How my Little Brother Became an Alicorn

by WiseFireCracker

Clash of Alicorns

“Currently, there are seven alicorns across the worlds, fulfilling their missions as attributed by the Tribunal. In five years’ time, we shall recall all but two of them. Ventus, can you explain why your cousins still live amongst mortals?”

I grinned in my seat, winking at Thadal by my side.

“Because one of them has fallen. She let Chaos overwhelm her and so she was sealed away into her own celestial body.”

“That is technically correct, but that only accounts for the younger of the two. What of Celestia? Why hasn’t she been recalled after her mission to stop the ponies’ war had ended?”

The coltish smile slipped away as I fell silent.

Magister hummed and answered, “The reason why is simple. She has taken her sister’s duties as her own, despite the tremendous effort this has demanded of her. She is guiding away the mortals and is doing everything in her power to bring Order to their realm. And despite her taking on the task of three, the Elders see no reason to relieve her of this so long as she fulfills her duties. Do you two understand?”

We tried to make ourselves as small as possible before Magister who loomed over us with contempt in his dark blue eyes. His voice snapped like a whip, “Alicorns are creatures of duty and Celestia is dutiful. Are you?”

No, I thought as I ducked under a ray of light. Aches cramped my wings, but fear whipped at my blood so strongly it hardly made a difference. To slow down might be my death. With haste, I slipped in-between a gap in the barrage of spells, and crashed into a priceless antique.

Huh, so that’s why she hadn’t shot here yet. The idea would have made me laugh in other circumstances. As it was, I merely threw all my strength skyward, toward the figure of a mare lost in the light, and prayed.

There was a crash, as tiles gave out under the strength of the blow and dust covered the distance between me and there. But I knew, oh yes, I knew without a shred of a doubt that she was still standing and barely feeling it. Red and orange had begun tainting the dull grey of the vault, and hot dry air rasped at my throat.

The shadow in the dust rose. With her, walls of fire cut off any retreat.

She had not landed a hit yet, and I still couldn’t see myself winning this one. Every instinct I had screamed for me to stop being a bullheaded idiot and beg her forgiveness before I became naught but a charred outline on the stone pavement.

Celestia was a giant, fire made flesh in the shape of a mare. The Sun, descended from the Heavens to become the guiding light of Equestria, stood tall and proud before one of its enemy. Its shine seared all shadows away and reached beyond. There was no escaping its all-seeing eye.

And here I was, a foal, a colt, unable to understand that he had tried to enter the big leagues far too soon. So little compared to her, to them all outside, be they bull, deer or trickster. A drop of water in a lake, a needle in a haystack, a blade of grass in a forest. Young, so very young and foolish and fallen, clad in icy winds and blood red.

Here I was, a colt standing on his father’s shoulders and looking the adults in the eyes. And the figure in crimson locked gaze with the sun, cast its power over the foreign spirits, its will an irresistible command. A light touch of his hooves cracked the earth beneath him, a rustle of a feather brought forth a hurricane, and from his horn shone a light that could blind the stars themselves.

Blasts of winds broke the circle of fire apart, threw its flickering light away and lifted Celestia off her hooves to collide into a wall. She let out a cry of pain, short and easily lost in the maelstrom.

Before the guilt could build within me, lances of light lashed out and struck against my wings. The vault tilted, as I was made to see its ceiling, nailed upon the ground. I blinked, stunned and short of breath, but power flowed freely from the cape and I faded in a breeze. There was no time to fight her. I couldn’t be either delayed or weakened.

My unseen eyes focused past Celestia, back on her hooves despite the momentary pain inflicted. A faint outline shone weakly beyond her, cyan and gold lines and forms upon the vault’s doors. They were akin to a cork on a bottle, or a seal in a circle. Silence had rung to my ears when they had flared to life. I needed to break them.

Strength rumbled through my body as my resolve became steel, and I stretched my mind toward the freed-

Fire blocked my path.

I flinched away from the light and the burn in my eyes with a sweep of my wings, then stumbled on the solid ground on all four hooves. The heat licked at my right side, promising pain in terrible whispers, and yet I felt cold sweat run down my spine as Celestia’s glare darkened.

“I cannot let you go so easily, Ventus.”

Magic gathered in my horn for another spell while flames flickered about her tail.

“Burn them all, Celestia,” hissed the voice of a figure long gone. “It is your duty.”

“And what will it take to get you to let me go?” I asked, half in bravado.

“Your immediate surrender,” she said without a hint of hesitation. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it. The path ahead of you will not give you what you want,” – her voice faltered – “and I will fight you to prevent the disaster you are about to unleash.”

The ghost of a tear wavered within her gaze. She would not, despite her inner turmoil, despite her reluctance. Already the fires gathered near her.

Dutiful, I thought with a shiver.

“Please… This doesn’t have to be your fight. Not again.” Not after Nightmare Moon.

“Then stop,” she ordered, her eyes narrowed. “Stand down and return the artifact you’ve taken.”

And I saw it for what it was.

An ultimatum. We weren’t negotiating, in truth. We were just hoping the other would back down first. There were no other outcome. Not now. It was not the time to let others fight this battle. It would be us, and neither would give ground. Too much had already been done for us to turn back now. She would accept nothing less.

Neither would I.

“I’m sorry.” Cold climbed up my limbs. “I can’t!”

The words had barely escaped my mouth that I was struck.

A pinpoint of light had flown into the ground at my hooves, and curves and forms from before Equestria’s creation had circled me. Their sinister glow struck fear in my heart, but my wings would not move. A panicked glanced to my back froze my blood in my veins as I came face to face with a slithering beast of light ensnarling me.

Magic sputtered at the tip of my horn, useless.

A low hissing sound rippled over my fur.

I trashed, putting every bit of my power into fighting the crawling snakes of light strangling me. Their grasp only tightened, their coils ever more strong, their touch white-hot on my skin. And each hoofstep growing closer was echoed by a pulse of power in the constructs.

“I’ve wondered for a thousand years, Ventus. What could I have done?” Her eyes flickered away, solemn regret seeping through every pore of her being. “If I had been kinder, if I had been more attentive… if I had been stronger. I could have ended our battle differently. Perhaps I could have subdued her through less extreme means, and bring her back from the throes of the Fallens myself instead of leaving that task to my student after a thousand years sealed away.”

Despite my predicaments, I wanted to laugh. Did she even know how close to home her words hit me? What if, what might, what should. When you think your life unfolds wrong, you really start to look for ways to fold it back into place.

“A thousand years…” she trailed off. “There were so many things that came to me, too late.”

Her gaze swept the dull grey cave, then fell on the tile closest to my head.

“This vault, for example, is so strongly warded that not even Discord could come and go in impunity. I stored in this place anything that could spread corruption to my subjects or others. Once the doors are closed, it might as well be its own dimension.”

She wasn’t lying. I could barely feel beyond the walls of this place anymore, and I had Magnus’ cape on my back. Every single stone in this place only reflected its cold gray surface. Nothing more, nothing else. Nothing.

There would be nopony to come here and interrupt this in a happy accident. Nopony to witness this, to save me from my mistakes. The bonds resisted me and any attempts to counter them with magic ended with a fizzling flick of magic. This could be the end, I wondered as the shadow of Celestia fell upon me. This close, the heat stung my eyes and left my throat parched. Her hoof was inches away. I flailed, uselessly. She loomed over me. After everything, would I fail here?

Tom’s tear-stricken face flashed before my eyes.

Fire, unholy, ugly and tainted in cold, burned inside my chest.

There was a cry, hissed and pained as the pressure over my limbs loosened. On my back, the cape stirred and I felt-

His smile. “Son.”

“FATHER, YOU WHO CARRIES THE LAND AND MOVES THE SKIES, BEND THE LIGHT TO YOUR WILL AND CAST IT INTO THE DARKNESS! I PLEAD IN THE NAME OF BLOOD AND LOVE, TO STRIKE AT DUTY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS!”

And air, magic and harmony stilled, held firm within the grasp of a red hoof. Time slowed down, every color dimmed and lifeless, before the strike shook it from the highest peak to the lowest crevice. From here to the edges of All, Strength reached, and light flickered, and broke into a shockwave.

Artifacts, objects kept hidden and forbidden, and the most priceless treasures were all thrown aside, knocked from their pedestals beyond the reach of their protections. And further as the air swirled and pushed. Pillars screeched and cracked throughout the vault, standing before a barrier that threatened to expand still.

Only a side of the room was spared, shielded from winds and eyes alike by a blinding light.

Panting, I glared and spat a glob of blood. The flames roared and stretched into orange fingers to claw at me, but they all broke into a wall of screeching winds. Their heat did not even register. Magic weighted far more heavily at the tip of my horn, and the agony it burned into my back felt far more dangerous.

But this was a distraction I should not have heeded.

Celestia unfolded her wings, and her legs were lifted off the ground, encased in a glowing golden aura. The purple of her eyes faded into white and her voice shattered my defenses.

“Ventus Vinco.”

I froze. Not of my own volition. My legs locked into place as the tone of her voice echoed to my ears and reached deeper. The words clawed their way into my brain, and tore and swept and-

Missed.

Less than a fraction of an inch.

Missed!

And I flew back, away, away, further, putting distance between myself and Celestia. Air blasted her with the strength of a speeding cart. Her horseshoes slid across the floor with a screech, a shrill piercing screech, and a lance of air fell unto her blazing form – or tried and broke into a gust. And blasts flew at her, again, fast, weak or strong with no rhythm to them. Frantic.

Until seven more broke themselves on a shimmering wall of light.

Then, perhaps, the panic receded enough for me to think and witness as my cousin narrowed her eyes at me.

“I had imagined something like this might be the case. Would Sam work better?”

