> Blazing Dragon
>  by Zanem-Ji
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Fallen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her hooves softly trampled the dirt beneath them. Her back was hurting, the sweat stung at her eyes, and her legs were beginning to feel numb. But she had to carry on. She was on a mission, and she couldn’t stop because of a few measly aches. If the legends were true, then perhaps they could help end the suffering of their world…



A young Unicorn filly bounded up to her loving mother. Even through the caked on ash and dirt, patches of her turquoise coat could still be seen. Her smoky gray mane and tail were matted down to her fur with sweat, but she didn’t care. She was but a child, and so long as she could play and avoid taking a bath, she would stay dirty forever. Not that water came too often anyway. After all, not being thirsty was way better than not being clean. Her mother held her close, as she looked into her eyes. Her heterochromia made her a bit of an oddity, but lovable none the less. The lavender hue of her right iris, and the light hazel of her left iris, both sparkled with child-like innocence and joy.

“Mommy! I keep hearing about Daddy coming back! Is it true?! Huh, is it?!”

Her mother frowned, “No, my little Sparks. Your father is still out searching for ‘The Fallen’…”

Sparks popped out her bottom lip in a pout, “Why is Daddy still out looking for them, instead of staying here with us??”

Her mother gently rubbed her head, “He is doing this for us, little one. The Fallen are the only ones that can save us all. Wouldn’t you like to be in a world where you can go out ALL the time? Where you can see the Sun, and there'd be grass under your hooves everywhere you stepped, and have food and water all the time?”

The tiny Unicorn crossed her hooves, “I never even seen the sun, or that much grass all at once, so I don’t care if I don’t get to see or feel them.”

Her mother gently smiled, “Well, the Sun is the most beautiful thing you will ever see, and the grass? It’s softer than all the mattresses you’ve ever slept in. And…it’ll be because your father managed to find The Fallen.”

“Who are The Fallen anyway? Only the old ponies have seen them, and most of them are gone. Why does everypony want to see them?”

“It is said that they were once close friends with the Princesses from before the ‘Fallout’. Ponies, who bore magic beyond our wildest imaginations, even though not all of them are Unicorns. Even though they are supposed to be in their 80s now, they are stronger than anypony around. It’s even said that one of them is RELATED to the Hell King, and can stop him.” she lifted the smaller pony’s chin, “Everypony needs somepony to look up to. You say you look up to your father and I, right?”

The young filly nodded.

“Well…your father and I…” she turned to looked through the dusty, dirty window, “We look up to The Fallen….”



That was so long ago though. Her father never came back…and her mother died from disease and filth. She had to do this…she had carry on the legacy of her father, and bring The Fallen out from wherever they are, so that they could stop the Hell King. To help bring peace and happiness back to the land. To see the sun and feel the fields of grass that her mother spoke of so much. Grass sounded delicious right about now.

Her stomach rumbled. Loud.

She froze. 

She might as well have screamed out her existence to the world. They would be here any moment now. The sound of hunger had been too loud for them to not hear. Her ears swiveled faster now, waiting to hear any noise that would give away their position.

The first one attacked.

She quickly coiled her hind legs up, before bucking the creature in the teeth. It rolled and tumbled as she turned to face it. It had definitely been a pony when it was alive. It’s flesh was scarred, blistered and destroyed by the continuous black fire that spouted occasionally from random lacerations and crevices on it. It’s teeth were all crooked fangs, and it’s eyes were nothing but onyx colored orbs with gleaming red pupils. It had one twisted wing, and a small fleshy nub where the other should’ve been. It had been a Pegasus. It could’ve even been a friend that she had lost long ago. The flesh where it’s cutie mark should’ve been was gone now. It no longer matter who it had been before;

It was an enemy to all things good now.

It lunged for her again, and she fired off a blast of lavender magic at it, blowing a hole clean through it’s body.

It still came for her.

As she jumped to the side to avoid it’s tackle, another sprung up behind her. It dug it’s fangs into the meaty part of her shoulder and latched on. She let out a whinny before swinging around to throw it off of her. Another leaped out of the shadows. Then another. One bit into her thigh, the other into one of her forelegs. She couldn’t move. She was as good as dead. The one she had kicked earlier had gotten back up. It licked it’s dry, cracked lips as it honed in on her neck. She gave it a death glare. This wasn’t fair. She couldn’t die like this. If the gods be willing…they will let her survive.

It lunged.

She braced for it.

It never came.

Her eyes went wide as she saw a dirty orange mass fly into it. An Earth Pony mare. She turned to look at her,

“You there, don’t move a muscle!!”

Something in Sparks knew to obey the command. She froze, even as the beast continued to gnaw away at her. And then she heard it,

Loud cracks in the air.

The monsters released their grip and dropping to the dirt lifelessly.

A maniacal giggle finished off by a quick snort.

She looked up to see another Earth Pony in a gnarled and leafless tree. Another mare, with dark pink fur, and an unnaturally straight mane and tail. She wore a black leather jacket, armed with various knives, small hammers, and a few vials of different colored liquids. The jacket was open, and in the middle of her chest, she bore a massive, circular shaped scar. Her face was dirty like the other mare's, but her eyes were a bright shade of blue. Her twisted smile faltered when she looked down at Sparks.

“You silly filly! You’ve been alive long enough to know that it’s dangerous to be anywhere outside alone!!”

Sparks dusted herself off as the pink mare leapt from the tree and landed in front of her, “Thank you very much for your help. If it weren’t for you two, those things would’ve killed me off.”

“Yer damn lucky we were passin’ through here. Why the hell are ya walkin’ around out here all by yer lonesome anyway?”

Sparks turned to look at the orange mare that had questioned her. The mare wore a tattered brown coat, and a weathered, age-worn southern style hat. Both her silvery blonde mane and tail were tied up in thick, braided cords. Her hind legs had metal braces attached to them with screws that embedded into her thighs. Patches of her hind legs were covered with metal plates, and she wore horse shoes that had tiny spikes on the bottom. Her emerald green eyes shined brightly as she appeared to be staring into the Unicorn’s soul.

“I am on a mission to find The Fallen; the legendary six ponies who could kill the Hell King.”

The Earth Ponies looked at each other, before the orange pony spoke up again.

“Ya need tah turn ‘round an’ head on back tah wherever ya came from.”

Sparks arched an eyebrow, “What? Why?” she shook her head, “Nevermind. Look, I really do appreciate you both for saving me and all, but I have to do this.” she started to walk past them. The pink mare grabbed her tail with her teeth, and flung her over her head, smacking her into the dirt. She wheezed from the loss of air as the pony stood over her,

“We can’t let you do that, silly!” the pony stated rather bluntly, “We don’t want to let you keep going by yourself, and then feel bad if something happens to you.”

“My father disappeared looking for them!!” Sparks screamed. “All my life, I was told that The Fallen were the only hope to saving us all! They could bring back the Sun, and the Moon, and the stars, and endless water and grass, but more importantly, freedom and happiness!!” tears started to fall from the Unicorn’s eyes, “At first…I thought my father left because he cared about The Fallen more than he loved us. But as I got older, I realized that he did it because he loved us. So, the least I can do is carry on with my father’s mission, and find them…” she wiped the tears away and then gave the pink pony a hard glare, “Now, GET OFF OF ME!!”

The mare didn’t move. Instead, she turned to the orange pony. The emerald eyes bore into her once more,

“Tell me…what was yer pa’s name??”

Sparks stared back at her, “His name was Star Blast…why?”

The pink pony pulled Sparks to her hooves. She cleared her throat,

“My name’s Pinkamena Diane Pie, but I like to be called Pinkie Pie. And this,” Pinkie looked over at the orange one, “Is Applejack…”

Sparks looked back and forth between the two. Why did their names sound so familiar? Realization dawned on her;

They were the names of two ponies that belonged to The Fallen.

Sparks knelt before them, “I have spent the past decade searching for you. It is an honor, and a miracle, to have finally found you.”

Applejack gave a small smile, “Thank ya kindly, uh…what’s yer name exactly?”

“My name is Bright Spark, but everypony just calls me Sparks.”

“Well, Sparks…it’s a pleasure tah meet ya, an’ an honor as well.”

Sparks got a huge grin on her face, “Really?”

“You’re the daughter of THE Star Blast!” Pinkie exclaimed. “He helped us with a lot of super-duper tough intel gathering missions.”

The Unicorn practically bounced with joy, “You met my father?! HE FOUND YOU?!”

Applejack nodded, “Yes he did. An’, he was one of the most amazin’ Unicorns that Ah ever met.”

“Do you know where he is now?” Sparks asked. “I haven’t seen him since I was a little filly…and it’d be so nice to be back with him. Although…” her eyes fell to the ground, “He’ll be heartbroken when he finds out that Mom is gone…”

Pinkie and Applejack exchanged sad glances before turning back to her. Pinkie stepped forward,

“Sparks…there’s no easy way to tell you this…” she coughed and cleared her throat, “We regret to inform you…that your father-”

Sparks shook her head. She had been to some of her friends’ houses when this happened. Soldiers would knock on the door….their mom or dad would answer, and they would start to say the same thing. By the end of it, the parent would be a pile of broken spirit and tears…and the next day, her friend would be the same way…

Applejack stepped closer and gently placed a hoof on her shoulder, “Ah have a feelin’ yer gonna be with us fer a while…so…Ah know this hurts, but ya need tah hear it… an' Ah need ya tah be strong about it.”

Sparks bit her bottom lip and nodded, as tears waited to be spilled. Pinkie gave a small nod, and looked at Sparks again, her expression was a lot softer this time,

“I’m not going to give you the statement that we tell other families…your dad was a great stallion, a hero to many, including the two Fallen that he saved…we couldn’t have picked a better pony to fight alongside us. Again, it is one of my deepest regrets to have to give you such horrible news…but I would rather it be one of us who told you then one of our fighters…”

Sparks nodded, and without thinking, hugged Pinkie as tightly as she could, “Thank you for that! It means so much…”

Pinkie smiled and lightly patted her back, “No problem…I can say that we all were so happy to have your dad as a friend. He saved two of my best friends…he gave me something I couldn’t afford to lose, and I thank him every single day for that.”

The Unicorn pulled away from her and nodded, thanking them once more for their kind words. Applejack placed a hoof on her again,

“Yer Blast’s kid, so ya best believe yer gonna have tah meet the others.”

Sparks’ face lit up, “You mean I-”

The orange mare nodded, “Yup! Yer gonna meet the rest of us!!”

Sparks couldn’t contain her joy any longer. She leapt into the air and clacked her hooves together. She took Applejack’s hoof into her own,

“Thank you, thank you! Words cannot express how much this means to me!!”

Applejack chuckled as she received the strong hoof shake, “No problem, Sparks. But we gotta get up outta here before more of them vermin come out.”

The Earth Ponies turned to continue walking, with Sparks in tow. Pinkie and Applejack conversed with each other, and Sparks was too awe struck to join in. She simply observed how these two seemingly normal and friendly ponies, were said to be the most powerful heroines to have ever existed. Were they all this nice or was it just these two? Was it because her father fought alongside them? She wondered how it was for him to join them in battle. To look beside him, and see these powerful mares fighting alongside-

“Wait a minute.”

Pinkie and Applejack turned around,

“What’s up, Sugarcube?”

Sparks looked between them, “My mom said The Fallen were really old. Like…well into their 80s. And that’s when I was still a filly. How old are you two?”

Applejack gave a small glare, “Ah know it ain’t right tah be askin’ a lady her age!”

Pinkie elbowed her before looking back at Applejack, “Don’t mind her, she’s just trying to be a bully. I’m 120, and Applejack is 124.”

Sparks jaw nearly hit the ground, “How is that possible that you guys are that old and look so young?! You don’t look a day over 50!”

Applejack smiled, “Everythin’ will be answered soon, when we meet back up with our friends.”

She turned and continued on, with Pinkie happily bouncing beside her. The Unicorn mare grinned with content before continuing the trek with the couple.


~MLP~


Sparks had expected more. Something greater, than what she was looking at right now.

It was a rundown old warehouse of some sort. At least, that’s what it looked like it was. When they got inside however, it was as if she stepped into a completely different dimension. The inside was nice and clean, and was crowded with various ponies of all breeds. Some were making potions of different kinds, some were creating weapons for battle, and some were posting massive maps of the world on all the walls. But there was one thing that they were all doing that they had in common;

Smiling. They all had genuine smiles on their faces, and hearty laughter.

