Ruining Harmony

by Artaelian

Final Arc part five

The six friends walked side by side into the room, the door was wide enough for this to be possible. And, either by chance, or the simple fact that Twilight had guessed the throne room would be at the highest point of the castle, they walked in to see Ulysses.

His dark blue coat stood out against the black, and his black cape with golden edges and the gold star with six circles of six colours looked perfect and undamaged. Ulysses sat with his back towards them on a lighter marble in the middle of the room.

Behind them, the doors closed quietly. As they clicked, Ulysses raised his head, but still didn’t turn to face them.

“And so, at long last, you have come to face me. How did it feel? Running for your lives from your home, leaving it to me for six years.” He spoke softly and with purpose.

“No more games Ulysses. You’ve caused problems for us all, for the world. Give up now, this doesn’t have to end badly.” Twilight stated.

“You speak as if you have won, Twilight Sparkle. No, no you haven’t won. I am still here, still drawing breath. You may claim victory if you defeat me. But I digress, please, answer my question.”

None of the friends said anything, as they stared at Ulysses’ back.

“You need not answer. I can tell you. You felt fear, sorrow, anger, you felt as if you had betrayed all those you knew and cared for the most. And then,” Ulysses paused, “then I threw salt into the wound of you running for your pathetic lives. I used my magic, and sent Cloudsdale to the void, almost certainly killing half the population in that moment. How could you all live so peacefully in the safety provided to you in Irvest, after all that?”

“We lived with ourselves because we knew one day, we’d come back and make you pay for all you did.” Rainbow Dash spat at the ground.

“Tell me, how did you find Irvest, my old home? Didn’t you like it? How we have advanced to do what you can here in Equestria, but with more style? Tell me, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, how did it feel, when you found we leave the weather control itself? Did you feel that your wings were useless, superfluous?”

Ulysses took this moment to laugh to himself, but the six friends did not move or change their angered expressions.

“But of course, you found ways to not feel useless. You, Rainbow Dash, would have used your wings for something, anything, just as long as you could fly. And timid, meek, Fluttershy. You happily spent your time with animals. Tell me I’m wrong,” he paused once again, expecting an answer, but found none coming, “and then, Blaze returned. Oh sure, he checked in once in a while, but this time, he had a purpose. Tell me then, how did it feel when you first saw what I was capable of? I killed and burnt my home town to the ground. I bet Blaze even told you that I am his adopted brother, the usual sob story. And of course, you agreed to come and deal with me, because you couldn’t bear to see the broken wreck of a young colt, who lost his home, his friends, his parents, everything, in one single day.”

The six friends lowered their heads slightly as Ulysses stood up. But still, Ulysses didn’t turn around.

“I have seen many stand where you six stand today, anger controlling them, all for him. Did Blaze ever tell you how many left alive? No... he wouldn’t have. Blaze has no concept of death, even as he watched mother die. If there is one thing Blaze is good at, it is sending ponies to their deaths by my hooves. Only, this time, it is different, isn’t it.”

What happened next went in slow motion. Ulysses reared up on his hind legs and spun on the spot. When his front hooves landed, his horn glowed black, and black arms appeared from somewhere out of sight behind him. These six arms grabbed the Elements of Harmony, and held them around him.

“These are not toys. The powers within were enough to defeat the Mare in the Moon, and return Discord to his stone prison, events you Equestrians were foalish enough to boast about across the world, and word got to Irvest. And now,” he smiled an insincere smile, “tell me, what did it feel like, when you returned to Equestria, and saw the land in ruins? To learn pegasi were persecuted and killed in horrific ways, and all only in my name? You hated me even more, but I can see in your eyes, even with them showing anger, there is fear. Fear of the unknown. You know what I was capable of so long ago, yet you do not know how more powerful I am now.”

“Why do you want the elements?” Twilight asked.

“Ah, good. For a while then, I feared you had all lost your voices. I fear you six will not be here to find out. And if there is one thing I’ve learnt, telling your foes what you plan to do means you’ll be defeated, just in the nick of time. I’m afraid that is one thing you will go to the grave never knowing. And now, I tire of our chat. Farewell you six, and enjoy your last breath!” He shouted.

Ulysses stomped a hoof to the ground, and the middle stone of the throne room burst into flame, a seemingly impenetrable wall between him and the six friends. They watched as he prepared magic and fired it towards them, all six diving out of the way just in time. Acting rather than thinking, the six friends scattered about the room, and Twilight begun to think.