Chains had appeared and-

There were none.

I almost let out a bark of laughter, things clicking into place in a bitter realization. That wouldn’t work on me.

I called loud and clear, as smug as angry, “Try Samuel Miller, Celly.”

Suspicion lit up in her eyes, as I saw the careful consideration to my sort-of taunt. Surely, she pondered if it might be a trap, but she needed not bother. I barely had passing knowledge of that branch of dark magic. Not enough to reflect a spell, not enough to counter it.

She said the words, called forth the name I had been given at birth with the power of the Sun at her behest, and it brushed past me. It slid off me, burning off as the previous attempts had, but it reached no further than the edges of my coat.

A strange mixture of relief and disappointment thumping in my chest, I lifted a hoof to eye level and saw no difference. “Yeah, I figured the truth would be something like that.”

For a brief moment, we stared at one another and forgot the battle, forgot the grim, the pain and the crackling of flames still eating at some spots on the floor.

“I was not lying,” I said firmly. “My parents gave me that name and I wore it before coming to Equestria, before turning into this. But I’ve juggled so many times with who I am, what I am… maybe you’ll have a better luck trying with Cloud Circle.”

Celestia’s wrath seemed to weaken as her face twisted into a mask of regrets.

Now she understood me in full. The last little piece of the puzzle had been neatly placed at her hooves. The look she sent me was full of pity.

“Ventus, I swear it is not too late if you simply relinquish that cape now.”

“Is it not?” I figured she might be right on that. Celly had always been forgiving enough. She’d be strict but fair, probably. Yet, in truth, the thought didn’t even come to me. The smile on my face was strained. “But then what happens for those left behind? What changes from an hour ago for them?”

Them, Mom and Dad, Tom, Eric. What was to become of them if I gave up now? Would a miracle suddenly resolve everything? Would some unknown force of Chaos choose to undo one of the most chaotic events of the decade to help some kids and a couple of humans they never heard of? There was nothing left to do but…

A sad shake of my head… “It was too late the moment I picked a path. I cannot go back now.”

There was a moment of silence as it all sank in.

“…So be it, Ventus.” She pursed her lips. “You have made your choice. I cannot hold back any longer, for the sake of my subjects.”

Something changed about her. Not in the way her mane and tail wavered, not the subtle radiance of her coat, not even the ripples of heat that rose from her presence. I could not even tell what, but in saying this, there had been a fundamental change in Celestia. She was something more.

I stood my ground, my guard up and my wings fully extended. Most of my magic was focused close to me, ready to spring up in defense at a moment’s notice.

Celestia’s words fell like the chiming of a bell. “A window opens.”

The pressure… vanished. In the time it had taken me to blink, every single drop of that oppressive, crushing presence had disappeared, leaving only an eerie sense of emptiness.

Celestia faltered, digging her hooves into the floor for support, and I saw a bead of sweat roll the side of her face. At the top of her forehead was a light so strong it eclipsed the rest of her.

I heard a ripping, tearing sound.

And I felt a sudden pull on my whole body, as if chains covered me and dragged me away. Dust and broken pieces of stone flew in as many torrents, like rivers through the air. And all of it converged to a single patchy, rough hole floating in midair.

My hooves started to slide across the ground. Strands of my mane stood away from me, in a straight line toward that very same spot, and it felt as if the rest of me would follow. In the depths of that rift of pure inky black, I caught a glimpse of a few shining dots, like dust on a canvas. Or stars in the night sky.

My blood turned to ice. She hadn’t! It was insane! How could she have opened a rift to space?!

And that was where it’d send me, I knew. Already it had drained some of the air in the vault, and it felt akin to having something suck up the blood out of me. Light-headed. Nauseous. My head swimming and my sight blurring. What was taken was lost. I couldn’t feel it anymore. The rift would send me where I had wanted.

Away.

From the Earth. The Sea. The Skies. Away. From Equestria and Earth. Alone. Drifting and barely held together in the vast emptiness. No one to answer to, no one to feel guilty for letting down. No one. Nothing but myself.

It felt like being slapped in the face. Fear and anger clashed inside my chest and I threw a burst of pure energy at my cousin. The light slid over her form harmlessly, while a pillar creaked with a worrying noise close-by. Its shadow spread before my eyes as I jumped aside. Its crash boomed to my ears over the swirling screeches of the vacuum taking its due.

“This is bad,” I growled under my breath. “I have to–”

At the last second, I ducked under a helmet flying straight at the rift.

Closing my eyes, I swallowed my nausea and my pain. This better work!

“Princess Celestia!” rang the voice of Twilight Sparkle.

Stunned, she snapped around while the pull on my body suddenly gave out. She couldn’t endanger her precious student, of course. Her head turned–

There was no one. And pain erupted on the side of her face, against her cheeks and the tip of her horn. The golden aura fizzled out as her body slammed into a column with a resounding and satisfying smack. Cracks appeared on the pillar of stone.

The sound of it made me wince – cheer – and for a second, I was almost convinced it could have knocked her out. Yet, before her body had even reached the ground, her neck twisted and she aimed her horn at me.

The shot was wild, hasty, and flew in a shaky line, more intended to keep me away than to hit. I jumped aside, ducking as the beam brushed against the edge of my coat and singed it. A nauseating smell of burnt hair reached me, followed by another flicker of light, and I forced myself to run.

Heat licked at my backside as a horse-like monster of flame crashed where I had lied down a moment before. Its harsh low pitched whinny devolved into the furious howl of a monster. Something primal, low and haunting. Then… distorted, as the form wavered all too strongly in the air. The burning horse struggled, tried to give chase, but the legs it threw forward flickered and its body shrunk. Before me, its might failed and the last spark of fire died out.

I looked on with something of a strained smile.

Celestia had a hoof at her throat, her eyes wide in surprise.

A raspy noise stumbled past her lips, and her bulging eyes fell on me and the aura of magic surrounding my horn. One of her knees folded beneath her, and she tried to focus her power to repel me, without avail. The net over her muzzle stretched as she snapped, but I grunted and gritted my teeth, even as the pain throbbed through my horn and the cape lashed out. I couldn’t let her take the advantage back again. The emptiness behind the rift still flashed before my eyes. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t be able to endure this battle much longer!

One of us would die. Two alicorns couldn’t fight for long without escalation. The blows would become desperate, fiercer, clumsier as fatigue settled in and one attack would strike true – and at all the wrong times – and there would be no coming back from this.

It had to end now!

Please! I begged the Powers Above and Below, Father, Celestia, myself. I prayed and pleaded with everything I could think of while I still stood for this to be the last blow. Please, let this be the end now! I can stop as soon as she’s unconscious – I won’t – will I? – I can stop before either of us dies!

A grunt rose in my throat when there suddenly came pain, hammered into my forehead at the base of my horn. And I saw.

My knees trembled.

She was standing.

“W-what?” I muttered, panting. This couldn’t be true. My power still cut her from air. Why hadn’t she passed out already?!

In her slow tedious movements, Celestia looked at me and something seemed to twinkle in her eyes. “Alchemy,” she said in a short breath. “On myself.”

My eyes almost flew out of their orbits. “That’s not–”

“Possible?” She quirked an eyebrow and took a steadier step forward. “Difficult, maybe. Even more so… in battle.”

I fought the urge to take a step backward. Barely, I held onto my spell.

Celestia’s hoof struck the ground with a strange, tinkling sound. “But I need not… keep it too long…” Her grimace turned into a snarl. “Just long enough.”

Her body shone like a miniature sun. Pebbles and dust trembled as space and time quaked, and at once swept across the vault the full might of Day.

I could not… I could have never imagined the pain. The true absolute suffering of Light and Heat burning me beyond mere flesh. To the very depths of my mind, there was fire. And in the midst of that torture, I lost my grasp on my magic. The agony tore at my mind, came down upon it like a savage beast and clawed every thought, every memory to shreds. There was nothing then, no plan, no family, no fear. I spent all of Eternity at the heart of the sun as no one.

And at some terrible, unknowable point, my existence ceased to be merely nothing, and I was almost broken, lying on my side with burning hot air nearly too cold for me to think it possible.

Almost.

Eyes of red twice looked at me, and one stallion offered his leg for me to grab, and with a twitch at the drape of my neck I stood once more, unbroken.

A gasp caught my ears. The mare before me looked less like Celestia than I had ever seen her. She was panting, greedily gulping as much air as possible with each inhalation, and exhaling clouds of searing wind in turn. The ground beneath her glowed red and melted. In her gaze were steel and a radiance that made me flinch.

I wouldn’t stand a chance if she Fell. I barely had one right now.

“Have you lost sight of them?!” I shouted, bloody spittle spraying out of my mouth. “What use is a Fallen Princess?! Who you are fighting for if not your subjects?!”

The light dimmed. Slightly. And her brows furrowed together, she asked, “Have you?”

I grimaced. “No, I weighted them down, and moved the way my responsibilities turned.” I tried to stand. “That’s how it–”

The leg I pushed on broke apart, soundlessly, painlessly, like it had never been attached to my shoulder. Blinking, I looked down and saw how, above my forelegs, most of that limb had become transparent.

Too thin. The window sucked up too much air. And what’s left is overheated, so energized my body can’t stay stable long enough.

Crackles of lightning ran across my barrel and the side of my face, tingling. It was like those parts of me had turned to lead. I had not taken that hit well at all.

“You won’t be able to defend much longer, Ventus,” rang through the air.

“Doesn’t mean I’ll stop now,” I replied with a forced smile. Really, I had no idea how I’d get out of this one.

“You are not the wind.” Celestia sighed and gave me a long suffering look. “Your head is harder than the earth’s crust.”

