Sundered Universes

by Super Ponyman

Chapter 18: To the Victors Go the Spoils

Author's Note:

Brady is finally back! And just in time! Let the celebration chapter commence!

Also, some serious foreshadowing to the next chapter, be warned fellow readers!

(Canterlot Castle, Great Hall)

Canterlot Castle was in a jovial mood after the defeat of Midnight Sparkle. All over the castle, guards were drinking their troubles away in celebration of the evil their forces had vanquished. In the Great Hall, a massive celebration was being held for everypony that had halted the evil. This included Crimson Mane, the Star Hunters, the Guardians of the Sun, the Masters of Nature, and King Sombra.

The Masters of Nature and the Guardians of the Sun were all convened around several circular tables, draining cups of punch and juice. For those that preferred something a little stronger, Iron Steed had produced a vial of fermented Ursa Minor blood to add into the drinks. This made the drinks almost 250 alcohol proof, making ponies who drunk it wobbly and incredibly unsteady.

Something Sea Breeze said rang a bit odd to the group, that "everypony needs to get a little drunk once in theirrr... life... helps to just relax and take the edge off."

“Well... We did it,” Quickfire slurred. His fifth heavy drink was lying in front of him. “That was frickin’ awesome, the way you made the Spear of True Heroes. How’d you even know my sword could fit on the end of the staff you got, Freedom?”

Freedom Fighter, who was sitting next to him, shrugged.

“What do ya mean, You didn’t know?”

He tapped the side of his head knowingly.

“Wait, So you did?”

To confuse him, he shook his head no again.

“You didn’t?”

He nodded.

“You did?”

“Ignore this, This might go on for some time,” Iron Steed remarked to Noble Blade. “I know how susceptible he is while inebriated. He once drunk the castle bar dry... Faust that was a long night."

“Why I never touch the stuff,” Noble said.

Across the table, Crimson Mane was discussing her wings with the some other Masters of Nature.

“So those can fire razor-sharp feathers?” Sea Breeze asked.

“Oh yeah, can cut through the hardest of stone or even solid steel with these blades. I sharpen them every day so they stay ready for battle.” she answered.

“Those are pretty awesome,” Sea Breeze complimented her. “Where’d you get it?”

“Well... where I originally got them is a secret, but the rocket feathers... I just made ‘em myself. As it turns out, the whole idea of bladed feathers isn’t as unique as you might think.”

“Watchu talkin’ bout?” Thorn Horn asked shrewdly.

“Back where I come from, the ponies spoke of an old legend,” Crimson Mane said, dropping her voice into a whisper. “Many years ago, in the bowels of Manehattan, lived a creature known only as the Night Terror. He stood on two legs, though sometimes on four, and had wings and a bladed horn.”

“Sounds like another troublesome alicorn, or at least some other evil entity.” Wind Walker observed, the bandages on his eyes new and pristine.

“Oh, but listen here. This particular pony--for he is a pony, and not a griffon--is faster, stronger, and deadlier than any other pony known to exist in Manehattan. Ever watching in the darkest corners of the city, the Night Terror searches for evil ponies who commit misdeeds, and seeks to bring them low in his hunger for revenge.”

“Revenge against what? From what I've heard about Manehattan recently is that crime has practically vanished due to some... unknown incident.” Hiller asked, overhearing the conversation.

“Well... Revenge against the ponies that hurt him,” Crimson Mane responded to him. “Who drove him out of his mortal shell and into the body of an immortal engine of war.”

“An Engine of war? Sounds like a danger worthy of our assistance. Engines of war, Demons out of the worst of nightmares, rampaging gods, all in a days work for the Masters of Nature." Thorn Horn asked curiously.

“Oh, that’s the part most shocking of all,” she spoke. “He is a machine.”

“Sweet Poseidon! A machine!? Surely you kid, no pony has ever created living, self-sentient machinery where we come from, nor have they attempted it." Sea Breeze gasped.

