The Bill-inning

by EmperorDalek

Chapter 46

Enter the Fearamid

---

As Velvet opened her eyes, she blinked them several times.

Returning to conciousness after being ''out of it'' for so long.

Shaking her head as she sat up-right on the ground.

Then, memories of what happened flashed in her mind.

Visions showing her the thing that they confronted earlier, and how it had pursued them...to Celestia using the Elements against it...and finally the thing's death, how it splintered into housands of identical faces until only one remained.

"Princess Celestia!" she abruptly gasped as she didn't know what happened to the princess following the explosion of light.

"Yes, Velvet? What is it!?" a voice said from behind Velvet's back.

Velvet sharply turned around, but she gasped as she saw Celestia standing behind her.

"Princess!" she exclaimed, and ran towards the older pony. Embracing her in a warm hug.

"Off! Heh i'm fine, Velvet," Celestia chuckled.

Velvet's happy embrace was cut-short, when Velvet's eyes shot open. Remembering the thing, but as if sensing her sudden distress, Celestia soon said, "Don't worry, Velvet. That thing is gone," before her tone abruptly got a little sadder.

"...but it cost us the Elements," she finished.

Standing aside, Celestia displayed six cracked and scorched gems to Velvet.

It was the Elements of Harmony, but they were no longer in the same condition as when the masked humanoid gave them to Celestia.

"While the Elements were able to destroy that thing it required so much energy that it drained all the Elemens. There's nothing left," Celestia explained to Velvet as she stared towards the now-useless gems. Shocked at the amount of power required to fell such an entity.

"I might've been able to handle the power output a lot better if Luna had been here to help me like she did when we defeated Discord, but alas, it became too much for me," she said.

For a few more minutes, Velvet stared towards the Elements before she looked back up towards Celestia.

"Then what do we do?" Velvet asked in a soft yet hopeless tone.

"Without the Elements we won't stand a chance against whatever defenses Bill has in place to protect the projector."

In response, Celestia just smiled and looked away from Velvet ahead of them.

Velvet looked in the same direction, but her eyes widened as she saw a large double-door in front of them.

On the door's center-front was the image of a triangle with a circle and straight line in its center.

"I think that thing, whatever it was, was Bill's greatest defense. For once it was defeated, we were transported here," Celestia explained.

Velvet looked up towards the princess and raised a skeptical brow at her.

"How can you be so certain of that, princess? Bill Cipher has many allies from across the entire multi-verse. Who knows who or what else he could have lurking around here to protect the projector?" she nervously asked.

Celestia just smiled as she turned back towards the filly.

"I personally find it hard to believe that there is something stronge than that thing we just faced, with the possible exception of Aku and Bill, himself," Celestia replied as she trotted towards the door.

Stopping just in front of the massive door.

Staring at it for a few seconds, before she extended her hoof out to touch it.

Feeling the hairs on her neck stand up.

The feeling only intensifying as she craned her head upwards, and stared towards the door's insignia. Seemingly entranced by it.

Silently looking up towards the insignia, even as she pressed her hoof against the door.

Velvet's eyes widened as she watched the massive door open inwards.

Groaning as it slowly slid inwards. Granting them access to Bill's innermost sanctum!

Gently standing back up on her hooves, Velvet slowly approached the princess from behind.

Both ponies proceeding inside the Fearamid as she trotted up beside Celestia.

Entering into a long and wide corridor that Celestia recognized from when Aku first brought her here.

Looking ahead of them, while Velvet silently followed beside her into a vast hallway.

For a time, Celestia and Velvet followed the hallway till they noticed a hole on the right side of the wall.

A doorway on their right side, that lead inside some room.

They approached it and looked inside it, but as they did Celestia's eyes widened.

Experiencing flashbacks to when she was brought before Bill in this very room, and he...disposed of the Blade of Harmony by throwing it into the sky.

Absentmindedly, Celestia stepped forward into the enormous room.

Velvet's head snapping towards the princess, before she followed after her.

Trotting behind her as they approached the iron throne at the other end of the room.

"This is the most dangerous sword i've had in my castle"

Celestia heard Bill's voice, though, it was a lot more distorted this time.

