The Magister of the Deep

by The Voice in the Water

11 – Clash with the Deep

Twilight’s wings thrummed furiously as she dodged the hale fire of void energy bolts raining down on her from above. Doing an aileron-roll, she narrowly avoided being shot down as she drew her sights on Sunset.

Strike!

Snaking bolts of energy hurtled towards the flying taken. In response, Sunset blinked away and resumed her barrage, forcing Twilight to raise The Aegis and parry some of the shots as she desperately made for cover. A few of the bolts managed to get past her defenses, once punching through her leg while another struck her in the stomach. Wincing in pain, Twilight poured on as much speed as she could muster, trying to fly between two of the nearby buildings, desperate to break Sunset’s line of sight so The Aegis could heal her wounds.

Sunset didn’t let her get far. Raising her hands, she summoned a massive cloud of blighted mist in Twilight’s path, forcing her to veer off course. Another barrage of void energy began to fall from the sky as Sunset resumed her attack.

Twilight could still see the rage in Sunset’s posture and attacks, yet despite her fury, she was still keeping her distance. Clearly, she’d learned from their previous engagements, and was making sure that she kept Twilight as far away as possible. Much to Twilight’s dismay, Sunset clearly had the advantage in long range combat.

She knows that I have to get in close to have any chance of actually hitting her. Twilight thought as she dove behind cover as a massive bolt of energy raked the ground ahead of where she’d been flying. Sunset didn’t relent, blinking to the other side and resuming her attack as dozens of explosive spheres of void energy detonated around Twilight.

Defend!

Pain tore into Twilight’s mind as she brought up her shield, but not fast enough to block all of the blasts. She could feel the Sky’s power flow from the well in The Aegis, mending her body. But she couldn’t hide behind the dome for long. She could already see Sunset preparing for her next attack. Dropping the barrier, she unleashed another volley of energy bolts at the flying taken before launching herself into the air and trying to rush Sunset down.

Sunset simply blinked higher into the sky and began to unleash another volley of void energy bombs at Twilight, forcing her back towards the ground to avoid being blown apart.

She couldn’t keep this up much longer.

Even as The Aegis healed whatever wounds she accrued, Sunset was keeping her pinned down. And sooner or later, she would make a mistake, and give Sunset the opportunity to land a fatal blow.

She needed to turn the tide back in her favor by getting in close with Sunset. Her mind was racing even as she evaded and retaliated against Sunset’s assault. Seeking cover in a building was out. Even if she managed to get inside, Sunset could just bring the structure down on her head. And while The Aegis could hold all of that weight at bay for a little while, it wouldn’t last forever, and she’d be crushed. If Sunset didn’t just blow up the ruble to finish the job.

And there was no way to rush her, because every time she tried, Sunset would blink away and attack her from a new angle.

Eyeing one of the damaged buildings, Twilight saw her chance to get some breathing room. As the latest volley of void bombs detonated around her, she swung The Aegis up and took aim at the six-story structure.

Delete!

The bolt of light slammed into the base of the building, detonating and causing the structure to begin collapsing. Sunset’s volley stopped as a wave of dust and debris flew into the air, obscuring Twilight’s position. Not wasting the chance, Twilight flew as fast as she could away from the plaza and Sunset.

Wings thrumming as hard as she could push them, she sped away before ducking into a small building and pressing herself up against an inside wall. She knew Sunset would be looking for her as soon as the dust settled, and she needed a plan.

How can I turn the tide! Twilight screamed in her mind.

As she desperately tried to think of a way that she could win, Twilight’s eyes darted around the building, alert for any sign that Sunset was approaching. As she did, she realized where she was hiding; it was a transit station of some sort. Then it struck her. This wasn’t just a transit station; it was a transit hub, one with maps of different forms of public transit laid out across Canterlot city.

But one map in particular caught her attention: the one labeled “subway stations”.

She remembered from her conversations with Sunset… the real Sunset… that the humans used underground trains called subways to get around their cities.

The tunnels.

That was the answer.

She had to find a way to force Sunset underground and into the tunnels. If she could manage it, she could get her in close range, and prevent her from using her blinks to get away. She’d limit her own mobility, but with The Aegis’s defenses, she could manage.