I chuckled, bemused by the comparison even in the face of danger. Even here, with my coat matted with sweat and blood, with Father’s cape on my back pumping as much power as it could into my veins, I could not help but picture Tom, arrogant and shining with confidence. He’d face it head on, wouldn’t he? Blade Darkblaze knows no fear! Or so he would say.

“I’m a fickle stallion.” I shrugged as best as I could with one leg. “I’m a confused teenager not ready to be an adult. I wake up one day thinking all is well in the world, but an hour later I can hardly swallow my guilt because I keep forgetting there are others waiting for me. Sometimes, I wish with all my heart I could stay and live, a quiet stallion in a little town with a nice, studious marefriend and his family near him. And then it crashes down as I look at my hooves and wonder why I even have hooves and why I’m still here. And this happens and that happens, on and on, and I can’t decide anymore.”

“There might have been a reason for that,” Celestia said, the air around her trembling with magic.

She probably was preparing another heat wave. Or maybe another rift through space.

I didn’t have a defense against that. The heat would still pass through my barriers; it would still reach me and make me unstable. I couldn’t summon cold from elsewhere, cut off as we were from outside this damned vault. And the vacuum… the less said about that the better.

The cape on my back fluttered and I bit down my cheeks. Just a little more…

“Doesn’t matter, Celly, I don’t choose for myself anymore. I’m too selfish otherwise.” An absurd grin found its way to my face. “And that’s telling something.”

For a split second, so short I could have imagined it, a hint of fondness pierced through her mask. “It is.”

The power within me swelled, washing over my coat like cold water. Father stood beside me, a proud look on his face. This would be it. No more. I wouldn’t survive if this failed.

In my mind echoed an ethereal neigh.

The vault shook under a maelstrom of fire.

--

I fell down a three meter’s height, straight upon the marble tiles of the floor. A loud gasp flew past my lips, too strong to hold in, as the cool air of the room came into contact with me. My body jolted as if struck by electricity, and I sent wild looks around myself. No grey, no shades of red or orange or yellow. Merely pure white and gold, as befitting a bathroom in Canterlot Castle.

Shaking, I pushed myself to my hooves, as best as I could, and tried to ignore the aching pain all over my body. The first step alone made me dizzy, and rose in my throat the urge to throw up. I dashed forward, clumsily, sending a cup tumbling over the edge and breaking upon the floor. Its staggering crash echoed to my ears as the taste of copper filled my mouth.

Heaving, my coat matted with sweat, I leaned onto the pristine white sink and tainted it the color of my blood.

I retched more, hacking, coughing, and the sink’s porcelain turned a sickly color. My chest felt like it had been shredded from the inside, like a piece had gone missing. The pain truly was unbearable.

It slowly dawned on me that meant I was not dead.

I did it. I escaped a sealed room meant to imprison an alicorn.

I could have collapsed in sheer relief, and for a second, my legs felt so weak, but I held on. Not over yet. I had escaped, true, but that was merely the beginning. Despite the extraordinary feat still fresh in my mind, I felt little pride to this. Hard to, when I was desperately holding on to a sink and puking blood, when the end goal was so terrible… when I knew the truth. I, Alicorn of the Wind, cheated.

Because no matter where I am, I also exist elsewhere in this world.

I could leave, because ‘I’ had never truly entered the vault. Because the real me was as vast as the skies and this body was ultimately just a piece of that.

It was an understanding I knew I wouldn’t have reached without the cape on my back, and that trick couldn’t be used in impunity. Somepony had tried that once, and he’d created a race of hate-filled spirits that had gone on to threaten three tribes at war.

Severance.

I held a hoof to my heaving chest, trying to ease some of the burning cold away. A part of me, gone. Let go, left behind. A fragment of Wind, detached.

Eyes a freezing white, howling winds and the shape of an equine.

“Grandfather?”

I clutched my sides, gritting my teeth as I willed the image away. I wasn’t him. I wasn’t the First, only the Newest. What a consolation. Better than nothing, at least. I wouldn’t end like him, so broken I’d fade on my own. Oh no, I would make my own brand of new mistakes. And that thought brought forth its own worries.

My eyes darted to the bathroom’s walls in search of a clock. How much time had passed since… before? How long had I stared at my reflection when it really was time to get my gears moving? The castle would fall under high alert very soon if it hadn’t already. We needed to get moving before the room was flooded with guards and high-powered monsters.

I nearly jumped out of my skin as the door creaked open. The intruder himself was rather lucky that fatigue weighted me so much, as I could not move quickly enough to throw a spell without realizing to whom belonged the worried, familiar voice.

“Sam, are you okay? I heard noi-” Eric cut himself short as he saw the state I was in and his eyes grew wide. He pointed to my back, and said quietly, “You shouldn’t be wearing that.”

Scoffing, I let go of the sink and fell to my hooves. The shock went up my front legs, made me wince. This pitiful face I showed my friend, with no small amount of embarrassment. And strangely, triumph. “I shouldn’t, unless I wanted to send us back home.”

Predictably, my words froze Thadal on the spot. His eyes slowly widened, realization dawning on him with such strength his breath cut short. “…You want to try the spell?”

I nodded, then stopped as another way of nausea made me too dizzy to stand. My hooves slipped underneath me, and I stumbled into an outstretched wing. For a second, it didn’t quite register why my muzzle was buried in feathers. I… huh…

“You’re crazy,” Eric growled. “This is going to tear you apart.”

“I’ve gotten used to it already. It’s not so–” Another coughing fit cut my words short, and above my shoulder, I could feel the dismayed look my friend was sending me. “S’nothing too bad. You should have seen me when Judicium tried to get an invite to this party. My chest plain burst open. And well, he’s going to crack down on us sooner or later. We couldn’t really afford to stay even if I hadn’t dueled Celly in the dungeon.”

I chuckled weakly at his strangled ‘You did what?!’

Slowly, I straightened and stretched enough to look him in eyes.

“Soooo…” I said, a bloody grin on my face. “Thadal, ready to become one half of this season’s final villain?”

His mouth snapped shut with the click of his teeth, shock painted all over his face. He had never prepared for this, and I was reminded that the depths I sunk to had never even been scratched by him. Thadal was a good guy, in every sense of the word, he wanted nothing more than to make sure everypony was fine.

And perhaps an inkle of fear slipped between the cracks in my armor. It had been so clear in my mind that I had not even needed bother with his consent. For all his words on this, for the friendship that had bound us, there had been no doubt to me that he would be willing to help. But if I had been wrong, it would have been for naught. I needed him in this.

My heart stilled in my chest at the sound of quiet chuckling.

“Ready?” he finally said, dubious and bemused. “Nope, but I’m still coming with you, villain or not.”

I threw my legs forward and wrapped them around his shoulders. My sight blurred as relief washed over me. “Thank you,” came the shaking whisper.

He grinned, the joy not quite reaching his eyes. “Don't mention it.”

I stumbled back, my head light and my legs trembling. Right, he had the right idea. No time for sentimentalities. Go.

“Let’s get moving,” I said, near galloping in our suite. “There isn’t much time left before the others come over to arrest me. We'd better be gone by then.”

My eyes first went to the bed, where the faint swirl of a wind barrier still blocked all other sounds. A small sigh of relief fell from my lips. The form under the covers shifted a little, no more than ordinary. Tom's sleep remained undisturbed so far. And if I could help it, we'd keep it that way.

Eric cleared his throat behind me, and I shook my head. No time, I reminded myself. Faint whispers started ringing to my ears again. Most were quick and frantic, and muffled by the distance. Teeth gritted together, I glanced to the drawers and the suits. A single scroll floated from the folded fabric, surrounded by my magic.

Okay, we've got this, the cape and Tom. Time to-

Two things happened.

The door exploded into splinter.

And a tide of shadows surged forth.

Time seemed to slow down, as I could see the strange gaping black skulls amidst the attack, the splinters of wood flying right past me or stabbing into the furnitures. My blood ran cold, and I lowered my head, aimed my horn. But on the corner of my eyes, I saw Eric, and my friend was staring, frozen, eyes wide.

Buck! He'd never been in a fight, I realized with horror. He never got the time to mentally prepare. This one was going to hit him straight on.

I jumped between him and the spell, nothing on my mind but the single-minded desire to block that blast. In the span of a heartbeat, the screeching faces collided into an invisible wall. My legs nearly buckled. I tasted the blood in my mouth.

I heard the shocked gasp of my friend. I heard the soft, peaceful breathing of my brother.

The cape on my back gave a kick, and I bit my lips as the power pumped through my veins like fire. Two large hooves struck back at the wave and ripped it in half. Behind was a furious, near foaming dark blue alicorn, her glare promising true pain.

I reacted on instinct. My hoof came down, striking the ground and sending a shockwave, an order, through the air. Thadal turned to me in a flash, coming out of his stupor, and I saw understanding in his eyes.

“Watch him!” I shouted over a new roar.

Thadal nodded and swiped at the floor. Quickly, his brown hoof closed over the scroll I had dropped before. Yet, I felt no small amount of relief as I began to see through his body, and the typical, familiar power of the Sea and Earth echoed through my mind.

My thoughts flew toward a place far away, one that was right for all three of us, my horn burning with magic. A small boyish grunt rang to my ears then, discomfort at being disrupted in his sleep. I smiled despite my annoyance and my fear. Too typical. The next instant, a gust of wind swept through the room.

There remained only two alicorns in our suite, one having galloped in, her wings flared.

“FORSWORN CRAVEN!” bellowed Luna with such strength I was thrown off my hooves.

Pain erupted in my back, and I slid down the wall with a low moan. Tonight was a terrible night. Ah, and maybe it was just me, but I would not call the guy that evacuated friends and family first a coward.

