The End is Not the End

by Hoofprintz

The End I

So close. I was so darn close!

Just a little bit to the left and Kis would be nothing more than a pile of ash. Instead, her arm and leg had been incinerated by the might of my sunlight. The look of all-consuming hatred on her face was euphoric, but I didn't have the time to bask in her anger.

I blasted into the sky as if I'd been shot out of a cannon, several amplification sigils fading away in my wake. My shoulder slammed into what was left of Kis' stomach, taking her as far away from the others as I could manage. The greater the distance between the two of us and my family, the less I had to rein in my strength. While I would still have to be extremely wary of razing the planet, it would take so much more energy to destroy an entire world, at least in comparison to the amount it would take to burn a single organic being to death.

"Y-You'll pay... YOU'LL PAY!!!" The sudden intense sense of mortal danger that gripped my heart forced me to teleport away from my enemy. Once behind her, I caught a glimpse of the pitch black magical dagger in her claw raised high above her head. Had I continued on my trajectory, that knife would most certainly already be deep in my withers.

The momentum I'd exerted on Kis forced her to continue my way, not giving her enough time to react to my sudden change in location. With a resounding thud and crackle of lightning I slammed my sun hammer directly into her spine sending her plummeting to the ground below.

"YOU FIRST!!!" I roared as her body cratered into the dirt. I filled the hole with a massive amount of sunlight, immediately burning most of the area to a desolate wasteland. If she was still down there, she was definitely dead.

No, she's just fine. It can't possibly be that easy.

"So ANNOYING!" her voice was shaking, as if all of the damage we'd done thus far was finally starting to get to her.

There's still a chance. There has to be...

I felt the same sense of dread as before fill me with fear. I launched myself back with a powerful flap of my wings, the sphere of evil magic that appeared where I'd been a second earlier, pulsing menacingly. Were I still occupying that space I would most assuredly be dead. Even from where I hovered, I could feel the magical pressure of the orb that was meters away from me. Watching the sphere sizzle and warp the space around itself sent chills down my spine.

"Why won't you die, you MONSTER!?" I searched for her up and down, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Why won't you? It's not like you haven't done it millions of times before," she blipped back into reality in front of me, whole and completely unharmed. There would be no whittling her down slowly, no stacking damage over time until she could no longer continue.

It's all or nothing.

Either I could disintegrate her in one fell swoop or I could be defeated.

There's only one option.

"You've taken too much away from me, Kis!" I charged sunlight into my horn, ready for another round. "First Flurry and now Twilight... I swear, I'll see your downfall! Even if it costs me my life!"

"It wouldn't be the first time, Celestia! It's what you deserve, after all!" Her entire being shimmered with evil mana, much like my sister's night sky, but so much more sinister. "If I can't get my claws on Justice, then I'll torment you for eternity, even if you do somehow manage to get rid of this body!" she cackled psychotically.

"You bear such a horrendous grudge because of my creator!?" The very idea disgusted me.

What a foolish reason to do such horrid things to another being.

I wasn't even aware of who Justice was until today and I was being tormented because of her this entire time? It all sounded so...

Sad...

"THAT'S RIGHT!!!" she beamed at me, a look of utter elation. "And it' will NEVER END, CELESTIA! I'll make you suffer for the rest of this life, the next, and EVERY! SINGLE! ONE! AFTER!" She launched herself at me, black claws directed at my throat.

Before she could reach me she collided with a wall of pure sunlight, her flesh igniting instantly. The agonized screams that escaped her were equal parts disturbing and horrifying.

"Kis... you would hold onto such enmity... forever?" Seeing her in this pathetic state, consumed by pain and an unquenchable rage moved something deep inside of me. "Full of hatred and anger all of your existence?"

"I HAVE NOTHING ELSE!!!" she bellowed through the shrieks as her body continued to melt away. "WHO DO YOU THINK CREATED ME?! WHY DO YOU THINK I-" she ceased speaking, though her screams persisted.

"Kis..." was all I could mutter.
Had Justice also made the pitiable canine? What had caused such a rift to grow between the two? I could not venture a guess, but I wanted to find out.

"DON'T!" she growled through clenched teeth. "Don't you DARE pity ME, CELESTIA!" Her screams ended as her injuries gradually began to heal themselves, but her voice had grown guttural and demonic.

