's real, devoted love!"

Vice-Principal Luna goes from cheery to angry with eyes turning green too, raising my and Sonata's fears.

"And yet she just left him to go back to her world. How caring," she says sarcastically.

No, no, no, no.

"You only favor Octavia Melody because she beat up Bluey," Principal Celestia accuses. "You're still bitter that he threw away your stupid video games that you spend so much time playing in your basement. You don't care about the kids at all."

Please no.

"Well, at least playing my games is better than staying at home eating cake, Sunbutt!" Vice-Principal Luna barks. "Maybe you're just hoping that if Sunset Shimmer marries the boy, they'll let you eat their entire wedding cake!"

"At least I'll get more social interaction than you ever would!" Principal Celestia yells.

Please, God, no!

"Well, staying at home is better than showing off what a chubby butt I have to the whole world," Vice-Principal Luna says with a confident grin.

With that last insult, Principal Celestia lets out a high-pitched scream and tackles Vice-Principal Luna to the floor. The two begin punching, slapping, and scratching each other as they keep on hurling insults like two children fighting over a toy.

"NO!!!!" I shriek hysterically.

"Well, that could have gone better," Sonata comments.

"You think?!" I snap. "First, all of our friends and now the principal and vice-principal? Everyone's gone completely mad! Can it get any worse?"

Suddenly, right at that moment, I hear footsteps coming from where the gym is.

"Rough Draft and Sonata went this way. We must protect him for Octavia! " I hear someone shout.

"I will see you break before any of you so much as look at Sunset Shimmer's true love again!" Someone shouts venomously as the sounds of punches and gunshots grow at each passing second.

"If by worse you mean having the fight spread from the gym, then yes," Sonata says nervously.

"We better get to the library before they see us," I say as I grab Sonata's hand again, and we race to the library door.

As soon as we make it inside, I close the doors as quickly yet quietly as possible, so no one will suspect we're here.

"Okay, so we're at the library, now what?" Sonata asks.

"Sunset said she hid her journal deep in the second level," I explain. "So, we go up there and find it."

"Do we have any idea what it looks like or what it's called?" Sonata asks.

"It's a brown book with golden straps and has Sunset's personal mark on its cover," I answer. "If it doesn't have any pages filled with typed words, it's probably the one."

Sonata nods as we run up the staircase to the second floor and start looking through the bookcases. We split up and look in different sections.

"Have you found it yet?" Sonata asks from a distance.

"No. Keep looking, Sonny," I call out as I search through every bookcase as carefully as I can.

For a few minutes, we keep searching through the second level of the library. Book after book, I keep searching for a brown book that looks remotely like Sunset's journal. I start to grow worried that Sunset moved it somewhere else until...

"Rough Draft, over here!" Sonata calls out.

My eyes widen, and I race to where I heard Sonata's voice until I find Sonata standing near a bookcase with a pile of books shaped like a bed. I stare at the book bed until I see something hiding behind the pillow. I walk over and take out the pillow to find the journal lying next to it. I stare at it for a moment before I find myself chuckling.

"The bed made of books. Of course," I chuckle. "This is so far deep in the library that no one in their right mind would go here."

Sonata smiles as I take the journal and flip through the pages until I find an open page.

"Okay, now all we need is a pen somewhere," I say.

"Pen? You never said anything about a pen," Sonata says, panicking. "Where are you going to find a pen in the library?"

I frown and look around until I see a cup of pens and pencils next to one of the computers downstairs. I race to the bottom of the steps with Sonata following behind, and I grab a pen from the cup right before the doors to the library slam open. Sonata gasps, startled as we see Flash Sentry and his band storming towards us, their eyes glowing crude emerald.

"Rough Draft," Flash says coldly. "What is my ex's guy doing so far away from the fight?"

I gulp and think about what Sonata said to Bulk Biceps before I carefully say, "We're getting something that can help us defeat the E.M.R.?"

"Oh yeah? And how are you going to do that?" Flash questions.

"I'm about to ask Princess Twilight for help," I answer calmly. "She will give us the edge we need to make the E.M.R stop fighting us."

"Awesome," Flash says with a devious grin. "With my Twilight in the picture, we will -"

"Wait, you and Princess Twilight are a thing?" Sonata asks absent-mindedly. "How come we never see you around with her?"

Flash Sentry groans in annoyance, and his bandmates snicker until...

"Hey, Sentry! The Jonas Brothers called! They want their whiny music back

Flash Sentry and his band turn around just in time to find themselves flying off the ground as a loud musical beat is heard all over the room. They fly to the other side of the room and crash into some bookcases, knocked unconscious. Sonata and I turn to see Vinyl holding her bass cannon proudly.

"Three less people with magic to worry about," she says with a grin before pointing the cannon at us. "And as for you two..."

Sonata and I raise our hands carefully, hoping she doesn't shoot at us.

"Vinyl, listen to me very carefully," I say calmly. "I need to send a message to Princess Twilight so she can help us stop the Rainbooms from -"

"Don't play innocent with me, Draft," Vinyl growls. "I saw you use Biceps to knock Sandalwood and his buddies out, and I overheard what you said to Flash Sentry. You're siding with the enemy. You want their magic to overcome us."

"I don't want anything to overcome anyone," I say. "I want everyone to stop fighting before you do something worse."

"This isn't you, Vinyl!" Sonata says. "You don't want to do this."

"That's where you're wrong," Vinyl growls. "What good has magic ever done but scare all of my friends? Magic brings nothing but pain. As far as I'm concerned, you are choosing Shimmer over my best friend because she impresses you with her magic or something.."

"I don't choose anyone," I counter.

"Oh? Then why don't we fix that," Vinyl says as she aims her bass cannon at me ready to fire. "Who do you love more, Draft? Tavi or Sunset Shimmer. Tell me honestly, or you will feel your ears ringing for the next several hours."

I freeze, unable to say anything. I don't want to answer the question like this, but I am defenseless to stop her.

"Vinyl, think about what you're doing," Sonata pleads. "We're your friends. We hung out with you, we shared memories with our other friends. It was thanks to the E.M.R. that my life was saved. Octavia loves Rough Draft, and no matter how conflicted he is, he loves her too. If you're so determined to protect your friends, then you shouldn't be harming them."

Vinyl doesn't say anything right away. She keeps her bass cannon aimed at us, ready to pull the trigger.

"She's right, Vinyl," I say. "No matter what happens, we're your friends. We know you value your friendships with everyone. Remember all the times you used to enjoy playing at Pinkie Pie's parties or when you supported Rainbow Dash at the pep rally? Are you really going to hurt them for something that's part of who they are? This is not what you want. Resist the urge to fight, Vinyl. You know we're telling the truth."

