Entropy

by Rose Quill

Of the Night

I watched as Sunset collapsed following the shattering of her horn, two bright orange flames bursting out as Philomena and Thea arced in and landed on her body, wings spread to protect her.

Entropy slow turned towards us, his form not regenerating as easily again. All the miasma was gone, and his stolen face was a ruined mess, revealing a swirling mass of shadows in patches where the skin had been ripped.

I hurried to Sunset’s body, levitating it back while Philomena alighted on my withers. I could see she was breathing shallowly and some of my panic eased. At least she was alive. I lifted my head and stared at the being across from me, wings subconsciously spreading as I did.

“How… Dare you!” Entropy snarled, but the underlying voices that had been there previously were gone. Also, any of the Blights that had remained had been burned into husks, leaving the playing field somewhat level.

“She dares a lot,” I said. “More than my personal tastes, but she also tends to get results.” I lit my horn and lowered my stance. “So, where were we?” I could feel the boosted mana surging through me, but unlike any other time where my mana had been higher than normal, I felt a strange sense of calm, of serenity. I could beat him. I knew I could. I beat Tirek, I had been a part of the final push of the War of the Crystal Empire. This would be child’s play.

Entropy roared and long arcing bolts of shadow began to lance out towards me, and I flung up a pair of small shields to block them, a pump from my wings shooting me up into the air. I flung several short bolts forward, pinning his hooves down and ripping another few scraps of flesh from his body.

Another few lancing bits of shadow reached out towards me, my smaller shields immediately moving to intercept them. His attacks were slower and not quite as powerful, but I couldn’t afford to underestimate him.

I heard a flutter of wings from behind me, a mournful cry of a phoenix echoing in the cavern as I suddenly pulled my wings in, dropping straight down as another shadow tendril reached out for me. I teleported forward, spinning and bucking straight into his face, but I didn’t feel anything but cold as my rear hooves went through his exposed face. I tried to propel myself forward with my wings, but before I got too far I felt my back hooves grabbed by deathly cold tendrils.

“That was foolish,” Entropy said simply. I felt my mana start to drain away, and a little piece of panic boiling up into my mind.

Then a bright explosion of fire ripped through my bindings, freeing me as my hooves scrabbled for purchase. I glanced back to see Philomena emerging from the flames of her resurrection cycle, a look on her features that I could only describe as wrathful.

Entropy swung at the bird, but she flew over his attack and detonated again. As the being stumbled back, more flesh sloughing off as it burnt, I saw the phoenix shake her ashes off and prepare to fly forward again.

A detached part of my brain informed me that multiple rebirth cycles in close order was bad for a phoenix. I struggled to my hooves and fired a bolt at Entropy, hoping to try and get Philomena to break off her attack.

Entropy stumbled, now fully stripped of his borrowed face. The assembled mass of shadow glared at me with eyes of emerald fire. Philomena wheeled about and returned, her eyes somewhat fatigued.

I threw up my shields as more tendrils snaked forward, and I caught one.

The other split just before it struck my shield and it lanced forward for my chest. I blinked as it struck me, a sudden chill sinking into my bones. I felt my muscles start to twitch and my armor plates clinked against each other as the trembling got worse.

Entropy stepped forward, more tendrils snaking out to encircle me. “Such bravery,” he tsked, his voice rough and thin. “To think it all ends here, little pony. Are you prepared for the end?”

An orange shape crashed into the solid shadows, throwing it backwards. I looked up, seeing a battered Alicorn standing there, glaring down the length of her broken horn at Entropy.

“Get away… from her…” Sunset panted. Sweat poured down her face and she slowly swayed on her hooves. Her eyes were somewhat unfocused, and she seemed on the verge of passing out again.

Entropy tilted his head at her, seeming curious. “You are more persistent than I had thought,” he bit out. He shifted his focus to her, a pair of tendrils snaking out and wrapping around her legs as well. “But I’m willing to give you both a quick passing.”

A sudden bright flare of light lit the cavern, and Entropy went tumbling away. As my eyes cleared from the flash spots, I saw a trio of forms standing before Sunset and myself. White, blue, and pink coats gleamed in the light, and the tallest spread her wings wide.

“Celestia,” I breathed, staggering back to my hooves and moving to support Sunset as she wavered.

“You will not harm either of them,” The Princess of the Sun declared, her voice thunderous. She advanced, and Entropy seemed to shrink in her presence.

“You cannot be here,” he growled. “The ritual should not be completed already!”

Luna stepped forward, horn blazing. “You forget your place, demon,” she growled.

Celestia’s horn flashed, and the shattered pieces of the armor that Sunset had worn flew to her, reforming about her as though never broken.

“If you wish to harm her,” she said in the coldest tone I had ever heard. “Then I shall stand in her stead. Let us see if you can keep up with me.”

Comments

[Rose Quill]

8823221
My coffee hasn’t kicked in yet...come again?

[Rose Quill]

8823290
Oh.

No, she’s not going to grandstand. Sunny and Twi will have the last blow.

And ritual explanation will be in the next chapter. But if you recall how Sunny and Twi were able to raise and lower the sun at all, you might be able to make some guesses.

[Shalifi]

Good stuff. Always cool when Celestia steps up.

[Fullmetal Prime]

Sunset is quite the determinator and looks like Celestia and Luna are back to full strength which means Entropy is going be facing a very angry sun goddess for harming her students and niece

[Noctis Prism]

Mother Celestia rage on Entropy now. Hope Sunset's horn can be healed since all pieces are there.

[Lightning_Striker]

I'm literally dumbfounded, my mouth agape. I, just, wow. This. Just wow.

It's taken me at least ten minutes to get to this point in writing this comment. Just. Words make it so hard to describe. SO GOOD. Goodbye Sunset's horn, for now. She has never been good with her magic being ripped away from her, such as with Acerak. Speaking of, I STILL CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHY ENTROPY IS CALLING HER SEER. But still, wow. Sunset having enough determination to get back up after that. She has grown from her previous fights. It's still difficult piecing my thoughts together after that awesomeness in writing. Just, keep up the good work, and please update soon.

[Lightning_Striker]

8823303
Celestia cannot be a deus ex machina, she is merely a deus. Also, in looking at the deus ex machina, Celestia doesn't even fit that category, she is pretty influental to the overall plot. And Entropy is essentially a deus (god) himself. And, even then, as you said, the ritual is supposedly incomplete, meaning Tia isn't even up to her full strength. Well, unless Tia was made by a machine, then she would literally be a deus ex machina.

[Rose Quill]

8825556
The difference is one is where the protagonists are saved by an outside force vs the powerful character possible of defeating them in one swoop is unavailable.

The thing is, what can Celestia do that Sunset and Twilight haven’t yet tried?

Not a lot, it seems.

Just be paitient. Finishing up a small request while I let the current chapter percolate.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

I watched as Sunset collapsed following the shattering of her horn, two bright orange flames bursting out as Philomena and Thea arced in and landed on her body, wings spread to protect her.

So sunset's lost her horn now?!????