"Kis, yo-"

"DESPISE ME! HATE ME! KILL ME!" She took a deep breath before summoning another mammoth sized axe. Her trademark cocky grin was gone, only a deep sadness within her eyes. "Or die... It's your choice, Celestia." The malice and hatred were all gone.

"We don't have to fight, Kis. I'm not Justice." I felt something inside me start to swell and throb, a light beginning to shine within my breast, calming me and giving me a strange sense of serenity. "Your ire is wholly misplaced."

"You're her most precious creation, Celestia," she pointed at me. "Stabbing at you is no different than stabbing at her." It was baffling. Kis' demeanor had changed right before my very eyes and I could not comprehend why.

Why is she so reserved now? So... calm? "First Luna and now you?" she shook her head in disgust. "Why can't you all just hate me? I killed Flurry. I killed Twilight. What is wrong with you?"

"I..." She was correct and so, I had no proper reply.

Where has my righteous indignation gone? Why am I trying to broker peace with this... this monster?

The light inside me grew stronger, beating like a second heart.

F-Flurry?

"What kind of spell is this?" Kis stared at the luminescence emanating from me, a look of unabashed confusion on her face.

"This is the remnant of the one you killed in the Crystal Empire, Kis." I couldn't help but smile at the warmth and love Flurry's magic filled me with.

Could she be the one pushing me to strive for peace?

There was no other explanation. "Flurry Heart was a kind mare in life and now, even in death, she desires only harmony." A look of sheer agony spread across Kis' face.

"Then Flurry Heart is a fool. In death, as she was in life." She sighed as the evil energy exploded from within her like an atom bomb. I had to shield my face from the surge of power that erupted from her. "Prepare yourself, Celestia." The lifeless look in her eyes terrified me. "I won't hold back any longer."

She threatened me, but the fact that she even offered a warning spoke volumes of where her mind was at. Still I had to be ready. If any of her attacks landed flush with me it would spell my demise. I took up a purely defensive stance, the god's demise no longer my desire. If I had to attack, it would be to knock her off balance or to prevent her from establishing a rhythm.

"I will show you, Kis," my body shined gold like my sun with flecks of Flurry's light blue mana running throughout. Kis wielded her axe as if it weighed nothing as she lunged toward me. "The true power of Friendship!"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The battle between Celestia and Kis was beyond my abilities, of that I was certain. Still, I was the Princess of Friendship at one point, and that title was not something that I could not so easily forsake, no matter how many sins I committed. Luna, Cadance, and I soared into the sky coming to a stop between my old mentor and the beast that was trying to put an end to our world.

The three of us were forced to produce a magical barrier in the middle of their fight, eliminating Celestia's beam of sunlight as well as Kis' lance of darkness. While Kis looked shocked at our intervention, Celestia was overjoyed at the sudden interruption.

"Twilight! You're alright!" she laughed. "I truly thought..." her voice cracked as she turned away.

"Thanks to Cadance," I said not taking my eyes off of Kis once I'd given her my full attention. She was simply far too dangerous to take my eyes off, even though I wanted nothing more than to embrace Celestia.

"Are you impossible to kill!?" Kis was trembling, either with fear or with fury. If I had to venture a guess which, I'd go with the latter, but the look on her face didn't agree with my assessment. "This is stupid." she rubbed her face with her palm, as if she'd just gotten a migraine.

"Maybe your heart's just not in it, Kis," I said cautiously. Pushing her into blowing a fuse again was the last thing I wanted to do. "Maybe you don't really want to kill us... maybe that was all Met."

"I AM MET!" her face contorted in anger as she rushed toward me, axe raised high above her head.

"If that is true, why did you change when he left?" I made no moves, either to defend myself or to stop her, nor did the others, though I did hear the chimes of their mana surging. The blade of her weapon stopped millimeters from my face. She looked completely confounded as her jaw clenched and slackened repeatedly. Her eyes stayed on me, vibrating as if she were about to start crying.

"W-what!?" she huffed. Her breast rose and fell rapidly, the panic in her rising, as if somepony had just asked her an unanswerable question.