Vinyl stays ready to fire her cannon at us, but despite her shades covering her eyes, we can see the rest of her face showing that she doesn't know what to do. After a few seconds, she sighs and lowers her cannon. She takes out her shades showing regret in her eyes. A smile slowly enters my face before I see a glimpse of green in her eye.

"Guys, duck," Vinyl says.

"W-what?" Sonata asks, surprised. "Why are you -"

"Guys, duck now!" Vinyl screams as her eyes turn completely green again, and she aims her cannon back at us.

I only have a moment to grab Sonata and drag us both to the ground before Vinyl fires. Even though her beam of sound waves misses, I can feel the music hurting my ears. Vinyl stops firing, and I can hear her walking to the other side of the desk. Sonata quickly stands up, takes the cup of pens and pencils, and throws them at Vinyl. I look up to see Vinyl covering herself from getting hit, and I see my opening. I jump back up, ignite the Stingsaber, and swing it at her gut. She drops her cannon and bends down in pain, giving me the chance to hit her on the head with the blunt blade, knocking her out.

Sonata and I pant heavily and I turn off my blunt sword, as we stare at Vinyl's unconscious body.

"Sorry, Vinyl, but this is for your own good," I say. "I hope you come to your senses when you wake up."

"I can't believe she did that," Sonata says, heartbroken. "I thought we got through to her. I thought she wasn't going to fire and help us."

I turn to my blue friend and sympathetically give her a side hug for comfort.

"I don't think she wanted to, Sonny," I say. "We almost got to her, and I think she knew she couldn't stop herself when she told us to duck."

"Then, does that mean we can help everyone snap out of fighting each other?" Sonata asks, hopefully.

"Maybe, but we need to contact the Princess of Friendship first," I reply as I pick up the journal and a pen from the floor, sit at a table, open a page, and start writing.

Dear Princess Twilight,

This is Rough Draft, Sunset's ex-boyfriend. I don't know if she's told you anything, but there's another being with dark magic on the loose in our world. We don't know much about it except that it tried to have Adagio and Aria kill me and has been possessing people to do its bidding. It has taken control of everyone but Sonata and me, causing them to fight each other. Sonata and I just attempted to snap someone out of it, and we briefly succeeded. We need you to come to our world immediately and help us stop whoever is causing our friends to fight each other. Sonata and I will be waiting at the statue.

Rough Draft.

With that last scribble, I close the journal shut.

"Come on, we have to get to the statue before someone sees us," I say as Sonata, and I run to the entrance of the library. I open the door slightly and don't see anything in the halls but damaged lockers and walls filled with darts. Sonata and I carefully run down the hall while hearing the fight rage on far in the distance. We find our way to the main hall, which doesn't seem to have been affected by the fight.

"Well, the coast is clear," Sonata says bubbly.

Suddenly, we hear clashing and gunshots growing louder, indicating that the fight is heading towards us.

"I jinxed it, didn't I?" Sonata says, glumly.

"Little bit. Run!" I shout as I take Sonata's hand and run across the room, heading towards the main entrance.

Just then, however, I glance and see the fight raging on the other side of the halls. At the head of the battle is Octavia and Sunset still fighting each other. My face turns crestfallen as I worry about the safety of both of them.

"Rough Draft, come on!" Sonata calls out from the main entrance, snapping me out of my trance. I run to Sonata, who opens the door, and we run outside towards the destroyed CHS statue.

When we are half the distance away from the statue, I feel the journal suddenly vibrating. We stop, and I quickly open the journal.

Rough Draft,

I'm on my way. Please bring the journal with you, and I will meet you and Sonata at the courtyard.

Twilight Sparkle

I sigh in relief before I turn to Sonata.

"She's on her way, Sonny," I say, smiling. "We have a chance."

Sonata beams at this news just in time for us to hear something happening inside the statue. Sparkles begin to form, and with a loud pop, the human form of Princess Twilight jumps out with a serious face.

"Princess Twilight, thank you for coming," I say sincerely.

"Thank you for contacting me," Princess Twilight replies. "We don't have much time. I need you to tell me everything you know about what is happe -"

But before Princess Twilight can finish her sentence, we hear a roar of laughter. Sonata squeaks in fear as we look around to find no one around as if the voice came out of thin air. The laughter grows louder, confusing me further until I turn to see the same see-through, cloaked figure standing between the three of us. The figure waves its hand, and the air turns bright green, covering the entire area. I have trouble seeing before the figure sucks all of the green air into its body. When all the air is absorbed into it, the figure begins to chuckle mischievously again before it engulfs into dark-green flames. The fire burns the cloak to a crisp, and the see-through body burns away into solid black flesh. Twenty thin, long, horns sprout from the top of its head, and large black robes appear, covering its entire body. The flames die down to reveal the figure staring at us with blood-red eyes and laughs maniacally to show it's rotten teeth.

"Ah, by my will, does it feel good to be whole again!" The demonic figure shouts joyously.

"I-i-it's not possible!" Princess Twilight says in fear. "There's no way that you - "

"Be still," The demon growls as he waves his hand.

Before I know it, Princess Twilight's body freezes, unable to move apart from her eyes. Sonata screams in fear and takes out her MN-DG before the demon waves his hand at her, and her body also freezes, causing her to drop her weapon. Without thinking, I ignite my stingsaber and run over to attack it, but the demon swats me with the back of his hand with such a powerful smack that I fall to the ground face first and drop my sword.

"Really, son, it should be obvious that I can easily prevent you from hitting me even when I was see-through," the demon taunts. "And I thought you'd be grateful that I haven't frozen you like the princess and your dim-witted friend."

"Sonata isn't dim-witted," I growl as I slowly get up.

The demon chuckles lightly and says, "If you say so. But that won’t save her from what's to come. Besides, you and I have much to discuss."

I stare at the demon confused as he walks over to me tall and proud with his hands behind his back like a king walking toward a penniless subject.

"You caused my ex-girlfriends to fight a mindless crusade with all of my friends and fellow students just to speak with me?" I ask.

The demon gives me a small, eager smile and says, "I've been looking forward to nothing else but to see my experiment succeed exactly as I hoped since before you stepped foot in this school, boy. But first, I think some clarity is in order. I know who you are, Rough Muriel Draft, but you have yet to be blessed with knowing who I am."

"Some monster from Equestria who hired Adagio and Aria to torture me to learn the location of the portal before killing me," I snarl bitterly.

