Errant Finale

by Doug Graves

72 The Army of Blood

Dawn’s light breaks over the Canterlot Castle, illuminating two alicorns sparring in the larger of the guard’s training arenas. A good number of guards, all garbed in Solar regalia, watch intently. Whispers trade back and forth, with some pouches covertly swapping hooves. Even Princess Celestia, after accomplishing her morning duty, comes to observe.

Selene stands in an odd two-legged stance, holding her forelegs in front of her. Her gait, while unseemly, turns off her balance kilter into stumbling kicks and strikes. Often surprising, it allows her to dodge and weave Twilight’s counters while returning her own.

Twilight skids backwards from Selene’s heavy kick with a loud grunt, weathering the barrage of infused ‘punches’ with a rapidly maneuvered shield. Despite the alicorn mixing fast jabs with deviously angled hooks she quickly gets a feel for her pace, a piercing punch of her own shattering Selene’s hasty shield. It connects straight with the white alicorn’s jaw, dropping her to the ground in an instant.

Just as quickly Twilight rushes over, kneeling next to her stunned opponent. “I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

“Ugh,” Selene says groggily, wiping her muzzle with a hoof and checking for blood. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop apologizing?” She accepts Twilight’s hoof, pulling her up, the two walking out of the arena.

“I’m s-” Twilight offers a half smile to Selene’s disapproving glare, the spectators dispersing and leaving the two of them alone. “So, would you put my odds at slightly better than three to one now?”

“It’s difficult simulating a fighting style nopony uses, and we’re both holding back,” Selene replies, glancing between their pregnant bellies. She pauses for a moment, biting her tongue as she looks away. “But, yes, I would put us about even. Only if you can rid yourself of…” She trails off, chewing on her lip.

“Of what?” Twilight says, frustrated and curious. “This isn’t going to be one of those times when you tell me I need something, and only the one thing, only for you to never let me know? And then I realize that I just need to trust myself and my instincts?”

“No,” Selene says, turning back to stare at Twilight. “Your instincts are terrible.”

“T-they are?” Twilight says, her ears flicking down. “But-”

Selene motions back to their training arena. “Every time you gain an advantage, you pause, allowing me the chance to recover.”

Twilight slowly nods, “But, we’re just training, and-”

“You fail, time and again, to strike a decisive blow.”

“I knocked you down!” Twilight exclaims.

Selene continues as if she isn’t listening, “You are weak; not in mind or body, but in the willingness to do what is necessary.”

“Oh?” Twilight demands harshly, “And what do you know of necessity?”

Selene’s eyes bore into Twilight’s, neither mare giving an inch. “When Nightmare Moon returned, and the Elements of Harmony failed to appear, what do you think happened?” She motions upwards, to the morning sky. “I will give you a hint: there is no eternal night.”

“So you beat her, somehow,” Twilight says acidically.

Selene glances around to make sure they are alone. “It was no trivial matter, corralling and detaining the Nightmare, but we had trained for such an eventuality and she was caught unprepared. But then, when Nightmare Moon refused to repent? Proclaiming eternal night, and retribution on every one of us? She would banish Celestia to the Sun, and the rest of us with her!”

“That sounds like Nightmare Moon,” Twilight concedes. “Then what?”

“The ‘then what’ is the crux of the issue! I kept Equestria safe!!” Selene takes in a deep breath, steeling herself. “It was only Princess Celestia herself begging me to stay my hoof that kept the Nightmare - the one she claimed was still her Sister - alive. But even she could not stop me from taking the Nightmare’s horn, so that she would never be capable of rising against us, nor from imprisoning her deep under the castle.”

Selene whispers under her breath, raising a hoof. She slowly pulls back, and from nothing appears an ornate black scabbard spiraled with purple. Nightmare's horn. She withdraws an obsidian dagger, a cobalt aura shining forth. The blade murmurs to Twilight, as if a thousand years of epithets and bile were recorded and played back.

“That’s,” Twilight barely ekes out, her ears laying flat. A fate worse than death, Twilight thinks to herself, that I would not wish upon my worst enemies. To be powerless, friendless, and with no hope of recovery? “What is being done for her?”

“For her?” Selene nearly spits out, burning a hole in the dirt with her glare. “‘Naeus spends every hour she can with her, for nothing!” She waves her hoof again, the dagger and scabbard disappearing.

“I wish to meet her,” Twilight states, her voice carefully controlled. She is loyal, but only to her own. Where is the willingness to share that Loyalty with those who have not yet pledged themselves?

“Very well,” Selene says after a short delay. She turns imperiously, striding off to the lower levels. Twilight follows after, having difficulty keeping up with the smaller alicorn’s fast pace.