"If you and Met truly are one entity," I didn't budge. "Why can you be separated like this?" Her eyes shot open as the grip on her axe tightened.

"T-that's not... why would that even matter?" she snarled, though she too refused to move an inch.

"Why are you doing this, Kis?" Cadance continued my train of thought for me. She was clever, she'd already gathered what I was trying to accomplish and was attempting to help me. For her part, Kis merely shifted her gaze to my sister, still refusing to remove the head of her axe from its precarious position. I'd seen the green tinge in her eyes before, though I couldn't quite place my hoof where at the moment.

"I... we... we needed a body! W-we need to give the souls of this world rest!" Her eyes closed tightly, the conflict inside her on full display for all of us to see. "We... I..." Her conjured axe shattered into pieces, the magic dissipating right before our eyes. She covered her face with her claws, a loud groan escaping her. "I... I have to help. I have to hurt... Justice. She abandoned... me."

"Kis... what does that mean?" Luna asked as the four of us exchanged uneasy glances. The Princess of the Night had waged a one-pony war on her own sister and the rest of Equestria because she'd felt as if she'd been abandoned. If anypony could relate to the god, it was definitely her.

"I don't... I-" the ear-piercing scream that came from Kis' mouth was staggering enough to force the four of us back several feet.

"Something's wrong!" Celestia shouted as a torrent of dark energy exploded out of Kis' body. Our barriers might have been strong enough to protect us from the wave of power, but we'd never know for sure. We snapped out of reality and reappeared on the ground a few miles away from the large sphere of darkness that now encompassed Kis.

"W-who... did that?" Cadance asked what we were all thinking as we all exchanged confused glances with one another.

"Shoot, and you all were so close too! I really thought you were gonna do it." The four of us froze at the all too familiar voice none of us had been in contact with for years.

"Discord!" Celestia was the first to break from her stupor while the rest of us were still too stunned to say a word. "Where have you been?" She'd galloped up to him, possibly to give him a hug, but instead stopping short. Her frustration at his sudden disappearance came to the forefront as she prodded him in the chest with an annoyed hoof.

"I've been around, Celestia. Keeping watch," he patted her gently atop her head, something that would have normally enraged the princess, but today drew a foalish giggle from her instead. "I was unable to do anything to help for such a long time, being bound by the rules and all."

"It is good to see you again, Discord," Luna smiled warmly at the draconequus.

"The feeling is mutual, Luna," He returned her cordiality with a bow.

"Discord," Cadance respectfully bowed her head slightly, a smile coming to her face.

"Mi Amore," he performed the same gesture before looking my way.

"Twilight," His smile turned into a confident smirk, as if he were aware of something I wasn't.

"Was it you?" I asked, remembering back to the events that had transpired in Ponyville.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're on about, Princess," he shrugged, his deceit as easy to see through as a glass of the cleanest water.

"Thanks," I couldn't help but chuckle. "You don't know how much I needed it." If he hadn't been there for me, if I'd have kept sliding down that hill, I may never have realized the error of my ways. "It's good to see you, Discord."

"It's good to be back, Your Highness." He looked up at the orb of darkness that was slowly growing in proportion, a look of severe disappointment overtaking him. "I just wish it were under more pleasant circumstances." His mirth was completely gone, replaced by the same look of sadness he had the day he'd lost his other half.

"Were we truly in so much danger, Discord?" Luna asked, also looking up with him. "Tis the same as the evil mana around the cities and towns, is it not?"

"Not... quite," he almost growled his response, his demeanor shifting to one of disgust. I'd never seen his mood change in such a manner at such a rapid pace.

This has to be worse than we thought.

"What we are looking at is one hundred percent pure unadulterated evil magic."

"Meaning... what... exactly?" Celestia asked for the rest of us.

"That ball is going to keep growing and growing, spreading further across the planet, consuming everything in its path until..." he sighed, his vigor completely gone. "Well, I'm sure you all can use your imaginations."

"If it's at all similar to the spells I was using, then it should just absorb the souls of-"

"No, that's not quite what will happen, Twilight," he interjected. "This is completely different than that spell. This," he summoned a small replica of our world floating just above his open claw. "Will taint the planet itself." He emphasized his statement by turning the globe he'd manifested a dark black.