I flew to the side then, all thoughts deserting my mind as a bolt of ice skewered the wall right where I had been leaning.

“Traitor!” Luna's voice followed me. “Unworthy creature that would abuse our goodwill!”

And as I dodged another rain of bolts in bursts of wind, I came to a startling, terrifying realization.

Celestia had used her power to try and subdue me. Luna had no such restraints.

She aimed to kill me. A thick oozing blackness seemed to swirl inside her magic, and from it dripped a rage so familiar. The anger of an alicorn boiling over, focused in all its deadly intent as barrages of shadows flew at me.

“I should have listened to my instincts and struck you down long before tonight!” Her horn flashed a dangerous, cold blue. “But this ends now!”

I wasn’t fast enough. The bolt struck me on the right shoulder, piercing right through with a ripple of agony and freezing cold. My whole leg went limp, and the frost started to spread. I went stumbling.

That’s gonna leave a mark…, came the absurd thought as my face slammed against the ground. Blood trickled down my nose, and red bubbles popped at my nostrils with each heavy pained breath I exhaled.

“You've brought naught but ill luck and disasters!” she accused, her hooves coming down right next to my head.

I flinched back, eyes narrowed into a glare. Luna loomed, her shadow falling over me, her snarl almost hidden by the blinding light at her horn. Cold seeped into the air, one that seemed to cling to my fur, to my lungs as I breathed. Her hostility was laid bare.

“REPENT NOW OR FACE THE CONSE-!”

Her word cut abruptly, all sounds suddenly gone from her vicinity and the booming voice nothing but a faint fading echo. Luna’s mouth still moved and she tried to march on me, but the look of her furiously miming at me was much too ridiculous. A spiteful smirk found its way to my face, mocking the Dark Princess. Only then did she seem to notice the lack of sound and the magic over her muzzle, syphoning at the air in her lungs.

She collapsed next to me, her lips parted wide in a vain attempt to swallow more air.

Groaning, I pushed myself to my hooves, my tail slapping her in the face. She deserved it. She deserved worse, added a vindictive part of me. But the weight of my limbs was too much. I knew I was approaching a dangerous limit, lest I fall back on Father's cape again.

“You…” she wheezed through my spell, her eyes narrowed in a withering glare. “You foul treacherous beast. We should have never welcomed you in our home.”

Welcomed me?! I thought in sheer indignation, and through me flashed every meal when Luna had been nowhere to be seen, when it had only been Celestia and hay, Blueblood! Of her I only had the memory of her spell when we arrived at court, of her coldness the night Pinkie had thrown a party to help us get better, of her contempt for me and all I represented when I fell on the battlefield. Only once had she ever acted as my family, and still then she had mostly followed Celestia’s lead!

Within me stirred a terrible and ugly beast. It whispered of an endless night, of heroes that braved an alicorn black as night and the forgiveness freely given then. And I choked on the bitter taste of envy.

“Fine… in return for your hospitality, your kindness and your understanding, a present for you, my worthy cousin!” I spat, voice rumbling in anger. The muzzling spell crumbed with a snap, and Luna took a greedy gulp of air. She could not even rein in the blatant confusion in her gaze then. “Not that. The one you wished for all those years ago. When loneliness became crushing, when envy seized your heart, you sought to bring about night eternal. So be it. Darkness is my gift to you!”

Luna jerked as if struck, and an ancient, terrible pain crossed her face. She heard as well as I did the rumbling of thunder and the howls of a growing storm outside. And the pony that reflected in her eyes was twice her damnation, the worst of her former lover and herself.

The thought was cruel, a vicious stab at wounds that were obviously fresh, and yet... frankly, I did not care!

“For this land, and all the lands, neither sun nor moon shall shine their light! Clouds of pitch black shall veil the skies above and shadow the world! A sunless day, a starless night, naught but the lack of light beneath! There, that should make you happy! Happier than you have ever been seeing me, a dark reminder of the past and a colt that was much too immature for you, oh impeccable Princess of the Night! You, I can leave without sadness!”

And she scrambled to stand then, her eyes and horn flashing with the same glowing light as she understood my meaning.

“You will not–!”

Her cries of rage faded away while I disappeared into the night air of Canterlot.

--

Twilight's eyes shot open as a startled cry rang in the silence of the night.

What?! Who was that? Spike? She reached for her dragon brother, only for her eyes to fail to spot him. Spike?! Panic rose as her thoughts began to unravel, when her memories caught up with her situation.

They were in Canterlot. Spike was sleeping in his own private bedroom, like a good growing boy should do. And here she was, the one having nightmares.

“Just... being silly...” she breathed out.

Twilight sat up in the dark, a low buzzing noise ringing to her ears. Already, the dark images of her dreams were fading, but the deep fears they had brought to the surface refused to let go of her maddened heart. She let forth a long breath, almost a sigh, following the movement of her leg as her foalsitter had taught her. Deep breaths. In. Out. But as the long seconds ticked by on the rhythm of her grandfather's clock, Twilight realized that what she felt was not purely the results of her nightmares. There were little signs, hints that proved her instincts right. The rumbling remained, muffled by the windows. The base of her horn tingled, as if stray sparks of magic ticked at it. And more so, more so than everything else, the darkness around her carried a sense of anger.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down her spine as her mind supplied the answer she had been looking for. This felt the same as that long night, all those years ago. On the morning of the Summer Sun Celebration.

In a flash of purple light, Twilight was out of her bed, wings clumsily extended as she stumbled through her covers. With a dull thud, her face collided with the ground.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle?” asked a strong, tenor voice, and she recognized it as belonging to one of the Royal Guard. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need you. Please, follow me.”

And a tiny, shameful part of her sighed in relief, hearing of Princess Luna able to speak rationally in a time like this. Her face warm with the rush of blood, she decided to keep that sleep-addled thought to herself, lest...

Refusing to finish that train of thought, Twilight jumped to her hooves. “Of course, lead the way.”

The guard nodded, and backed away from her doors so she could leave. There, she paused, nonplussed by the dozen of ponies that awaited right outside. At least, until she blinked, rubbed her eyes and caught the half-snore, half-whinny sound that she had heard in so many sleepovers.

Rainbow Dash was practically being carried by her guard, her eyes barely opened and her movements sluggish. In contrast, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all looked fairly alert, if a bit disheveled.

Twilight held back a smile at the sight of her last friend, a brush floating in the soft blue aura as it fought against knots in Rarity's mane. The poor seamstress seemed to have been taken out completely by surprise – not that the rest of them were better – and as such felt compelled to do everything in her power to look presentable before royalty.

She resisted the urge to point out that, as an alicorn, she was also royalty now. But the desire ticked at the back of her head for some time after that. As they approached the royal bedchambers however, their moods progressively sombered. All six of them had been summoned in the middle of the night, this could not be a trivial matter. Their mouths were set into grim, thin lines – with the exception of one party pony extraordinaire.

Solemn, the head of the guards lifted the heavy metal rings on the doors of the bedchambers, and let it fall with the clank of metal. The thunderous noise made the mares jump out of their skins, chasing away the last remnants of their sleepiness.

Dark blue magic shimmered across the doorframe, and slowly the doors parted to let slip a glimpse of the private apartments of the princesses. Twilight Sparkle entered first, and had to force down a gasp of horror.

With visible efforts, Princess Celestia rose from her cushions and greeted them with a sincere, but tired smile. “It pains me to be the bearer of such terrible news, my little ponies, but Equestria requires the assistance of the Elements of Harmony once more.”

All six Bearers froze in their tracks, though not from the announcement. That much, they already guessed. What wasn't right were the multiple bruises on their princesses' bodies, the smudges of dirt on Celestia's pristine white coat, the trails of dried fur that went down from her eyes to her cheeks.

“What happened here?!” Applejack demanded, one hoof coming down against the marble floor hard.

From the shadows emerged Luna, her expression severe and her voice clipped. “We were fooled, blinded by a presumption of innocence.”

The elder princess shot a warning look to her younger sister, yet Luna merely averted her gaze in exasperation. Celestia's stern look faltered, exhaustion and sadness battling for control of her. As if nothing had even been said, Luna's hooves helped her sister stay standing, and the six friends started to understand that the situation wasn't quite that of a monster escaping from Tartarus.

The Solar Princess spoke again, solemn and more formal than they remembered her, “Our young cousin, Ventus Vinco, has stolen back the cape his brother brought with them. He has taken it from the vault less than an hour ago. They have already left the castle and he has all but announced his intent to use its considerable power to fuel a spell capable of breaking the barrier between our world and his.”

Twilight found herself wishing to still be living her nightmares. This... this could not be true. She had heard wrong. That had to be it! Or perhaps her mentors were pulling an elaborate prank on her, wishing to lighten up the mood after an emotionally charged ball amidst foreign diplomats and heroes.

But time stretched on, seconds ticked by, and neither Celestia or Luna lost the grim masks of pain on their faces, and that hope died in the thick silence that had befallen the room. They were all trying to digest the news, which they understood as dire, but at the same time, didn't. Puzzlement flashed in Pinkie and Fluttershy's eyes yet they could not quite find out how to put it in words, and finally, Rainbow Dash broke the questioning silence, frowning all the while.

“Okay, yeah, I get that he’s taken that cape of theirs, but what’s the problem here? He’s going home, right?” She tilted her head and shrugged her wings. “Things will go back to normal then, won't they? Did you two get into a fight about it?”

Both sisters exchanged a meaningful look, their eyes clouded over by ancient memories. “It's not so simple,” Luna said. “Alicorns are an essential part of this world, Rainbow Dash. Whatever else Ventus might be, he and his are doubtlessly alicorns now. If they were to suddenly sever their links to this plane of existence, the backlash might be catastrophic.”