Running around hopelessly wasn’t going to do much good, but maybe it could help. She looked at each of her friends as she too ran avoiding the magic fired at her by Ulysses, and an idea came to mind.

“Applejack! Rainbow! Come to me!” she called out. It took a minute or two for both to arrive at Twilight’s side.

“What is it Twi?” Applejack said, breathing deeply.

“Running around won’t get us out of this, but we need Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie to keep doing so. Moving targets are tempting, but will be more of a distraction to him. Its us three that’ll get us all out of here alive. I’ll reflect magic back at him, if I do it right, he’ll be unable to cast again for a brief moment. Rainbow, you then fly into him, as hard as you can without getting hurt yourself. If you do it right, you could leave him stunned. Applejack, can you cross the flames?” Twilight said.

“With a running jump, it’ll be no problem.” Applejack replied.

“Great. When he’s stunned, get across and try to break his horn. Without it, he’ll be no threat.” Twilight grinned.

With the plan devised, Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash put it into action. Rainbow Dash took to the air, avoiding a shot of magic cast by Ulysses. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy kept running, only slightly aware of what the other three were doing.

Ulysses grinned as he saw Twilight come to a stop.

“Giving up? Good, make it easier on yourself!” he shouted, firing magic at her.

Twilight cast a shield in front of her, which rebounded Ulysses’ spell. It struck him, causing him to yell out in pain, momentarily dazed. Rainbow Dash took this as her cue, and flying as fast as she could, impacted Ulysses’ side with her head. Winded, Ulysses fell to the ground on his belly, gasping and moaning from the pain of both the rebounded spell and the headbutt to his torso.

As he fell, the flame disappeared. Applejack didn’t need to jump through the fire and ran towards him. While he had been stunned, Applejack had to avoid Ulysses as he threw his own legs at her. A few times she managed to kick at his horn with her hind legs, but had to retreat as Ulysses cast the wall of fire between himself and her, and spread it outwards.

“Clever, very clever. It won’t be so easy to break my horn. Now stop getting in my way, I have more pegasi to kill.” Ulysses taunted, preparing yet another spell.

Twilight followed the line of sight Ulysses intended, and saw that he was aiming at Fluttershy. Using her magic, she teleported to where the magic would strike. As it arrived, she knocked it back into the fire where it dissipated, and cast a spell herself which struck Ulysses.

Once again, Rainbow Dash flew into his side, quickly flying back and taking Applejack over the flame wall which Ulysses had managed to keep up, and kicked with her back legs at his horn, still causing only chips to break off, and avoiding Ulysses’ own attacks towards her. As Ulysses seemed to start to recover to force Applejack towards the flames, Rainbow flew back and got Applejack to safety. Ulysses shook his head, and then prepared a spell, aiming this time at Pinkie Pie, resulting in the same response by Twilight, leaving him open to attack by both Rainbow and Applejack.

“What’s taking so long? Shouldn’t his horn have broken by now?” Rainbow called out.

“I’m trying to help, but he’s got a few magic spells attached to it, I can’t tell which one is preventing it from breaking.” Twilight replied, teleporting to where Rarity was, and running alongside her.

This time, she caught Ulysses’ spell, and added her own magic to it, before sending it back. Ulysses this time however, caught the spell, adding to the power behind it himself, and grinned.

“Shoot, he’s changed tactics.” Applejack shouted.

“Don’t worry, I’m on it!” Rainbow Dash replied.

Rainbow Dash flew into the side of Ulysses’ head, causing him to fall to the floor, and left both him and Rainbow dazed on the floor. The flame wall had fallen, and Twilight ran closer, levitating Rainbow away from him. Ulysses recovered quickly and re-established the flame wall, leaving Twilight trapped with him. He grinned down at her.

“You’ve been the main thorn in my hoof so far, that ends now.”

Twilight felt his skull against her own as Ulysses tried to force her backwards into the fire. She resisted but gained very little ground compared to Ulysses. Noticing their horns were close, she tried to reach into his horn and find what was preventing it from breaking. It was just the distraction she needed too, as Ulysses felt her magic searching his own for what kept his horn from breaking.

Both unicorns began to move in the opposite direction, as Ulysses tried to overload Twilight’s magic, and she probed for the defensive spell protecting his horn. The physical struggle begun to move in the other direction, as Ulysses quickly became used to the invasion by her, and once more moved her closer to the fire.

With just ten feet left to the fire, Twilight felt there would be no hope to keep up the struggle and find the spell before Ulysses killed her. She didn’t care what spell she cast next, but she put all her effort into it and sending it down Ulysses’ horn.