Hearing him again utter those words that had convinced her that he had a weakness.

That he wasn't as indestructible as he thought he was...and given her some hope that she might yet be able to defeat him.

However, without the Blade of Harmony their only hope now was to destroy this projector and halt Bill's assault on their world.

After seeing and experiencing what they had in their quest to reach the Fearamid, they must find and smash the projector so that their friends' sacrifaces were not in vain.

*****

Meanwhile inside the castle, Bill smirked to himself as the projector showed the Equestrians and their allies the horrors of war.

Even the samurai had lost himself to the death and the destruction that occured all around him.

Watching atop his platform, that looked to be carried by various petrified creatures.

Peaking her head out from behind her pillar, she looked back out towards the Lord of Chaos.

Now's my chance! she thought, narrowing her sight on Bill Cipher.

Walking out from behind the pillar, she made her way up towards him along the side of a deep drop.

Noticing a walkway that lead out onto a platform suspended in the air. Overlooked by Bill's own platform.

As quietly as she could, she made her way out onto the platform.

Keeping a constant watch out for either Bill or possible allies that might attempt to intervene.

Reaching a hand into her robes, she gently pulled out the sword.

Lightly smacking her lips against each other as she walked out onto the suspended platform.

Staring towards the humanoid triangle as she slowly pulled her arm back to throw the sword...only to freeze in her tracks as Bill's robes shot up from the floor like a peacock's tail feathers!

Startling her.

Though, she nervously jumped when she heard Bill softly chuckling from behind the robe.

"An assassin?"

She heard Bill sigh behind the robe-barrier.

"I would've thought someone as organized as you would've done anything but that," Bill said.

"My only wish is that you would've been a little more original in your plan to take me down, if not a lot sneakier. I've been forced to listen to you breathe behind that pillar for five minutes," he grumbled in an annoyed tone.

She furrowed her brows as his voice changed.

Now sounding like it was coming from all around her, and not just from behind the robe.

Tightening her grip around the blade's hilt, she held it defensively.

Her nervous expression contorting into a stern frown.

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I might not be much to look at, but I assure you, Lord of Chaos, I am not someone to be triffled with," she called up to the back of Bill's robe.

"That is only because you wield that blade-!" Bill exclaimed as he suddenly kicked her in the face with his foot!

Knocking her to the floor, before planting his shoes on the platform's surface.

Quickly looking up, she froze at seeing Bill standing in front of her.

Holding in his hand a curved, fiery blade extending from a shaft.

The weapon's apperance made it difficult for her to discern whether it was a sword or a lance.

Her head snapped from Bill towards the robe...only to gasp as the robe autonomously moved side-ways.

She looked back down towards the Blade of Harmony, that she'd dropped, but when she went to grab it Bill placed his foot atop it.

"Without it, you're nothing! Just another pawn used by these ponies in their coup to usurp me!" he said, smirking deviously.

She just silently glared up at him.

"Maybe, but i'll only warn you once; don't underestimate me!" she spat back at him, which Bill just scoffed at.

Twirling her feet, she quickly stood back up from the ground and before Bill could react punched him in the face.

He staggered backwards off the blade, which she sharply grabbed and charged straight for Bill. Ready to impale him with the blade...

However, Bill noticed what she was doing and jumped up into the air.

Spinning in the air, before he landed back down behind her.

Bill slashed his sword vertically through the air towards her, but she managed to raise her own blade. Their blades clashing against each other.

Furrowing his brows, Bill went on the offensive. Pushing back against her with all his strength.

She held her ground and pushed back against him, but still her boots slid backwards across platform towards the edge.

Bill responded to her rapid loss of ground by confidently narrowing his brows.

Even she felt her strength wavering as it paled in comparison to his.

Still, she managed to temporarily halt his advance once they reached the edge...

For a brief moment, they locked eyes with each other.

Her face hidden behind her mask, while she could see Bill's smirking face perfectly.

"How many times do I have to say it? You're nothing!" Bill groaned annoyed.

She briefly looked back over her shoulder towards the vast drop behind her, before returning her attention to him.

"Power only gets you so far, Cipher. Its useless if you don't have the intelligence to back it up," she replied, much to his confusion.