Twilight felt her breath get caught in her throat, and the room suddenly spin. No... She hadn't... she hadn't thought of that. She had never considered that if her favorite teacher had a role as crucial as raising the sun and moving it through the sky, then her coltfriend might have had responsibilities just as important.

Oblivious to her student's inner turmoil, Celestia took over the explanation. “Were my sister and I to go missing at the same time, the world would be locked within a perpetual state of twilight. At least, until such times when enough creatures worked together to substitute our influences. A generous estimate would put this at a week’s worth of efforts to restart the natural cycle of day and night. In the meantime, damages would already be piling up high.”

“H-how high?” Applejack asked again, swallowing.

“As high as our station. Ventus, his brother and his friend, whom you might have noticed earlier tonight, respectively represent the sky, the land and the sea. In a way, they are representative of the mortal world. For these three to leave the wrong way would provoke disasters, and with the way Equestria’s relations are at the moment…” Celestia trailed off with a sigh. “It might be catastrophic enough to change Equestria forever. I fear for the lives of our citizens caught in the crossfire.”

“T-t-their lives?!” Pinkie Pie cried out, her mane deflating with a strange 'pop'.

“Hmm, excuse me,” squeaked Fluttershy, trying to squeeze herself in the conversation, “but do they know that? I didn’t really speak with them, I thought that might have been too bold, but the princes seemed… nice.”

And, though they did not speak up, Twilight saw that the same sentiment was shared by her friends. Pinkie looked especially relieved, whispering to herself something about the success of Operation Party and how it MUST, MUST, MUST have worked! It lifted the young alicorn's heart to see that, but the dire look on her mentor's face squeezed her throat.

“I am sorry to say...” the Princess' voice trembled, “Ventus Vinco cannot be unaware of this fact. Were he a creature of Chaos, Order, Harmony or None, he would understand it, as it is a fundamental part of him now. He is doing this with full knowledge of the consequences.”

Twilight felt her knees grow weak.

“Please, Princess...” Her voice was strained, breaking. “I know that's not true. He would not... Have you seen his smile around foals?”

“Oh, my poor Twilight,” Celestia lamented, her eyes glittering with moisture, “I have seen it. I have seen, as my sister herself has, the way he acts around lost, terrified foals. But I have seen more as well. I have seen the coldness he tries to hide, the sharp biting edge of his words and his hooves tying the knot of a forbidden artifact around his neck. I have seen what Ventus is capable, good and bad. From the very first day, I knew there was something to be wary of.” This time, Luna made an approving noise, and Twilight could not help but think this so inappropriate. Yet Celestia made no mention of it, and took on a gentler tone. “Alicorns are forbidden from upsetting the balance of the worlds, but he did. Our involvement is always strictly monitored, for very good reasons. A foal… was unprecedented. We were well into adulthood when our mission was given. It should never be done.”

“But then…” Twilight looked up at her teacher with wide eyes.

“Yes, you have guessed correctly, my dear student. Calx Iugum’s appearance in Ponyville troubled us both greatly. Even now, the methods used elude us. It would be a spell of tremendous power, greater than what a foal like him should have been able to call, even with his father’s help.”

And one dreadful piece of puzzle fell in place. Twilight's eyes widened, her breath blown away. He had asked her, rather than Celestia. He had asked a stranger, rather than his cousin, and again, she saw the tears brimming in his eyes, the self-loathing as she refused to abandon him, like he was a monster.

“I do know…”

A dead silence fell over the throne room. All attention focused onto the shrinking alicorn, who wished so dearly to have never spoken up. Her voice shaking, her cheeks burning, Twilight tried and failed to look at her mentor as she revealed her foolishness.

“I’ve been studying the spell they used to come here for some time now. Ventus asked me when he was still in Canterlot. We ran some tests together and…”

The others seemed to disappear, everypony, every object faded from her sight and left her alone with Princess Celestia. Her heart hammered into her chest, and threatened to jump high in her throat. Was this all her fault? Had she allowed this?

And, too suddenly, the words flew out of her mouth without a filter between her thoughts. “I met Thadal Fragor before the ball. Ventus introduced him to me and with his help, we could complete my researches. We worked together, I made the schematics, the calibration, the frequencies. The runes were a semi-sentient construct, and I had never seen something like that before! But with that, anyone could have broken the barrier between the worlds, because it required no magic at all!”

She saw Luna's jaw drop in disbelief, her eyes wide at the sheer implications.

“Have you succeeded, Twilight?” Celestia asked with a soft tone void of any accusation. “Did you recreate the spell?”

Twilight had to fight images of the past flashing in her mind. It was as if she was a filly, speaking of her projects with her teacher, alone in her office. A small proud smile inched the corners of her mouth upward. “I reconstructed the spell matrix they used, minus the spell’s well of power. It could be used by anyone, so long as there was a sufficient crowd fueling its power with emotions. He didn’t tell me who they were, but that spell syphoned emotional energy into its reality warping.”

Fluttershy, who had up until this point content to be overlooked, brought a hoof to her lips and gasped. Her eyes moved down as she recalled a conversation she had had on Mother’s Day. “Her name is Pandora.” What had he said? That she was considered both a terrible and marvelous being. She could understand better now.

At her side, Rarity sent her a look of mild curiosity, before turning back to their embarrassed friend. She could not help notice, and perhaps it made her a terrible mare, but her intuition screamed that something horribly wrong was happening. Carefully, she cleared her throat, getting not only Twilight’s, but everypony else’s attention. “Twilight, dear, what did you do with the results of this… experiment?”

He asked you. He needed you. What did you say when he begged you? What did you do when his façade of happiness crumbled?

Twilight looked careful between her friends, all of them waiting for her answer with a sense of apprehension to their gaze. They knew. In their hearts, they knew there could be only one answer to that. What did their kind, helpful friend do when her lover asked her to solve a difficult magical problem?

“I…” Twilight took a steadying breath. “I gave a working prototype to Ventus yesterday.”

Rainbow Dash reared and her wings flared. “That bastard! I’ll buck his teeth in!”

And despite the nausea, despite the heartache, Twilight felt a surge of protectiveness growing in her. “Rainbow, you can’t!”

“Don’t you see it, Twilight?! He used you!” A cyan hoof poked her chest, hard enough to make her flinch. “He got closer to you, just so he could manipulate you into doing his bidding.”

That noble prince of yours, hissed a dark, suave voice to her ears. You fear him, don't you? You fear the control your love has over you.

Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. “No, that’s… that’s wrong! He would never… he’s not like that!”

He could not be! His image still flashed before her eyes, him, golden and broken on that bed, crying and shouting that he was not worthy of her, that she was smart, perceptive and able to see through his goals. And when she had opened her heart, when she had told him her greatest shame in return, it was as if the life had left his eyes.

And he had let her go, told her not to be guilty, cared about her feelings first. She had reached for him. Her hoof had been the one to grab the pieces of their relationship and held them together. Her lips had melted against his, her fur had brushed against his and she had whispered, please, let me prove it to you...

But he had said it. Ventus had stopped her, however clumsily and said four little words that had destroyed every rational thought she had.

“I love you, Twilight.”

“Twi, Ah’m sorry,” Applejack cut through her thoughts, “but it looks like Rainbow might be right this time. Soon as he got what he wanted…” The rest of her words trailed off, but none of the mares had any trouble completing them.

He left. As soon as you gave him what he needed, he left.

Twilight felt as if her heart would shatter. Your goal is to leave Equestria. I know. She had said it, she had told him herself. She knew. Ventus had never really hidden it from her. It had just become an unspoken thing between them, before... before they had shared her bed. Afterward, there had been so little time.

But they had still not talked about it. She could not remember asking herself, or asking him if that had changed. The thought had come to her last night, when the ball was unfolding without even acknowledgment from him. Their eyes had met over the crowd while she was standing on the stage, and his gaze had shone with admiration, with pride and love.

And he'd nervously scrambled away, disappeared into the crowd, and her throat had tightened with fear. She could have asked, gone to meet him in his room and ask.

She had not.

And now her friends were arguing, Rainbow and Applejack growling and hissing against loud protests from Pinkie. And the words were the same, vengeful, of indignation and rage from the manipulation of their poor bookish inexperienced friend.

“Girls, stop,” Twilight said, her voice cold and biting, “don't speak like that. You don't know what you're talking about.”

Jaws clamped shut in shock, the other mares staring with looks of surprise. Why would Twilight defend him after his betrayal?

She wanted to scoff, easily reading their thoughts on their face. A betrayal? From him? It was not so simple. Ventus and her had never been. There were still so many things coming in contradiction, she could not make that kind of hasty judgment.

“Twilight,” whispered Celestia, her voice barely above a whisper. “I wish things had gone differently.”

So insidious. Those little words, spoken as truth, spoken as facts, they wormed themselves through her resolve with ease. And little cracks spread on her armor, and doubts began repeating to her “betrayal”. Wisps of smoke seemed to circle her hoof, and the malevolent green eyes of the Shadow King looked at her mockingly.

And she startled, from warmth, from kindness and support. On her shoulders, the hooves of Rarity and Fluttershy ran circles, as if understanding, but she could not quite bring herself to smile back. Solemn, Twilight faced her mentors head on. “I'm sorry, Princess, but I can't accept this. Not until I see it with my own two eyes.”

Irritation flashed in the younger princess' gaze.

“Observe,” Luna said.

Her magic twisted the doors of the balcony, and as beckoned, the bearers felt no choice but to step forward and lay their eyes outside.

“My goodness,” Rarity gasped on Twilight's right, and nopony could add to that.

Her friends and herself were pinned in place, rendered immobile by what they had felt since waking up, by what they were now seeing.

There were no stars. No constellations, none of the figures that had served as guides to ponykind for millenias.

