Those Left Behind

by the7Saviors

A Princess' Wrath

Power.

Emotion.

Purpose.

Without restraint, I gathered every ounce of Magic I could get my figurative hooves on in the few seconds of time I had before the ghosts were upon me. All the while these were the three things my mind locked onto as I practically inhaled the ambient Magic into my body.

I relied on the nearly limitless Power of ambient Magic to ensure the complete destruction of the things that dared to even touch the last remaining family I had in this world.

I gathered every ounce of the dark Emotions that had been building up within me to push back the haze of bliss and fulfill my Purpose of saving Cadence no matter what.

Was this it?

Was this the event to finally push me over the edge?

I didn't know, and it didn't matter anyway.

What did matter, was that Cadence was in danger and I had the power to save her.

I had more than enough power.

I could tell my body was literally blazing with it -- the immediate area around me lighting up like the Sun had finally risen once more.

It was time.

I opened my eyes and directed my gaze towards the charging wraiths before me. They all seemed to move at a snail's pace, and with a mere thought from me, they completely stopped altogether, frozen in time and space.

Leaving them where they were for the moment, I stepped past them and over to the other wraiths attacking Cadence. At this point they had stopped trying to devour my sister-in-law and focused their wispy white eyes on me.

If I had cared to guess, I would've thought they looked... unsure.

In the end they chose to attack me.

I heard rather than saw the ghost like creatures as they attempted another charge. From the ear piercing cacophony of shrieks and wails, I could tell they were trying to overwhelm me with numbers.

My eyes never left the bleeding, whimpering alicorn lying on the ground in front of me.

It didn't matter if I couldn't see them, because any thing that managed to get close enough to do any harm was wrapped in the same stasis field as the others before them.

Holding them in place for the moment, I gently wrapped a wide eyed Cadence in my magic and lifted her up into the air. I may not have known all that much about Healing Magic, but I held the very power of Equus itself inside me -- at least, that's what it felt like.

With all this raw power fueling what little healing spells I did know, combined with Cadence's own natural regenerative capabilities as an alicorn, it was a simple matter to restore her to her former health.

Once all her wounds had sealed themselves shut, I set Cadence back down. I looked her over with a concerned expression, trying to see if there was anything I had missed.

All the while, Cadence just sat there, staring at me with a mix of awe and fear. I hardly took any notice and once I was satisfied she was okay, I turned my attention back to the frozen wraiths.

Even as I raised my head, I could see more approaching from a distance. Whether they were drawn by the waves of Magic I exuded or by the commotion in general, I couldn't say, but I could see they were gathering from all over the city.

How all of us had missed them before was a mystery, but once again, none of that mattered now.

I gave the shocked pink alicorn a brief glance before spreading my wings and rocketing into the air. Once I was a good distance above the ground, I took stock of my situation.

As I swept my gaze left and right, I could see the wraiths closing in fast. Ignoring that for a moment I lowered my head and scanned the ground for any sign of Celestia and Luna.

I soon spotted them making their way towards Cadence's position, however Luna stopped suddenly, pulling Celestia back as she whipped her head this way and that. After a moment she looked up and spotted me hovering overhead.

I saw her eyes widened and a large victorious grin cross her face -- something I thought was odd and made sure to make a note of for later. Celestia looked around, clearly confused as to what was happening.

Raising my head back to the sky, I saw that the wraiths were only a few yards away. I narrowed my eyes and, with another thought, wrapped Celestia and Luna in a crackling magenta colored aura. Before they even realized what was happening, they vanished with a sound like the crack of a whip.

With another loud crack, the two reappeared right next to a startled Cadence. As soon as the three of them were together a Barrier flared to life around them, sparking and pulsing with the massive amount of Magic I had pumped into it.

With that done, I finally brought my full attention back to the wraiths who had now reached me and were opening their mouths to feed on my own flesh. I was completely surrounded on all sides by the carnivorous ghosts.

I closed my eyes.

I inhaled.

I exhaled.

I opened my eyes once more.

"Stop."

The word held Power, and the wraiths had no choice but to submit to that Power. They stopped, unable to move a single solitary inch. They may have wanted to rage and scream with fury and devour me, Magic and all...

But my will was too strong for them to overcome, my own rage burning far brighter than theirs ever could. I didn't know what these things were, and I didn't care. They had nearly taken Cadence from me -- the only family I had left in this world.

Had I not arrived when I did, Cadence would have died for sure. Immortal or no, I doubt she would've survived being torn to pieces and eaten by these wraiths. This was something I couldn't abide, not when there was nothing else left of the world I used to know.

They would all die, right along with that monster when I found it.

I slowly passed my eyes over each and every one of these creatures, taking them in, letting my fury build to a breaking point. In that single moment of quiet tension, surrounded by my imprisoned victims, I uttered only one other word.

"Burn."

And burn they did.

I watched with no small amount of relish as their already shadowy forms were blackened even further. I watched with immense satisfaction as the wave of magenta balefire spread across the city and scattered their ashes to the winds.

Whether these creatures were ghosts or not, they all died the same way...

In the fires of my anger, my grief, and my despair.

This was vengeance... but it wasn't the vengeance that I truly sought.

It was only then that I realized what Luna's true goal had been, and I was rather upset at myself for not having figured it out earlier.

When she told me that story about Celestia, her real goal wasn't to warn me against using the power, she was trying to get me to understand just how powerful Celestia had really been, to inspire me to take up the mantle when the time came.

Maybe she knew I'd eventually succumb and use this power all along, despite what she had said, and she was right. I understood perfectly the kind of power Celestia had wielded so long ago, and it truly was awe inspiring.