He frowned confused and raised his brow at her.

"Like this!" she exclaimed, before she abruptly side-stepped him.

Bill quickly moved forwards towards the edge, where just to add insult to injury, she kicked him in the back.

Sending him tumbling over the edge and down into the vast nothing below.

Bill's robes looked down over the edge. Watching as he fell down into the abyss.

Frankly, a little embarassed that its master had been so easily fooled.

Still, the robe sighed and jumped over the edge into the darkness after him.

Standing back up on the platform, specifically its center, the masked humanoid panted as she recovered from that brief but no less exhausting duel.

Merely holding him back in that one clash had nearly taken out of her.

She had expected him to be strong, but that was insane!

However, as her arms fell down and the sword clanged against the steel surface, a figure swiftly flew up from behind the edge.

It took her by surprise and she nearly missed it, but the figure abruptly landed in front of her!

Her eyes widened in surprise, but before she could raise the sword to defend herself, Bill smirked at her in a mocking manner and kicked her in the stomach.

Knocking the air out of her, and sending her flying back through the air into a nearby wall.

She again dropped the blade, and weakly sat up on the ground. Coughing up blood as her arms quivered. Struggling to lift herself up off the floor.

Back on the platform, Bill scowled angrily at her as various creatures came running to investigate the commotion.

One of whom had been Discord, who had sensed the power fluctuation in Bill's chamber during their battle. Allowing him to sense the intruder, who until now had been able to mask herself.

"My Lord, are you hurt?!" one of the creatures asked, but Bill just responded by gently brushing some dust off his shoulder.

"Not even," Bill replied in a stern tone.

"This one didn't even attempt to put up a fight, though, I assume she could've been using all of her strength when fighting me...what little she had."

With his eyes fixed to the beaten assassin, Bill's shoes clacked against the metal as he ascended the platform' stairs.

As Bill approached them, Discord's eyes were drawn towards the Blade of Harmony laying on the ground.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Bill continued glaring towards the masked humanoid as he approached her.

The monsters parting to allow Bill through.

Encircling the masked humanoid as she laid broken and defeated on the ground.

As he stopped in front of her, Discord appeared by his side with the Blade of Harmony.

Bill smiled as he took the sword, and expertly twirled it in his hand before pointing the tip straight at her face.

"Now, who sent you to kill me?" Bill asked in a stern, but aggitated tone.

All eyes fell on the masked humanoid.

Silently watching her as she coughed up a little more blood, before looking straight at Bill's face.

"Nobody sent me. I came of my own free will," she said, raising a hand to her face and removing the mask.

"But if you want to know so badly, then why don't you look for yourself?" she asked as the mask came off, and she pulled the hood down.

Revealing a curious sight to the monsters, but even more so to Bill as he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Eris-? AUGH!" Bill asked, before his eye shoot wide-open as a large blade pierced his chest!

He vomited up blood, and the crowd of monsters gasped as their master was stabbed.

Managing to look back over his shoulder, Bill's breath trembled as he saw Discord standing behind him.

His hand firmly grasping the blade.

Pushing it deeper into Bill's chest, reintensifying the pain Bill was already experiencing.

With a loud battle-cry the monsters charged at Discord, but the Draqonecuus just snapped his fingers before they got the chance to attack him.

Conjuring several large golf clubs that smacked the monsters away. Sending them screaming through the air, before falling into the abyss, below.

Gargling blood, Bill held the blade with both hands as he stumbled backwards.

Releasing his grip, Discord watched as Bill stumbled backwards. Just managing to snap his fingers and conjure another skeleton throne that he fell back into it.

Groaning as the back of the throne pushed the blade a little deeper into his body.

Content that Bill wasn't going anywhere, Discord turned back towards Eris.

"Eris, are you okay?" Discord asked as he crouched down in front of his female self.

Touching her with his lion paw, and using his chaos magic to heal her.

Undoing the damage that she'd sustained while fighting Bill.

Eris groaned as her internal injuries were undone.

Soon exhaling a heavy breath as her body had been fully healed.

Standing up, she and Discord approached the injured humanoid.

Scowling at Bill as he held the blade with both hands.

"I warned you not to understimate us, Cipher," Eris gloated.