Hastily looking at the map again, she saw a marker indicating her current position, and dozens of other points across the city, including one just outside where she was hiding.

That was it. She had her opportunity. She just hoped that she could make it work.

*****

The Magister’s head swung back and forth across the landscape around her, searching for the bearer. She couldn’t believe that she’d fallen for the same trick twice, and lost track of her foe. She’d let her temper get the best of her over the loss of the other. At the thought, she could feel her fury starting to rise again, but she clamped it down. She couldn’t act rashly. Not when the bearer had the opportunity to potentially ambush her.

She wasn’t going to lose this fight. She wasn’t going to let the Sky defeat her again.

As she searched, she kept her hands charged with the deep’s power, ready to unleash it at a moment’s notice. She could vaguely feel the Sky’s power nearby, but, as before, she couldn’t pin it down. She could tell that it was getting fainter, which in all likelihood meant that bearer was retreating.

Coward.

Well, if she wouldn’t face the Magister, then the Magister would just have to track down the other bearers and force the issue. She could still feel them off in the distance. And unlike the bearer she’d been facing, they were easy prey.

She was honestly surprised that they hadn’t come along with the other bearer. From what her false-self’s memories told her, they would have insisted on coming. They were foolish Sky-slaves like that. The bearer must have prevented it somehow. Still, if they were restrained in some way, she’d be more than happy to free them. From everything.

As she prepared to slip into the Deep’s space, she felt the Sky’s presence begin to grow stronger. So, the bearer hadn’t fled, only sought to find an advantageous position to strike. Good.

Pulling power into her hands and re-summoning her rapier, the Magister scanned the surrounding area, searching for the bearer.

The presence was drawing closer, and it was drawing closer fast. She swore in her mind at the cursed vessel’s confounding ability to confuse her senses. She just had to be ready for…

She heard the thrumming of the bearer’s wings… from above!

She drew power to blink away, but never finished as the bearer dove into her back, slamming the vessel into her and driving her towards the ground. Her concentration broken, she couldn’t muster the focus to blink out of their power-dive.

A power-dive that she could see was taking them directly towards the entrance to the underground the humans used to move about their city.

That was her plan. She was going to force the Magister into underground and into close quarters to take away her ranged advantage, and instead force her into melee, where the bearer would have the advantage.

Clever!

A silent thrill filled her. The bearer was turning out to be such a deliciously devious opponent.

It would be so wonderful to finally kill her.

*****

Twilight drove forward with everything she had, pushing Sunset through the subway’s entrance, past the kiosks and loading platform and into the tunnels. With a mighty heave, she threw Sunset forward and skidded to a halt. Sunset tumbled through the air, but managed to right herself and stop her tumble. Twilight wasn’t going to give her the chance to recover.

Delete!

The sphere of energy rocketed towards Sunset. An instant later, Sunset blinked past the bolt and launched a volley of void energy at Twilight. Raising The Aegis, Twilight summoned her shield, deflecting the bolts before her wings snapped open.

Detonate!

The sphere of light exploded behind Sunset, bringing the tunnel down and cutting off her retreat.

This was it. She couldn’t let Sunset get the upper hand again.

Wings thrumming, Twilight launched herself at Sunset, who raised her rapier and charged as well. The two clashed, both probing the other’s defense for weaknesses, Sunset lashing out with her rapier and void energy whenever Twilight began to gain an advantage, Twilight using the sharpened energy field on the edge of The Aegis to slash at Sunset or batter her with its face.

Slowly, Sunset began to gain ground, forcing Twilight more and more onto the defense. But Twilight wouldn’t relent. She had to end this.

She needed to make an opportunity.

Shifting her defenses ever so slightly, she began to leave her left side open to attack. She hoped that Sunset would take the bait, and that when she did, the blow wouldn’t be fatal.

Sensing an opening, Sunset struck, her rapier slipping past The Aegis and punching through Twilight's shoulder. There was a sickening crack as the shaprened point of her blade penetrated Twilight's hardened carapace. A hideous wail erupted from the blade as Sunset unleashed her power, blasting Twilight’s arm clean off.

Twilight powered through the pain.

She had her opening.