With a loud yell, Ulysses fell to the floor once again, overloaded with magic. Twilight took the temporary rest to search for the defensive spell again, locating it and other spells she had never seen or heard of before. She removed the defensive spell and ran to safety again as Ulysses stood up.

Ulysses said nothing as he struggled against the remains of the magic overload to cast the fire walls again. Rainbow, who had watched Twilight physically struggle against him, worried that if he wasn’t defeated soon, and with how tired Twilight looked from the effort, then he would win.

She flew at high speed at Ulysses, impacting him as he prepared to re-fire the spell. While he was dazed, Twilight fired an overloading spell again at him, making Ulysses sink further towards the ground. Applejack was flown to him again by Rainbow, and kicked at his horn.

The room was filled with the sound of a bone breaking, and the pained cry of Ulysses. He stood on his feet, shaking and barely able to do so.

“M-my horn... h-how could you all... beat me?” he said, staring at them looking forlorn.

Twilight went to speak and take the elements of harmony back, but stopped. The floor, walls and ceiling begun to shake violently. From where he stood, sparks flew out of what remained of Ulysses’ horn, making it clear he was responsible. As she looked at him, Ulysses’ grinned.

“Girls! We have to get out of here! He’s trying to bring the castle down on us.” Twilight yelled, turning and running to the doors.

“Twilight, the elements!” Applejack called out.

Twilight cast a spell, her magic grabbing the elements of magic, loyalty and honesty. Ulysses however kept a strong hold on the remaining three, forcing Twilight to abandon them as large stones started to fall in the room.

--
The castle kept shaking as the six friends ran down the stairs and through the main castle. They watched as around them, walls fell into the path, and the floor cracked open at places. The coat of arms that had been on the walls fell down and shattered.

The door soon came into sight, and when they arrived, a new peril presented itself. Despite all efforts to push or buck the door, it wouldn’t open.

“Twilight, what do we do now?” Applejack shouted over the rumbles of the crumbling castle.

“Rarity, help me check for any spells keeping this door closed.” Twilight said.

Together, Rarity and Twilight checked the door, reaching out to it with their magic. Behind them, the ceiling of the corridor begun to crumble and fall to the floor. With a loud exclamation, Rarity found the spell and countered it.

“It was a very simple locking spell.” Rarity said, proud of herself as they opened the doors.

The courtyard was in a bad state. The lava fountains had broken, and lava now covered the path, but standing near the archway stood Sunshine Blaze, and the only part of the castle that hadn’t become covered in lava, which had cooled a few feet away.

“Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, help Pinkie Pie and Applejack across, Rarity, we don’t have much time, you’ll need to teleport with me.” Twilight stated.

“But how? I’ve never used that spell before.” Rarity questioned.

“Line of sight, cast a spell on yourself wanting to go where Sunshine Blaze is. Hurry!” Twilight replied, preparing to teleport herself.

Rarity bit her lower lip, and closed her eyes. Soon, her horn glowed blue, and she disappeared, only to reappear a second later a foot or so behind Sunshine Blaze. Twilight, who had used the spell enough didn’t need to close her eyes, as she cast it and disappeared from near the castle, appearing once more a second later closer to Sunshine Blaze than Rarity had done.

“It’s great to see you all came out! Are you all fine? Is Ulysses defeated?” Sunshine Blaze said with a smile as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy placed Applejack and Pinkie Pie on the ground.

“Sure did. Thanks to Twilight and Rainbow, Ah bucked his horn clean in half.” Applejack said proudly.

“Good, that’d explain why his castle is falling down. Without his full horn, his magic is going haywire. I mean, look up.” Sunshine Blaze replied, grinning with relief.

In the sky, the sun and moon were slowly lowering to their positions in the sky that they had meant to just be arriving at six years previous. The six friends cheered at the sight, smiling at one another.

“Now, where are the Elements of Harmony? I need you six to hold him down while I use the curse he placed on me against him.” Sunshine Blaze asked.

“Uh... well, you see...” Twilight begun.

“Oh no, you left them in there?” Sunshine Blaze shouted in panic.

“Only three of them are still in there. You don’t have to worry, Sunshine Blaze, with the castle falling down, Ulysses doesn’t stand a chance.” Twilight replied, trying to reassure him as she handed the other two elements to Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

“Um guys, bit of a problem.” Rainbow Dash said.

Around them, the castle had stopped shaking and falling down, and the lava that had still been hot and liquid cooled and solidified in a second. The sight made the six friends feel uneasy, as they had expected the castle to fall to the ground.