Confidently smirking at Bill, whom just furrowed his brow angrilly.

"Oh you think you've won? How adoreable of you kids to think so," Bill replied in a raspy voice.

Smiling back at the Draconequus twins as blood ran down from his mouth.

Bill shook his head at them.

"No, you have already lost!" he continued.

Leaning forward in his throne, while grunting in pain from the blade moving around. Discord and Eris merely glared at him.

"You had to be stopped, Cipher," Discord said. "This...this insanity you've unleashed upon Equestria isn't the kind of chaos I endorse."

"Yeah, and its so...gross and disgusting to look at. It feels more like a nightmare than anything else," Eris interjected.

"So I summoned an alternate universe of me to help me bring you down, for while I might annoy Equestria...you have terrified it!" Discord continued.

"And we're not about terrorizing ponies!" Eris said. "Even we're not that sick."

"Mhm."

Discord folded his arms across his chest and nodded, before saying "We're just crazy" in a dignified tone.

Bill patiently listened to the two, but soon lightly laughed.

"Mark my words, Discord, you have not saved Equestria...not yet!"

Bill smiled cruelly back at Discord and Eris. Softly laughing to himself, until he coughed up more blood.

His breathing slowed to a stop, and his body fell limp against the throne.

Eris opened her mouth to speak, but abruptly stopped when she noticed something happening to the dream demon's body; it was turning grey, and turning to stone.

Eris and Discord's eyes widened and jaws hung slack as they watched Bill turn into a statue.

Their shocked eyes wide even after Bill had been petrified.

"Well, that was...unexpected," Discord remarked, before hearing a deep rumbling emanating from the Bill' statue.

Furrowing her brows confused, Eris leaned in closer to the Bill' statue.

She was about to open her mouth, when Bill's head suddenly cracked down the center!

The rest of Bill's body tore and broke apart after that.

Crumbling to pieces until only a mound of rocks remained.

"... As was that!" Discord said, pointing his eagle claw towards the pile of rocks.

Turning her head, Eris looked back towards Discord.

Shocked and very confused by what they'd just witnessed.

Looking back, but furrowing her brows as she noticed something amidst the pile of rocks.

Reaching her lion paw into the pile, she soon pulled out a blue crystal.

"What is it?" Discord asked curiously.

Eris held the crystal up for both of them to see.

"I don't know. It looks like a crystal of sorts, but i've never seen one that looks like this."

"Hey look at that, its completly flat on one side. That means the sword must've cut straight through it," Discord said, pointing his eagle claw at the crystal's flat side.

Eris's eyes widened, and her head sharply turned back towards the pile.

Holding the crystal with her lion paw as she reached inside with her eagle claw.

Pulling out another crystal that was identical to the first one.

As Eris held the two crystals out in front of her, Discord stared towards the crystals in shock.

"Discord, they're the same!" Eris said in an awed tone.

"Eris...I think these crystals...was Bill's heart!"

"What!? Ew!" Eris exclaimed, dropping the crystals onto the floor.

The crystals cracked a little upon impact, and the etheral energy within shot out of the two halves.

Flying away through the air, and vanishing down one of the castle' hallways.

Leaving Discord and Eris to exchange nervous glances with each other.

"Maybe...its a little pre-mature to celebrate," Discord said in a soft but nervous tone...

*****

Meanwhile in the Fearamid, Celestia and Velvet continued to search throughout the Fearamid for the projector.

Even going so far as to split up to cover more ground much quicker.

Velvet wandered off by herself.

Coming across someplace that looked like a bedroom; containing a large bed, a drawer, and a large window in the shape of a triangle.

Curious, she ventured into the room...

At the same time, the etheral energy that had been released from the two halves of Bill's crystal heart flew through the castle towards a seperate chamber.

Slithering through the air, the etheral energy went into a tree that sat in the center of the room.

Following which a blue aura enveloped the tree, and the dark clouds above the tower parted.

Revealing the sun and the moon, with the moon moving in front of the sun...

Back in the Fearamid, Velvet was gently making her way through the room, when her ear twitched.

Her ear perking up as she heard a familiar clicking noise from her left.