Sparks leaned into Pinkie, “Why is everypony so happy? It’s weird…”

“Laughter is the greatest medicine.” Pinkie replied. “Most of us here have lost somepony we loved. Most of us have seen combat, and gotten into battles we knew we couldn’t win. Most of us...have seen some twisted, and to be completely honest, fucked up things. But one thing that we’ve gotten out of this war, is friendship. We are a band of brothers and sisters, whom through friendship, have doubled our joy, and halved our sorrows. If you can look death and despair in the eyes and laugh, then you my friend, are one tough pony.”

Applejack smiled, “Wow…that was amazing.”

Pinkie cocked her head to the side, “What was amazing?”

Applejack shook her head, “Ah’m still amazed that we’re married sometimes, Pinkie. Ya just blow my mind.”

Pinkie smiled and nuzzled up to her, “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve said all week! I love you too!”

The Unicorn once again found herself grinning at the couple. She wondered in a world without the Hell King, if she could find love like that too. She wondered about that and more, and didn’t realize she had spaced out until she bumped into Applejack’s flank. She shook her head and looked up to see a massive door was the reason they had stopped. Applejack looked back at her, 

“Not many ponies have come intah this room.” She stated. “So what ya see an’ what ya hear, an’ say, can’t leave this room. Do ya understand?”

Sparks nodded and her expression turned serious, “I understand.”

“Good.” Applejack turned and started to push the door open, “Then let’s go.”

Pinkie stepped inside, with Sparks following her, and Applejack closed the door. The room was dimly lit, save for one corner that had a large table with various weapons, armor, and other mechanical items on it. Just outside of the light’s reach, a pair of cerise eyes focused on the trio. The eyes squinted,

“Who’s that mare with you guys? She looks kinda familiar.” A raspy voice spoke out.

Applejack patted the younger mare’s back, “This here is Bright Spark, but she said her nickname is just Sparks. An’ the reason she looks so familiar, is because she’s Blast’s kid!”

The cerise eyes lit up, “What?! No way!!”

There was the sound of a quick trot, and a Pegasus mare appeared from the darkness. Her fur was slightly grayish-cyan color, and her mane was cut into a short, prismatic Mohawk. Her tail was also brightly colored, with a few barely noticeable strands of silver in it. She wore a white tank top that was covered in oil and grease stains and a thick, brown leather tool belt. The detail that caught Sparks’ attention though, was that one of her wings was made completely out of metal rods with a cybernetic meshing, and the metal wing was painted to match as close to her fur color as possible. The Pegasus bit down on the tooth pick in her mouth as she smiled hard at Sparks.

“Well, well, I never thought I’d meet the little spawn of Blast. You definitely look like him.” She stuck a hoof out to her, “The name’s Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet ya!”

Sparks eagerly took the hoof into her own, “It’s nice to meet you too! You’re The Fallen Pegasus that was once the leader of the Wonderbolts! My mother told me she used to go to their shows when she was a filly!”

Dash nodded, “Yeah. But, of course, I’m not as fast as I used to be because of this thing.” She gave her prosthetic wing a few flaps, “But it does me well and gets the job done.”

“Ow! Rainbow Dash, stop leaving all of these tooth picks all over the floor! They mess up my hooficure every single time!!” a voice shouted out from the darkness.

Dash rolled her eyes, “Because that really matters, right?”

A Unicorn with earmuffs around her neck stepped out from the shadows, glaring at Dash as she did. Her coat, though covered in numerous scars of various sizes, was a splendid shade of white, and her long violet mane and tail had streaks of silver in them as well. A jagged scar that started near the base of her horn, ran all the way down over her left eye, and bloomed over her cheek. She had a burn scar that covered the upper right portion of her face, stopping right below the base of her ear. And the right eye, while it had retained some of it’s sapphire hue like her other eye, had a milky lens over it. To Sparks though, the Unicorn made the look work for her, and she appeared to give off an air of sophistication.

“Yes, it does! If you were a LADY, then you would know that! Instead, you continue to act like a grease monkey, whom can never take her hooves off of the machines and her mare!”

Dash pressed her muzzle against the Unicorn’s, “You got a problem with that?!”

The white mare’s horn glowed, “A problem that I will squash like an insignificant little insect.”

Pinkie jammed her way in between them, “We’re all good friends here, so how about we be nice, and make Sparky here feel at home!!”

The white Unicorn turned to face her, “Oh darling, I’m so sorry you had to see me behave in such an uncouth manner. Dash has the tendency to be a thorn in my side, and well sometimes, you have to act like a ruffian for other ruffians to understand you.” She stuck her hoof out, “My name is Fair Rarity-”

“There’s nothing ‘fair’ about her.” Dash cut in.

Rarity smiled politely at Sparks as she cocked back one of her hind legs. Dash looked at her in confusion, before feeling a white hoof slam into her side, flinging her back into the darker part of the room. Applejack and Sparks winced as they heard metal clanking loudly and glass breaking. Pinkie bounced in the direction Dash went, as Rarity continued once more.

“But Rarity works just fine, if not better. We don’t always have time to scream the entirety of a name while we’re in the midst of battle, now do we? Now what is your name?”

Sparks took the hoof into her own, and slightly bowed, “My name is Bright Spark, but most ponies call me Sparks. It’s a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Fair Rarity.” She smiled and winked at her.

Rarity giggled, a slight blush tinting her cheeks, “Oh my, you are quite a little charmer, aren’t you?” she cupped the younger Unicorn’s cheeks, “Why, you bear a striking resemblance to a handsome stallion from long ago. He was a charmer as well.”

“The thing that made him charmin’ though, was the love an’ devotion he had fer his kin back home.” Applejack stated.

Rarity nodded in agreement, “Yes, that’s true. Why, he spoke so highly of his wife and daughter that I wish I had been given the opportunity to meet them. It would’ve been nice to see the driving forces behind Blast’s actions…”

Sparks smiled harder, “What did my father say about me?”

“Oh, Blast said that you were the most beautiful creature that he had the pleasure of creating! Why, he would-” Rarity gasped as she realized what Sparks had said, “You’re Blast’s daughter?!” Rarity scooped the Unicorn into a hug, “Oh my stars, it is absolutely WONDERFUL to meet you!! Why, he spoke nothing but absolute praise of you and Violet Spark. How is your mother anyway?”

Sparks looked down at the ground once more, “She passed away when I was 17. I’ve been traveling ever since to find you all.”

“Rarity…why can’t you be the bigger pony when it comes to your fights with Dashie?” a sweet voice questioned from the shadows, as a pair of big teal orbs appeared. Rarity’s ears flattened down in shame,

“I’ve really been trying to be that pony…but that…creature…you decided to marry, can be just a teensy bit annoying and rude sometimes.”

“I know she can be-”

“Babe! Who’s side are you on?!” Dash screamed out.

“But you, as the more mature of the two, should be able to make the decision to end whatever argument you two have gotten yourselves into…” the eyes turned to face Sparks, “Oh my…I’m sorry, let me introduce myself. My name is Fluttershy…who are you?”

Sparks rubbed the back of her neck, “Name’s Bright Spark-”

“But we’re callin’ her Sparks.” Applejack finished, “Sugarcube, ya gotta come on out the shadows so she can see ya.”

There was a few moments of silence before a pony stepped from the shadows. She was a canary colored Pegasus, with a few grey hairs in her fur. Her pink mane and tail were incredibly long, with a lone, thick silver streak in each of them. Her mane covered one of her teal eyes, and she had a jagged scar that ran down the side of her neck and stopped at her collar bone. There were small metal rods that started in the middle of her spine, and disappeared at the base of her tail. Her left leg was made completely out of metal, and a soft whirring emanated from where a couple of visible gears turned. Her left thigh had metal plating on it, with three cyan and pink butterflies painted on it to match the real cutie mark on her right thigh. She smiled sweetly, baring a set of dangerously sharp fangs, as she looked down at Sparks,

“I’m sorry. Let me try again…” she slowly stuck her hoof out, “My name is Fluttershy...it’s really nice to meet you…”

Sparks carefully took her hoof into her own, “It’s very nice to meet you too.”

Fluttershy turned her attention back to Rarity, “Now, I’m going to need you to be the bigger mare in this. You know how my wife can be. She’s got a bit of a temper.”

“You’re the wife of the Fallen Wonderbolt…” Sparks said in disbelief. “That is so cool…”

Fluttershy blushed and started to hide her face behind her mane, “Thank you.”

“And I’m the wife of the most beautiful mare in the world!” Dash jumped back into the bright part of the room, smacking Rarity out of it, and into the dark. Fluttershy frowned and smacked Dash in the face with one of her wings. Dash rubbed her snout as she turned to Fluttershy, 

“What did I do?!”

Fluttershy pointed at the dark spot that Rarity had disappeared into, “Go and help her!”

Dash grumbled and turned to go and help Rarity out of whatever she may have collided into. Pinkie bounced out of the shadows, 

“There’s one more pony who wants to meet you!!”

Sparks nodded and nearly showed equal excitement “Who?”

A surge of power rippled through the room. The lone beam of light danced around as if it was blown in the wind. One by one, more lights turned on, until the whole room was lit up. Sparks could make out different parts of the room.

A large couch with a blanket with a few romance novels and few spools of thread sitting on it.

A small potted tree.

A stove with a few slightly rusted baking utensils.

And the entirety of the mechanical table with a ton of machine parts and half built projects. 

And the source of the wave of powerful magic.

A dark lavender Unicorn stared down Sparks. She stood tall and had an air of regality to her, commanding the attention of all those around her. Her mane and tail had a slightly grayed shade of violet, with a pink and grey streak in them. Her glazed eyes had dark rings around them. Massive scars danced and stretched almost the entirety of her body, and a few lavender crystals spurted from her flesh. Her horn was slightly twisted and cracked, and she wore a noose that was broken and frayed at the end. Her lips were pursed into a thin line as she stared at Sparks. Sparks shivered as she felt like the older Unicorn staring deep into her soul.

“Hello, Bright Spark. I am Twilight Sparkle, but for you, I will be known as the First Fallen…”
> Dark Side
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sparks couldn’t believe her eyes. The First Fallen…

She had heard about her. She was one of the Princesses that had sealed away the Hell King and saved her friends, but at the cost of her Alicorn Magic. She started to bow,

“Stop.” Twilight commanded. Sparks froze. Twilight stared harder at her. There was a flash of lavender aura in her eyes,

“You think that I’m some sort of heroine?” she questioned.

Sparks nodded, “Well…yes! I mean-”

Twilight shook her head, “I will tell you now that I am no heroine to be worshipped.”

“But you chased off the Hell King and-“

“Sacrificed my Alicornhood to save my friends.” Twilight finished before letting out a small sigh. “I know that's the story that's being told but...I didn’t sacrifice anything. At least...I don't see it in that way." she glanced around at her friends, "I repaid my debts. Everypony sees me as a heroine. As a goddess. But I never was. Everything that you have been told, is a lie. I was once what the Hell King is; a violent and evil monster. I simply didn’t go as far because I had AMAZING friends who stopped me. Friends that I MURDERED in my cold-blooded, tyrannic rage. Pinkie, Dash, and Fluttershy were killed by my own hooves. I destroyed Applejack’s back and had my brother nearly burn Rarity to death. The scars that they all bear, are because of me.” She pointed at herself. “It was then that the Princess of the Sun, whom I tried to kill as well, nearly killed me to make me stop. Then…the dragon you know as the Hell King…took what was taking control of me, and used his own body as a vessel. The very Gods themselves spared me, and in order to bring my friends back, had the Sun Princess and I give our Alicorn magic to them, as their life source…” she looked over at her closest friends, “Those ponies, and the Hell King, are the reason I stand before you today…”

Sparks slowly nodded, “I understand…” she then bowed before Twilight. The Unicorn let out an irritated snort,

“I told you that I am not deserving of any worship. Why do you still go against my word?”

Sparks stood straight up, “Well…you told me the truth. You told me how you were a murderer, a tyrant, and a traitor. But you learned from it, and gave away a power that many would strive to obtain if it were even possible for them.” She sized Twilight up, “You’re continuously striving to right your wrongs, and that makes you a heroine worth bowing to.”