“He is the scales of justice, the conductor of the choirs of death,” Crimson Mane continued. “His metal arm of justice is ever-extending and full of wrath. Armed to the teeth, gifted with supernatural abilities, and made out of indestructible metal, he may be a threat even you cannot vanquish.”

“But it’s all a myth, right?” Firestorm asked, flapping over Crimson Mane’s head. “Those are all just stories about him, right?”

“Big deal, hiding in the shadows and stuff.” Thunder Fury snorted, sparks dancing across the table as he slammed his hoof down. “I bet I could take him. Machines are extremely vulnerable to massive shocks of electricity, which I have as a power, mind you."

“Yes,” Firestorm said. “I remember how well you took care of me in the armory where we first met. You’d take him down in half a heartbeat.”

Thunder Fury went flush with anger as he remembered how he had been humiliated in the armory. “Watch it, bud, I can still fry you like an egg.”

“What?”

“I know when I’m being mocked, I'm not that stupid.” Thunder Fury spat, visible electricity now "thundering" quite apparent on his skin.

“Good. If you didn’t, that wouldn’t end up well.”

“I’m telling you, you pitiful merge of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, that you wouldn’t stand a chance against me. I am a Master of Nature! Not to mention the second in command!"

“I’m a Guardian of the Sun,” Firestorm cooly replied. “Titles are irrelevant here.”

“Wanna find out what happens when fire and lightning clash?” he asked. The smell of ozone was filling the air, and Thunder Fury’s mane was sparkling with electricity, causing everypony's hair to stand on end, “I can tell you, it’ll end up with a lot of blood spattered on the ground. And guess what? Most of it will be YOURS!”

“Okedoke,” Firestorm replied. He pointed at him. “Hey, there’s something going on with your mane, by the way. You might want to take care of it.”

“It does that naturally,” Sea Breeze said to him. “It’s a distinct characteristic of the boy. He's had it ever since he got his powers."

“Ah. Okay. I just thought the batteries were overloading, or something.”

“BATTERIES?! What?!" came Thunder Fury’s outraged reply. Flapping up dangerously into the air, yellow lightning sparked in his eyes and his voice like a thunderclap, “I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES AT MY EXPENSE! NOPONY MOCKS ME! I’LL TEAR YOUR ATOMS APART!”

“Okedoke,” Firestorm said simply. “Do it slowly, okay? I like how it feels.”

Thunder Fury raised his hooves above his head, and a small ball of crackling energy appeared between them. “GIGAVOLT--”

Before he finished, however, he was thrown to the ground from behind. He bounced on the tiled floor, and the electricity dispersed. He looked up to see the form of a massive pony standing above him.

“Oh, hush up already, you twitchy twit.” Sombra said irritably. “Lighten up.”

“The King of Shadows is telling someone to lighten up? Are pigs flying today?" Noble Blade remarked to Iron Steed. Iron Steed let out a hearty chuckle.

“Yo, thanks, Som-bruh!” Firestorm said, holding out his hoof for a hoof-bump.

King Sombra lifted up a single smoking green eyebrow. He was both amused and oddly confused by the gesture.

“King...Sombraille?” Firestorm asked.

The shadow king’s mouth quivered in amusement. His eyes lost their green shade.

“Or king...Sombrero?”

The king finally spat out a hearty laugh and clapped the pegasus on the back, almost knocking him off the chair, His wings flailed out, “I love this pegasus!” he roared. “Maybe when I first met him, he may have annoyed me, but at least he’s funny! True humor at its finest!"

Firestorm patted himself on the back, wincing hard. “Yeah, but work on your hits! I think one of my vertebrae popped out on the floor!”

Hiller leaned back in his chair. “Oh, this is good,” he moaned, stretching his limbs to relieve the stil apparent tension in his muscles, while the regeneration the virus gave him helped him recover, it was taxing on his body. “No destructive alicorns, no evil demons, no unnatural smoke creatures...It’s almost too good to be true.”