But the demon chuckles amused at my reply.

"I almost forgot I had those sirens lead you and your friends to believe that," it says. "I always knew where the portal to Equestria is, child. I've known since before any of you, apart from your siren friend, were ever born. Still, the rest of your assumption is partly correct. I was banished here from Equestria, but while legends and pony tales would have you believe I am from that world such as the likes of Tirek or Discord, the truth is I am a being that has lived long before any of your worlds ever existed. But surely you can figure out who I am, son. After all, your precious 'sunshine' had brought me up on one occasion when you were cuddling at the park before the Friendship Games."

I stare at the demon, confused. I try to think back to the times I've talked to Sunset about her world and the enemies Equestria has encountered. He just made it clear that he's not Tirek or Discord, there's no way that he could be Nightmare Moon or the Changeling Queen so that only leads to...

"Eternal War," I say in realization. "Your name is Eternal War."

Eternal War chuckles in amusement.

"There you go," he says tauntingly. "And here I was afraid that your mind was wasted away after spending time on those pointless video games and exchanging saliva sloppily with those two girls."

Princess Twilight and Sonata's eyes widen at the realization, still frozen while I process what the demon just confirmed.

"So that's why you're causing all of this," I say. "You want people fighting for you again for your power and amusement."

"Ah, two for three," Eternal War says as he walks around me, amused.

"And with this power, you intend to rule Equestria again," I continue.

Eternal War stops circling me and frowns in disappointment.

"Oh, please," it growls. "I do not wish to rule that childish world; I want it to destroy itself along with all life that has ever existed in the universe."

My eyes widen at his answer before he continues.

"Equestria has been my focus for a long time, it's true, but it's nothing more than the first step toward the bigger picture. You see, my child, life has no purpose than to destroy itself. Humans, ponies, minotaurs, griffins, and many other species that you can't imagine even with your cute fantasy games and stories - they all have the instinct to fight. Call it pride, call it a desire for the 'greater good,' call it a passion for excitement, or perhaps a craving for everything around them to burn, life will always incline to fight. Even my former masters - though one of them created all existence, virtually focuses on nothing else. No matter what their motives are, neither hesitated to begin the greatest war in all the universe as soon as one rebelled against the other. I believed in both of their causes for a time, but as the darkness grew and the blood began to spill, it didn't take long to figure out that they are no better than any mortal being that came after us, such as yourselves. So I decided that if life is meant to fight itself, then it must fight for no one else but me."

I quiver in fear and hear Sonata whimper at Eternal War's words despite her frozen state before he continues.

"I abandoned my second master and looked for something amongst the stars to fulfill my destiny. Enemies from both sides tried to hunt me down because I apostatized, but it wasn't hard to fend them off single-handedly. Finally, after eons of searching and studying life in every habitable planet, I came across the world of these pathetic ponies and other creatures that are mythical to you humans. I studied all of them like all other life I've seen, and they were as useless to my desires as all the other life among the stars except for one particular thing."

"Magic," I say.

"Ah, very good," Eternal War says, pleased. "While magic apparently could only be conjured by a select few creatures like centaurs, that draconequus, Discord, and of course ponies, the entire world was filled with magic and all life living in that world can do amazing things with it such as those sirens causing disharmony among ponies and other creatures to grow in power. Amazed by the capabilities of such power, I decided that their world is the key to my plans. So I took the physical form that you see before you, and with a special spell of my design, I bonded myself body and soul with the powers of magic in a way so that I can feed on any violent conflict that occurs in the entire planet. Thus, I approached all life around this magical world with my new powers and gave myself the name, Eternal War. From there, I declared that I am the god of the universe who rules all conflict. It doesn’t matter if they first for good or evil or somewhere in between. I alone judge what their place in the afterlife based on their part in my constant war throughout the universe. How many they kill in battle or by command determined how great the pleasures they will receive for all eternity. Naturally, all these living creatures were primitive enough to believe in what I say and so worshiped me as their god. Temples and shrines were created in my name, cults and religions were forged in virtually every tribe and city across the land. It wasn't long before I would manipulate priests and scepters that I desire war to please me, and so hundreds of thousands of soldiers from every magical species would go to war, believing that they will gain eternal honor and glory if they please me. Their desires grew so great that ponies and other creatures started to find new ways to try to please me like foolish farm colts attempting to slay dragons and other mighty beasts and minotaur kings slaughtering their own children, believing that their deaths will make them worthy of my presence. Of course, what they did not know was their efforts where nothing more than fuel for my power. All their battles for good or evil or honor and country were nothing more than a means to an end before I use my power to spread war across the entire universe."

Princess Twilight and Sonata grow more frightened in their eyes after hearing what Eternal War has caused many lives in their world to do. I myself am disgusted at the senseless death that he proudly boasts about. Eternal War stops pacing around us and growls venomously.

"But despite how much I've grown in power through the conflict, it came to an end," he says bitterly. "The ponies began it by learning from the mindless slaughter I caused and figuring out how to make entire armies stop fighting, causing me to lose my power. And you won't believe what they used to stop my plans."

I think carefully before I guess, "A message for peace?"

"Somewhat, but that's only part of it," Eternal War says.

"Hope?" I ask.

"Yes and no. Keep trying."

"The Magic of Friendship?"

"Close. Very close," Eternal War says as he walks over to me, eager for me to figure it out. "Think of something that connects to all of your guesses. What drives something like peace or hope or a desire for friendship."

I look at him, confused, unable to think of the answer. He grows impatient as I rack my brain again. Thankfully, it doesn't take too long before I figure it out.

"Love?"

"Love!" Eternal War cries out angrily.

"But how can that be?" I ask, confused. "I'm a hopeless romantic, and even I can't imagine it being something as simple as that in real life."

"Exactly!" Eternal War barks. "There's no reason something as superstitious as love should affect the might of my power. But regardless, many followed the ponies' example, and through that childish concept, they began to end all the glorious chaos I've worked so hard to cause. Zealots rebelling against their warmongering chiefs or systems of government, songs of hope, families desiring to reunite with the soldiers who were willing to kill till their last breath for me, artists writing stories, music, and plays to express the irrelevant messages of unity, and friendship. It's all idiotic! It's the most laughable and pointless thing for anyone to believe. But do you know what's the most ridiculous and downright infuriating about all this pretentious nonsense? It's technically true!"

I stare at Eternal War, confused as he growls in anger.