Turning her head left, she spotted a doorway and noticed a spiraling staircase inside it.

"Hey, princess Celestia, I think I found something!" she called out to the princess.

Turning back towards the doorway, Velvet stared towards it.

Soon hearing hoofsteps behind her, before Celestia rounded the corner and entered the bedroom.

"What is it, Velvet? What did you-...find?" Celestia asked.

Interrupting herself when she saw the doorway that Velvet was staring towards.

Turning her head, Velvet stared right at the princess.

"I think I just found the projector!" she said...

Meanwhile outside, the moon continued moving into place.

Covering first a quarter, and soon half the sun...!

Back inside the Fearamid, Celestia and Velvet soon reached the top of the spiraling staircase after running up along it.

Once at the top, Celestia immediatly let Velvet off, but as they started running to finish their search for the projector, they abruptly stopped in their tracks.

Their eyes widening as they were greeted by the sight of the projector directly in front of them!

Standing at an opening in the wall, the projector continued clicking and flashing as it fed the rift energy.

"Quickly, princess, destroy it!" Velvet shouted to Celestia.

"Right!" Celestia replied.

Quickly charging a powerful blast, Celestia fired it directly at the projector...but before it could hit the projector it was stopped by an energy barrier that surrounded the projector!

"What!?" Celestia exclaimed.

"No!" Velvet exclaimed as well.

"It didn't work?!" Celestia exclaimed.

"W-we can't give up! Fire again!" Velvet furiously shouted at Celestia.

"But, Velvet, the barrier-"

"We have to overload the barrier! We've come too far to fail now!" Velvet replied.

"FIRE! FIRE!" she screamed.

Even though she didn't know why she was letting a filly tell her what to do, Celestia charged up another blast.

This one more powerful than the last, but even it failed to put a dent in the barrier.

After this second failed attack, Celestia's eyes widened as she stared slack-jawed at the projector, before immediatly firing another blast towards it...and then another...and then another, etc!

Feeling her adrenline spike as she didn't want to give Bill the satisfaction of at least trying.

Soon, she was relentlessly bombarding the projector with blasts.

Gritting her teeth and furrowing her brows, Velvet grimaced angrilly towards the projector as her frustration mounted.

Her horn glowing as an aura enveloped it.

Charging up a magical blast, which went unnoticed by Celestia. Even as the glow from it illuminated the room, and discharged lighting from it...

Outside, the moon drew closer to covering the sun. Covering all but half a quarter of the sun...!

"THIS IS FOR EVERYONE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES TO BRING YOU DOWN, BBIIIIIIIILLLLLLL...!" Velvet screamed, firing her blast towards the projector.

Her scream finally drew Celestia's attention, who gasped as she saw Velvet shot the blast towards the projector.

Halting her own bombardment, and drawing her attention towards Velvet's blast as it speed towards the projector.

Celestia's ear twitched as she heard a sound from the projector, but she couldn't take her eyes off the blast.

The ball of crackling magical energy shot straight towards the projector...and actually struck it!

Filly/mare gasping as their eyes widened at the sight.

The projector stopped clicking, and the flashing from the lens stopped. Going dark.

Its head dipping downwards as sparks shot out of the projector's neck, followed shortly by black smoke.

Unable to believe what'd just happened, Velvet and Celestia stared towards the projector.

Their eyes wide and jaws slack, until a smile soon appeared on Velvet's face.

"We did it! We destroyed it!" she softly scoffed.

Lightly laughing until she and Celestia's attention snapped back towards the projector as they heard an intensifying high-pitched noise coming from it!

Watching as the projector violently shook, while beams of bright white light shot out of it!

"Whoa, whoa-! What's happening!?" Velvet asked concerned.

"Come on!" Celestia exclaimed, before she sharpley turned around and ran back towards the staircase.

Levitating Velvet onto her back with her magic.

The beams of light shooting out of the projector grew so bright they enveloped the entire room, before the projector, itself, exploded!

However, outside the castle, the moon had finally covered the sun!

Lightning enveloped the moon, and a single bolt of lightning shot towards Bill's castle.

Entering through the open top of the tower, the lightning shot down into the black tree.

An electric aura enveloping the tree as a thrumming hum emanated from the tree...!