“Hiller! Don’t say stuff like that,” Crimson Mane warned. “It’s bound to end up with something even worse.”

“And by saying that, you just verified it, nice going Crimson.” Thorn Horn pointed out.

Crimson Mane smacked her cup off the table, sending it flying a good ten feet. “Dang it!”

“Hey, where’s Burning Star?” Sea Breeze asked. “I thought I saw him here, but he went out of the room, didn’t he?”

“From what he told me, He went to talk with the princesses,” Iron Steed replied to him. He took a sip from his drink. “Nothing serious, I expect. Off to bully them some more, I’d imagine.”

"I'd hope he be here celebrating." Noble sighed.

Quickfire chimed in, the slur in his voice quite apparent. "Burning Star... he's not one forrr parties. He gets super closed off during them."

(Canterlot Castle, Private Chambers)

Burning Star pushed both of the doors open slowly, relishing the squeak they made. At the other end of the room was the other two princesses, nourishing their slices of triple-layer cake. At the noise of his entry, however, they stopped with their food still in their mouths and slowly turned to look at him.

“Heya, ‘Tia,” Burning Star said, making sure the sentence rhymed. “How’s the, uh, cake? You sure it isn't mine?"

Princess Celestia swallowed. “It’s fine, Burning Star. Have you tried it yet?”

“I’m...not hungry,” he replied, looking down. “Normally, I feel like I could eat the entire donut shop you got here in Canterlot, but...not now.”

Luna shifted her eyes to the side in thought, then returned them to look into Burning Star’s dark blue eyes. “Is something wrong?”

He responded, eyes now down at the floor, “I...I guess.”

“And why are you coming to me?” Princess Celestia asked. “What is the point?”

Burning Star’s insides jolted a little bit. This was it. He had been thinking about how it might go for several hours now, and it made him squirm. “Ok... here goes. Before I left my own little universe and came here, I realized that I was powerful beyond the measures of anypony else. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were listening intently.

“But when I came here...to hunt down Midnight Sparkle...I came in my arrogance and in my anger, a lot of it still stemming from my Celestia's treatment of me. I tried to use my powers as I did before, but I soon realized that if I wanted to beat Midnight Sparkle, I needed to learn control, some discipline.” He blew out a big resigned exhale. “I really didn’t want to admit it, but I think that this... was exactly what I needed.”

“Learning control?” Luna clarified.

“Coming to this universe in the first place, Luna” Burning Star corrected. “Learning more about myself. Those three soldiers you got? The Guardians of the Sun?” Burning Star let out a brief chuckle. “They did almost as much for me as anypony else in my own universe. Maybe even more, now that I...really think about it. Many of my family and friends tended to avoid me because of my anger. But your team actually confronted them...” He held up a feather. “Freedom Fighter...he made me know that my suffering isn’t the only kind that matters. Firestorm...that lovable dolt of a pegasus...he taught me to lighten up! To get over my pride. To spend more time enjoying ponies, instead of resenting them. And Noble Blade…” He paused.

“Noble Blade was an influence beyond all else?” Luna asked. “I should commend him for that.”

Burning Star smiled, the first real smile in years. “Oh, yeah. He really was. He’s the one that cracked that old shell I’ve got and built me up more than I...than I’ve realized, actually. He’s taught me and built me as much as my dad, Sombra.”

Celestia recoiled slightly. “A knight, in a matter of weeks, influenced you more than your own father in the course of your lifetime?”

"Hell, He’s the reason I’ve changed enough to be speaking with you right now,” Burning Star said. “Sombra taught me power, and influence, and loved me as he should, in his own twisted ways. But Noble taught me better things. Responsibility. Concern. Charity. Love.” He racked his brains for more. “And he let me know what true power is. The power of…” He let out a sigh. “The power of friendship.”

Celestia smiled wryly. “Corny, isn’t it?”