The story, the goading, her constantly pressing me to use the ambient Magic, and finally the victorious grin I had seen earlier... it was all leading up to this. She wanted to use me -- to use my power -- to wreak vengeance where she couldn't.

I wanted to be upset, I wanted to be angry that Luna used me like some sort of pawn... but I honestly couldn't. Deep down, I wanted to kill that thing as much as she did, and I still do.

How could I not?

That monster killed everything and everypony I ever loved, drove Celestia insane, did something to Cadence, and now there were these wraiths which I was convinced it had somehow sent after us.

If anything, I felt stupid for not listening to Luna in the first place. What was there to be afraid of with this power? I managed to wrest control of myself and destroy the ones trying to hurt me and the other three Princess' without hurting any of them in the process.

These wraiths were nothing in the face of the Magic I held within me now.

With this kind of raw power, I could've easily killed the monster and prevented Celestia from having to go through whatever it had done to her. I could've stopped that thing from doing whatever it had done to Cadence.

Regret briefly washed over me and dampened my spirit somewhat, but it quickly blazed to life once more and I felt myself grin from ear to ear at the thought of finally being able to kill the monster that destroyed Equus. It was only a matter of--

I felt it again.

I felt that strange and horrendous shift of Magic in the atmosphere, but this time it was far stronger than it had been before. The feeling rattled all of my senses and I suddenly felt the immense amount of Magic I had slip away at an alarming rate.

Something is... draining my Magic?!

I clutched my head in my hooves, clenched my eyes shut, and screamed in agony as I felt my Magic being violently ripped right out of my body. I heard a loud prolonged roar of wind in my ears and felt a sudden shift in air pressure.

That combined with the floating sensation I was feeling told me I was in freefall, but I was in too much pain at the moment to pay it any real attention. I continued to scream in pain and fear and anger as I fell, even as I felt my throat begin to turn raw.

Even as my body grew weaker.

Even as my vision began to fade.

And then, like a deep rumble from the very pits of Tartarus itself, I heard it.

"NOT ENOUGH... IT'S STILL... NOT ENOUGH... I... NEED... MORE."

I cracked a heavy eyelid open just in time to see cold grey stone rush up to meet me.

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Holy throne...

[Black Hoof]

The creature wants Twilight to use ambient magic so it can feed from her...
Did Luna expect that?

[the7Saviors]

8956624
*shrugs* Who knows?

[theoldhunter]

"NOT ENOUGH... IT'S STILL... NOT ENOUGH... I... NEED... MORE. "

Is this thing related to tarick in any way

[FanficReader920]

0_0 *Looks to generic conspiracy theory board* Of course, it's all coming together. Future Twilight got so drunk on the power of Ambient Magic that she's draining her past self in order to satisfy her hunger, of course!!! Luna wants her to do this because it's not Luna AT ALL, it's Future Twilight. In fact, I don't think this is the first time Twilight went back in time. I think she went back in time MULTIPLE times. The first time she went back, she killed Luna, took her form, blinded Celestia so she wouldn't have to see, and tried to convince her past self to use Ambient Magic so she could absorb it. When that failed she went back AGAIN and this time took the form of Cadence to do the same thing, but at that point, the lack of Ambient Magic was beginning to get to her. She was beginning to go insane from it, and once her plan to kill Cadence and take her form failed, that's when she cracked and went back in time a third time and destroyed Equus, beginning the loop once more. Each Alicorn she takes the form of (aside from Celestia, though I'm beginning to wonder if this is just a FOURTH future Twilight now), details Twilight's descent into madness. Luna is when she resorted to manipulation to satisfy her hunger, Cadence is the in-between phase, and then the monster is all-out desperation.

It makes so much sense!!

[Sir Budginton]

Could be worse... somehow

[DeKar]

8956647
You, are a genius.

[FanficReader920]

8956831
I try. When you read a lot of fiction (and are aware of TONS of tropes), you tend to pick up on things.

[the7Saviors]

8956647
Comments like these are one of the reasons I enjoy writing so much. Theories, speculations, just general discussion about what the hell is going on in the story. Even if the reader doesn't like the story, I'd at least like to know they're thinking about it. So please, whether your right or wrong, theorize to your heart's content.

[FanficReader920]

8956909
Thanks very much! Can't wait to see if I'm right or not. I was just proven wrong on an integral Steven Universe theory, so I'm hoping I've got a win here.

[Gundamdragon]

Some times the only way to kill a demon God horror thing is simple cold hard steal and iron.

[the7Saviors]

8960597
I like the way you think.

Unfortunately the situation is not so simple...

[Gundamdragon]

8960623
Simple have you ever tried to find a metal that the demon is weak to? I have we tried cold iron silver gold turns out the damn thing was week to Cooper we had to kill it by throwing coins at it! Fuck the DM!

[Phoenix Nebula]

"NOT ENOUGH... IT'S STILL... NOT ENOUGH... I... NEED...MORE."

interesting... I'm starting to get a clew as to what is going on.

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

I cracked a heavy eyelid open just in time to see cold grey stone rush up to meet me.

SHIT!

[Greenback]

What I said earlier about wanting to see Twilight use ambient magic?

Totally worth the wait.

[Sunsetstarbreeze]

"Burn."

Burn babe, burn

[Crystonian]

"NOT ENOUGH... IT'S STILL... NOT ENOUGH... I... NEED... MORE. "

Tirec? It could be

[eiggengrau]

Wow, the hunger, the apotheosis of power, what a scene.

[darklight731]

Hmm... it never expressed a desire for something before... odd...