After several minutes, as the well lit corridors of the castle transition to rough stone and exposed rivets, the two run across a second white alicorn. She is similar to Selene but smaller, and immediately turns hostile upon seeing Twilight.

“You shouldn’t be here,” callously accuses the alicorn, eyes narrowing as she comes to a halt.

“Hello, Phoebe,” Selene returns, motioning to Twilight. “This is Twilight Sparkle, from the past.”

“I know who she is,” Phoebe spits out, “and she should leave before she kills half of us.”

“Half?” Twilight says, confused. “I would never-”

“You would,” Phoebe claims, resolute. “You would set us against each other’s throats, until you died trying to prove your version of Harmony is stronger.”

She thinks she is honesty. Twilight grimaces, standing a bit straighter. But with none of the hope of seeing improvement from your words.

“I came to see Luna,” Twilight states, “and to see if there was any hope for her.” If there is any hope for you.

“You should lock her up with her,” Phoebe says to Selene. “We would all be safer.”

“You have been wrong before,” Selene says, expression hard.

“Am I now?” Phoebe walks away before Selene can reply, never looking back.

The rest of the time passes in silence until Nightmare Moon’s harsh voice can be heard echoing down the halls. Obscenities, threats, and curses ring out, each more varied than the last, as if she had spent her entire time on the moon working on them.

A young pink alicorn races towards them, tears streaming down. She slows as she approaches Selene, offering a short bow that the white alicorn returns.

“Hello, ‘Naeus,” Selene says gently. “Rough night?”

“I’m sorry,” Hymenaeus replies quietly, choking back sobs. Luna’s harsh language continues to echo, though it dies down some. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I’ll be better tomorrow, and I asked for Doug to come.”

“Celestia won’t like that,” Selene says, though she clearly isn’t happy either. And with that ‘Naeus leaves, the two alicorns again alone in the hall.

“Doug helps her?” Twilight asks, curious at this development. “How can he be better than Kindness? What happened with the Elements?”

“She is not Kindness,” Selene admits after a moment. “None of us attuned that night. We only found lumps of rock.”

“That’s because the Elements aren’t just magical artifacts to be swung like a dagger.” Twilight takes a deep breath, Selene’s eyes boring into her. “I didn’t become the Element of Magic, of Friendship, because I was the most powerful unicorn, though that might have been true. Or because I had the most Friends, which was certainly not the case. It was because I trusted in my Friends, and they in me. It was in that way that each of us embodied our Elements. Not because we had trained our whole lives in being honest, or loyal, or kind.”

Selene takes several long breaths, and Twilight can see the anger boiling inside of her. “You should leave,” the white alicorn says, detached, as if restraining herself from attacking right now. “You are no longer welcome in the castle. Or in Equestria, for that matter.” Selene turns, walking down the path they came.

I just became her enemy, Twilight realizes, frowning. And I had only to spread the true meaning of Friendship to become so.

After a few moments of staring in shock Twilight hears a particular set of hoofsteps coming down the hall. Footsteps, she corrects. She smiles at seeing Doug approach, especially his grin at seeing her. He looks similar to her own, but with a less muscular build and a circular scar on his forehead that his hair barely covers.

“Hey, Twily!” he greets, his head cocking to the side. His voice is off, taking longer to form his words. “New wings?”

“Not quite,” Twilight replies, frowning a little at the intimate pet of her head and ears.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I tend to forget things,” Doug explains, though his hand keeps moving along her mane. “You’ll have to tell me about it!”

“I’m not your Twilight. I’m the one who did that to you.” Twilight motions to Doug’s forehead.

“Did that…” Doug says, confused, as a hand moves to his head. “Oh. You’re that Twilight.”

“I’m sorry!” Twilight calls as Doug turns, walking down towards Luna. It takes her a few long seconds to catch up.

“Hey, Twily!” Doug greets her as she comes up to his side. His hand comes up, the same intimate rubbing of her ears and mane. “New wings?”

“No, it’s-” Twilight cuts herself off. “I’ll have to tell you about them later.”

Doug chuckles self-deprecatingly. “Yeah, that's okay. Sometimes, I forget things, and I’ll probably just have forgotten by then.”

“I wanted to apologize,” Twilight says as they come to Luna’s cell. “About what I did to you.”

“For what, giving me two wonderful foals?” Doug glances over, inspecting her belly. “Three? Oh, I’m sorry I forgot. Selene will be so happy to have a sister for hers!”

“It’s…” Twilight says, trailing off. Her voice comes out harsh. “I’m not your Twilight.”