"No way..." Cadance was the first to speak, the rest of us beyond bewildered by Discord's declaration to say anything.

"Sadly, it's the truth, Cadance," he squashed the small ball in his claw causing its instant destruction. "As soon as she lost it, the fate of this world was sealed," he sniggered in disbelief. "I'd give it a few hours, half a day at most. How ironic... by the Lord of Fate, no less," he sighed.

"Why is she doing this?" Celestia hadn't resigned herself or our world to such an unsavory fate, her question obviously meant to draw a possible solution to the predicament. "Does her hate truly run so deep?"

"Honestly? I don't think so," he stroked his beard, his answer drawing scrutiny from the four of us.

If it isn't hatred, what could it be?

"Kis is a very troubled individual."

"Elaborate, Discord." Luna wasn't demanding an explanation although the words she chose to utilize could be construed as such. The draconequus didn't seem to mind as he ruminated on the correct way to explain.

"When Justice created Kismet and I, she'd given us clear cut objectives, roles, if you will." I wasn't sure who Justice was, but even my curiosity knew there wasn't enough time for questions like that. "While I thrived in my duties, Kismet only struggled in his. I think he wanted to please Justice... to make her proud, but..."

"But?" Celestia didn't seem confused at all. She must be privy to some knowledge the rest of us weren't because Luna, Cadance, and I were barely able to follow, much less ask questions.

"Chaos is different than Fate, obviously. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, and whatever I did was always what I had been created to do. Chaos is not inherently evil, it's just... well, chaotic. I've never felt as if I were a disappointment to Justice, but Kismet is... different," he shook his head. "Fate is... a necessity, but can be very... cruel. No matter how you view reality mostly all lives must come to an end. Eventually, mortals have to pass. Justice knew this to be true, but she couldn't help but hate it. Sorrow, sadness, grief... these were not emotions that she wanted her creations to experience, yet Kismet was forced to perform his duty despite that fact. Over time, Justice came up with a plan to try to reduce the... negativity of Fate. She decided to cycle the existence of the reality she had
created."

"Cycle?" Cadance lifted a brow.

"Think of it like a clock that moves its numbers around at the start of every new day." His analogy was a little hard to follow, but I think I got the gist of it. "The day is a different one, but the numbers in each day are always the same."

"So everypony on this planet stays the same," I wondered out loud, "but our outcomes and the events that take place in our lives vary and change."

"Exactly, Twilight!" he pointed at me with a nod of his head. "Justice didn't like what happened to her creation so she repeated time, over and over and over again."

"That's... insanity..." Luna remarked, disbelief either at the prospect of reliving life infinitum or that there was a being powerful enough to perpetuate such a concept. "To what end does she insist on continuing such behavior?"

"That's why everything fell apart, Luna. It's Kismet's job to, hmm, how to put this, to author the stories of the lives Justice has created. By making a loop of time she was basically saying 'I do not like what you have done, Kismet', at least, in his mind that's how she felt..." Discord looked sad as he gave us that tidbit of information, almost as if he pitied Kismet.

"It's a horrible feeling when you believe you've let down the one you care about most," I couldn't keep my eyes off of Celestia as the words left my mouth. The look of sympathy she offered did little to remedy me of my shame.

"Which is the saddest part of all of this. I don't think Justice has ever been displeased with Kismet," he sighed. "It's just in her nature. She could never be content with the death of all she's made. Regardless, the endless repetition of perceived disappointment took a toll on Kismet's psyche. Eventually, Something had to give and that's when Kis became her own consciousness."

"So we were right!" Cadance exclaimed.

"Yes... and no, though I'm sure you're all already aware of that," he mused. "While she is her own being, she cannot exist without Met. It's a most regrettable situation."

"You speak as if you have feelings for her, Discord," Luna raised a brow. Discord tilted his head, thinking deeply for a moment before speaking.

"You could say that, but more like a younger sister than a significant other... that position is already filled, thank you very much," he cleared his throat, looking rather sheepish. "Kis is the unhinged side of Kismet, but she's also the half that reveres and respects Justice. Met is the half that loathes Justice more than anything else."

"So if I understand correctly, going against Met's wishes would be like betraying her own ideals." Cadance's conclusion made a lot of sense.

"A betrayal of oneself," Luna interjected.