Twilight stared down at her for a few moments. Sparks didn’t avert her gaze. The older Unicorn sighed before turning away from her,

“Whatever you girls have planned for her…I approve of.” Twilight looked over her shoulder, “Welcome, Bright Spark. We will speak again at another time.”

She walked into a room on the other side of the main room, and closed the door behind her. Fluttershy gave a big smile, her fangs gleaming,

“Oh my…you made her smile…”

Sparks arched an eyebrow, “Really? That was a smile?”

Applejack grinned, “Trust me, ya did. We’ve been her friends fer almost a hundred years, and we can tell.”

Rarity trotted up to her, “Quite spectacular, darling! There’s nothing more charming than words spoken from the heart.”

There was a rapid knocking on the main door. Pinkie turned to the door,

“What is it?”

“Fallen Pinkie…Fallen Fluttershy has been requested to come to the Meeting Room for a Dark Hours mission. Its extremely important.”

“She’ll be right there! Thank you!”

Fluttershy sighed ,”I really hate going out at night…”

“But ya have tah.” Applejack replied. “Until Dash finishes makin’ a workin’ set of Dark Hours vision goggles-”

“Not really easy to do in a fucking post-apocalyptic wasteland!!” Dash interrupted.

Applejack rolled her eyes, “Anyway, ‘til that gets done, ya gotta do 'em."

"Yeah, cuz of yer freaky bat powers!" Pinkie chimed in, earning a hard tail smack from Applejack.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane, “Its not like I want to be a freak...”

Dash wrapped her prosthetic wing around her lover, “Babe, she’s just saying you’re different. Special! Equipped for these types of missions, you know? There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Fluttershy nuzzled her cyan cheek, “Oh Dashie, you’re so sweet.”

Rarity rolled her eyes, “Cute. Now transform.”

Sparks stepped forward, “Is there a way I can come with you on the mission?”

Fluttershy rubbed the back of her neck, “It’s not that easy…Dark Hours missions are kind of dangerous.”

“I’ve been traveling alone for almost several years now, even in the darker hours of EvenTide. I’m sure that I’ll be safer with a group of fighters and one of the Fallen.” Sparks pointed out.

“Two Fallen actually.” Rarity stated. “Fallen never go out alone. “I shall be accompanying Fluttershy on this patrol.” She looked over at the Pegasus, “We could use a little bit extra Unicornian magic. She’s Blast’s daughter for Gods’ sakes! Surely she has inherited some of his magical capabilities. The potential! Ooh, as a matter of fact, I shall make her my protégé! I’m sure she hasn’t bumped into a Unicorn as powerful as I in a long time.”

“So humble…” Applejack grumbled. Fluttershy sighed,

“Okay then…let’s go and see what’s going on tonight…”

Fluttershy started to walk towards the main door, with Rarity and Sparks in tow. They stepped out and into a long, dimly lit hallway. When they stepped into an unlit portion of it, Sparks froze as she heard stretching, popping, and snarling.

“Relax dear, it’s only Fluttershy.” Rarity whispered. “She’s just...making few changes here and there.”

When Fluttershy stepped from the shadows, her coat was a darker shade of yellow. Her snout was more slender and her long, hooked like fangs protruded from her mouth. Her feathery wings had transformed into thin, leathery bat wings. Her mane and tail had a wilder appearance to them, and her ears had small tufts of fur on the tips. She turned to look at Sparks with her now bright red orbs,

“Let’s go.” She spoke in a deep sultry voice. “We’ll probably get to have a lot of baddies to sink our teeth into…”

This darker side of Fluttershy slightly scared Sparks. She had heard stories of Vamponies. They were fierce, violent creaturess that would have no problem making a meal out of any unfortunate soul that were to cross them. Fluttershy walked up to her and lifted the younger Unicorn’s chin,

“Don’t be afraid. Not all things you hear about Vamponies is true." it was as if she had read the younger mares mind. "However, the room we’re going into will have some, and they can smell fear.” She took a whiff and her snout scrunched up, “And you reek of it.”

Sparks gulped and nodded. Rarity leaned in as Fluttershy walked inside,

“Forgive her, the personality change comes with the transformation. She didn’t always have them, you know.”

Sparks looked over, “Really? How’d she be able to become a Vampony at will? I heard they stay in the same form all the time.”

“I'll explain the whole thing at another time. We have this meeting to do…”

With that, Rarity trotted in, and Sparks followed. All of the ponies stood up to greet her,

“Welcome, Ma’am. It’s always an honor to be in your presence.” One pony spoke up.

“Thank you, dear. You’re so sweet.” She waved Sparks to come closer so that she could put a hoof on her shoulder, “This is Bright Spark, daughter of the famous Star Blast.”

There were quiet whispers and murmurs of awe,

“Yes, quite amazing indeed. She is also my new apprentice! With that being said, she shall be treated with respect and kindness. Is that understood?”

All of the ponies nodded in understanding.

“Perfect! Now let’s get started!” without looking, she outstretched a hoof to Fluttershy, “Fluttershy dear, would be so kind as to pass a few of the files?”

There was no response, causing the Unicorn to look up. A frown was etched into Fluttershy’s face, as she was buried in a particular report. She dropped the file and rubbed her temples,

“Gods, are you kidding me? How did this happen?” she looked around at the group, “How did 16 fighters get killed in one night? Who was in charge at the time?”

“Pitch Black was in charge, Master Fluttershy. And of course, I went with him.” A Vampony mare replied as she rose to her hooves. She was a black coated pony, with a shaved white mane, save for a strip that hung over one of her golden-amber eyes. She was covered in bandages, wraps, and gauze, and her cutie mark was a crescent moon with blood dripping off of it.

Fluttershy looked back down at the file, “What happened?”

“It was horrible.” the mare replied. “We were ambushed, and they slaughtered us. He fought as hard as he could. You know how he was...A-and he…” she paused to hold back a few tears, “There was a stray round, and he-”

“A round?” Fluttershy cut her off. “As in actual ammunition?”

The vampony nodded.

Fluttershy's features softened, "Oh Dee..." she got up and went to console the smaller mare "I'm so sorry..."

Bright Spark looked on silently, as one of the most powerful ponies on the planet comforted what she thought was one of the scariest creatures to exist.

"Go and take the time to mourn your brother, Apprentice. Dawn Break is still your best friend, correct?”

Dee nodded again.

“I’m going to have her get this week off with you as well. ‘Shared joy is double joy; Shared sorrow if half sorrow’ is something I believe in. Now get out of here.”

Dee gave a sad smile, “Thank you, Master Fluttershy.” She turned and quickly excused herself from the room. Sparks leaned into Rarity’s ear,

“Who was that, and why did she add ‘master’ in front of her name?”

“That was Dead Moon, and she's Fluttershy’s Apprentice. She took her under her wing when she was very young."

"I see..." Sparks looked over at her, "And now, I'm yours right?"

Rarity smiled at her, “That's correct.”

The older Unicorn turned back to the group, her smile gone.

“Now, can somepony please explain the atrocities that occurred that night?”

A dark grey, bandage Unicorn stood up, “Ma’am, somehow, they have managed to get a hold of live ammunition, and weapons that can fire them. As much as we have tried to avoid using that type of weaponry, this event has proven that we have no other choice but to make more and provide them out to more bases."

“What’s the closest base that we have that will have a ton of weapons?”

“Base A-45, Ma’am.”

“Shit…that’s a long way from here.”

“We didn’t have a choice, Fluttershy.” Rarity stated, “There’s only Earth Ponies and Griffins there, so we had to give them as many weapons as we could for assistance.”

The group sat around in silence, contemplating on how they could get way over there, without getting a vast amount of casualties on the way there. A soft knock on the door caught their attention. Fluttershy looked up,

“She never knows when to sit down and take a breather…” she stated quietly. “Who is it?!” she barked out.

“Dead Moon, Master Fluttershy! May I come back in?”

“Come on back...”

The door creaked open and the vampony walked back inside. Fluttershy raised a brow.

“You never know when to relax, girl.”

Dead Moon gave a small smile, “I’m a tactician, Master Fluttershy. While I plan to take the time off you're giving me,  I can at least help. Now, I had been listening outside the door, and I may have an idea that will work…”


~MLP~


He sat upon his throne built of molten rock and bone. The smell of burning, rotten flesh and sulfur hung in the air. The screams of the tormented and damned rung in his ears. His view was nothing but near infinite blackness and fire.

And he loved it.

He picked up what appeared to be a pony’s skull and looked at it, “It’s a lovely day to be here in Hell, isn’t it?”

The skull didn’t reply.

“I mean, look at this view! Nothing but despair, fear, and suffering. Oh, and soldiers. Countless amounts of minions who would die for me. Not to mention, I also have thousands of souls to play with when I’m bored. It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Still no response.

“I don’t know why I talk to you things. All of you seem to be a bunch of little introverts…”

“Pardon me, Great Dragon…”

The beast looked down at the puny thing speaking to him, “What is it?”

“I give you my greatest apology to have to disturb you, but we have received word that some of our soldiers were killed off by the Fallen that were saving a Unicorn. Two of them were sighted near Old Canterlot.”

The dragon arched a scaly eyebrow, “Which ones?”

“The two known as Applejack and Pinkie Pie.”

‘Thank the gods they are still alive…’

He growled, “So why were they only ‘sighted’ and not ‘killed off’?”

“We tried sir, but-”

“I DON’T NEED ATTEMPTS!! I NEED THEM TAKEN CARE OF!!! GO AND KILL THEM NOOOOOW!!!!”

The tiny creature flinched and took off. The dragon crushed the skull that was in his hand.

‘They’re still alive…and they’re going to win…'

“Those fuckers are not going to beat me…” he growled. “Not again. Not with this vessel…”

“Calm yourself, Hell Master Spike. There is no power out there that can even come close to challenging your own.”

Corrupted Spike still kept a frown on his face, “You say that, but those ponies have proved to be a pain in my ass for well over a century now. I want them stomped out.”

“Rest assured, Great Dragon. They will be…”

Corrupted Spike looked over at the one speaking to him. He could barely make out the mare’s facial features in the dim light, but he knew that she was smiling. And she was, staring back at him with a smile he knew all too well. 

He should though. He once wore that smile himself.

A pillar of fire exploded from the ground next to the mare, briefly exposing her. She bore the tattered cape that he spoke of, clasped around the shoulder guards of her silver armor, though it had a few kinks and scratches from a battle long ago. Her coat was still a deep, blackish-blue, now marred by large scars. Her mane was still deep and flowing like the night sky that the younger generation had never seen. Her horn was slightly twisted, and her wings were missing a few feathers here and there, but nothing much had changed from that. Her eyes though, were no longer a deep turquoise, but a horrifying black with glowing red orbs. She was a pony that had been feared back in her time, and Spike knew that it was the reason he had taken over her body so long ago. She may not have been as strong as this body, but she was powerful enough to be worth bringing back from the dead.

“I figured all those years of Death would’ve taken it’s toll on your body, Eternal Slumber. It still amazes me that you were able to retain your looks.”

Eternal gave a small smile, “Alicorn magic can do some amazing things…”

Corrupted Spike chuckled, “Yes, but Dragonian magic can go beyond that.” He turned to look back at the view he had come to love, “However, I brought you back from the dead for a reason, and I have kept you locked away as one of my little power houses for quite a while now."

Eternal’s eyes lit up with dark desire, “Are you implying that its time for me to enter the fray?”

The dragon’s smile disappeared as he rubbed his chin, “I know you want to get out there, but not yet. I need to see if those pathetic little ponies will come.” He looked down at her, “Pass the word though to the others to start attacking more areas. If two will come out for just one pony, perhaps all of them will show up if we kill off a town’s worth of them.”

Eternal nodded, “Yes, Great Dragon. I shall take my leave right away.” She turned and disappeared into the shadows. Corrupted Spike narrowed his eyes while he looked off into the distance,

‘Please…save me from myself…’


~MLP~



Sparks scratched her head, “So what you’re telling me, is that she got her powers because of some ‘unique technique’ and spell? But that doesn’t make any sense.”