As soon as it had stopped, once more the castle shook. A dark aura surrounded it and the outer wall and towers, ripping them from the ground and breaking them into pieces. The pieces of the castle orbited Ulysses, who stood in the air. With one yell of rage, he flung the pieces far and wide.

“Brother! Stop this, it’s over!” Sunshine Blaze called out.

When Ulysses spoke, it was clear he was still struggling against the magical overload. His voice sounded shaky and filled with anger despite the stuttering.

“You... y-you all DARE, to come and deny me m-my birth right? You all come here, based on what you t-think you know. You never told them the truth about us, Blaze. Tell them.” Ulysses hissed and yelled.

“What does it matter to them? Adopted, birth brother, your relation to me in exact words only needed one word, brother.” Sunshine Blaze replied.

Ulysses cast another spell, which passed over Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but forced the others far back. With a shield keeping the two pegasi away from the rest of their friends, Ulysses landed. Cracks like those found in broken glass formed in the air around his body, and as Ulysses begun to laugh, streams of light flowed through the cracks and begun to twist his body. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could only watch in horror as these streams of light warped and twisted Ulysses’ body.

Two minutes passed before the cracks begun to get wider, and Ulysses’ body had been twisted into something else entirely. His back legs and hooves now were long like a Saddle Arabian, but his forelegs had twisted into a shape with three joints, at the end of which were griffon paws. His head had been twisted into the shape of a dragon’s own head, but still retained his horn. His tail meanwhile had changed into a scorpion’s tail.

Outside the shield, Twilight and her friends, and Sunshine Blaze, stared in horror at what was now keeping them from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

“What just happened?” Rarity cried out, her eyes mere pinpricks at the sight.

“This is why Starswirl made the law on time travel, that it should be only possible once. Time doesn’t work the way Ulysses has been using it, he’s become a crack in the time stream, and its twisted his form.” Twilight whispered.

“So what in the hay do we do Twi?” Applejack shouted, worried for the two isolated pegasi.

“We need to get the remaining elements and use them on him, if we don’t, the very fabric of time and space will start tearing more than just himself!”

While the barrier kept Rainbow away from her other friends, it didn’t prevent her from hearing them. Ulysses, from what she saw, no longer had a hold on the elements of laughter, kindness or generosity, meaning they were somewhere on the ground among the rubble. Then there was getting the barrier down, something she would have to work out later. And to add to the problem one very terrified and unmoving yellow pegasus beside her.

Ulysses grabbed a stone pillar and swung it in the direction of Fluttershy. Rainbow moved quickly and got both herself and Fluttershy out of the way.

“Just find somewhere to hide alright?” Rainbow ordered, taking flight again.

Fluttershy ran and soon found a solid stone which had once been a corner, just the right size for her to hide, but too small for the twisted form of Ulysses to reach in and grab her. Rainbow meanwhile flew around, avoiding the swings of the stone pillar and the scorpion tail. A glitter of gold in the light gave away where one element was, and avoiding his attacks, she swooped down and collected the element of laughter.

“Alright, one down, two to go. Keep up if you can!” she stuck her tongue out at Ulysses.

Ulysses didn’t attack her right away, rather, he switched his attention to where Fluttershy had hidden, and fired balls of magic at the stone in an effort to kill her within the structure. In her panic, Fluttershy moved further backwards, her hoof making contact with the element of generosity.

“Rainbow Dash! I found another!” she called as loud as she dared. However, it wasn’t loud enough for Rainbow to hear her.

Rainbow had thought of going to save Fluttershy, but had quickly spotted that Ulysses’ spells weren’t getting through the stone. Figuring Fluttershy was safe enough, she took his distraction as a moment to look for the missing elements. Looking through the ruins of the castle, she came across the remains of his throne, and sitting among the rubble was the element of kindness.

“Two down,” Rainbow grinned. A loud sound of stone breaking alerted her to the fact Ulysses had now succeeded in breaking through into Fluttershy’s hiding place, “oh no, Fluttershy! Hang on!” Rainbow shouted, taking to the air right away.

She wasn’t fast enough however, as Ulysses reached in and grabbed Fluttershy. With his other griffon paw, he took the element of Generosity off her and begun to squeeze her. He didn’t succeed in killing her, as touching the element of generosity burned at him, causing him to drop it, but not Fluttershy. With Ulysses momentarily distracted, Rainbow Dash threw her left back leg against his horn.

Ulysses roared in pain, collapsing to the ground and letting Fluttershy go. The barrier that kept them away from the others dropped, and Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie ran towards their pegasi friends.