No moon.

As far as the eyes could see, the skies were but a mass of swirling, rumbling black. She had never seen anything like this. The sight sent a lance of ice piercing through her mind, freezing her blood in her veins, shaking, rattling her to the soul. The darkness above roared and howled at her, reaching for her. She felt the wind brushing against her fur, and the touch felt violent.

Crackles of white spread across the sky then, flashing before them, illuminating if only briefly, the snarling faces in the clouds.

She had trouble breathing. Not until she saw it, she had said. But what was this...? What was it if not the proof she had asked for? Something like this...

“Tha-that's impossible!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “There aren't that many storm clouds, like, any kind of cloud, even put together, in all of Equestria! Weather factories can't produce that much at once!”

“They cannot, indeed,” Princess Luna replied over the screeching wind. “In the event of a malfunction – or sabotage –, a factory like Cloudsdale might unleash a town's worth of storm, but this was not the work of mortals.”

Rainbow Dash swallowed. “How much does it cover?”

Twilight's gaze went to the floor, every word hammering a nail in her heart. If they had any pity for her, they would remain silent.

A soft, white wing felt on her back, and the poor mare wished to lose herself in that contact. But the words kept coming, albeit gentler. “All of Equestria. Perhaps beyond, we haven't been able to confirm it yet. Its sheer size makes it impractical.”

“You want us to take down the guy who did that?” Rainbow pointed at the rumbling sky, a rare trace of doubt visible in the flutter of her wings.

“Was the sun failing to rise in the sky less impressive?” Princess Luna deadpanned.

“Noooooo! That's just because Dashie's a big weather mare, and she knows all about the process. So she's super close to the tons of efforts it takes to make a thunderstorm, and this is one BIIIIIIIIG thunderstorm. It'd be like showing me a pudding the size of Canterlot! I'd be impressed too!” Pinkie Pie dropped on her back, mimicking Rarity and her dramatic poses. “I'd be staring too... and I'd slowly move closer...” Her blue eyes glazed over, and her tongue rolled over her lips. “Mhmmmmm, pudding.”

For a moment, nopony knew what exactly to make of her analogy, which was best represented by how far Princess Luna's eyebrow had disappeared into her maneline.

Then, Princess Celestia let out a gentle chuckle, and tension drained from the room. “Well said, my little pony.”

“Y-yeah,” Rainbow admitted with a small blush. “More or less what she said. The guy doesn't actually scare me. A-and I sure as hay don't want to do... whatever's Pinkie thinking right now.”

Said party pony had taken to hugging thin air, whispering something about various dessert flavors. Her wild gestures got a surprised 'eak' out of poor Fluttershy, who dodged a passing pink hoof.

It almost seemed, for a split second, as if there were only reunited for a casual meeting, something peaceful and quiet. Almost, they allowed themselves the thought, but Princess Luna's mane flared suddenly, and all hints of lightness faded from her posture. Her head turned to the wall, her gaze seeing beyond. The line of her brows lowered, and the Princess of Dreams looked back to her sister in alarm.

“Tia, I feel members of the delegations awakening as we speak. No doubt their guides have sensed the disturbance and now wish for answers from us.”

“Time is of the essence then.” Princess Celestia frowned, and a small scroll levitated from the nearest table. “Twilight, please, go to the train station and embark immediately for this destination. From there, you should be able to sense Ventus Vinco’s magic and pinpoint their location. I believe the detection technique you used against King Sombra in the Everfree should allow you to find our wayward royals.”

Twilight stared at the scroll as if it would turn into a poisonous snake. She made no movement to pick it, magically or manually.

“I understand that you wish not to face him like this.” For a split second, Princess Celestia ceased to be a royal princess, a mare with legendary grace and composure. It was as if she had been stripped of it all, and remained but a simple, living mare. “On the name of my Mother, I swear it, my dear Twilight. I would never ask this of you without being absolute certain that it was the last resort for a peaceful outcome.”

And the pleading, begging tone of her mentor broke something in her. Never. There had never been a time in her life before, when Twilight could have imagined such a pained, desperate expression on Celestia's face. Her hoof rose without her knowledge. She'd been split in half. All of her past, her memories, her devotion, her love, demanding that she had already solved her beloved teacher's request. But her hopes of future closed their eyes, and refused this.

An orange hoof reached for her. She looked to her right and saw Applejack offering her a reassuring smile. Her soft forest green eyes held an unspoken promise. Twilight glanced behind them, to her other friends, and all of them shared the same look of trust, and the same promise. They would be in this together, and they would do everything for her. It was not her burden alone.

Twilight's horn sparked to life. The scroll slipped inside her saddlebags.

They were startled then, when the door shook and rang with the shock of metal. A stallion in armor peeked his head through, his a look a subservience, and he bowed low before speaking. “Princesses, sorry for the interruption, but the representative of the minotaurs demands to speak with you immediately.”

The royal sisters nodded to each other. “Tell them we required a few more minutes to prepare ourselves.”

Swiftly, Celestia turned back to her subjects.

“Ventus Vinco has faced both my sister and myself in battle and escaped, leaving this curse behind to keep us occupied, do you understand?” The Ruler of Equestria looked them all in the eyes, and the mares felt no choice but to nod in response. “You must go now, my little ponies. I pray that you will find the right path and that you will all return to me safely.”

And in all their heads echoed the worries she spoke not. There might not be a right path. There might not be a peaceful outcome. On their necks, on her head, the Elements felt heavy.

--

Every single one of my limbs were made of lead. I just knew it. I'd be spontaneously punished by the Elders and they had seen fit to bestow on me the heaviest damn legs this side of Eternity. Every step dragged in the sand, which made me damn careful not to erase any of the lines traced so far. The rock held within my magic stayed steady, but that would not matter if I screwed up otherwise.

The cape hummed lazily on my back, its touch like almost boiling water around my neck. Its power was needed for me to even stand. Eric had washed the wounds and the bloodied spot on my fur, but that was skin deep. I'd been pretty damn reckless with this power boost. If I wanted to fuel the spell matrix... With a tired sigh, I glanced at the shimmering wall orbiting around the luxurious bed.

The sound bubble had resisted the trip. Thank Harmony for small miracles. It might have been the only thing to go off without a hitch tonight. That brought a frown to my face. Nothing was over yet, but there still had been so many things gone terribly, and I could not deny that the lines traced in the sand scared me. They would send us away. Once it was completed and we – mostly me and the cape – had provided the energy, the three of us should... no, would be home, normal, human again.

My hooves dug into the sand as I tensed. Things would be fine. They had to be.

I felt my ears tick at a few words I caught from Canterlot. There's no going back now. I faced Celestia and Luna. I tried to suffocate them both! I... My hooves almost looked red in the dark. They were. I could almost see blood dripping from my fur. Elders... I tried to strangle my cousins. Maybe I don't–

Something wet and squishy hit the back of my head, and it burst. Cold, muddy water slid over my mane and my neck, making me shiver from horn to hooves, and with a gasp, I inhaled the salty stuff.

“What the…?” I sputtered, spitting out sea water.

“You looked like you were ready to mope again,” came a very smug voice from my right. Thadal. Eric, same guy. He was there, outside the edges of the barrier, so satisfied at the sight of my wet bangs falling in my eyes. “Stop that, Sam. That’s not the guy I know. Too much of a wimp.”

I bared my teeth in a dangerous smile. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, not at all intimidated.

The cape on my back lashed out. “I guess the one wearing the dangerous artifact of power isn’t who I thought. How strange,” I said with faux nonchalance.

“Tough words coming from the golden colt,” he laughed, and cleared his voice before raising it in pitch. “Please no, don't try to seduce my cousin! She'll be very angry!”

Oh, it is on.

Thadal's lopsided grin widened as I lowered my head. “What's that? Are you going to a–?”

He didn't get to say the rest. An invisible hand of air picked him from behind and flung him backward, right into the sea. He had ample time to open his wings, for what little that changed. More water splashed while I surveyed the proof of my superiority.

“Had your fill, pony of little faith?” I taunted, grinning before poor, poor Thadal who trotted out of the sea dripping wet. “Do you understand who you're dealing with now?”

“I am no puny mortal to be cowed by your oh so long horn and your flappy flappy wings, Sam!” He stomped, the waves behind him rising higher. “Behold! Neptune Art: Water!”

A great shadow would have risen, darkened my sight and my coat, if this had not been night. I only heard the torrents crashing and swirling together under his control, as they ascended higher than they could. And the rushing sound pumped adrenaline in my veins as the wave crashed down on top of me. And wind struck back. And again water swept the sand under my hooves.

And despite the soreness of my bodies, the muted pain in my muscles, I laughed. The whole thing was surreal, yet so familiar. So right. There was no world hanging on our shoulders, we held no sword of damocles. It was just us, being idiots and friends with the power of nature in the same breath until we collapsed onto the sand, our abs hurting from laughing too much.

We stayed that way for some time, two stallions just lying on their sides, catching their breaths next to a world changing spell. Not that unusual, from the perspective of an alicorn, to be fair, but we were also the extra human part. And even the spirits of Order could not boast often about creating – or more often thwarting – such complex runes with two open spots and one with a sleeping colt in a bed in it.

It's just us, I thought as I looked down on my hooves and the corners of the cape.

“You…” I coughed, throat hoarse, and tried to swallow the slow, creeping cold in my throat. “You can still go back, Eric , you know?”

He stared.

My heart beating faster, I started spewing my thoughts, quickly, frantically. “I-I... I sprung this on you, out of the blue and then there was Luna and I just reacted instinctively, but if-”

“Sam.”