"Precisely. That's why she's been fighting so hard with you all, but... also not trying very hard either." Discord was pleased with our quick comprehension.

"If that was Kis not trying very hard, I would hate to face her when she puts her heart into it." Luna stared up at the orb with a look of admiration lifting her lips.

"If what you're saying is true, Discord, then that means..." I finally realized what his intentions were, what he was trying to express to us.

As the mass grew around Kis the ground began to vibrate harder, slowly at first and then with a ferocity that had us all fighting to stay upright. At the current rate I wouldn't have time to explain myself or what I wanted to try.

"There must be something we can do!" Luna leapt into the air so she wouldn't have to fight to keep her balance. "As long as I have breath, I will never give up." She said the words with confidence, but it was easy to see how shaken she was, much like the rest of us.

"Not that I'm aware of." Discord floated in the air, a small tea set hovering in front of him. "Might as well enjoy the time we have left with one another," he said as he grabbed a cup and took a light sip.

"It... can't be," Celestia was now in the air as well, her wings flapping while the rest of her body slumped as if the world itself was pulling her down at an intensified rate.

I looked around at my friends. The only ones I had left.

No, they aren't merely my friends.

Celestia, the one that I'd always looked up to. The one I'd honestly considered my second mother. The one I could never stop loving.

Luna. Although she'd always been reserved towards me I'd considered her to be a rival, a friend, and honestly beyond that, an older sister.

Cadance... what could I say about Cadance? She was my sister. I loved her so much.

Discord. Even though he'd been gone for so long he was a dear friend and almost a brother... but I'd never tell him something like that.

Flurry. My precious niece. She may not be with us physically, but... I touched my chest with a hoof. I could still feel her magic inside of me, letting me know that this was the correct decision.

I had to take responsibility, had to do something. I had to atone for my sins and redeem myself, if even just a little.

My resolve will not falter! I will let this be the end of their story!

I stared up at the expanding sphere of inky darkness, took a deep breath, and teleported to face the end I'd had a hoof in cultivating. I only prayed there really was something I could do.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"TWILIGHT!!?!!?" Aunt Celestia, Aunt Luna, and I all yelled out in unison as the purple alicorn flashed out of existence. There was no way to know where a teleportation spell would take somepony, but I think we all knew where she'd gone. I couldn't say for sure what possessed me in that moment, but I acted without thinking, my body moving of its own volition.

I was flying straight at the ball of darkness, the most powerful barrier of love mana I could conjure coating my body instantly. I slammed into the wall of evil, pushing several meters in before my momentum slowed to a crawl. I refused to give up, forcing my way to the core where I knew I'd find my sister.

"TWILIGHT!" I shouted as I continued to push in the direction I thought to be the correct one. The magic was so dense and dark that I was already having trouble distinguishing one way from any other. As I delved deeper and deeper into the void my barrier began to crack and fracture, small fissures forming all over my spell. If I didn't find my sister soon this would be a one way trip.

My progress stopped, the mana now far thicker than any quicksand. It felt as if I were within rapidly drying cement that was just about hardened to the point of stone. I took a shaky breath in through my nose and pushed it out through my mouth.

I have to stay calm.

Panicking in a situation like this could spell catastrophe. I pushed more love into my barrier, the fractures sealing for just a moment before reopening.

Is my love really so weak that this evil magic can overpower it so effortlessly?

Of course not, Mom.

My daughter's voice rang out in my mind.

Remember what you did for Prismia? This is no different.

She was right, of course.

I have to keep fighting.

I had to help Twilight, and if my daughter hadn't given up...

Then neither have I.

As my determination grew so did the sparkling blue glow inside of me. Flurry's magic. Even now she was with me, empowering me... lighting my way. I rushed forward faster than before, the darkness no match for the combined strength of my daughter and I.

"Kis, I'm here to help, but you have to talk to me!" Once the darkness cleared somewhat I found myself floating inside of a wide open space. Twilight was banging her hoof on what appeared to be a large glass marble. Inside of said marble sat Kis, her head tucked between her legs, arms crossed on her knees.

"You shouldn't have come here, Twilight. Now it's too late to escape," Kis spoke without lifting her head. "You can't change what's already been decided. This planet will fall. Justice will be defeated and the perpetuation of the cycles will come to an end... we have decreed it so."