"I can turn hearts to be as black as night, taint the souls of legions, have the innocent confirm execute those who spoke against my word, but in the end, it somehow wasn't enough. Call it an invisible source of magic or whatever, but their belief in love stopped all the fighting I caused and thus drained me of my power, and thus I would be imprisoned before they use their magic to obliterate my physical body. And just like that, my first grasp of power was taken from me. For many millennia, I waited before I eventually returned and brought the creatures of that world back to worshipping me, and the senseless killing for my power and amusement would return as wonderful as ever. But over time, there will be some who worship the belief in love, and the slaughtering would stop, and I would be imprisoned, or my body destroyed again, and thus I would be unable to return and carry out my plans for a few generations or so."

"My last conquest was in motion a little over a thousand years ago. The wars I tricked the creatures into creating were so great that entire civilizations were destroyed, and much knowledge that should not have been forgotten in their eyes was lost. My mission in their world was almost complete until a gray unicorn tricked me and sent me through a portal that he knew possessed no magic."

"This world," I say.

"Indeed," Eternal War growls bitterly. "He drained my energy before he banished me so that once I was cast into your world, I starved magic wise until my body faded into nothing and I became nothing more than a spirit doomed to wander in this world all because I bonded with magic and can never truly live without it. I gained some energy from the violence you humans have caused over the years, but just like with the Dazzlings who were banished here not long after I was, the energy is not the same as in the other world you call Equestria. Even your so-called world wars, however beautifully destructive they were, were nothing more than table scraps compared to how they would have filled me up if they happened in Equestria. To make my situation even crueler, the portal inside this statue has been here all along, and I couldn't go through it."

"What?" I ask, confused.

"You heard me," Eternal War says. "It has existed in this exact spot, but because I had no physical form, I could not return to Equestria. I've tried many times, but the most I could do is see what was happening on the other side of that mirror once every thirty moons. It was disgusting to see how civilization returned to that world, and the pony country, Equestria, was created. My anger and lust for vengeance grew over the centuries as I would look at my beloved key for conquest dissolve into a place of peace and love with the magic I so desire still flowing there, wasted for individual purposes."

"Why can't you go through because you're a spirit?" I ask.

"Because as a spirit, I am practically nothing but the wind," Eternal War answers. "If I tried to go through without a solid body, the portal could transport me to somewhere else entirely. Thus I had no way to go back without a physical body, and I am in a world that lacked the energy powerful enough for me to do so."

Eternal War growls in loathing before he turns to me and grins.

"But then the portal opened almost four years ago, and when I looked through it, I saw something that would give me a chance," he says. "A certain yellow unicorn mare was studying under Princess Celestia's wing with a desire to rule but lacked the knowledge or power to do so and constantly refused to listen to her teacher about the importance of friendship."

"Sunset," I say in realization.

"Yes," Eternal War says with a grin. "It was so refreshing to see just one young, foolish mare with a lust for power, not unlike many ponies and other magical creatures who fought and died for me so long ago. I decided to lure her here so that she can bring magic into this world. Through the little energy I gained over the years, I lured her with a vision that promised that she would become what she desired."

"Wait a minute," I interrupt in surprise. "You mean that vision of her in her human form telling her to go through the portal was you?"

"Right you are, boy," Eternal War says, smirking

"But she had to wait until this school year to try to bring magic into this world," I point out.

"Right again," he says. "I had to wait patiently through the last three years and watch Sunset Shimmer grow in popularity and power in this school. Luckily, I didn't even need to give her another vision as to why her goal didn't feel complete. She was a smart enough little fox to figure out that she had to bring magic here to attempt to take over Equestria, completely unaware that I was using her for virtually the same purpose. What surprised me, however, was that she brought that Element of Harmony as her magical item of choice to bring magic into this world. The Elements were created after my banishment, but I learned enough about them from my glances at Equestria through the portal over the past thousand years to know that they are hardly items of dark magic. It looked even more counterproductive when Princess Twilight first came to this world to collect her crown and deal with my power-hungry pawn."

Princess Twilight's eyes widen as Eternal War walks over to her and gives her a condescending smirk before he continues.

"Thankfully, your highness, your ability to adapt to this world was laughable compared to Sunset Shimmer," he says. "Even more encouraging was Sunset Shimmer herself, knowing that something useful will happen when the crown is used in another world that I didn't. So I waited and hoped she wouldn't bring my efforts to bring magic into this world to waste. Many times she came close to failing me completely, but time after time, she had a new scheme to keep that crown away from you long even though you won that silly competition at that dance. Sure enough, once she finally placed that crown on her head, she conjured so much dark magic that it transformed her into that demon. It was a remarkable and beautiful sight. To have a magical item powered by something that goes hand in hand with love be corrupted to such dark power was beyond my expectations. Even though Sunset Shimmer was defeated by the very same magic that her lust for power corrupted, hope for my revenge grew. I finally learned that love and friendship could be altered into great dark magic. The only problem was, with the princess returning the crown and Sunset Shimmer turning into a pathetic bawling child, I had little to no means to use this knowledge to my advantage. But that's when fate gave me an opportunity far greater than what I had hoped with Sunset Shimmer thanks to three magical beings that I did not expect to see."

Eternal War turns to Sonata, who whimpers in fear as he eyes her like she's a valuable possession.

"I admit it seemed cruel at first that you and your 'sisters' were using your powers to steal the magic I tried so hard to bring into this world, but as the Battle of the Bands progressed, I learned two valuable things," he says. "Firstly, the Magic of Friendship flowing in all of these students can never entirely leave them even when it's been absorbed by something like your pendants. The second thing I learned from dear Adagio is that the Magic of Friendship can also be manipulated into something else. No Element of Harmony or other magical item needed. By tricking the Rainbooms to argue against each other and give the three of you such power, I realized something that I should have considered a long time ago: love as a whole can never be destroyed by force, but if I could get it to destroy itself, then I will triumph from this superstitious belief at long last, and at last, my ultimate plan will finally begin. What is even better is that I have this whole school full of people full of different forms of love and are strong in the Magic of Friendship."

"No, you don't," I say. "Only the Rainbooms and their Loyalists have the Magic of Friendship."

But Eternal War only laughed, amused at my contradiction.

"That's exactly what I wanted all of you to think, boy," he says. "While the Rainbooms can only conjure it, the imprint of the Magic of Friendship flowing in every one of you has been unmistakable ever since Princess Twilight and the Rainbooms freed you from Sunset Shimmer. Remember what she said to Sunset Shimmer at the Fall Formal: the Magic of Friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria, it's everywhere."

I stare at the demon, shocked by this information.