Burning Star laughed briefly, a clear laugh that drove joy into his heart. “Yeah, I guess.” He came closer to the two of them. “And with the events that’ve been going on for the past however long, I’d like to say that I…” Here he paused and pawed the ground. “With how we first met, and with how domineering I was trying to be, without realizing how much more benevolent, even understanding you were compared with my own Celestia…That was a bit uncalled for. In hindsight. I’d like to say...I’m sorry.

“I’m sorry...for my actions. And for my behavior to you ponies that I never met before. That isn’t how a prince, or even Warrior King of Equestria should behave to two…” He paused, and his voice grew cracked. “To two...of the most caregiving ponies I’ve known...since coming here. You’ve given me shelter...and love, even when I d-didn’t deserve it! And you’ve fed me and talked with me, no matter how annoying and vindictive I might have been to you, and you overlooked how I behaved towards you...and everypony else that loved you! You’ve done so much for me, and I’ve never noticed it because I was just so stupid…”

“You’re not stupid,” Celestia quickly said.

“Fat lot of good saying that will change my opinion,” Burning Star retaliated, but there was no malice behind his words. “You were like a mother to me, and I’ve rejected you just because you shared the same name as my own Celestia! I should have been better than that! I should have been the son you treated me as, Celestia!”

Celestia looked stunned. She hadn’t been expecting Burning Star to be going that far. And yet here he was, on the verge of tears, admitting his faults and confessing like a sinner.

“Now, I know you’re not my mother, Celestia, she is long dead. But if there was anypony I could have chosen to be one...out of every universe out there...it would definitely be you.” He smiled and looked her in the eyes. They were glistening. “I was a...horrible pony, and a terrible friend, and I’m sorry for making you put up with me, and listen to me, day after day, and for hating you when you did so much for--”

His words were cut off by Princess Celestia wrapping her wing around his back and squeezing. The wing was soft, and smelled freshly washed. Burning Star was so surprised by the affection that he didn’t protest.

“I forgave you before those thoughts even entered your head,” Celestia warmly said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

And then the tears came, trickling down his face, as he knew at last that Celestia bore no mistrust to him for any reason. It had been haunting him for days now, twisting in his gut like vipers, and its poison had seeped into his mind and had poisoned his memory. That poison had made him remember Celestia differently. But now he was purged of the awful guilt, of the terrible venom. He felt almost as pure as when he would become Dawn Star.

But strangely, the Alicorn of Light was... absent.

Celestia continued to swaddle him in her wing like a mother would to her child, and Burning Star was hit again with the image of Celestia as a mother. Not just to him, but to all of Equestria. Ever watching for its safety, loving it even when misbehavior manifested, and occasionally enforcing discipline where it was needed, to ensure the safety of Equestria--and Burning Star.

It was only after several minutes of warmth and pressure that Burning Star realized something.

“Celestia? I’ve still got that burny stuff on my body. You’re slathering it all over your wing-- if I ignite I may scar you with my flames."

“Oh!” Celestia removed her wing, and Burning Star felt the chill come as the wing came away. “Oh, dear, I’m sorry.”

He put his hoof up, “No, no, no! It’s fine! I was just so, um...so distracted that I didn’t think to say anything before. Can I get it off for you?”

“Sure.”

After the sticky, black goo was removed by Burning Star’s magic, Burning Star took a few breaths before turning to Princess Luna. “You heard everything, right?”

Princess Luna’s face was comically indifferent. “What thinkest thou?”

“So you know that I’m really, really, really, really, really, really really sorry?”

“ ‘Tis a mouthful of reallys, Burning Star,” Princess Luna said. “But thou art welcome. I cared not that you had been boorish and rude.”

“What? Why?”

She shrugged. “I’ve put up with worse.” She reached out with a hoof. “It’s okay for me to touch thee, right?”

“Just be careful,” he warned. “Of the, uh, goo and stuff.”