With a mighty upward swing, she lashed out with the edge of The Aegis, and took Sunset’s right arm off at the elbow. Sunset recoiled and tried to retreat, but without missing a beat, Twilight reversed the direction of her swing, and with a mighty hammer strike, lunged forward and drove the bladed force field deep into Sunset’s chest. Had Sunset still been human, the blow would have been fatal as The Aegis's field sliced through her ribs and nearly clean through her torso.

In an instant, all the strength left Sunset’s body, her face shifting from hate filled to confused as she looked down at the blade of energy slicing into her. Stumbling forward, she fell off The Aegis’s edge and onto the ground, barely holding herself up on her hand and knees, phosphorescent blood pouring from the two wounds.

Staggering back, Twilight regarded the bleeding taken for a moment. Then, raising The Aegis, she pointed the gem at Sunset.

Delete!

Time slowed to a crawl from Twilight’s perspective as the bolt discharged from The Aegis’s surface. An eternity of seconds later, the bolt struck Sunset squarely in the back, before the Sky’s energy began to tear into her form, disintegrating the taken. Unlike the taken Twilight, Sunset didn’t cry out in pain as she was ripped apart. Instead, she simply let it happen without protest, as though she had accepted her fate.

In seconds, the being that had once been Sunset Shimmer silently boiled away into nothingness, leaving only a scorched patch of ground behind.

An overwhelming sense of exhaustion fell onto Twilight as she slumped to the side of the tunnel and slid to the ground. She could feel The Aegis’s power spreading through her, sealing her wounds and beginning the process of re-growing her lost arm, but she barely registered it all. It was over…

It was over…

She’d stopped Sunset.

*30 minutes later, on the outskirts of Canterlot City*

“Do you think she won?” Fluttershy asked softly to the others as she peered through her birding binoculars. Seeing nothing, she passed the magnifying device to Pinkie Pie.

“Ah hope so Shy’. Ah hope so.” Applejack replied, her arms crossed as she hid her face behind her hat.

The five girls were standing near the edge of the barrier. After futilely trying to break through the shimmering dome, they had accepted that the only thing they could do was wait. Through Fluttershy’s birding binoculars they’d seen flashes of strange light and buildings collapsing in what they could only imagine was the battle between Sunset and Twilight.

But it had been nearly half an hour since the last sign of the fight had died down, and now they were waiting. Waiting for either a triumphant Twilight to return and release them, or Sunset to arrive and finish them off.

At this point, they weren’t exactly sure which one they would have preferred.

“Girls! Look!” Pinkie exclaimed, pointing to the sky in the distance through the binoculars, before passing the device to Rainbow. Raising the magnifying lenses to her eyes, Rainbow spotted a blob of lavender rapidly approaching them from the edge of the city.

“Its Twilight!” Rainbow exclaimed, “She’s coming! She must have won!”

There was a hopeful murmur and sighs of relief as the lavender colored speck grew in size. Eventually, the battered form of princess Twilight flew to the edge of the dome, which slowly dissolved, freeing the Rainbooms. The five humans rushed up to her, bombarding her with questions.

Raising her hand to silence them, Twilight stood still for a moment as sutures started forming on her face. A moment later, the blank surface split open along the sutures, peeling back and revealing the princess's natural visage.

“Its over.” Twilight said morosely, her voice carrying a strange, echoing timbre as though thousands of voices were speaking at once. “Sunset’s gone…”

The relief on everyone’s faces was palpable.

“So, what happens now?” Rarity asked, bringing everyone down from the elated high of Sunset’s defeat.

“Ah… Ah need to get to Sweet Apple Acres. Ah have to find mah’ family.” Applejack said. “Maybe they were far enough away that the blast didn’t get ‘em.”

There was a murmur of agreement between the Rainbooms.

“There’s no point.” Twilight said, her voice on the verge of tears.

“Twilight, ya’ don’t know fer sure. They might have made it. Ah can see the Acres from here.” Applejack said as she pointed to the orchard in the distance, its trees bare and dead, as was all the vegetation in the valley.

“Applejack, nobody survived.” Twilight sobbed. “Everyone down there is dead. If the blast didn’t kill them, the blight did.”