"You...you mean I have the Magic of Friendship inside me too?" I ask.

"Yes, even you and every student that opposes the Rainbooms, including your beloved Octavia Melody, have the magic inside you," Eternal War says. "Even with your distrust for Sunset Shimmer still flowing in your heart, the love flowing in the friendships that have grown since the sirens were defeated was only getting stronger. With so much energy coming from the concept of love in one place with so many people, I decided it was time to begin my experiment, hoping that tricking love to destroy itself is the key. Thus, I began to look deep into the hearts of everyone apart from the Rainbooms for something that could come to use. After a while, I discovered how Vinyl Scratch's closest friends have grown to fear magic. I took this as my perfect chance to manipulate Vinyl Scratch to forget what her relationship with the Rainbooms meant to her, and create a group with her friends bent on the goal to fight magic under the Rainbooms' nose."

Sonata stares at the demon in surprise while I looked down, unable to comprehend what I just heard.

"Y-you mean Vinyl convinced Octavia, Doc, Derpy, Lyra, and Bon Bon to create the E.M.R. because you manipulated her to?!" I ask in disbelief.

"Indeed I did," Eternal War says proudly. "I planted a thought into her mind convincing her that creating a force against evil magic was in the best interest of both her and her friends. She did her best fighting the idea in her brain, pointing out how the Rainbooms are her friends too, but once I showed her how afraid her other friends are of magic, particularly Octavia Melody, she felt she had no choice but to contact Doc and discuss a means of fighting magic with the Rainbooms left completely unaware. So, it was because of me that your beloved ex-girlfriend and her friends created the E.M.R. Ironic, isn't it?"

I keep my head low in shock as Eternal War continues.

"So, with the tension between two groups of friends began to set in motion, all that remained was to set my trap on the romantic form of love. It was difficult to figure out how to do that in a way that would strengthen the upcoming conflict between the Rainbooms and the E.M.R. until you met Octavia Melody at the party."

"Why me?" I ask. "Why did you choose me for your scheme of all people?"

Eternal War smirked as he walked over to me.

"Can you not see it? It's simple, really," he says. "It wasn't that you were falling in love with a member of the E.M.R., but that a member of the E.M.R. was falling in love with someone a Rainboom wanted to be with."

"Sunset," I say.

"Indeed," Eternal War confirms with a devious grin. "On the day she admitted to her friends that she wanted to be with the only person that still didn't trust her, her pursuit towards you ended before it even began the moment you and Octavia Melody began to click. Add that to finding out about the E.M.R. and that Octavia Melody made you a part of it because you were her boyfriend, and Sunset Shimmer, whether she knew it or not, had something more against the E.M.R. than the fact that they want to fight magic without the help of her and her friends. For a while, I merely waited as you and Melody grew closer, and Sunset Shimmer's desire to be with you grew stronger. I made no contributions to help your relationship grow as I knew that if I wanted to destroy love, I had to let it create itself naturally for it to be in its purest form for when it falls into my trap. Actually, that isn't entirely true. I unintentionally got you into telling Octavia Melody what happened between you and Sunset Shimmer a year ago."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Eternal War smirked and walked over to Sonata. She whimpered in fear again, wishing she can run away from the demon.

"You have been wondering all this time why your 'sisters' were so determined to go back to Equestria that they would leave you without a thought, haven't you?" He asks tauntingly. "It was because I approached Adagio, attempting to convince her to join me, deciding that I needed allies to carry out my bidding to help with my master plan. She was looking for food to steal when I appeared to her. I didn't have enough power to show her in a complete physical body, so I conjured the best form I could and greeted her. Unfortunately, she realized very quickly who I am and was afraid to learn that I am stuck in the same world as the three of you are in. I didn't get a chance to tell her my proposal before she ran away from me like the existence of her life depended on it. I couldn't pursue her because I needed to save up what little energy I had left. As a spirit, I had to watch as my potential ally informed Aria of our meeting, and they decided that they needed to return to Equestria, fighting that anywhere is better than being in the same world as me. But in their reckless, they couldn't think for one moment that the portal would not be inside the school but instead inside the statue of essentially a pony. Needless to say, that became their undoing for all three of you, but that didn't stop Adagio and Aria from escaping imprisonment when they had the chance. Adagio knew they couldn't try to find the portal again with the police chasing the three of you down, so she decided to get as far away from Canterlot, away from me, as possible even if it meant leaving you behind."

I turn to Sonata, whose eyes begin to water with this information. I begin to walk over to try to comfort her despite her body being frozen, but then Eternal War steps in front of me and forces me to step back.

"But I digress. Where was I?" He says, ignoring Sonata's feelings. "Ah, yes. So anyway, their escape led to you and the E.M.R. to chase them down so that the Rainbooms would discover you, and the uneasy tension between both sides would truly begin. On top of that, it would lead to you telling Octavia Melody what happened between you and Sunset Shimmer, and thus she would try to help you overcome your anger while Sunset Shimmer herself would try to be friends with you while wanting more. Still, I knew that the war that I desired couldn't come from just one girl wanting the other's boyfriend, who is still in the mix of hating her and feeling comfortable around her. I waited again to turn the tables between the three of you until the opportunity finally came when you were shopping for Christmas gifts with Sunset Shimmer, and Vinyl Scratch saw you two from the store she was working at. It didn't take much to convince her that what you two were doing looked very suspicious. The rest, you know, she followed you and took the video, and when the Crusaders were giving students a chance to shame their peers online, Vinyl thought it best to use the Anon-a-miss account to shame you for lying and seemingly cheating on her best friend."

"So, you used those girls to create Anon-a-miss for your plan?" I growl.

"Not quite," Eternal War says. "They created Anon-a-miss on their own to get the Rainbooms to abandon their friend, but after their goal was accomplished, I realized I had a chance not only to break you and Octavia Melody apart but to test my theory in advance before my war started. Thus, I tempted many students to find dirt against their fellow peers and post them on the site. Before long, there were more stories to post that were beyond the control of those girls, including Vinyl's video."

"You manipulated Octavia to break my heart just to start a war?" I shout angrily.

"Oh, don't waste my time whining about how you didn't get to give her that necklace in person," Eternal War rebukes. "Anyway, with everyone thinking you were interacting with their enemy, it didn't take much to make the students at the cafeteria loathe you and your friends. Add that to the hatred that they had against each other, and it didn't take long for them to start the fight."

I stare at the demon, confused at what he's talking about until I realized he's talking about the fight in the cafeteria when practically everyone ganged up on me, Soarin, and Caramel.