“Oh.” Doug looks even more confused. “Well, good for you. I'm glad you found love somewhere else. But we all knew the alicorns wouldn’t have that option.”

“They wouldn’t…” Sweet Celestia, that’s what happened here?

Doug shakes his head at her obvious disgust, leaving Twilight behind as he enters Nightmare Moon’s cell. “Hey, Woona! How are you today? Did you have a good night?”

“I have told you three thousand times to stop calling me that, human. How many more times must I demand your obedience?”

“At least once more, I’m afraid. I have a hard time remembering things. Was the food good?”

“The cooks seem to think I have a fondness for cake, despite more going on the walls than in my stomach.”

Twilight walks up to the cell wall, gazing in. Nightmare Moon rests on a simple bed, devoid of her two foot long horn and all her finery. Her cobalt and purple mane and tail hang limp against her body, cyan crescent moon on her flank. Doug is next to her tall form, petting Nightmare just like he was petting Twilight. She tolerates it, and begrudgingly lets her pleasure be known when he hits a particularly sensitive spot.

“Hey, Twily!” Doug calls, motioning her inside. Twilight hesitates; the cell is heavily warded to prevent nearly all magic. “New wings?”

“Doug,” Twilight says as she steps inside, “I wanted to apologize.”

“I know,” Doug says in a rare moment of lucidity, Twilight glancing over curiously. “I understand what you did, and why. You’re going to want to help everypony. When you return.” He turns to look Twilight in the eyes, demanding her full attention. “I watched you, while you were sparring. You cannot help them here. No matter how much you want, they will make their own decisions. Whether you like it or not, or agree with it or not.”

“But-”

“The only thing that you can do is change yourself, and make your own decisions. Guide others when you can, but you’ll need their tacit approval and willingness. You’re going to have to return, and soon. Very soon.” If possible, his gaze bores deeper into her. The tiniest smirk crosses his face. “Now, when you return, there’s something you’re going to have to say.”

Twilight nods as Doug explains, stepping outside and gathering power. It would be more difficult, not being perfectly lined up, but the hole in her reality shines like a beacon. Why she couldn’t see it this clearly before, she doesn’t know, and perhaps will never find out. Perhaps time travel to solve problems isn’t such a good idea, after all.

She casts, disappearing with a loud, echoing crack.

Twilight reappears outside Sweet Apple Acres, the scene exactly as she remembers. Three alicorns, two changelings, a unicorn, and an owl are scattered around, laying on the ground and barely moving. Doug is just recovering from where he nearly hit her, and begins to charge.

Twilight stands on two hooves, one foreleg sweeping backwards while the other points directly at Doug’s chest. She twists her elbow, the motion feeling weird, and bends her hoof towards herself twice.

She states, in as robotic and flat voice as she can manage, “I know Kung Fu.”

Doug stares at her for a few seconds, in shock, as the other ponies trade nervous glances. Then Doug charges towards her, bellowing incoherently, raising one fist behind his head as the other one leads in front of him.

Twilight casually parries the first blow, and the second. Her training with Selene transfers easily; the human uses different combinations, but she quickly adapts. Soon she is effortlessly diverting each attack, a bored expression on her face as Doug gets more and more enraged. His jabs speed up, but his power diminishes, and she can feel the drain on her fellow ponies.

With a surge of power Twilight knocks his limbs to the side, leaving Doug completely exposed. With one decisive strike Twilight ends the fight, her hoof slamming into his chest, blasting him back several feet. He tumbles to the ground, laying still.

Twilight strides forward, her training with Selene again coming to her mind, and she's not about to let this opportunity go to waste. Her horn charges, readying a beam to pierce through the last of his defenses and end this once and for all. She hesitates - he looks exactly like Doug did when she went back in time, and she skewered a defenseless being. Then he coughs, and weakly raises a battered hand, pointing towards the ponies.

Twilight turns, gazing upon her fellow Princesses. Each lie unresponsive as Starlight looks on worriedly, nearly completely drained of magic. They barely hold on, clinging by a thread, one that she would cut by ending the fight with Doug.

If she chooses to do this, she would kill everypony by saving them.

Twilight’s hooves are heavy against the churned ground, barely managing the strength to lift them. No tears come as she returns to Doug’s side. “I should have realized this a long time ago,” she says as she lays down next to him. “We could never force this out of you. It was always up to you to make the decision. It was in your hands the entire time.”

His head flops to the side, unresponsive.

She drops down, pressing her hooves against his chest, feeling the magic leave her body.

Comments

[badninja]

Well it is sad that Twilight had to teach them this lesson. I hope one day they take it to heart.

[DarkPhoenixx]

What? Why? (The rest don't exactly fit the situation)