Rarity smiled, “Fluttershy has a…how to put it…a very special pair of eyes, so to speak. Most Pegasi can only perform magic when it comes to their aerial skills and the weather, but for her, she has a trait that allows her to instill fear into those she stare at. In a sense, she is able to brainwash her victims with this stare. Brainwashing, a spell that under normal circumstances, can only be performed by Unicorns.” They both looked up as Fluttershy flew over them with four vamponies following her, “Fluttershy however, has this ability. We don’t really know anything about her genetic history, so we can only assume that she inherited it from some Unicorn that’s extremely far back in her family tree.”

“But Rari-er-Master Rarity,” Sparks mentally scolded herself for not quickly adjusting to the name of her new teacher. “How did Miss Twilight’s spell come into play?”

“That, darling...is where it gets a bit confusing.” Rarity began, “The spell that Twilight was using, was a brainwashing spell of it’s own. She wanted to remove all traces of desire to eat the fruit from the bats. However, Fluttershy was using her ‘Stare’ on the bats to keep them from moving. We believe that Fluttershy’s technique caused her to be exposed to the desires, and transferring said desires into her. Unfortunately, she didn't acquire the want to eat fruit but...well...we both know what vamponies drink.

“I still don’t really understand.”

“Basically, her optic senses are spectacular. Again, with the theory of her being a hybrid-”

“A hybrid? Like a mix of pony breeds? Like an Alicorn?!”

“Shut up! We’re supposed to be quiet!” Fluttershy hissed.

“Sorry darling!” Rarity apologized. “She seems to be as excited about magic as I am!”

“You sound like Twilight when we were younger.” Fluttershy teased before taking off ahead of the group. Sparks looked back over at Rarity,

“So…does she drink pony blood?”

“She on very rare occasions, and only from enemies, but she’d prefer not to. She tends to snack throughout the day in her normal form, so that she'd be full in the event her vampony form is needed.

A vampony trotted up next to the two, “I’m sorry to interrupt you Fallen Rarity, but something was spotted up ahead.”

As if on cue, they heard screeching coming from not too far ahead. All of them turned to it, quickly getting into fighting stances. The screeching and snarling ceased, and for a moment, the world was quiet. And then, it all happened so fast.

They leapt out from the darkness.

They dug their fangs into the fighters’ flesh.

Ponies slammed hooves into faces.

The sounds of battle kicked off before Sparks could really process what was going on. Five mutated creatures leapt at her. She kicked one and punched another. She fired a beam at a third one, but was tackled by the remaining two. They pinned her down, and as one clamped down on her shoulder. Rarity jousted the pony in the neck and flung it off of her apprentice. One crept up from behind, but Sparks fired a beam at it, vaporizing it’s head in a matter of seconds. Rarity smiled as she helped the younger Unicorn to her hooves,

“Thank you darling. You’re spectacular.” She turned to look at the slaughter of the mutated soldiers, “Looks like our fighters have been taking their training very seriously.”

Sparks followed her gaze. The vamponies were proving their ferocity to her, as she watched them literally tear the creatures limb from limb. It seemed as if the battle would be over soon. That they would be victorious.

“Fallen Rarity!! LOOK OUT!!” one of the vamponies screamed.

Too late.

Talons clamped around her throat. A beak pierced the right half of her chest. Her eyes went wide as she felt more talons rip away at her flesh. Without hesitation, Sparks lunged at it. She knew what it was from biology books that she read, but had never seen on in real life.

A griffin.

It’s eyes quickly settled on her, and it took off before she could attack it. Sparks looked down at Rarity with horrified eyes, as she assessed her injuries. Gashes on the neck, flowing with blood. A hole in her lung, a sucking sound coming out as Rarity struggled to breathe.

“Master Rarity!! We’re going to get you somewhere safe!!” she screamed.

Rarity tried to speak, but only coughed up more blood. Sparks cupped her cheeks, 

“Please don’t talk! You might make your injuries worse!”

The snow colored Unicorn’s eyes went wide and her pupils shrank, as she looked at something over Sparks’ shoulder. Her horn glowed bright blue, and before her apprentice could say anything, she fired a massive beam of magic. Sparks turned to see the griffin dodge it, and dig it’s talons into Sparks’ side, snatching her off of Rarity. A searing pain tore through her, as she rolled in the dirt. When she came to a stop, she tried to sit up, only to be shoved back to the ground. She looked up at the griffin that was pinning her down. It was a dark green furred creature, with feathers that were a few shades lighter. It had a good amount of scars allover it’s body, but nothing compared to the creatures she had encountered in her travels. But as she looked into it’s eyes, and saw they were the same as all of those monsters, she knew that this thing was no friend of the living. It leaned in close,

“You’re going to get yourself involved in something you don’t want to be in, little filly. Go back to wherever you came from.”

The Unicorn was shocked. She, now that it’s voice gave it away to be female, had spoken. Before she could respond to her however, a more terrifying creature bit into her shoulder;

Fluttershy.

She snatched the griffin off of her. The griffin quickly got back up, seemingly unaffected by the attack.

“Finally, I get to meet one of the Fallen Pegasi.” She outstretched a claw, “The name’s Sheikra.”

“I don’t give a shit about your name.” Fluttershy spat. “It’s not like I’m going to remember your face, especially after I tear it off of your skull.”

Shiekra scoffed, “Oh yeah? With what, your hooves or your flat, herbivore teeth? I mean, sure, you have some points to a few of your teeth, since you’re a vampony and all, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Oh, that’s what you think…”

“NO!!” Rarity squeaked out, barely able to speak from the throat damage. Sparks looked at her,

“What? ‘No’ what?”

Rarity looked at her with wide eyes, “Don’t let her change! Don’t let her transform into it!!”

“What’s ‘It’?”

A roar, fiercer than anything she had ever heard before, echoed into the night. She looked over to see Fluttershy transforming again. Her snout got extremely pointed, and all of her teeth turned into fangs. Her hooves split into four individual digits, and small claws appeared on her wingtips. Her mane, tail, and coat got wilder, as the white of her eyes turned blood red. She let out another roar, her jaw unhinging in the process, and her tongue flicked out of her mouth. Shiekra looked at her in terror,

“Shit…”

Rarity staggered to her hooves, steam pouring from her wounds. Sparks stared in awe as the wounds started healing before her eyes. The wounds on Rarity’s throat closed, and she spat out some blood,

“That was amazing Master Rarity! How-”

“No time to explain.” Rarity wheezed out. “We have a much bigger issue right now that needs to be dealt with.”

“But, she’s going to kill off that griffin!!” Sparks exclaimed. “What’s the problem?”

Shiekra turned and took off into the air. Fluttershy took off after her.

“That’s not all she’s going to kill.”

Fluttershy grabbed Shiekra, and bomb dived back to the ground.

“She can’t control herself in this form. She can’t differentiate friend from foe.”

She slams the griffin into the ground with enough force to shove her intestines out of her mouth.

“She becomes a true monster…”

Fluttershy twirled the intestines around her fingers, and yanked them out with a sickening slurping-pop sound.

“And now she’s going to come after all of us.”

Though Shiekra was dead, Fluttershy ripped out her jugulars with her teeth, spitting them out in the dirt not too far from her. She her gaze settled on Rarity and Sparks. 

“Shit…” Rarity cursed as her horn glowed a fierce blue. Sparks horn was surrounded with a light green aura, as Fluttershy galloped towards them. She was fast, and on top of them before they could really move. Rarity kicked Sparks out of Fluttershy’s field of view in a attempt to get the vampony’s undivided attention. Fluttershy smacked her to the side, and sniffed the air. She smiled and turned to Sparks,

“You smell of fear…so…delicious…”

She took off again, slamming and dragging Sparks through the gravel. Sparks looked up at her with terror in her eyes. Fluttershy's jaws unhinged as she prepared to tear her to pieces.

A rumbling shook the ground beneath them. 

A lavender crystal exploded from the ground, piercing Fluttershy’s in the foreleg. Another followed, and repeated the process on her other foreleg. They arched and twisted, digging back into the earth, and pinning Fluttershy down. Sparks' vision took on a lavender hue, as an aura surrounded her and lifted her off of the ground. She floated backwards, and was dropped back on the ground. She quickly got up and started to face whoever saved her,

“Thank you so much-”

She stopped, as she slowly looked up at Twilight towering over her. The older mare stared down at her,

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to come out here.”

“I didn’t come out here for you. I came here because I felt a surge of dark magic from this area, only to see that Fluttershy has gotten out of control again…” she looked up at the vampony writhing on the ground. The crystals started to crack, as Fluttershy’s strength proved too much for them. They broke under her might, and she tore the shards from her forelegs. Steam poured from holes, and Sparks saw that she too, had this strange power of healing. She leered at Twilight, snorting angrily and licking her lips. Twilight’s eyes glowed violet,

“This will end here…”
> Gone Too Soon...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They stood facing each other, power radiating off of the both of them.

Fluttershy, the once kind and gentle Pegasus, now a titanic, prehistoric form of the more civilized vampony, that stared at its enemy with such bloodlust and rage, that she easily put all of her genetic successors to shame. 

Twilight, the once powerful Princess of Friendship and Magic, whose soul had hardened from decades of regrets and self-destruction, struck fear into the hearts of those she fought against, and awe-riddled respect in those she fought alongside.

Twilight looked over as Rarity galloped up to her, “What happened?”

“There was a griffin that upset her. It’s...terrible, because what was said wouldn’t normally trigger this. I fear that we may be losing our Fluttershy to that…thing she’s turned into.”

“No!” Twilight snapped. “Stop saying that! There will be none of that our Fluttershy and monster Fluttershy shit!” she looked back over at the snarling vampony, “She’s our friend…all of her, and we have to save her...”

Rarity arched an eyebrow, “And how do you propose we do that? The only way to stop her like this is knock her out to force her to revert back.”

“After that spell I did on her, she'll never fully revert back.” Twilight replied. “Once I realized this, I learned how to stop her power after the last outburst when she nearly killed Pitch Black…” she noticed that Fluttershy was standing completely still, staring at her with pure bloodlust in her eyes. This time, she didn’t look away as she continued to speak. “She’s starting to get into the more feral stages of her power…she’s waiting for me to drop my guard. Rarity, Bright Spark...I need you two to listen carefully.”

They swiveled their ears in her direction, keeping their eyes on Fluttershy, as they felt a dangerous shift in their situation,

“We’re all ears, darling.” 

“If you can cause her enough damage to her body simultaneously, her Element will be forced to channel it magic to heal her wounds, and stop amplifying her vampony powers. I placed a shard of an EvenTide Crystal in her body while she was sleeping not too long ago. Do you remember me showing you where to let crystals form in the body so that you can cause extreme pain without causing death?”

Rarity’s brow furrowed, “That was for this situation, Twilight? Really?! I can’t believe you!!”

“You can yell at me later, Rarity. Right now, we have to stop her. Now...she’ll attack me as soon as I look away from her, so I won’t be able to perform the spell. It’ll be up to you to do it.”

“EvenTide crystals are different from regular crystals, Twilight. I’m still recovering from internal injuries from the griffin that attacked me. I won’t be able to perform it on my own right now.”

“You have an Apprentice now, don’t you?”

Rarity looked over at Sparks, “Well...yes? But she’s injured too-”

“You two will have to try. For Fluttershy. And for Rainbow, who would certainly kill us if we come back without her wife.”

Rarity looked back at Sparks, “How much do you know about crystal manipulation?”

“Nothing that has to do with the EvenTide Crystals…”

Rarity touched the tip of her horn with Sparks’, “I’ll do a quick knowledge transfer spell to you, so we can be on the same page.”

There was a glob of blue aura that flowed from Rarity’s horn, down Sparks’ horn, and into the younger Unicorn’s forehead. She blinked a few times, as she took in the information she had received.

“Wow.” Sparks said breathlessly. “That was cool. Weird, but cool. Thank you for trusting me with such information, Master Rarity.”

Rarity nodded, “It’s no trouble at all, dear.” Her facial expression grew serious as she looked back at Twilight, “We’re ready…”

Twilight smiled, “She is going to probably kick my ass. So...try to do it as quickly as possible.”

“Yes ma’am.” Sparks spoke up.