“-If you don’t want, you could go back and say I forced you to follow. It’s the truth too. You said ‘yes’, but this was really sudden and if now you feel this is too much, it's okay, really. I wouldn't mind, I'd understand, it's... I…”

“Sam,” he repeated, more firmly. “I'm not leaving you. I chose to come.”

And that knocked the fight out of me. I deflated, and curled up a bit on myself. “I just don’t want to ruin yet another one of my loved ones’ life.”

Thadal looked taken aback, all sternness gone from him. His eyes searched me for some answer, one I did not know if I possessed. After a moment though, his left wing unfolded and hid his face. “Celestia asked me to watch over you, you know?”

Huh. I blinked. “Did she, now?”

“Yeah,” he said as he leaned his head back against the sand. “She wanted me to remind you the value of true friendship, so you wouldn't give in to your inner demons.”

So that's what it was, I thought back on the gala. They had indeed been conspiring behind my back and it was indeed for my own good. But then again...

“Wow, she really miscalculated that one,” I snickered.

A second later, my mind caught up with my words. I froze. We had fallen silent, with only the sea breeze for background noise, and my ears rang loud. I was red in the face. Had I really said that? It, wow, I might as well as blamed him for this whole debacle.

On the spot, I opened my mouth to apologize, but a sandy hoof pushed against my lips. Erk.

“Nope. Listen, Sam. For real. No tuning me out because it clashes with your version of reality.”

I cringed, and my ears flattened against my skull. Ouch.

He saw my reaction, clearly, and grimaced. Sheepish, he ran a hoof on the back of his neck. “Err, that came out worse than intended. You’re not that bad.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Yeah, moving on.” He glanced away. “Look, the point… the point is that you’re my friend and to me, that means I follow you when you do stuff. It’s crazy, isn’t it? But I haven’t had many friends before and I want to keep the one I have. So, yeah, sitting down in a cell next to you and planning the next time we do it is alright with me.”

I snickered. It was too strong an urge. We had done that before, once, in that other life. Alcohol didn't agree with me no matter the place. And Eric... ah, not far behind.

A hoof cuffed me on the shoulder, and I let out a very stallion-like whine. Eric didn't have to hit that hard! But the spark of mischief in his eyes told his true, begrudging feelings of amusement.

“Hey, pouring my heart out, right on this Elders forsaken beach, Sam. I was being all loyal and friendship master class about sinking to your level even back then!” He threw his hooves in the air, like he wanted to reach the clouds overhead. And slowly, they fell back to his sides, his gaze more distant. “Even all this alicorn stuff, all those times back between the stars and the planets, that plane of existence that’s really sort of freaky… It counts too. I mean, I don’t really know if it happened, but we both remember it, right? And well, even there, we were friends.”

Something prickled at the back of my eyes. Bastard! He just had to say that! “B-because you tricked Reality into believing that.”

“Yeah.” He tried to shrug nonchalantly, but the blush on his face ruined the effect. “I liked the idea.”

His words sank in, and I had to close my mouth, stay silent for a moment. I... wow, Thadal – Eric – had liked the idea of being my friend that long? Some childish part of me wanted to cheer at that, just jump in the air and grin and do something stupid with him, like dare a dragon to a drinking contest or steal a piano from a minotaur or arrange his secret marriage to Luna.

My grip on him tightened into a hug. “You know I’m probably considered on par with Nightmare Moon now, right?”

I had to ask, one last time. Some part of me didn't want to believe that.

His tail flicked, but the rest of him stayed considerably calm. “Yeah, but I’m the one that told you to get into second gears.” He scratched his chin, pensive. His lips twitched upward. “You’ve been here longer, I know you looked into it as best you could, or at least asked those that knew more. So, if this is what it takes and you’re willing to do it, then I’ll move my fuzzy rump and give you a hoof.”

“…You realize– ” I started, lifting a hoof.

“I do,” he cut in immediately, a small grin on his face. “I said that on purpose. Figured that's what you were picturing anyway, you stupid horse.”

I pulled my lips in a dubious pout. That was mostly the pride though, 'cause... well, he had been right. I'd have said the same without actual irony. So, in a way, I certainly was horse enough. Plus, considering what I had already done... yeah, fair enough, I've been a moron.

“Fine. Let’s go be evil.”

Comments

[Borderline Valley]

Hmmmmmm.
*raises eyebrow*
The exposition in this chapter seems legit.
I wonder what role Discord might play, here at the end.

[AzureShade]

Man this is depressing.

This is all one big HUGE catch 22.

No matter who wins, everybody loses.

[Mix-up]

An other awesome chapter from WiseFireCracker. I think that it was great the way you use Luna's grudges of the past to constantly harass Sam to make him feel unwelcome and feed his paranoia of fearing Celestia's wrath if she fond out of the truth of being agents of chaos, depraving him of contemplating the possible ally and confidant as well as making him more desperate in his actions. Luna's was a real bitch, she never gave Sam a chance to prove himself, and constantly compared him to Salem just because he resembled his old boyfriend.
Sam has completely brunt all his bridges and has shown that he is desperate will do any thing to get his brother back to his parents, and the best part is that I his actions seem completely justified seeing it in his point of view.

The best way that I can imagine that he can get enough magic to go home is to manage to take Flutershy and Twilight as hostages and force Discord, Luna and Celestia to give all he needs. He has already damned himself what's a little more going to do more...

Sam is going to get his horn cut off isn't he!?

[The Great Derpsby]

I wonder how Tom thinks about hundreds or even thousands of ponies possibly dying to send him home.

Then again, I doubt Sam is going to tell him that little detail.

[tsaukpaetra]

Did I miss something, how the frick did things escalate so quickly? Maelstorm doesn't even begin to describe all that's happening now.
This season's finale is a three-parter, isn't it?
Keep going! ;)

[WiseFireCracker]

6311047 It's an interesting question, isn't it? What would he do, indeed? Do you think he wants to get involved or not?

6311182 Yeah, it's sort of the point. Now, the question is: who do you want to win?

6312475 Well, considering it'd horrify him, make him sad, be super guilty and what not, yeah, no. Not happening. Why do you think he hasn't woken him up yet?

6313734 Quickly's a big word. It was building up since... what, chapter ten? Nah, but yeah, that was always the endgame. Now, if it's a three parter? Well, if you consider the last ball to have been a lead-up to this one, yeah, this would be something like the second to last episode of that hypothetical season four.

6312420 See, Luna's actions were not really harassment. She was just... distant, cold, not really particularly welcoming. She sort of avoided him, because she knew she could not quite be fair to him. Caelum is still a fresh enough wound. Her time on the moon sort of shambled the passage of time, as opposed to Celestia. It's part of her personality. Think about the Dream episode we had, where Luna still holds herself as irredeemable for what she did as Nightmare Moon. She doesn't forgive easily, neither others nor herself.

Sam's actions could be justified, if not for the fallout of his actions. He doesn't think it's a good thing to do, but he can't not do it. It's his family, he needs to help them in any way he can. Though, is there a line he won't cross...? Wait and see.

As for his punishment, if he loses... well, I'm not going to say.

[AzureShade]

If I was in his shoes?

I'd do what Celestia did in a manner of speaking. Tell his buddy that they can't leave or thousands will die, BUT cast the spell and send his younger brother back home, and between the two of them take over the duties of alicorn of the earth like Celestia did for the moon.

He HAS to send his brother back, the kid isn't even 10 and his parents are pretty much broken if they don't get at least ONE child back. But they can't all go back, that'd wreck the planet, the two older guys have to take responsibility and bite the bullet, and hopefully make themselves feel better about being stuck there by torturing Discord with pranks for the next 1000 years.

That's what I'd do anyways, if I was in his shoes, but more than one can't go back, or there'd be no alicorn to take double duty. I can see air and water able to take care of earth by splitting the duty, but not one taking all 3.

[Mix-up]

6314948

Sam's actions could be justified

No I did not meant that all his actions he did where justifiable, just that his desperations is more than understandable when your very identity is being rewritten as well as that of his brother and his best friend and nearly completely lost it at least once all ready. He also got it trough his head that he was a prisoner of Celestia and second guest every motives of her decision.

[harts fire]

wow this chapter is just plan instance and that is a understatement, I love it.

[WiseFireCracker]

6317323 Thank you, good sir.

6315154 This would indeed take care of most collateral damage, on the family's front. It's an elegant solution, and all it takes is precise, complicated spellcasting, sufficient magical power and the guts to do it. Or heck, the idea occuring to Sam (or Eric). Hopefully, that would also satisfy a certain alicorn elder, and a bunch of foreign spirits.

6315766 Yeah, I know. I understand that you meant his was the sympathetic pov of view. I may have phrased that a bit clumsily.

[Luckyfanisaac]

6307416
Uh I guess?

[Red Bomber]

Those were some amazing battle sequences and I like how this chapter seems to answer every question I had about this situation and the most important is WHY it's a bad thing that Sam's doing what he can. This chapter really does explain everything. It's amazingly eerie how the reality-bending brainwashing thing helped protect Sam from Celestia's binding spells that he can't choose which one he is because he's all of them, and that actually helped him in the long run. Though I wonder how things are going to end badly for Sam no matter what, it's been on my mind for a while now and I wonder if this means he might fail in his plans which would therefore fail his family.

That put my exciting mood down a damper, I couldn't think about how despite he planned for this I don't think things are going to work out so well for him no matter how understandable his situation is. It's like you got trapped in an inhabited island with a bomb strapped onto you and you finally found a way to leave the island... along with how the bomb blows up. Instead of the bomb blowing you up if you tried to leave the island, the bomb will blow up the island; killing everyone who lives there.