"Is that what YOU really want!?" Twilight had stopped attacking the sphere, her hoof dropping limply along with the rest of her body. "Are you happy hurting the one who loves you so much like this, Kis?" Kis' body jerked at the possibility of the one who'd given her life actually caring for her.

"It doesn't matter what I want anymore," she remained in her seated position. "It is what will be... like I said, we've already decreed it."

Twilight's head drooped even more at the reply she'd received. I willed myself over to the purple alicorn, coming to a stop right next to her. I gently laid a hoof on her shoulder, a comforting smile the only thing I could think to offer her. She jumped at the sudden physical contact, at first surprised by my presence and then smiling in appreciation.

"Kis," My appearance had revitalized my sister, a sudden look of resolve coming to her. "You only want to make Justice happy," Kis' body reacted once again. "You've only ever wanted to make her happy..." Twilight paused, either for dramatic effect, or to gather her thoughts. "Do you honestly believe this will please her?"

Kis refused to answer for the longest time, Twilight and I waiting in anticipation. The god refused to make a sound and then, at first it was barely perceptible, but it gradually grew in volume.

Is she... crying? It can't be...

"No... of course not, Twilight," she sniffled. The darkness around us began to react to the shift in Kis' mood, contracting and expanding, rumbling fiercely the entire time. "But what do you expect me to do? I can't just-"

"You can, Kis! You aren't bound by anything or anypony else. You only have to choose, to make your own decisions..." Twilight sighed, though it sounded more relieved than exhausted. "To fulfill your own wishes." She must have been pressing the right buttons because Kis became silent yet again, wiping tears from her face with her arms. "I can see it shining, Kis," Twilight grinned as she pressed her hoof back to the glass. "Flurry's magic. It's right there... in your heart, isn't it?"

How can that be? When had Flurry been able to do something like that?

Was Twilight bluffing? Perhaps she was trying to prey on the guilt that Kis might be feeling for her actions? Still the vulpine remained quiet. Had Twilight's play worked or had Flurry somehow done something none of us could have been aware of?

"Met... made a mistake," Kis finally spoke after a span. "When he stole Flurry's cutie mark he meant to use it to defeat you all. It was one of the two things we had no real answer to," she lifted her head, the tears, the sorrow there, easily visible for us to see. "The other issue being you," she pointed a jagged nail at me. "Your love was an unsolvable problem. He absorbed what he thought was Flurry's special talent by stealing her cutie mark."

"Is that even possible?" Twilight asked, her curiosity taking hold of her. "I mean there was that one time Starlight switched-"

"Don't know. It didn't have the intended result anyway." Kis interrupted, shaking her head. "Ever since that day it's pushed him and I further and further apart. The core of Flurry's special talent is love magic," Kis looked at me again, her eyes exhausted. "The strongest love magic to ever exist," she laughed once, but there was no joy in it.
"Met doesn't understand the concept of love because he doesn't love anything. I on the other hand..." she stared at me, reaching a claw my way. "You and your daughter were too strong for us, Cadance... for me. I couldn't break you." She looked upwards, the tears flowing down her face. "Either of you."

"You... love Justice, don't you, Kis?" I said out loud on accident. I didn't want to push Kis in a bad direction, but finally realizing the truth made me blurt it out. She nodded weakly in response.

"Since the day I took Flurry's cutie mark the love that you and Shining Armor have for her has driven the feeling of love I have for my creator beyond my comprehension." Kis huddled back into the safety of her personal space. "And the love Flurry has for you is even more powerful. It's... driving me crazy," she covered her head with her arms again. "I can feel it changing me... turning me into something I'm not."

"But Met isn't changing like you are," Twilight's face lit up in realization. "Because he doesn't understand the concept itself." Kis nodded her head a bit.

"I just... I just w-want..." she began to bawl, her body trembling.

"What is it you want, Kis?" She clutched her head in her claws at Twilight's inquiry. "What do you want to do?"

"I... I... I DON'T KNOW!" It all happened so fast. The darkness behind Twilight and I morphed into large vicious spikes, flying directly at the one causing distress to their creator.