Twilight gave a slight nod, then took a slow and deep inhale of air. She quickly snapped her head in the direction of Rarity and Sparks,

“NOW!-“

Before the single worded command could fully leave her lips, Fluttershy body slammed her. Their bodies tumbled in the dirt as she pounded away at Twilight’s body. As Sparks and Rarity galloped to get closer to them, the younger Unicorn observed that Twilight also had the healing power. Not only that, she was healing at a much faster rate than her teacher or the vampony had. 

Fluttershy snapped her horn off, it grew right back.

She broke her right foreleg, it crunched and snapped back into place. 

She ripped her chest open, the muscle and fur immediately covered the wounds.

“BRIGHT SPARK!!” Rarity screamed. “HELP ME DO THE SPELL!!! NOW!!!”

Sparks focused all of her magic into her horn. Her side flared again with pain, reminding her that she still have a massive gash on the side of her body. It was making it hard for her to focus. She stared at Fluttershy, as if it was helping her channel her magic better. She winced though, as she watch Fluttershy continue to rain blow after heavy blow on Twilight’s body. Blows that would’ve killed any normal pony instantaneously. They quickly slowed down, then stopped, as the first two crystals exploded from the inner bend of her elbows. Fluttershy froze, her face contorted into confusion and pain as more and more crystals grew from her joints. Twilight’s wound quickly healed up and she got to her hooves. Fluttershy roared in frustration and looked at her. Twilight, knowing that the giant vampony could no longer move, got closer and cupped her cheeks,

“This is for your own good, my friend. Please, I beg for your forgiveness…”

A crystal exploded from the base of the vampony’s neck. Her iris rolled into the back of her head as she slumped forward. Twilight used her magic to gently set her down. She trotted over to Rarity and Sparks,

“Go check on the personnel. We need to get the severely injured back to base. The others  that can continue will do so, and Applejack will have to take Fluttershy’s place. We’ll have two squads accompany her as well to replace fighters and meet up with you.”

Rarity nodded, sighing heavily, “I fear that I may be getting a tad too old for this.”

Twilight smirked, “You’re only 122! You’ve still got plenty of fight left in you.”

Rarity didn't return the smirk, “The Element of Generosity makes my body have fight left. My soul however, is running severely low on hope…”

Twilight frowned and rested her forehead against Rarity’s, “Stay strong, Rarity. We’ve been through too much to give up now…”

Sparks smiled softly at Twilight began to nuzzle her mentor, who returned the display of affection. She truly cared for her friends. She may no longer be an Alicorn, but she was still the Princess of Friendship and Magic in her eyes. She was so distracted by this rare moment that she barely understood what was happening.

Rarity and Twilight had a look of horror on their faces.

She felt a sudden pressure on the sides of her neck.

Her eyes went wide as she felt her spine crumble with an audible ‘crunch’.

Her vision was covered by a mixture of blood and the EvenTide sky.

The Fallens’ screams rang in her ears as she hit the dirt with a heavy thud. Her vision spun and swirled as she heard something run up to her. Her eyes began to focus as she realized it was Fluttershy lumbering over her. she looked at the Fallen’s facial features. How could somepony so sweet and kind as her transform into the monster that stood over her now? She looked into Fluttershy’s gleaming, glowing red eyes and smiled. If this is how she was going to die, then so be it. She would rather be killed by one of the mighty Fallen, instead of being taken down by some pathetic, mutated fucker. She stared up into her Fluttershy's eye, who smiled as she stared back. Bu, not with the gentle smile she had given her when they first met,

“I can no longer smell fear on you…”

“The gods have chosen this to be my death.” Sparks replied in a wheezy tone. “It's a fate that I'll accept with dignity..."

Fluttershy’s face scrunched up in irritation, “Very well then.”

With that, she clamped her jaws onto the front of Sparks’ neck. A burning sensation tore through her entire body, and her ears automatically folded down as she tried to block out the sound of her own throat being ripped apart. Her vision instantly began to blur, and started to blacken at the corners. She could barely make out Fluttershy suddenly disappearing, and being replaced by Twilight and Rarity hovering over her. she gave a weak smile and tried to speak, only to realize that her trachea had been destroyed. The two older mares were screaming something, but she couldn’t really understand them. She wasn’t really understanding anything going on at the moment. The only thing that she knew was going on, was that she was getting tired, and fast. She needed rest. Just a quick nap and she would continue on with her new appointed tutor on her mission. She felt her breathing getting slower, her body urging her on into the depths of a gentle slumber. Her vision started to get jerky as Rarity violently shook her body. But she simply couldn’t feel it. Her vision continued to blacken, and her eyelids flickered. She smiled as her mother suddenly appeared in between Rarity and Twilight, her forelegs outstretched to her. She let out a slow, long sigh, as she shut her eyes and slipped into the darkness…
> Ressurection
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sparks gasped to inhale a mouthful of air as she snapped into an upright position. Her vision was blurry as she jerked her head around in an attempt to figure out where she was. She was sitting on a long metal table, surrounded by tools that made her cringe at the sight of them. There were books packed onto shelves that lined the walls. A few desks were in the room, covered with various beakers that were full and empty, and a few jagged chunks of crystals as well. She didn’t like this room. How did she even get in here? It didn’t matter. She needed to leave. She slid off of the table, her legs nearly giving out under her own weight. She took a couple deep breaths, then slowly walked up to the only door she could see.  She reached up for the knob, but stopped when she heard somepony yelling on the other side.

“I told you at the base of the neck and the left ventricle for 15 seconds!! Why, Rarity?! Why didn’t you do it?!”

She recognized it to be Twilight, and pressed her ear up to the door, waiting for Rarity to respond.

“You haven’t even done the damn spell on her yourself!! Why in Equestria would I put a crystal in heart and risk killing her?!”

“YOU TOLD HER TO DO WHAT?!” Dash’s voice boomed. “WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM, TWILIGHT?!?!”

“IT WOULDN’T HAVE KILLED HER PERMANENTLY!!”

“BUT IT WOULD’VE DONE IT!! PERIOD!!!”

“It probably would've stopped me from doing this...” Fluttershy stated softly.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other side of the door.

“Ya can’t blame yerself, ‘Shy. Ya had no idea what the hell was goin’ on.” Applejack pointed out in a gentle tone.

“That doesn’t matter!” Fluttershy shouted bitterly. “I messed up! AGAIN!”

Sparks frowned as she heard Fluttershy break down into tears. What had the gentle Pegasus done that was so wrong?”

“You didn’t mess up.” Twilight stated. “Rarity did.”

“WHAT?!” Rarity screamed. "Are you kidding me?!" 

There was the sound of a small fight breaking out. Sparks jumped back as she heard something hit the door with a loud thud. 

“HEY C’MERE!! KNOCK IT OFF!!” Applejack shouted.

“Twilight, please stop!!” Pinkie begged.

There were a few more sounds of struggle before it died down.

“Ya’ll need tah get a hold on yerselves!” Applejack scolded. “Enough is enough!!”

“It’s never enough.” Rarity spat. “We’ve been doing this for almost a century now, and for what?! A dragon who wouldn’t hesitate to kill you right now if he had the opportunity to do so!!”

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Twilight barked back. "He's still my brother!!"

Heavy silence filled the room once more. 

“I did this to him…I should’ve been dead decades ago…and I’m not, because he took that thing that was inside me, and sealed it away in his own body.” Sparks heard Twilight's voice start to crack. “And every day, I sit alone and wonder; 'Why the fuck did none of you kill me off? Why did you girls save me? Why must my brother suffer for my mistakes, for my crimes?’ Those are questions that eat away at my soul all the time. And it’s not just Spike that suffers...but all living creatures, because of my sins. So of course, I’m going to do whatever I need to do to stop this, and if that means killing Fluttershy for 15 seconds, then I will!! I have faith in my skills, and in you, my friends." she honed in on Rarity, "You've been around me the most these last few decades, Rarity…I would never have shown you something that would permanently kill Fluttershy. You should know me better than that…”

Again, there was more silence. There were a couple ‘clip clop’s of hooves.

“You’re right…I should’ve known better…and now…we lost Bright Spark because of my mistake…” Rarity spoke softly.

Sparks’ ears perked up. What the hell was she talking about? She was fine! Tired, cold, and confused, but fine. Perhaps she needed to show her. She pushed the door open,

“I’m perfectly fine, Master Rarity! See?”

All eyes turned to her. Jaws either dropped or hooves went to cover lips. Sparks frowned in confusion,

“What?”

Rarity stared at her for a few more moments, looking over her body with shock and horror etched into her features. She then snapped her head in Twilight’s direction, “What did you do?”

Twilight’s expression didn’t change. It hadn’t since Sparks entered. She looked over her form as well, “It worked again.”

Applejack leered at Twilight, “What worked?!” she gasped and leered at Twilight, “Tell me ya didn’t do what Ah think ya did…”

Sparks looked back and forth between all the mares, “What’s going on?”

Twilight looked back at her, “I’ve infused your corpse with EvenTide crystals.”

Sparks' eyes went wide, "My corpse? “You mean…I’m…”

She stopped as all of her memories flooded her mind. She went on a mission with Rarity, Fluttershy, and a small platoon of fighters. They were attacked by a horde of mutated ponies. A griffin came and nearly killed her and Rarity. Fluttershy lost control of her powers.

Twilight appeared.

Crystal Manipulation spell.

Fluttershy ripped her throat out.

Rarity and Twilight were standing over her.

Her mother reaching out for her.

Sparks shook her head. This wasn’t possible. How could she be dead?, She was standing right here, in front of them. She placed a hoof to her throat. She could feel a thick, fleshy scar on it. She looked at her mentor,

“Master Rarity…can I see it?”

Rarity didn’t answer. Instead, she let her vision drop to the ground. The others except Dash averted their gazes.

“Really? Nopony is gonna do it?” Dash questioned. She looked at Twilight, “You’re the one that made her look like that. Why aren’t you giving her a mirror?”

Twilight shot her a glare, “Shut up, Rainbow Dash.”

“Fine, I’ll do it.” Dash looked back at the young Unicorn, “Come here, Sparky.”

Sparks immediately obeyed, following Dash to her work station. The Pegasus grabbed a thin sheet of metal and held it up in front of her. Sparks gasped as she took in her new, twisted body. Her fur was now a paler shade of orange, the lack of life dulling it significantly. Light lavender crystals jutted from her body, none of them longer than six inches. Small patches of crystalline scales covered the massive scar, the size of it being a blatant testament of her death. There were splotches of dried, crusted blood still splattered all over her neck and face. It was also caked on her coat and mane, and stained her teeth. Her eyes widened as she looked at them in the reflection. They were glazed over, and her pupils were unnaturally dilated. There was also a small ring of light blue surrounding her dull hazel and lavender irises. Another tell-tale sign that her body was no longer alive.

“You’re a zombie, Sparky.” Dash stated bluntly. "Twilight turned you into a zombie."

Sparks spun around, her glare honed in on Twilight,

“What have you done to me?!”

Twilight dropped her act of being a hardened pony, “I infused you with EvenTide Crystals. They’re of my own creation. When I was the ruler of Equestria, I made them to give off light, heat, and to communicate with the citizens. But the thing that makes EvenTide crystals unique, is that…they are alive. My element, The Element of Magic, has made them alive. And, when I, um…”

“Went bat shit crazy possessed.” Pinkie stated.

Twilight rolled her eyes before continuing. “When I held the throne, I used those crystals to create…monsters from them. Or, I could simply infuse a living creature with the crystals, and control them.”

Sparks looked back at herself in the reflection, “So…you mean to tell me…that I’m just one of your puppets now?”

Twilight quickly shook her head, “No! No, I'm not a mad tyrant anymore Bright Spark…you are in complete control of yourself. I have simply given your body the means to continue living.”

Sparks looked back at herself in the sheet metal. She placed a hoof to her neck.

No pulse.

She looked over at Dash, “Can you touch me?”

Dash put the sheet metal down and arched an eyebrow, “What for?”

“Please?”

Dash sighed and trotted closer to her. She placed a hoof on her body and shivered,

“You’re fucking freezing.”