She ruffled his mane and rubbed his back reassuringly. “Be not afraid,” she cood. “Be reborn this day. Be a better pony than thou wast yesterday.”

“I still don’t know how you managed to love me in spite of my...flaws…”

“ ‘Tis our job!” Luna cried. “Thou art simply implying too much. We put up with thee? Hardly. Truth be told, thy company was pleasantly chaotic.”

“I haven’t been annoying? Or harmful to you? Or insulting?” he asked in disbelief.

“Oh, no. You were.” Celestia grinned. “But we know that because it looked like you were trying. Now, the fool that acts annoying without knowing he’s a fool...that is hard to put up with.”

“Like Firestorm?”

“Firestorm I have no problem with,” Celestia said. “Not only does he know that he’s a buffoon, but he’s also funny! Why can I hate him?”

“I didn’t at first,” Burning Star said. “I judged him on appearance first and thought him an idiot. As somepony like my obnoxious brother, Thunder Fury."

Celestia's jaw hit the floor, "Wait, Thunder Fury is your brother?!"

The Alicorn of Fire shrugged, "Yeah, but he is my adopted brother, remember I was raised by his family from a young age."

“Well, on the other hoof,” Luna said, “You hated everyone the first time you met them.”

Burning Star cocked his head in acknowledgement. “That is True. When you live in the wild, in isolation for SO Long, you tend to see the world as an enemy.”

“You’ve grown so much since I first saw you and knew you,” Celestia reassured him. “I’m only glad to be a part of your life.”

It made his heart jump with joy. It truly was a new step in his life. He had entered this universe with the intent to destroy and harm, even kill... but he came out with so much more than that because he was willing to be taught.

And now he knew what a benevolent Celestia was like. Now he could discard the memories of an evil entity that hated any dissent from her rule. Now he could accept a matriarch full of love for her subjects, no matter who they might be. Princess Celestia--this one--had given him unconditional acceptance and had taught him how to give acceptance in return.

“Thank you,” was all he could say. What more could he say?

(Somewhere Else...)

Dark Star screamed in rage, thrashing about like a maddening beast, another entity simply sighed at the Dark Alicorn's temper tantrum.

"WHAT?! No! No! Not, This! This is not how it's supposed to happen! He should be laying waste to Equestria, not making up! This is not what we had planned!"

A voice called out to the dark Alicorn of destruction.

"Calm yourself, Dark Star. If this has happened, then our plans have to be changed."

Dark Star turned to the voice, which emanated from a pair of Golden, Yellow Eyes, filled with glowing yellow fire...

"Burning Star has pulled a gamble, thus we must raise the bar... and take a risk of our own."

Dark Star cocked his flaming eyes in confusion, a scowl appearing on his face, "What are you suggesting?"

The pair of eyes closed slowly, they were deep in thought... then they said to Dark Star.

"We escape his mind, dear boy... with Burning Star distracted by the revelry and celebration of victory... his mental defenses are lowered. Thus, the seal is weak... we will break it together, and destroy the world, so I can prove to that... that..."

The pair of eyes shone bright for a short time, exposing the large stature of... something Equine-shaped.

The voice finally boomed with the instenity of an exploding volcano. "THAT BI--H CELESTIA THAT I AM TRULY THE STRONGEST ALICORN IN THE UNIVERSE! AND THAT THIS WORLD, AND ANY OTHER... WILL FEEL OUR LOSS AND DESPAIR, WHEN BURNING STAR CAST US ASIDE!"

The voice somehow knocked Dark Star off his clawed hooves, "How DARE he attempt to achieve inner peace! How dare he! I work so hard to stack the deck in my... now our favor, and yet the little bastard decided that he didn't need us anymore. Well I'm not going to take it lying down!"

The eyes began to move past Dark Star, to some sort of light in the darkness.

They turned to Dark Star, and said... "Well? What are you waiting for? Some sort of invitation? Lets go Dark Star!"

Dark Star smirked and followed the pair of eyes into the light...

and everything went white!