"It was a greater result than I hoped," Eternal War continues. "Many friends fought against each other out of hate under my control. But you remember all of that, don't you, Rough Draft? That feeling of just fighting to your last breath while you tried to defend yourself against the students that were beating you. The green in their eyes, showing how far they were all under my control."

Eternal War smirks at me while I glare back at him before he continues.

"In any case, the test gave me more power than I ever had in ages. But it was only an inkling of what I once had. What was worse was my test ended abruptly when Vice-Principal Luna came into the picture. A curious little set back to say the least. All these children were under my control, and yet they still were quick to recognize authority in their school. It wasn't a major disappointment, though, as I still gained enough power to do what I had planned next later on, but it was certainly something to bear in mind while watching you slowly fall in love with the girl you once hated endlessly."

"You knew I would eventually return Sunset's feelings?" I ask in disbelief. "How could you be so certain that I would have fallen for her for real, or that Octavia and I would have found love for that matter?"

Eternal War shrugged and said, "Let's just say after watching you humans live your lives away for a thousand years, I decided that what was happening to you and those girls, made me decide to have, for lack of a less superstitious word, faith that you would. I loathe the concept of love, make no mistake. There is no rhyme or reason behind it. It's a mindless and unproductive train of thought based on feelings, physical desire, and empty teachings all mushed together into something living beings believe in, foolishly. But at the same time, it's dangerous because of how unpredictable it is. That is why I followed my second master before I followed my true destiny. He understood my view of my first master's strange views better than anyone. He knew that it was foolish to believe in some force as unnatural as love. I would have followed him to the end if he wasn't as filled with warmongering against the first one. Be that as it may, I knew I had to understand my supposed enemy to force it to destroy itself. So, I had to use what I was forced to see as a spirit for a thousand years to recognize how much Sunset Shimmer wanted you and how Octavia was falling for you before she realized it herself. Add that to how your feelings were conflicted about whether or not you still hated Sunset Shimmer, and it didn't take a genius to find out that it wouldn't be long before you would slowly forgive her one way or another and the healing between the two of you would bring you together. But I must say, even I couldn't have predicted that Octavia would finally accept that she was wrong to abandon you and try to get you back right in time to witness that she was too late. All the same, I'm happy that she did because she gave me exactly what I wanted: the roles reversed. Thanks to her desire to get you back and you and Sunset Shimmer getting together, we finally reached the point where both girls have experienced what it's like to have your heart and to crave it while their rival has possession of it. With both of them having the same experiences, it was all but assured that when the time came, they would be feeling the same thing when they started to try to get you back a mere couple weeks ago."

"But I was still dating Sunset," I say. "There's no way you could have known that we would break up too unless...unless you..."

I look at the floor in realization while Eternal War laughs in amusement.

"Now you're getting it, little boy," he says tauntingly. "For my plan to work, you and your 'sunshine' had to give Octavia the chance to pursue you. It took some brainstorming, but once I remembered that Sunset Shimmer desired to protect you, I knew what I had to do."

"Find Adagio and Aria," I say.

"Correct," Eternal War says. "It took a while, but I found them hiding inside that apartment complex. Thanks to the energy I gained from that fight in the cafeteria, I was able to freeze their bodies before they could try to escape. I told them that I was their ally, and if they bowed down and agreed to serve me, then I could help them come back to Equestria. Aria was reluctant, but Adagio was so eager to come back to her homeworld that once I released them, she got down on her knees, begged for my forgiveness, and pledged her life to me. Aria rebuked her, but when I told them that what I planned involved getting revenge on Sunset Shimmer, she relented with a half-hearted bow, and I blessed them with new abilities. However, they were so obsessed with their new powers that they accidentally destroyed that building. I had to guide them to escape the police and warned them not to kill anyone to avoid notoriety as I led them back to Canterlot and ordered them to wait for my orders. All that was left was giving the E.M.R. what they needed to complete their weapons."

"Luckily, I noticed how this world's Princess Twilight Sparkle had been studying the magic in this school for months. She was so clever that I knew she was only a little ways away from creating a device that would steal magic. I also was aware that her school and CHS were about to have those Friendship Games, and I didn't even need to waste my energy to convince the Crystal Prep principal to blackmail that girl into competing. That left me with the chance to guide the E.M.R. to steal Ms. Sparkle's device so they can fight magic. I didn't know what would happen when the Rainbooms confronted her, but I believed that whatever happens, the Rainbooms would prevail again. It was a foolish gamble on paper, given that Ms. Sparkle almost destroyed both worlds, I admit, but all that mattered was that Sunset Shimmer figured out how to stop her, and I persuaded Vinyl Scratch to take the pendant for Doc to complete his weapons."

"And that's when you ordered Adagio and Aria to kidnap and torture me?" I asked venomously.

"More or less," Eternal War says with a wave of his hand. "The ex-sirens and I waited for the best time to kidnap you when Sunset Shimmer was not around. Fortunately, she volunteered to go to Vanhoover, and from there, we carefully picked the right time and place for Adagio and Aria to kidnap and interrogate you."

"But why would you have them do that if you already know where the portal is?" I ask.

"Let's just say I decided to leave things to chance," Eternal War answers with a smirk. "Those foolish girls still didn't know where it is, so I tricked them into thinking finding it was a priority for the three of us. But they had no idea that the E.M.R. could hunt them down. They only knew that if someone other than Sunset Shimmer where to find and capture them before they could get the information they wanted and kill you, then she would feel guilty for failing to protect the boy she loves and leave this world in grief. But if they got the information and killed you, well that's where things would get interesting, wouldn't it? Sooner or later, the E.M.R.'s weapons would be discovered, and both sides would blame the other for your death. Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms would never forgive her rival and her friends for failing to protect her boyfriend, and Octavia and her friends would bitterly blame Sunset Shimmer, saying you would still be alive if she never brought magic into the world in the first place. One way or another, Rough Draft, I would ultimately get what I want."

I stared at the condescending demon in disbelief.

"You...you left the fate of whether or not I was going to be rescued to chance?!" I shout.

"Don't be so shocked, child," Eternal War says with a wave of his hand. "You may have been the key to my experiment, but in the end, your life means nothing to me. You hardly would be the first life I left to chance like that, and you won't be the last with what's to come."

Princess Twilight and Sonata look at each other worryingly, still frozen as Eternal War continues.