Sparks closed her eyes and placed a hoof on her chest. She felt no heartbeat either. She opened her eyes and looked back over at Twilight,

“I have no pulse. My eyes are glazed over, and my pupils are dilated as if they are no longer receiving light. My body temperature is extremely low, if not non-existent. My fur and skin are paler in color from the blatant lack of blood flow and…” she paused for about 30 seconds, “I’ve just now realized that I haven’t even been breathing since I woke up. I also have no heartbeat. These are all things that the body does after it dies. I am dead. You haven’t provided me the means to live. You have simply tethered my soul to my corpse!”

“Bright Spark-”

Sparks wouldn’t hear what she had to say. She broke into a gallop, past the group and out of the door on the other side of the room. She galloped down the hall, ignoring the gasps of shocked soldiers who had seen her be killed. It wasn’t until she finally made it outside that she stopped and plopped down onto her haunches. She wanted to cry, but her lifeless body could no longer produce tears to shed. It didn’t stop her face from scrunching up into a pained, sorrowful expression. She heard a set of hooves trotting softly up to her. She turned to the direction of it.

“It’s you…Dee, right?”

The black Vampony nodded, “Yes. You’re Bright Spark, the daughter of the famous Star Blast.” She bowed before her, “It’s an honor to meet you.”

Sparks smiled, “And you’re the Apprentice of Miss Fluttershy, so the honor is mine as well.” She outstretched a hoof to her, “I prefer my nickname, Sparks.”

The black pony took her hoof as she sat down next to Sparks and sized her up. She let go of her hoof and put hers on her shoulder, “Your body is cold…so it’s true…you really are dead.”

Sparks sighed, “Yes…I am.”

Dee smiled, “It’s okay…so am I…”

Sparks dull eyes widened. She looked up at her, “What??”

Dee sat up straight, showing the jagged scar on her chest, “You’re not the only one Master Fluttershy has attacked. She ripped my heart out and chucked it a good 50 hooves away from my body. Miss Twilight infused my heart with an EvenTide crystal shard, then placed my heart back in my body. The crystal makes my heart continue to pump blood, even though it’s dead. The only ponies who know are the other Fallen, and you." she looked into her eyes, "Listen....Master Fluttershy really is a very sweet mare. She's devastated for what she's done to  you....but I hope you know it really wasn't her fault.” She placed a hoof over Sparks’ shoulder, “As for Miss Twilight....she isn’t as bad as you may think she is. She really did want to help you.”

“Dead Moon?” A voice called out to her. They both looked up to see Twilight walking up to them. Dee rose to her hooves,

“Yes, Miss Twilight? Is there anything I can help you with?”

Twilight looked over Dee’s shoulder, “I just need a moment with Bright Spark.”

Dee nodded, “Yes, Miss Twilight.”

The vampony quickly trotted off, leaving the two Unicorns alone. Twilight turned to Sparks,

“Bright Spark…I’m sorry for the emotional turmoil you’re suffering from right now. I understand your pain…really, I do…”

Sparks leered at her, “How could you understand what I’m going through?” she questioned bitterly. “Look at what you did to me! I’m a fucking zombie!”

Twilight frowned at her, “Do you still remember your parents?”

Sparks smiled sadly, “Every detail of them…down to the way my dad snorted when he laughed really hard, and how my mom's eyes would sparkle when she got excited."

“How about your friends?”

“I remember every friend I’ve played games with…and every friend I’ve met, traveled with, and lost to find you all.”

“Do you remember all of the joys and sorrows of your life?”

Sparks nodded softly. Twilight tilted Sparks’ chin so she would be looking her in the eyes,

“Look at me, Bright Spark.”

Sparks looked up at her. Her eyes were glazed over, her pupils were like large black holes, and she too had the light blue rings around her dark lavender irises. She had the same eyes as her.

She had the eyes of the deceased.

Twilight nodded to confirm her thoughts.

“How? When?”

“I’ve been dead for 37 years. Death by suicide…”

“Who performed the necromancy spell to bring you back? Master Rarity?”

Twilight shook her head, “Rarity has something I lost years ago; morals when it comes to magic. She would never turn to dark magic, like I have.” Twilight looked out at the barren, dusty landscape. “When I was completely controlled by the Corrupted One…the monster in me must’ve infused my body with EvenTide crystals to insure I’d live. So one day…I could no longer handle the horrors that I had created, and…I hung myself. I felt myself slip away…and then…I was back. But I was no longer breathing, and I could feel myself getting really cold. I hung there for a few hours, and even 'fell asleep' from the boredom. Fluttershy found me and got me down. That’s when she realized that I was dead, and I had to tell my closest friends about the EvenTide crystals in me…”

Sparks bit her lip, before reaching out to touch Twilight’s coat. It was soft, and warm. 

“You said you were cold when you died, and yet, you’re warm. How are you warm, like a living body?”

Twilight looked down at her, “Even I do not have a definitive answer to give you when it comes to that.” She gave a small, barely noticeable smile, “Bu...I like to believe that the love of my friends keeps me warm.”

Sparks giggled at her statement, “I like the sound of that…”

They both gave each other small, friendly smiles, but the heartfelt moment was cut short when Pinkie bounded up to them.

“Twilight, we got a problem!!”

Twilight arched an eyebrow, “What is it?”

Pinkie started bouncing in a panic, “It’s big!! Super, duper big!!”

“What is it, Pinkie?!”

“It’s Spike! There’s a message an-and a crystal-the griffin-” Pinkie shook her head to get her thoughts in order,

“SPIKE’S FOUND US!! He's sending his horde of Hellions here!!"
> Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mane Six surrounded the hologram of Spike that had emerged from the messenger crystal they found on the body of Shiekra. They could barely recognize their former friend. The Corruption had twisted his face into something far crueler than they had ever seen. Twilight stepped closer to the crystal and glared up at him.

“You really think you’re going to be able to stop us by sending a small army after us?”

Corrupted Spike smiled, “Of course not, my pathetic little pony. But I do intend to bring you out into the open.” He crossed his arms, “It’s been 16 years since I’ve last seen you all, and I feel like we are long overdue for a little…reunion."

“The last time we saw yer wretched ass, ya nearly killed us!” Applejack snarled. “If ya send yer little herd of vermin here, yer just gonna be sendin' em ta their deaths!"

“Then I will send out MORE!!” he roared back. “And I’ll keep sending out more and more Hellions until they find you! Then they will put an end to your attempt to defy my rule, and bring Twilight to me!!”

Confusion took over Twilight’s face, “What the hell do you want me for?”

“YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME, AND I WANT IT BACK!!!”

They all slightly flinched at the ferocity of his voice. He cleared his throat to try and calm himself down. he looked down at her,

"Do you not remember? I was your only friend at one point. I was the only one who agreed with your thoughts on how the kingdom should've been ruled. I gave you all the power you would ever need to not only rule Equestria, but the entire world.  All that power in your hooves, and you threw it away!!" He smiled, "But not this vessel. In fact, he's one of the most powerful vessels I've ever had, and I intend to make good use of him, and that includes channeling all of my power into him." He pointed at Twilight, "So long as you hold onto my magic, I will scour this world, destroying it in the process. And once I find you and siphon you of all my magic, AND YOURS...I'm going to force you to watch as my minions and I do..." he eyed her friends lustfully, “Delightfully sickening things to them…”

Chills rippled through them as he straightened back up,

“Farewell.” He waved at them. “I will be seeing you again soon.” He started to fade out, before snapping his fingers, “Oh, one more thing!” he settled his gaze on Applejack,

“You look like a cross between a pony and a wheelchair. You really should’ve just let me finish you off all those years ago…”

Applejack snarled as he cackled in her face. She spun around and reared her hind legs back. She bucked the crystal off the table, causing it to smash into a wall and shatter on impact. Pinkie was immediately by her side to calm her down. After a few moments, all eyes were on Twilight.

“So what are we doing? Because if it involves cracking skulls open,” Dash stomped a hoof, “Then I’m all game.”

Twilight turned back to face them, “Go and get your apprentices. It’s time for the next step in their training.”


~MLP~


Sparks sadly stared at her reflection in one of the bathroom mirrors. She still couldn’t believe that she was now a walking corpse. She had seen dead bodies before, but this was taking it to a completely different level. She stared a little bit longer before Dee walked into the bathroom,

“I figured I’d find you somewhere that had a mirror.” The Vampony stated. She sat down next to Sparks, “I used to stare into the mirror for hours when it first happened to me. You’ll learn to get used to it…”

“It’s just…this is fucking crazy. I’ve only been around any of the Fallen for a few days, and somehow....I’ve died and been brought back to life…how the hell does that happen?” Sparks finished off with a small chuckle.

Dee smiled, “Hey, those mares are unlike anypony else. I’d be surprised if you hadn't died after that encounter with Master Fluttershy. She means well though…they all do. And they treat us well, love us, and care for us.” She looked back into the mirror, 

“And soon, we'll all follow in their hoof steps.”

Sparks arched an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

Dee was about to answer her, but Applejack popped her head inside,

“Ah’m glad Ah heard ya’ll in here. We got a meetin’ about tah start. All Apprentices are attendin’. It’s time fer ya’ll tah step up. So let’s go, an’ get a move on.”

“Yes, Miss Applejack!!” the two younger ponies said in unison. They rose to her hooves and quickly followed Applejack to their debriefing room. Fluttershy and Rarity were already seated, with empty seats right next to them. Dee and Sparks took their seats next to their teachers. One by one, the other Fallen walked into the room, three younger ponies trailing right behind them. Two young stallions and a mare. The pony that sat next to Pinkie was a stallion with a dark violet coat. His blue mane was wild and spiky, and his tail was cut to a small tuft. His silvery grey eyes were wild, and his pupils were like black saucers, and he had a goofy grin plastered on his face. His body was laced with scars all over, and his cutie mark was a leaf with wispy smoke behind it. He clacked his hooves together as he turned to look at Sparks,

“Whoa, who’s your friend, Dee?” he chuckled, “She’s pretty…”

“Yeah, purty dead.” The other stallion stated. “She’s the one Miss Twilight brought back ta life.”

Sparks leered at the Unicorn stallion seated beside Dash. His reddish coat, black mane, and matching tail, were dirty and matted from sweat and motor oil. His body, like the other stallion, was also covered in massive scars. His left foreleg and the right half his face were made from machinery and metal plates. The lime-green light from his cybernetic eye glowed brighter, as he returned her glare,

“What are ya starin’ at, ya zombie?”

Sparks quickly rose from her seat, “Who are you calling a zombie, you trotting junkyard?!”

Rarity clamped down onto Sparks’ shoulder and forced her back into her seat, “No, absolutely not. There will be no fighting while we are in here.” the older Unicorn turned and settled her glare on the other stallion, “And you, stop picking fights with everypony. Such behavior is uncouth, and uncalled for!”

The stallion started to reply, but Dash smacked the back of his head, “Dammit Patch, you just don’t know when to quit! Sit down and shut up!”

“Yes, Master Dash.” He quickly sat back in his seat, “I apologize fer mah actions, Miss Rarity and Sparks. It won’t happen again.”

The purple stallion snickered, “Hehe, you can never stay out of trouble dude.”

Patch shot him a glare, “Shut up, Haze!!”

Haze giggled a little bit louder, before the Pegasus mare next to him gave him a hard elbow to the rib cage. She was a soft shade of baby powder blue, while her mane and tail were a brilliant blonde. Sparks couldn't see all of her cutie mark, only being able to see a sun peeking from behind an ocean's wave. Her sparkling magenta orbs glared at the stallion.

‘Knock it off, before you two piss them all off!’
"Or...ya could just mind yer business, Skye." Patch grumbled. Skye shot him a glare as well.

Twilight let out an irritable sigh, “I'm sorry, I didn't know I was supposed to be foal sitting, instead of planning.”

“Planning for what, Miss Twilight?” Haze asked.

“The Hell King has located this base. We’ve got to get all of our fighters and things out of this place before we do.”

“Wait, does that mean we’re runnin’?” Patch questioned, “Why are we doin’ that? We don’t run, we let the Hellions come, an' we tear their asses up!”

“Because you all need to realize that beating Hellions into the dirt isn’t going to do anything.” Twilight stated. “You’re going to be the next to take over and be the leaders of an army that is well over one million strong.” She looked over at all of the Apprentices, “And all of them, will follow every single command without question. So…you’re going to have to make sure that you don't fuck up.”

All of the younger ponies took a serious expression on their faces.