Anyway back on topic, I'm already guessing that his plans is to use the ponies harmony to power up the spell for him to go home. Though I think there's a way to do that without endangering the world or become a villain, but I think it would've still change the balance of the world but it won't be in danger. Writing of villains, I'm thinking when Tom wakes up there's going to be another huge argument between him and Sam. I wonder if the Elements of Harmony will even work on Sam. It'll probably force him to face his insecurities or turn him human. I mean if the Elements are really as forgiving when it comes to Luna and Sunset as they're used by Twilight and the others, it will probably help him go back home or make a choice. Either way, I just hope the Millers will be okay with the truth whenever it comes out.

I wonder if I actually made any sense in this post.

[WiseFireCracker]

6327695 it's always things on a matter of perspective. Perhaps he will succeed in every way. All of them will return to Earth, they'll be reunited with their families, but that will have left untold devastations on countless innocents. Sam's a character that does have a lot of introspection, and he will never be able to forget he ever did that, he'll have no illusion on what that makes him, what he deserves and what his family didn't deserve. He will never really have a way of knowing if he just killed his lover and everything she held dear out of selfishness. And that's if it works. He could just as easily fail, and he will have to face a punishment the likes of which were inflicted on those mythological beings and the ancient transgression.

Your analogy is not bad. There is a bomb that will definitely go off, and Sam's just making his choice where and who it will detonate on.

What his plan is... well, does he really strike you as the guy that has a plan?

And huh, will the Elements work? He's an alicorn of Chaos, isn't he? Remember the last being of Chaos they hit.

[Red Bomber]

6336759
Huah, you got me there about Sam's character. I could probably argue that he does have a plan to use the Elements of Harmony to his advantage in some way thanks to everything he went through giving him a chance to come up with a semblance of a plan but I can't do anything about it because he's not my character and you know him better than I do. Though I still want to argue that unlike Discord, who was doing things for the evulz, Sam still has some good in him and he wants to do what's right and he's only doing this because he's now back into the corner with Tom admitting that he has trouble remembering what he looked like, making Sam feel like there's little to no time to find another way before Calx's memories overwrites Tom's. Maybe the Elements of Harmony can give him that chance, unfortunately they only depend on Twilight and her friend's emotional state about him at the time. So maybe things will go very wrong with them due to how separate everyone feels about Sam, if Twilight can't convince the others to use them to help Sam, then they may not work, or if Sam succeeds in pushing her away, then the Elements will punish him instead of helping him. But I have a feeling that Twilight will catch on to his lies and try to make him tell the whole truth about him, even though he'll most likely still refuse to tell until... someone else steals their thunder.

What's funny is that he's willing to let the world fall into ruin and will probably ruin the show for the bronies as well. I mean he was so worried about the bronies hating him and everything and keep the show on track, that he just now decides to forget all of that and ruin the whole thing for everyone back home as long as he and his brother and friend get back home. The very definition of the Well Intentioned Extremist.

[Semi-AutomagicCupcake]

You now have 300 likes

[WiseFireCracker]

6347675 It is hard to express my unending glee to that with words, ironic considering that I like to write. Just know I made a noise that proves to me that humans have quite the amazing vocal range.

[Semi-AutomagicCupcake]

6355404 lulz

[Bomarck]

It just occurred to me that Sam's trick with removing the air from around someones face might be a bit painful if he was creating a vacuum around them.

[WiseFireCracker]

6357128 Yeah, there are more than one way to do it, and the easiest is the least painful, so there's that. He just puts a barrier in front of the mouth and nostrils. so they can't breath new air. Sort of like forcing them to hold their breath. Sucking up the air in their lungs however is incredibly unpleasant, and it causes damage to the lungs (with enough strength, it could theorically make them collapse).

[Gigas]

Oh.
I'm caught up now.
.......
.............
.....Hmm. Now I wait.

[WiseFireCracker]

6367699 6367774 Now, now, Sam has a bit more self-control than that. Not much, but he does. Really, he has reasons for what he does. Heck, they're rather explicit, and yeah, there's an important reason for those seven chapters of humanity before he gets there. It tells you and explains to you WHY Sam acts the way he does.

6399543
6399767 Great comments there. See, I think you more or less answered your own questions with your thoughts. Now, it is hard to tell for Sam and everyone else just what them being in what seems to a television show means. It could be that the world was created by Hasbro, that everything that happens follows their script first. But Tom clearly threw a wrench in their plans, whatever they were. Yet, a little bit later, if you pay attention, you might find a hint to the answer with another human character. Regardless, Sam's thoughts are following a simple if questionable policy : he can't take the risk. Why? Because he knows the new alicorns are hated by the fanbase. Because there was a retcon in the show with Derpy! What if he's right? What if they have the power to change voices, personalities, appearance, background? He can't make the bets because the consequences would be devastating to his family and to himself.

[TundraStanza]

...
Man, this story seems completely foreign right now. Seriously, I don't see anything at all that made it from the first chapter all the way to this one. Did this account change ownership when I wasn't looking?

[Araw]

When I first started reading this on my way to work yesterday morning, I never thought it would get like this. It's now 1.30am. Than You for making be loose sleep and productivity over this.

[WiseFireCracker]

6499648 ...I'll take the compliment. It's what I do when I get into a fic or book I like.

6489458 Huh, I didn't get a notification for this one. Weird.

Well, regardless, I kind of know what you mean, but... the first chapter was quite litterally only Sam and his parents realizing that Tom had gone missing and, for Sam at least, the possibility that he was this little alicorn colt. It's always been about trying to get him back home, even if Sam's flaws and the events of the stories conspired against him for some time. This, it's more or less the logical conclusion of an impossible situation. I mean, I've been hinting at it all story long. Now, I realize fighting scenes are a weakness of mine, but it's not something that could be avoided at this point.

Just... yeah, okay, just tell me, what is it, exactly? I'm still me, but I started this story over two years ago.

[AzureShade]

Sam is so short sighted on this . . . now that I think about it.

The original spell was created by a god of chaos. Sam is NOT that. Heck, let's assume everything goes perfectly for Sam, he casts the spell, it sends him and his friend and brother back to his dimension and equestria gets royally screwed because they left.

Yay for them. . . . EXCEPT, the spell is for sending people to different dimensions and turning whoever uses it into an alicorn.

There's nothing in the spell that turns anyone into anything BUT an alicorn. What is his plan, go home as a magic winged horsicorn with his horsicorn brother and horsicorn friend?

That'll work out just GREEEEEEAT for all involved. The three of them will be captured and disected by the government so fast it'll make their heads spin.

I'm sure he just assumes the spell will turn them all back into humans when it sends them back . . . and he has absolutely NO reason to assume that especially since Discord point blank told him the spell was designed to do two things and two things only. Transport whoever uses it to Equestria . . . and morph them into an alicorn.

Nowhere in that is 'turn me back into a human'.

Even if his plans go perfectly and he gets all 3 of them back to earth. They are still screwed. And that's the tragedy of this story.

No matter what happens, EVERYONE is screwed . . . except maybe Discord. Man Discord is a prick.

And then of course there is all the other alicorns in this story. I'm sure they are monitoring the situation as we speak, whose to stop them, now that they know about it, from redirecting the spell to their home dimension, preventing them from escaping, and won't THAT be fun, 3 chaos alicorns in a dimension of pure order that's allergic to chaos. He's wearing his fake 'dad's cloak after all. I'm sure the 'dad' and 'mom' alicorns that think they are his parents would probably take issue with him absconding with his brother to a dimension where they can't even see him and nip that in the bud.

[WiseFireCracker]

6752303 Eeeeeh, not gonna comment on the alicorns, but if I may...

Sam's short-sighted but not quite that much. He very much has the intent to cast the spell with a sort of 'reverse polarity' to it. If he can is another question, but if he has anything to say about it, this is meant to cast the spell and undo what the previous three did. Undo the transformation, undo the transportation, undo, undo, undo. Go back home, as you were before you left home.

Oh, and thought Discord crafted the spell, he does not power it in any way. It's all in the spell's matrix. You need chaotic power (like the emotions of a fandom or a spell core of chaos) and you're golden once you exceed the power output.

But yes, no matter what happens, everyone is screwed.

[Zanec]

Just looked at my favorites list.
Kinda surprised that this is one of the older added stories.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

I trashed, (thrashed) putting every bit of my power into fighting the crawling snakes of light strangling me. Their grasp only tightened, their coils ever more strong, their touch white-hot on my skin. And each hoofstep growing closer was echoed by a pulse of power in the constructs.

“I’ve wondered for a thousand years, Ventus. What could I have done?” Her eyes flickered away, solemn regret seeping through every pore of her being. “If I had been kinder, if I had been more attentive… if I had been stronger. I could have ended our battle differently. Perhaps I could have subdued her through less extreme means, and bring (brought) her back from the throes of the Fallens myself instead of leaving that task to my student after a thousand years sealed away.”

“Oh, my poor Twilight,” Celestia lamented, her eyes glittering with moisture, “I have seen it. I have seen , as my sister herself has, the way he acts around lost, terrified foals. But I have seen more as well. I have seen the coldness he tries to hide, the sharp biting edge of his words and his hooves tying the knot of a forbidden artifact around his neck. I have seen what Ventus is capable......of, both......., good and bad. From the very first day, I knew there was something to be wary of.” This time, Luna made an approving noise, and Twilight could not help but think this so inappropriate. Yet Celestia made no mention of it, and took on a gentler tone. “Alicorns are forbidden from upsetting the balance of the worlds, but he did. Our involvement is always strictly monitored, for very good reasons. A foal… was unprecedented. We were well into adulthood when our mission was given. It should never be done.”

[Luckyfanisaac]

Surely, she pondered if it might be a trap, but she needed to not bother.

we were from the outside in this damned vault.

even needed to bother with his consent.

Now this is the chapter where it starts to go downhill!!!