Outside the Fearamid, specifically atop the Fearamid, the face's eyes widened.

Its form glowing brighter until it exploded into sparks.

The visions that Jack, Moon, the Magical High Commission, and the others were experiencing vanished.

Aku's smile abruptly vanished as the visions dissapeared. Reverting back to the battlefield.

"What!?" the Shogun exclaimed confused.

"What?" Jack asked, shaking his head as the visions suddenly vanished.

Seemingly unconcerned with the samurai, Aku gasped.

Eyes widening, and his head shooting up as he turned around.

Looking back up straight towards the Fearamid...only to watch as the very top of the Fearamid suddenly exploded!

The explosion drawing not only Aku's attention, but Moon, Jack, the Magical High Commission, and everyone else.

Each of them covering their eyes as the bright light blinded them.

Even Luna, who had just arrived, was all of a sudden blinded by the Fearamid's explosion!

Forcing her to raise her hoof to shield her eyes from the bright light.

Back at the battlefield, the light died down and everyone lowered their arms.

Looking back up towards the castle, both the Equestrians, the otherworldly alies/villains watched flaming debris fly out in all directions from the Fearamid's destroyed top!

The Equestrians briefly looked away from the Fearamid as they heard a magical *POOF* above them, and watched as Celestia and Velvet fell down towards them.

Pegasi took to the air and grabbed them, while Unicorns grabbed them with their telekinesis. Both easing the mare and filly's descent.

Before the highest ranking pony could ask their leader and the filly what had happened, their, as well as everyone else's, attention was drawn back towards the castle as a deep rumbling filled the air.

Blue lightning bolts shot down into the Fearamid.

Causing it to abruptly fall out of the sky, and crash into the tower!

Everyone's eyes, whether they be hero, villain, strange creatures or ponies, widened. Gasping in unison at the sight!

Blue symbols illuminating on the Fearamid and the tower as the Fearamid slammed it.

Destroying the side of the tower as it fell down along the side.

Crashing into a ceiling, below.

Back inside the castle, Discord and Eris looked around them as a deep rumbling echoed within the castle.

Walls shook as their integrity was lost, dust fell from the ceiling, and floor floor. Cracking open all around them.

Both Draconequuses looked up as a large triangular-shaped object crashed through the ceiling.

Falling straight towards them!

"Aaand we're out of here!" Discord said, snapping his fingers.

Both he and Eris vanished as the object slammed into where they'd been standing.

Destroying the distended platform in the process.

The damaged tower started swaying.

Unable to maintain its stability, before it collapsed onto another section of the castle.

Inside the chamber as brick and stones fell down, the top of the dark tree shoot upwards!

Seemingly, triggering the rest of the castle's destruction as the battlements, ceiling, walls and walkways soon broke collapsed and crumbled following the tower and Fearamid's destruction!

While tiny sections of the castle survived, most was reduced to a large ruin.

A reminder of the once-great citadel that occupied the same space...but was now nothing more than a pile of rocks.

The dark clouds swirling above the remains of Bill's castle parted.

Beams of sunlight pierced the clouds and basked Equestria in their warm glow.

Banishing the darkness that had long consumed Equestria.

Causing Bill's allies and creatures to flee to whatever dark corners of the newly liberated world still contained darkness.

As more of the sky was filled by sunlight, Aku was the only villain that had not fleed.

Watching in stunned silence as all of the changes Bill had done were undone, and the world reverted back to normal.

"W-what have you done?!" Aku asked, stuttering.

Jack calmly approached the Shogun.

"We've beaten you, Aku. It is over," Jack said, smirking as he held sword out in front of him.

Aku slowly turned back towards the samurai. His eyes wide with horror.

"In more ways than you know, samurai!" Aku replied in a soft but nervous voice.

Jack raised a confused brow, but before he could ask Aku what he meant the ground started shaking.

"W-what is happening?!" Jack asked.

Aku just looked back up towards rift in the sky.

Gritting his teeth as the rift discharged black and white bolts of intense lightning from itself that shot across the sky.

The ground shaking more intensely as a deep rumbling is heard coming from the rift.

Furrowing his brows, Jack sharply turned back towards Aku.