“But...until then, you’re still under our command. So no, Patch Work, there will not be any fighting. Not unless it’s required.” She grabbed a file from the stack of folders sitting in the middle of the desk, “Now, the closest base is Base S-13-”

Dash through her hoof up, “Hold up. Did you just say S-13?” she shook her head, “We can’t go there. Not if we’re taking a ton of valuable gear and intel.”

‘But, Miss Dash, that base is only 4.2 miles away from here.’ Skye stated. ‘We should be fine if everypony here is going.’

“Yeah, but there’s a ton of Automaton Hellions out there in between these two bases.” Dash replied.

“And that’s why you’re going to be going with the first wave.” Twilight stated. “You’re the best mechanic that we’ve got, so if anypony is going to be able to stop them, it’s you.” She looked over at Patch, “And of course Patch Work, since you’re under the tutelage of Rainbow, you’re going to assist her in destroying the Automatons.”

Patch nodded, “Yes Ma’am.”

“Okay, which one of us is going with her on the first wave?” Twilight questioned.

Applejack raised a hoof, “Ah’ll go with her. She’ll need some good ol’ fashioned Earth Pony power.”

Skye clacked their hooves together and squealed, ‘I’m very excited to go on a mission with you once again, Master Applejack.’

Applejack grinned, “Ah know ya are, sugarcube. Ah know ya have been itchin’ tah get back out there.”

Twilight nodded, “Good. Now, after Rainbow, Patch Work, Applejack, and Skye Wave take care of the Automatons, the second wave will leave, along with Rarity, Bright Spark, Pinkie, and Purple Haze as it’s power houses.” She looked over at Fluttershy, “I’m going to need you and Dead Moon’s Vampiric powers. Yours more so, because of the further stages of your powers. We’re going to stay back while I teleport all of this important information and equipment to S-13. If Spike comes, you’re the second strongest pony that we have.”

Fluttershy shook her head, “I don’t want to turn back into that thing. Not until I learn how to control it…”

“You might have to though...” Twilight replied softly, “You won’t kill any of our friends. I give you my word.”

Fluttershy sat still for a moment before nodding, “Okay…”

Twilight placed her hooves on the table, “Alright, we’ve got to do this as smooth and quickly as possible. Rainbow, Applejack, grab the first 450 ponies you see trotting around here, and get them geared up and ready to go in 30 minutes. Pinkie and Rarity, you do the same. Your wave will be going out 15 minutes after that.” She rose to her hooves, “Does everypony understand their part?”

The group nodded. Twilight’s face hardened,

“Alright then. Let’s get started!”

They all nodded and jumped up from the table. Dash, Applejack, and their Apprentices took off in one direction of the hallway, while Sparks and Haze followed their mentors. They made it to an open room full of workers and fighters. Pinkie’s face suddenly went serious,

“Hey everypony, listen up!”

All eyes focused on her,

“We’ve got to get out of here ASAP. We will be heading to Base S-13. Everything will be explained soon, so gear up and lets go!”

“YES MA’AM!!”

Sparks watched in awe as ponies left and right stormed around the room, quickly gathering up whatever they needed for the trek. Pinkie turned to Haze,

“Haze, go get geared up, and be at the gate. I want you on standby when Dashie and Jackie go through with the first wave.”

Haze nodded, “Yes, Master Pinkie Pie.” He looked over at Rarity, “Miss Rarity, can Sparks come with me as well? Haze asked. “She could learn a trick or two from me. I promise.”

Rarity smiled, “That’s a fine idea.” She turned to Sparks, “Go with him. When Pinkie and I lead out the second wave, you’ll join us.”

“Yes, Master Rarity.” She turned to follow Haze, who had already dashed to the other side of the room.  Suddenly, there was a loud *BOOM!* and the whole room shook violently. Every pony in the room froze. A few seconds later, an EvenTide crystal shot out of the ground. Twilight’s face appeared on it,

“Everypony, grab as much intel as you can, and make your way to the bomb shelter immediately!!”

The entire room burst into chaotic noise, as every pony in the room grabbed as many documents as they possibly could. They flooded and stormed the hallways as they made their way to the bomb shelter. Within a few minutes, they were all standing in front of Twilight. The Unicorn quickly scanned the room,

“The Hell King sent a small army of Hellions here. They got here far sooner than anticipated.” Twilight started. “Everything will be explained later. But for now, I’m going to teleport you all to Base S-13.” She looked over at Applejack, “You’ll go and talk to Sound Warp, and tell her what’s going on.”

Applejack nodded, “Gotcha, girl.”

There was another loud *BOOM!*, and the sound of hissing and galloping followed. Twilight’s horn glowed brightly, “I’ll see you all shortly!!”

The room flashed a bright lavender light. When the light faded, only Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Sparks, and Patch were left in the room. Twilight plopped onto her haunches as her horn sparked and fizzled,

“Everything in the Fallen Room must get teleported. If they get a hold of anything in here, we’ll be in serious danger.” She tapped her horn, “Unfortunately, teleporting over 3000 ponies, and almost nine tons of intel burned out my horn, as I knew it would. I’ll need about 10 minutes for my magic reserves to recover, so you’re going to have to teleport the gear for me.”

Rarity’s horn glowed, “Let’s get this done quickly then.”

There was another flash of light. They appeared in the Fallen Room and started teleporting gear. They only had a few more items to teleport before there was a loud banging on the doors. The steel doors flew off of their hinges, one of the two ton slabs smashing into Sparks. She rolled a few times and slammed into a wall. Rarity was quickly beside her,

“My Gods…Sparks, are you alright?”

Sparks slowly rose to her hooves, “Strangely enough, yes. I guess I don’t feel physical pain anymore.”

“Then you’ll be one of the lucky ones in this room.” A voice spoke out. All eyes focused on it as a tall, dark coated pony rounded the corner. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy all had a look of horror and on their faces. Sparks and Patch looked back forth between them. Twilight took a few steps forward,

“L…Luna?”

The mare stepped forward, “It’s been so long since I’ve heard that name. You know that I don’t go by that name anymore anyway.”

Fluttershy glared at her, “You monster…how in Tartarus are you alive? We watched you die!”

The Alicorn smiled deviously, “Great Dragon Spike has seen me worthy enough to bring me out of that wretched state you all put me in.” She took a couple steps forward, “He wishes for the end of your lives, and I shall do as he asks of me.”

Rarity’s horn glowed bright once more, “You’re not going to beat us.”

A dark aura surrounded Eternal’s horn, “And you think you'll have a chance against me? You walked away from Great Dragon Spike looking like a freak.”

Rarity snarled, and started to charge, but Fluttershy grabbed her,

“Don’t! You know better.” She leaned closer to the white Unicorn, “She’s still an Alicorn, and has the power to kill you...”

“I’ve gotten stronger too.” Rarity whispered back. “I’m the strongest Unicorn we have besides Twilight. Trust me, I think I’ll be fine.”

The room began to tremble as Rarity’s eyes burned with a bright, sapphire blue light. Eternal’s horn crackled even louder.

“Let’s see how long you can fight against my power until I turn you into ash…”

Rarity let out an angry snort and charged. Dust kicked up from where she once stood, as she suddenly appeared in front of a slightly surprised Eternal. She jammed her horn into the meaty portion of Eternal’s shoulder. She fired off a quick beam of magic that pierced clean through her shoulder and blew half of her face off. Eternal’s tongue lolled out of the wound as she staggered back from the blow. Rarity smiled as a small amount of steam radiated off of her horn. Eternal looked up at her, black particles starting to form around her wounds. The air in the room suddenly got frigid, and the lights started to flicker. The lights suddenly went out. Black light aura radiated off of Eternal,

“Youf got some powuh, ah giff yoo dat.” Eternal stated as her maw started to repair itself. ”But ah’ve got da powuh oof da Gweat Dwagon.” She smacked her lips a few times to make sure her face had repaired itself properly, and shot Rarity another look.

“And the power that Great Dragon Spike has bestowed upon me, greatly surpasses yours.”

She stomped her hoof, a surge of magic pulsed through the air, making every pony stagger backwards. Another wave of magic pulsed off of her, and they stumbled to the ground, giving Eternal the opportunity to be in front of Rarity before she had time to react. The dark Alicorn slammed a hoof into Rarity’s muzzle, her jaw snapping out of place almost immediately. Eternal was on top of her again, as Rarity tried to get back up. Fluttershy quickly transformed into her vampiric form, and slammed her body into Eternal’s. Sparks summoned magic into her horn, causing it to crackle and spark with power. Eternal suddenly jumped up and looked at her,

“I can smell it…” she smiled at her, “What power…what dark, foul, power. Great Dragon Spike would love to have you as one of his pawns.”

She started to slowly walk towards her. Fluttershy helped Rarity to her hooves. The Unicorn stared at Eternal with almost dead eyes. Her jaw snapped and cracked as it refitted back properly into her face. She looked over her shoulder at Patch,

“Patch Work…darling, you’re not being of much help right now. Do me a favor and get the girls out of here, will you?”

“Ah’m sorry, Ma’am. Ah’ll do it right away.” Patch replied, as he used his magic to start teleporting the others to safety. Twilight smacked him,

“No you fool, send the rest of the equipment to the base first!”

“Ah’m sorry! Yes Miss Twilight!” Patch stammered out as he began casting teleportation spells all over the room. He was soon done sending the equipment away, and teleported Fluttershy away first. Before Twilight could make a statement, he sent her to the base too. He galloped over to Sparks,

“We gotta get outta here!” his horn started to glow. Sparks fired a small beam at his horn. He let out a snort of pain and anger, 

“Dammit, what the hell is yer problem?!”

“I’m not leaving Master Rarity behind!” she replied defiantly. She looked back over at the older Unicorn, whose gaze was locked onto Eternal. Sparks trotted over to stand beside her. Rarity glanced over at her, 

“Darling, you should've been gone already.”

“And leave you?” Sparks slightly shook her head, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that, Master Rarity. It wouldn’t be fair to leave my mentor to fight this monster alone.”

Eternal scoffed, “Monster? Me?” she let out a harsh chuckle, “You think I don’t know what you are? You’re the monster, not me. You shouldn’t even be standing here.”

“And neither should you.” Rarity spat out.

Eternal rolled her eyes, “Enough of this foolishness. It’s time to stop playing games.” She stomped her hoof again, sending off another wave of power. This time, the three Unicorns stood their ground. Rarity looked back at Patch,

“Take your leave to the base, Patch Work. Sparks and I can take care of things from here.”

“A-are ya sure, Miss Rarity?” Patch asked.

Rarity nodded, “Tell the others that we’ll meet up with them as soon as we’re done taking care of our little insect infestation here.”

“Insect? How unique. You know, I thought you would be the most mature pony out of that group. I can see that I was wrong.”

“Fine. Patch, we’re going to get rid of this low-browed, crooked toothed, inbred horse. We’ll meet up with the others at the base when we do.”

Eternal snarled, and charged at the white Unicorn. Patch’s eyes turned green and the room trembled. A tall spire of metal burst from one of the walls, and pierced Eternal’s side. She brayed out in confusion and hurt as her wild eyes turned to see what was causing her pain.

“Ah took care of her! Now please, can ya’ll come with me?”

Rarity chuckled, “Well done.” She started to trot towards Patch, with Sparks in tow. Eternal roared out in anguish as she watched them turn away from her,

“I WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE THIS ROOM ALIVE!!!!”

The gravity in the room shifted to heavier proportions, causing the three Unicorns to crumple to the ground. They tried numerous, futile attempts to move, as Eternal used her magic to pull the metal out of her body. She lightly dropped to the ground, her smile growing as she slowly walked over to them,

“Oh, how things have fallen back into my favor…” she looked over at Patch, “I’ve got to admit, little one, that metal summoning spell was pretty good. What wasn’t good about it though, is that you pissed me off. And for that…I’m going to have to kill you.”

“NO!!” Rarity screamed. She used all of the strength she could muster up and rose to her hooves.

“I won’t let you harm them! You’re going to have to go through me!!” She stomped, causing the ground beneath her hooves to crumble. She started to walk towards Eternal, each hoof step cracking the ground beneath them.

“You really think that things haven’t changed when over 75 years have passed?! I’m going to show you the power of the Fallen Diva: Fair Rarity!!"