"Regardless, Vinyl and Doc didn't disappoint me. They made their weapons, and thus, the E.M.R. were quick to hunt the girls down and save you. A pitiful fight, really. Adagio and Aria were far too cocky and unprepared for what those kids created to take away their borrowed power and rescue you. Even with Adagio becoming so desperate as to attempt to kill Doc only for her to injure you instead, it amounted to a waste of precious, deadly material. What was worse was that either way, the plan didn't work. Instead of feeling guilty for not even being around when you were kidnapped, Sunset Shimmer grew more possessive of you than before."

Eternal War growled in anger as he appears to be lost in the memory of Sunset staying by my side at the hospital. In my head, I think of how odd it is for this creature to claim to be able to predict love and yet couldn't figure out that someone like Sunset, or even Octavia for that matter, wouldn't abandon the person they love so quickly. A small smile forms on my face before I quickly hide it as Eternal War turns to me with a devious smirk.

"Thankfully, not all was lost," he says. "Two weeks after you were kidnapped, those hyper girls, Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops, were brainstorming ways to regain your best friend's attention. Thus, when I saw that you and Sunset Shimmer were soon to catch him and Applejack on a secret date and most likely would decide to follow them, I used the magic I still had to brainwash them into thinking that they finally had their chance for either one to get that boy. More quickly than even I anticipated, they set up their surprise date for Caramel and prepared to kidnap them with no one but me knowing that you and Sunset would discover the kidnap and so would chase them own with Applejack. The rest you know compete with me wiping out the minds of those two girls and Sweetie Drops' mother so that their deeds would remain a mystery, making the E.M.R.'s fear of me grow. Thud with Sunset Shimmer leaving without closing the portal completely, it was only a matter of time before both girls would begin to pursue you simultaneously."

"But how could you possibly know that they would both start to try to get me back or that I would wind up coming up with the agreement?" I criticize.

"Oh, it's quite simple, really," Eternal War answers proudly. "A blind, deaf, and spineless man can figure out that Sunset Shimmer loves you and her friends too much to stay away forever no matter how hard she tries. Deep down, she knew she was making another mistake, leading her to keep her journal in this world and have the portal closed only from the other side. Like Octavia before her, her desires to return to you would only grow with each passing minute and with the Princess of Friendship giving her a roof to stay under, it was only a matter of time before she accepted that she couldn't carry on without her 'baby' and return to this world finding out that you were already beginning to patch things up with Octavia Melody, not unlike Ms. Melody's own experience of accepting her mistake only to see that her rival already started to regain your heart. As for how I knew you would come up with your cute little 'trial,' it is in your nature."

"Meaning?" I ask.

Eternal War smirked again and walks over to me. I shake uncomfortably as he walks until we are inches apart and leans very close to my face.

"Meaning, you don't have it in your heart to choose one love over another," he said. "You have been craving all the things that come with the concept of romantic love all your life only for no girl in her right mind to ever give you so much as a sideways glance. Even if you didn't realize it, your heart craved love so much that it always refused to cast away anything that would give you hope for that nonsense. Admit it, Rough Draft, you could never honestly decide who you want to be with. Even when you practically worshipped the ground Octavia Melody stepped on, there was a part of you that wanted to be with Sunset Shimmer despite what she did to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been struggling so much with how to feel about her. And even when you happily made out with Sunset Shimmer regularly, deep down your heart secretly still wanted Octavia Melody back. No matter who you dated, there will always be a part of you that wishes to be with the other one who sincerely loves you. So when both of them desperately wanted you back, what other choice would you make in an attempt to handle a predicament that, in what little defense you have, few people have gotten into? From there, it was a matter of the E.M.R. always finding me here after school with their radar, leading all of you to forge your so-called alliance to try to find me, and with you dropping your 'stingsaber' after I appeared to you where Sunset would make the mistakes of touching the blade and attacking Octavia, your fates are all but sealed."

"So I was aiding you when I was unintentionally building more of the suspense between me, Sunset and Octavia," I say.

"Indeed," Eternal War says with a grin. "To be blunt, you never had a chance. You are so young and inexperienced with love in general despite whatever stories you grew up with or what time you had with either girl. That's part of what made this high school such a perfect spot; it's full of children like you who think everything revolves around what happens inside this building because of the friends you make or the people you fall in love with, never willing to consider that not every tiny thing revolves around what happens in your teenage years. Even Sunset Shimmer may as well have the immature mindset of a teenager in a way despite being older in spirit. After living life relatively alone and only months ago realized how 'important' it is to have people close to her, how could she not keep all her thoughts on everyone she has ever cared about? Think of how Vinyl and your beloved Octavia and their group think all that matters is who can protect this school from magic better. In the end, it doesn't matter who is right or wrong or who should be dating who. Had my plan not succeeded, you all would have moved on and discovered the illusion that what growing up has to offer is more important than anything you could value in your silly high school."

"Had it not worked?" I ask. "You mean to have everyone kill each other?"

Eternal War turns to me and smiled evilly.

"Eventually," he says. "For now, I am merely just draining all the corrupted magic your friends are producing, so that I grow stronger and stronger until they can't take it anymore, and I will, therefore, twist their minds so that they will fight each other to the death. With all the fighting they have caused and will continue to cause today, my power will spread to the universe, and my revenge against the concept of love will be complete."

"But that's not possible, isn't it?" I ask. "Do you really think the corrupted love from our school would be enough to do what you're trying to do against the entire universe?"

Eternal War merely rolls his eyes and says, "Let me put it to you this way, boy; when the human Twilight Sparkle stole the magic from Sunset Shimmer and her friends during the Friendship Games, it was enough power to destroy two entire worlds in a matter of minutes. That kind of strength came from the magic abruptly taken from only six girls who possessed the Magic of Friendship. And on top of that, Sunset Shimmer just did say earlier that magic is still there even when it's taken from them as long as friendship flows in their truest selves. Imagine if the magic created by love and friendship flowing inside an entire school is constantly drained, replenished, and drained again as they use their corrupted love to fight each other for hours upon hours on end."

"Wait a minute, if we all have the Magic of Friendship, then how come Vinyl and Doc could only have detected a dozen people that have magic or used to have magic?" I ask.

Eternal War merely chuckles and says, "Vinyl and her friends had no way of knowing because they set their radars on a special frequency where it only detects people who have/had immense amounts of that power like the Rainbooms and the Dazzlings. The so-called Rainboom Loyalists couldn't be detected until Sunset taught them how to summon their power. The E.M.R. may not have the ability to use it the way the Rainbooms and their Loyalists can, but they are still fighting bravely for their friends, making their power ripe for the taking. Their goals may be corrupted by my doing, but they still fight wholeheartedly for their friends. Their love gives me more power than Sunset Shimmer and Octavia Melody are giving me alone right now through their love for you."