"NO!" My body moved between certain death and my beloved little sister. For just a second, I could swear she had taken on the appearance of my oldest friend. I instantly summoned the most powerful barrier I could produce. Yet again, it was purely on instinct, yet again, my body and my magic acting of their own volition.

"C-CADANCE!!!" I heard Twilight scream, though it sounded as if it had come from miles away. My spell was useless, the evil energy cracking and breaking through it in multiple places with no resistance whatsoever.

Ggghkk The strange guttural noise that came from me was due to the spike that had pierced cleanly through my neck. I could feel a burning sensation in my chest and the left side of my belly as well.

"N-NO! I DIDN'T- I DIDN'T MEAN TO-" I think that was Kis shouting, but I couldn't be sure, the pain eclipsing all my other senses. "I didn't want..." The sound of crying grew louder as the spikes withdrew from my body. I felt shaky hooves draw me into an embrace and cradle me as I descended into them.

"C-Cadance, what do I do? H-how do I fix this?" Twilight's panicked voice was high pitched, as if she were about to break down herself. Tears spilled from her eyes as she tried to use various spells to cover up my wounds. Magic like that was only skin deep though, so the real problem wouldn't be able to be addressed. Even without looking at myself I knew that too many of my organs were damaged beyond repair. I could hardly breathe, the wound in my throat much too severe.

Cadance...

He was here.

He was waiting for me, but I still had to tell Twilight. I still had to give her the last of myself. I knew it was what Flurry would want... and what I wanted too.

"Twi... light," my voice was unrecognizable, raspy and moist. My sister looked at me woefully, her jaw trembling.

"Y-yes?" was all she could say without crumbling to pieces.

"Help... her..." I summoned my love into my horn, the magic glowing more vibrantly than I'd ever recalled. Blue specks of Flurry's magic joined my own, turning the glow from my horn a shade I'd never seen before. "S-save... her..." I gently pulled the purple alicorn's horn into contact with my own. "Love..." I transferred as much energy as I could into my sister before my vision began to blur. "her..."

As my life began to flash before my eyes a moment of true clarity grasped me. Seeing everything again, all the joy, all the peace, all the love... I finally understood. I was not born an alicorn. I was never meant to be an immortal. At one time I had thought fate... had thought Kismet, had blessed me...

They had. That blessing had come with a price, yes, but it was one I wasn't sad to pay. My life had been a dream. A perfectly flawless dream. My friends, my family, my husband, my daughter... Flurry had been my all, and now it was time for me to go... but I was grateful, truly, truly grateful.

With the last of my strength I looked past my sister, finding the devastated Lord of Fate. She bawled, her tears much like my own had been for my departed daughter. It was all so very sad, this god baring her soul for somepony like me to see.

"K-Kis..." I whispered. True love could not sit idly by while anypony was in such sorrow. She clawed at the glass, trying her hardest to reach me, but unable to get past the barrier. The despair that she possessed broke my heart. For some reason, it felt as if Flurry herself were reaching out for me, as if my own daughter...

"C-Cadance!!! I'm so, so sor-"

"Thank... you... K-Kis..." I smiled the most comforting smile I could produce at the sobbing god, though I'm certain my tears weren't helping. She could do nothing more than gape at me in utter shock. "For... everything." I reached out to my daught- no, not for Flurry, to the heartbroken god. "I... l-love... you..." Her jaw quaked as her tears fell unhindered.

For me, a god wailed.

I closed my eyes and took one final breath, my task done. It was time for me to go home. It was time for me to join my Shining. It was time for me to join my Flurry. It was time... to go...

Author's Note:

This chapter still hits me like a truck. I love Cadance and having to write her death hurts me to this day. Still, she did it. She did it.

Comments

[Art]

Really there will be no happy ending and they will restart the cycle where everyone will be happy, but at the same time this cycle cannot be saved? (

Неужели счастливого конца не будет и они перезапустят цикл где уже все будут счастливы но при этом этот цикл уже не спасти? (

[Hoofprintz]

11613427
Perhaps. It could go either way. While Kis is turning, Met is still pure evil so that's a thing. Thanks for reading and the comment!

[Forcalor]

Cadance, go away from the light!

[Hoofprintz]

11614123
Lmao! Reminded me of that Chrys/Cadance comic.