Twilight didn’t respond as the girls all gasped in horror. Instead, she turned to look at the ruin that was Canterlot City.

“The blight, even now, is spreading. Poisoning the air, the water, the ground. Making it unable to support life. It was clever cruelty. I’d say that, at best, this world will be unable to support any life in a week at most.” Twilight sighed as she turned back to the Rainbooms. “I’m sorry, but the Deep has won this battle.”

The shock of Twilight’s revelation was too much to bear, and the Rainbooms all fell to the ground in utter crushing despair.

“So… that’s it?” Rainbow said, “That’s all you have to say? That we’re doomed? That Sunset WON!?”

Twilight flinched as Rainbow Dash yelled at her, tears forming in her eyes.

“Dammit! Say something!” the athlete snarled “Why couldn’t you have been faster! We’ve lost everything! Our families! Our friends! Our whole fucking world! How are you going to make this right, princess!?”

“I can’t make it right Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said between sobs, “Nobody can.”

“So what now!?” Rainbow yelled, “What are we supposed to do?!”

“I’m sorry.” Twilight said solemnly. “The best I can do is offer you asylum. I won’t force you, but if you’re willing, I can bring you to Equestria. It’s what little I can offer you. You’re very likely some of the last humans alive. If you stay, everything that ever was life on this world will be gone. But, if you come with me, at least something of your world will live on.”

“That’s it?” Rainbow hissed. “That’s all you can say?”

“What do you want from me Rainbow Dash? Need I remind you that I’m not the one who started all of this. It was one of you humans that set this whole debacle in motion. Sunset was happy here with all of you. She loved you all like sisters. And all it took for you to throw all that away was an obvious frame job and a few embarrassing secrets.” Twilight’s voice was becoming frantic, yet she pushed on. “Do you want me to blame all of you for this? Do you want me to blame myself? Sunset Shimmer? Princess Celestia? The Creator? The Sky and the Deep? Random chance? Rainbow Dash, we all share some blame here, and even as much as I wish it were otherwise, what’s done is done.”

Twilight recomposed herself as she stared down at the humans.

“I won’t force you, but I want to save something. Even if I couldn’t save your world, I can save you. Please. Don’t let everything that this world made die.” Twilight sobbed. “Let me save something of the place that Sunset loved. The real Sunset. Not the monster she became. The one that, once upon a time, was our friend.”

The Rainbooms were silent for a long time, each one mulling over the princess’s offer. One by one, they came to a decision.

Author's Note:

So, we're in the home stretch here. All that's left is the epilogue, and we're done with this thing.

Comments

[AKrenegade]

Amazing

[Featherfury]

No, Twilight. You can’t blame yourself for this. The only ones to blame are the CMCs for starting Anon-A-Miss in the first place and the Rainbooms for being dumb enough to fall for the trick.

[JCY2k16]

Alright! I knew Twilight would pull through.

Also, Rainbow......Goku, Cell, would you two please?
You are in no position to be demanding anything! Because of you, your friends and your desperate need to keep your Canterlot City sized ego of in check, you didn't believe and supported Sunset when she was being bashed for something SHE DIDN'T DO!and because of that, she became the apocalypse that has caused the end of the world! In other words, this is a bed you're lying on that you made. And now, you'll never know that it was because of the little girl who always looked up to you is one of the three who is responsible for all of this!

[The Voice in the Water]

9803268
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

9803367
Well, I imagine that she does blame herself for not having the journal with her and being able to offer Sunset comfort like in the canon story. While it isn't really her fault, I feel like it's in her character to feel guilty that she couldn't do more. Especially in the time frame that this happens in.

9803481
Oh, Rainbow isn't in the right at all, but she is currently in shock over everything that went down. In one fell swoop, she lost everything, and she's looking for someone, anyone, to blame. She's clearly not thinking rationally right now, and while its harsh, Twilight's right to call her out on it.

[Omnipotence]

well I'm glad the Equestrian Humans get what they deserved, but is Anon-A-Miss gonna be revealed?!

I mean the CMC are pretty much the reason that their world is gonna die.

[The Grimm Reaper]

Huh, perhaps the only story in which Anon-A-Miss dies. I kinda like that.