"Aku, what...is...t-h-i-s!?" Jack turned, though, time slowed around him.

Grinding to a halt as he, Aku, Celestia and Velvet froze in place.

Petrifying in place like motionless statues.

The rift makes a thrumming noise, before it sends double-waves outwards across Equestria!

The front wave being black and the other white.

Every living thing disentigrated into gold dust, which swirled upwards into the rift.

The rift, itself, then exploded into a bright flash of light...!

*****

White.

That was all Velvet saw until it faded away.

Her vision returning in time.

Faint at first, before her vision started clearing up.

"Princess Celestia!"

Velvet immediatly calls out as the bright light fades.

"Huh? Wha-?"

She exclaims confused.

Her eyes widening confused at seeing that she's back in the Castle of the Two Sisters throne room...and its not destroyed.

Its...restored.

Velevet raises a confused brow.

"Wait a minute, have we...gone back in time to before Bill took over?!"

She thinks aloud to herself.

"Ohhh... Velvet, what's happening?"

Velvet turns around and looks behind her at hearing that familiar voice.

Her eyes widens at seeing Nightlight and her friends...

Though, as she stares at her friends she realizes that everything looks familiar.

Her brows jumps and she gasps again as it dawns on her!

"This is the day that Bill opened the portal!"

She says aloud to herself. Attracting confused stares from Nightlight and her friends.

"Um, Velvet...are you okay?" Nightlight asks concerned.

Velvet, though, is too fixated on her own thoughts to notice him.

While everyone stares towards Velvet, confused by her strange behavior, Cookie Crumbles notices something out of the corner of her eye.

She looks away, and stares towards a red contraption by the balcony...

"B-but if this really is the day that he opens the portal and takes control over Equestria, then there must still be a chance to-"

"Hey, everypony, what's that thing?"

Everyone, including Velvet, looks to where Cookie points her hoof.

Velvet's brows jumps, and she gasps at seeing the projector.

"Then its true. We've travelled back in time to before Bill opened the portal and unleashed those villains and creatures on Equestria!"

Velvet thinks aloud to herself.

"Huh?"

She notices something laying on the floor besides the projector, but she gasps at recognizing it as the body of Bill Cipher, himself!

The demon responsible for their suffering!

However, unlike the last time they saw each other he now laid motionless on the floor.

Velvet, though, doesn't care about the fact that he's not moving. Instead, staring towards the unprotected projector...!

The image of the projector reflects in Velvet's eyes, before she narrows her brows.

She gritts her teeth, and glares towards the machine that's caused such grief and agony.

Her horn glows. Charging a spell, which drastically charges its spell.

*POP*

Velvet's so blinded by rage that she doesn't notice the figure that appears behind her.

Nightlight and her friends notices, though, and gasps...

"NO MOOOOOORE!"

Velvet shouts at the top of her lungs as she fires the magical blast towards the projector.

From behind Velvet, another magical blasts shoots towards the projector.

"Huh?"

A voice groggily moans as its owner gently opens its eye...

Both blasts hits the projector, which, again, has beams of light shoot out of it, and finally explodes!

As the projector explodes, though, smoke erupts from it!

The whole throne room fills with black smoke

To which Velvet, Nightlight and their friends begins to cough as they're enveloped by the smoke.

However a bright light shines amidst the smoke, and blows the clouds away.

The smoke pulls back to reveal Celestia!

"Princess Celestia!"

Velvet, Nightlight and all their friends exclaims at seeing their ruler has returned!

The fear from moments ago fades. Turning into joy at the sight of the one who rescued them from the Everfree Forest!

Celestia smiles at looking down towards fillies and colts. Ending up staring at Velvet.

"Its good to see that you're alright. I awoke back in the Changeling Kingdom where I originally encountered Aku, but he didn't show up!" Celestia says.

"I immediatly returned to the castle...and by the looks of things, just in time to destroy the projector before Bill could use it a second time!"

Celestia explains at narrowing her eyes, as she looks back up towards the balcony.

Specifically, to where the now-destroyed projector once stood.

"Yes, Princess...though, I don't think we'll have to fear Bill Cipher ever again," Velvet replies.