"So you deceived everyone here so that you have as many people fighting for you as you wanted, and that gives you the power you want?" I growl.

"Oh my power isn't growing considerably because of their sheer numbers, child, but because of how powerful their love is," Eternal War says, chuckling. "What is that saying? No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.' So, while Octavia Melody and Sunset Shimmer fight for romantic love, everyone else fights because they will do anything for their friends. The Rainbooms and the original members of the E.M.R will fight for their respective friends to the end while the Loyalists and the E.M.R.'s army will follow their leaders who give them hope and unity without question. With the Loyalists never running out of magic as long as they stay true to who they are despite their corrupted goals and the E.M.R packed with endless darts, love will continue to fight itself from both sides, giving me more power than I can imagine. As you noticed, I also manipulated the children inside both Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna to make sure they don't try anything to stop me again. And when I have all the power I need, I will twist their minds to become more bloodthirsty, as we've already established, and even bring the police over to start spreading the chaos over to the rest of your world. One way or another, your friends will start killing each other. Whoever survives the slaughter, I will drain completely until there's nothing left of them but bone while the war spreads to your entire world, causing friends and loved ones to destroy themselves under my control until this pathetic world is nothing but a wasteland. Then I shall return to Equestria and finally do the same thing to the ponies and all of those magical creatures in that world, and then I'll move to the next planet and the next, and the next, and the next, on and on until the universe is not thing but a wasteland full of death. In the end, no one has the right to live but me, and at last, my revenge against your foolish belief in love will be complete, and my destiny will be fulfilled."

Princess Twilight and Sonata's eyes widen again in fear as everything Eternal War has said becomes clear. I stay in my spot, as the gravity of what is at stake weighs heavily on me. His grin grows as he watches fear take over me.

"I'm afraid I've been using our conversation to pass the time, Mr. Draft," he says as he turns to face CHS and sees the fighting continuing through the glass doors. "I merely used this time to explain my experiment to you so that I get much closer to truly turning your friends and your loved ones against each other to the fullest. Admit it, though; it's better this way. Better to die knowing how you have played such an important part in my war against everything you stand for than to die ignorant of what you have accomplished for me."

I stare at the floor in shock of how he's right. Even if I didn't mean to, it is my fault that this demon has caused so much trouble to everyone I care about. But then I notice Sonata's MN-DG lying on the floor, and I realize something that gives me a risky idea.

"If you're so sure you will win, why let the E.M.R gain the ability to fight magic?" I ask. "How do you know their weapons can't be used against you?"

Eternal War laughs loudly as if I said the dumbest question in existence.

"Do you really think I would guide those fools to build weapons to fight magic without making sure they cannot attack me?" He rebukes as he turns his back on me. "I'm sure obsessive Doc would've had the ability to take down a draconequus given time and the right resources, but I am a being who has existed before either of your worlds were an idea. I am beyond your mortal views of life, death, science, and magic. Do you really think you can destroy me?"

"Maybe not," I admit as I take advantage that he's looking away and carefully pick up Sonata's MN-DG. "On the other hand, you did say you are bonded to Equestrian magic."

Eternal War frowns as he turns around just in time to see me fire the gun. Two of the darts miss him, but one hits his right leg while the remaining three hit him in the chest. The demon screeches in pain as he kneels to the ground, and Princess Twilight and Sonata move again, free from their paralysis.

"Get out of here!" I order. "Get inside and find Octavia and Sunset! Tell them what's happening!"

"But they won't listen to us!" Sonata shouts in fear.

"They will if they learn I'm in danger!" I say as I pick up the Stingsaber and ignite it. "You two must figure out a way to snap everyone out of their trance and end the fighting while I distract him!"

"We're not leaving you!" Princess Twilight shouts.

"It's the only way!" I shout as Eternal War lifts his head just in time to see me hit him square in the face with the Stingsaber. "Go!"

"Rough Draft!" Sonata pleads with teary eyes as Princess Twilight grabs her hand and forces her to follow her inside the school. I turn to Eternal War, who laughs as he takes the darts off his leg and chest effortlessly, and they turn to ashes in his hand.

"Well done, Rough Draft," he says mockingly. "You used my arrogance and my weak state to your advantage. I can think of millions of creatures from thousands of years ago who would do anything to make that claim for their chance for eternal glory. However, if you think the princess and your ditzy friend will accomplish what you are hoping, you are going to be very disappointed. You might have managed to help Vinyl Scratch begin to break free of my control for a short time, but my strength and power are growing by the minute. After delaying her highness for as long as I have, not even the Princess of Friendship has a chance to break a mere fly from my control much less the two girls who will eventually be willing to kill and die for you because I will it. Your attempt to distract me will be for nothing."

"So you say," I say as I make my best fighting stance with the Stingsaber. "And yet you admitted that the concept of love has a way of breaking the impossible. You placed your faith on the love I found with the girls who mean so much to me so that you can gain your power, now it's my turn to believe that love will take it away."

Eternal War scoffs at my words.

"You can't take the magic away from me, boy," he says. "And you barely have an idea on how to use a weapon from your silly video games and movies. For that matter, you can hardly wield it correctly with your right arm still healing from that bullet. You're not going to last long against an expert in combat with a 'weapon' that you haven't used for more than three minutes in your entire life."

"Maybe," I admit. "But that won't stop me from trying till the end. I won't let you force my friends and love ones to destroy themselves if I can help it."

Eternal War looks at me with pity and sighs.

"Very well," he says as a long, blunt sword appears in his hand. "I intend to keep you alive long enough to watch everything you value burn regardless. If you wish to witness the inevitable with your body broken to near death, I will respect your wishes. I probably should get used to this new body anyway. You may attack when ready, Rough Draft."

He clasps his sword and makes a firm defensive position. I feel my fear beginning to overtake me as he waits for me with a taunting look, but I know what I must do to give Sonata and Princess Twilight a chance.

I take a deep breath and charge at the demon.

Comments

[CSC]

Whoa.......................

this is.............

even more intense than I ever could imagine!!!

You've kept me guessing throughout the entire story and you kept making the story exciting with a direction I wasn't expecting!

Fantastic job!!

Keep going!!

[HAKDurbin]

8664405
Thank you! I'm glad to know that's your reaction to so much finally revealed!

[Guy With No Name]

Hope Rough Draft has an open grave handy.....

[rillegas08]

This is a twist better than any Hollywood film I've ever seen. Damn, son. I was going to fave this eventually, but this alone is worthy of it.