“We’d better hurry,” Twilight said, using her magic to give the remaining elements to their rightful owners, “if we don’t use the elements on him, who knows when the whole of time and space will rip apart.”

Ulysses was no longer stunned however, as he stood up a black circle that also appeared round at the same time formed. Swirls of deep and very dark purple pulsed through it and unnatural green flashes gave the impression of invisible lightning strikes from somewhere, this was the fabric of time and space tearing around him. The six friends ran at him regardless, and found they could stand to face him in air, as though it were solid ground.

“So, it’s come to this,” Ulysses spoke, his voice much deeper and more draconic than it had been before, “despite my planning to break your bond to the elements and achieve my dreams, you all face me with your bonds restored.”

“Why did you do all this? What was the point?” Twilight asked, getting ready to channel magic into the element of magic.

“Long ago, I was told that I should have been born with wings as well. Wings nature denied me! With the elements, I would have undone what nature had no right to do. But I shall settle for this, the whole of reality being destroyed.”

From the advancing edge of the tear in reality, Sunshine Blaze shook his head.

“So, brother, you would rather being the king of a void than doing the right thing for the first time in a long time?” Sunshine Blaze shouted out.

“Better than seeing pegasi like you being able to fly where I was not given the choice! Enough talk, I shall end all of your lives before the void does so for me!” Ulysses laughed, his eyes finally caught up to the change as they went from his equine eyes to draconic within a blink.

All six friends had to dodge out of the way of dozens of plasma balls fired at them by Ulysses. As more were constantly fired, the majority towards Twilight, Ulysses also used his magic to create weapons, two very large scimitars which he took into his griffon paws. When Rainbow or Applejack attempted to get near him for a physical attack, they were forced to retreat from the stinger of the scorpion tail.

“What do we do? We can’t stay still long enough to use the elements and we can’t get near him to distract him long enough.” Rarity wailed, avoiding a dozen balls of plasma.

“Think about what we’re fighting for girls! If we give up now, everything is lost!” Twilight called out, still very much aware the majority of Ulysses’ attacks were focused on her than her friends.

Around her, each of her friends begun to think over what would be lost if they failed in this confrontation. Rainbow thought to Cloudsdale, lost in the void, and of Scootaloo and the hardships she had faced since Ulysses took over Equestria.

Applejack thought of her family, and the farm, which would be reduced to nothing, and what they must have endured because of Ulysses. Rarity thought of her sister, Sweetie Belle, who had seen horrifying sights and destroyed the youthful view of the world she had held. Pinkie Pie thought of the Cake family, and how they had to hide their son in the basement for his own safety and continued life, and how depressed Pound must be even still.

And Fluttershy thought of all the animals that had to fend for themselves because she had to flee from Ulysses. She wondered how many would still be alive if not for him.

One by one, the elements on their necks glowed, trapping the various parts of Ulysses, and even blocking the magic he cast from his horn. As he struggled against the restraints, Twilight channeled her magic into her element, her eyes changing to a bright white glow.

“NO! After everything, you would even deny me this? I won’t allow it!” Ulysses shouted, as the friends begun to be pulled closer to Twilight. “I have had enough of you six! I won’t stay idle as you resolve all this with the elements of harmony! I will ruin harmony once and for all!”

As the friends were finally close together and the elements begun to work, Ulysses had been freed from their restraining power. He quickly used his magic to cause an explosion. Twilight, who felt the elements were close to working, dropped the spell and cast magic of her own.

But it was too late, as Ulysses and the six friends were engulfed in the explosion. Sunshine Blaze was thrown backwards, striking his head against a rock as he landed. The smoke from the magical explosion rose up in the air, and all that remained in the blast zone were the six floating forms of the elements of harmony, and the bones of Ulysses, who had killed himself rather than be defeated by the elements.

In the sky, the sun and moon finally reached opposite sides of the horizon. The sky flashed white for a moment, and the forms of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared. Looking around, the two sisters saw the Elements of Harmony jewels, floating around the unconscious form of Sunshine Blaze, before they sparkled and flew away across Equestria.

“At last! We’re back,” she paused, “where is Twilight Sparkle her friends?” Princess Celestia questioned, watching after the elements as they disappeared.

“It’s him, sister.” Princess Luna spoke, gently nudging Celestia.

“Yes. He sealed us away, I remember his face as well as you, Luna. Put him on my back, we’ll punish him back at Canterlot, and find out how long we have been sealed away for.” Princess Celestia replied, and looked towards Canterlot.