An orb of powerful magic and light formed atop her horn. Her eyes glowed brightly and the room started to tremble once again.

Eternal smiled, “You’re not going to be able to kill me, you fool. My body can regenerate at an incredible pace.”

“Maybe not…after all, you are still an Alicorn…” her head lowered as the orb got bigger, “But I can damn sure injure you badly enough to keep you from hurting them!”

She fired.

The orb slammed into Eternal. She let out a scream of agony as the orb disintegrated her body into ash. The world went bright, and when the light faded, Eternal was gone. Rarity took a deep breath, before collapsing to the ground. Sparks and Patch ran up to her,

“Master, are you okay?”

Rarity rubbed her head, “I’m fine darling. That just took a toll on my horn…” she stood up and brushed her shoulders off. “If either you or Patch Work could teleport us to S-13, that would be absolutely fantastic.”

Sparks quickly nodded, “Yes, Master Rarity. Of course.”

She focused her magic, and quickly teleported herself and the others to S-13.


~MLP~



“Pardon me, First Fallen…but what exactly is down this way, and why do I not have the ability open the door?” a yellow Pegasus mare questioned as the Fallen and their Apprentices stood in front of a large metal door.

“Because you have to have level 10 Alpha security access in order to unlock this gate, Captain Sound Warp. That’s how Rainbow programmed it.” Twilight replied curtly.

“There’s an level 10 place in here, and I have no access to it? How is that supposed to work?” Sound Warp asked in an irritated tone.

“It means that only the Fallen and the Apprentices have access to it, and nopony else. That’s how it works.”

“How are you going to have an area that I don’t have access to in my base?!”

Twilight quickly spun around, lavender irises glowing brightly “What did you just say?"

The air around them grew thick, as Twilight trotted up to Sound Warp, towering over the Pegasus as she stared down at her,

“This is not your base. All bases belong to the Fallen, and we do what we see fit with them. If there is an area that you cannot get into, then it is for a good reason.” She took a step closer to her, and Sound Warp shrank a bit under Twilight's gaze, “You seem to be a bit power hungry just because we have left one of our bases in your care, and it has also made you far too complacent around us. Let me go ahead and remind you that it would do you well to keep your feelings to yourself and give us the proper respect. Have I made myself clear, Captain?"

Sound Warp nodded and backed down, “Yes First Fallen…forgive me…it won’t happen again.”

“As expected…now take your leave. We have business that takes absolute precedence right now.”

The Pegasus took off in the opposite direction, while the others turned their gaze to Twilight.

“Geez, Twiliight…that was harsh, even for you.” Pinkie spoke up.

“I am a leader. I don’t have time to be soft. Soft means weak, and weak means getting trampled on. I don’t need some young filly showing her ass to try and get her way. We are fighters…not foals.” Twilight replied. She turned back to the door and placed her hoof on it. A beam of red light scanned over her,

“Good Evening, Twilight Sparkle." a synthetic female voice greeted. "Access has been granted.”

“Thank you.”

The door clanked and groaned as it slip up into the ceiling. Twilight started a brisk trot, with the rest of the group following her. They came up to another door, to which Dash quickly caught up to Twilight. She whispered something into her ear, Twilight whispered back, and then they both turned back to the group. 

“What the hell are ya'll whisperin’ about?” Applejack questioned,

“Before I open this door, there’s something I need to tell you.” Twilight started. “You see, Rainbow and I have been working on a little project down here for about 16 years-”

“And it’s probably going to blow your minds when you see it!” Dash exclaimed.

“What did you guys make?” Pinkie asked.

“Well…I need you to keep calm when you see it. All questions can wait until Rainbow and I explain everything. Okay?”

Every pony eyed one another, then back at the two. They all nodded in agreement.

“Very well then…” she turned and tapped a few buttons on the panel. The door slid up and they all stepped inside. Twilight and Dash stepped to the side to allow the rest of the group in. The Fallen’s eyes all fell on something in the middle of the room. Their looks turn to expressions of shock and horror. Pinkie took a couple steps forward,

“Holy shit…is that-”

Twilight nodded, “As of now, she is Experiment CBS-01…but yes…it’s Celestia.”
> The Experiment, The Hidden Princess, And The Dark Soldier
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of electricity humming floated through the room, as the group stared at the pony before them. Celestia’s coat was no longer a glimmering, pristine white. Instead, it was now a sleeked shade of jet black. A shining ebony helmet rested on it, and the blackened eye sockets showed no signs of life. Circuit lines traveled throughout the helmet, glowing a soft shade of pink as power coursed through them. Metal plates were infused  onto the front of her forelegs, hind legs, and down her spine, and all of the plates had a strange pinkish glow emanating from them as well. A short, thick EvenTide crystal had sprouted at the base of the back of her neck, and had two small metal pins embedded into it. Attached to the pins were thin tubes filled with a slightly glowing blue liquid that were placed deep into the sides of her neck. Her cotton candy pink mane and tail had thousands of thin metal strands in them that matched in color. An EvenTide crystal had sprouted from the top of her forehead, shaped like a Unicorn’s horn, and had few small plates of metal on it. There were various IV lines hooked up to her flesh, and wires hooked up to the metal. All of the wires and IVs were hooked up to a machine. It beeped with a steady pulse and various numbers and lines as danced on it’s screen. Dash walked up to the machine and studied the screen,

“Her stats show she’s still in the green.” She looked over at Twilight, “I’ll try to activate her again.”

“Activate?” Fluttershy repeated, “But...that means that…that thing in front of us isn’t her. That’s not Celestia.”

“This is Celestia. Our Celestia.” Twilight replied. “Do you all remember when she was on her death bed?”

The older mares nodded.

“Well…in order to preserve her, I took her body from the bed right after she died.”

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Fluttershy shrieked out. “How could you do that?!” she snapped her head  Dash's direction, “And why in the hell are you a part of this?!”

“I just…I wanted to help. I didn’t know Twilight had taken the body up until a year after she did it.”

“An’ why didn’t ya stop her?!” Applejack questioned. She stormed up to Twilight, “What is it with ya an’ actin’ like yer one of the gods?!”

“Jackie’s right…this is too much.” Pinkie agreed. “It’s one thing to bring Dee and Sparks back to life, and as much I care about both of them...it's still something that shouldn't be.”

“Don’t say that!” Fluttershy shouted in a defensive tone. “If it were Haze, you’d be begging Twilight to bring him back!”

“Fine!!” Pinkie admitted, “You’re right…I probably would…” she looked back at Celestia, “But that isn’t Celestia…there’s no way that’s our Celestia. That thing doesn’t even look like her.”

“Rainbow and I have been making some changes to her, in order to insure her survival in this new world.”

“Making some changes?!” Rarity repeated angrily. “Twilight, this goes beyond even dark magic! You’re tampering with the laws that the Gods have laid out for us!”

“CBS-01 could be an essential asset in our war against Spike!!”

“Listen to yourself!” Pinkie screamed. “You didn’t even call her Celestia!”

“She doesn’t even call herself Celestia anymore!!” Dash screamed back defensively as she pointed at the hoof-made Alicorn. The room grew silent. Dash looked over at the Apprentices,

“Leave.”

They quickly and wordlessly filed out of the room. Dash turned back to the four older mares.

“Two years ago...we activated her cyber cardiovascular pump, and raised the electronic waves in her memory cortex to a level of consciousness. When we did, we conducted a basic functions test on her. Leg movement, organ functions, eye movement, coordination, things like that. After that, we proceeded to ask her a series of questions, to make sure that her memory cortex was functioning was as well as her body. And…” she looked back at the Alicorn. “She passed. She passed with flying colors. She remembered everything; Luna’s corruption, the battle against Twilight…even losing her Alicorn magic.” She looked over at the black pony. “However, she is also completely aware that she died long ago. As such, she believes that the name died with that pony. “So…she now goes by Burning Sun.”

“Celestia the Burning Sun.” Twilight started. “And the only one of her kind; CBS-01.” She started to walk over to stand by Dash, “Believe me, my intention wasn’t even to pull Rainbow into this. But…after that time Spike managed to actually get us-”

“Ya brought back Celestia because Spike attacked us?” Applejack questioned. “What does that attack have anything tah do with us?”

“Do you not remember what he did?!” Twilight screamed. “He ripped Rainbow’s wing off!” she pointed at the white Unicorn, “He nearly burned Rarity to death! AGAIN!! And the only reason they both lived, is because Star Blast saved them!!” she stomped a hoof, “Was his life not a big enough sacrifice? What about the thousands of fighters we’ve lost in battle? Were their deaths in vain?” she looked back at Burning Sun, “CBS-01 may be able to right the wrongs we’ve committed…give meaning to the lives we’ve put on the front lines and sacrificed. Their deaths can have a purpose. And when they’re looking down on us from the Elysian Fields, they’ll be joyous over our victory.”

The others looked around at each other. Dash cleared her throat,

“Now…we’ve been working on her for almost two decades.” She trotted up to the Alicorn, “Twilight’s crystals, with my engineering, have been able to recreate CBS-01’s properties to when she was an Alicorn. The hardest part of this was giving her…magic, so to speak.”

“Tell me, how do you give a Pegasus the same magical properties as a Unicorn?” Pinkie questioned. “If I remember what you and Twilight said said, all breeds use their white matter differently.”

“You’re right, Pinkie. Pegasi have the ability to turn white matter into dark matter by using serotonin. The chemical is then transferred through the central nervous system, which hits the muscles in the wings. Since dark matter is negative and the world around us is made of dark matter, the dark matter that is now in the Pegasus’ wings forces them to repel against the dark matter surrounding us. If you will, think of it as our bodies and the world around us, being magnets.”

“But not for every situation, correct?” Rarity asked. “I mean, if that were the case, we’d all be stuck to the ground, barely able to walk.”

“Our bodies would have a heavier mass, and would compensate by changing in physical standards. More muscles, longer stamina-” she shook her head, “But that’s a different subject that I will be glad to cover with you later. The original point being, Pegasi use their white matter differently. Now, Alicorns, have the ability to use their white matter in all of the ways that all of the breeds do. First, the difference between Alicorns and the other three breeds, is that their white matter count is far higher than ours. Alicorns have a count of 3,000,000 white matter per white cell. Unicorns have 300,000 white matter per white cell. Pegasi and Earth Ponies have 30,000 white matter per white cell. So, in order for us to amplify her white matter count to Alicorn proportions, I had to donate some of my blood to her. From there, we crushed up an EvenTide crystal so that the white matter wouldn’t disperse when my blood left my body. Then, we placed the crushed EvenTide crystals into CBS-01’s cyber cardiovascular pump and let my white matter blood multiply in her. It took…a lot…but-”

“But she’s dead, so, you know.” Dash waved one of her hooves dismissively, “It’s not like I was gonna kill her during the transfusion.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “Anyway…after the transfusion, her white matter count skyrocketed. All that was left, was to give her a Unicorn’s horn. Once again, the EvenTide crystals proved their versatility. The one that’s fused to her skull, is used as a conduit for magic. It was actually a simple process, and after a few months, the EvenTide crystal conduit gave an extra boost to the EvenTide crystal dust in her blood stream. It turned her bones into EvenTide crystals. Unlike the creatures I created, When she's Burning Sun, she has complete control over her body. I also cannot track her, despite the fact she has EvenTide crystals in her body.” She looked back at the others, “Eternal Slumber coming back was unexpected…However, Rainbow and I have been working on CBS-01 long enough to where that didn't hinder us that badly. We feel like she could be a real game changer to this.”

The other four mares wearily looked at one another. Fluttershy sighed and rubbed her temples,

“So does she…work?”

“Work?” Dash repeated. She turned and trotted back over to the giant machine hooked up to Burning Sun. “No, she doesn’t work. She’s not a full blown robot.” She smiled and looked over her shoulder,

“She lives.”


~MLP~


The Apprentices sat outside at the outer gates of S-13. Sparks smiled as she watched Patch, Haze, and Dee tumble around in the ash and dirt. Skye calmly walked up to the Unicorn and plopped down next to her. Sparks flinched a little when she felt a wing wrap around her shoulder. She looked over at the Pegasus,

‘It’s nice, isn’t it?’ Skye asked as she smiled and looked at the wrestling trio. ‘Its like there’s nothing wrong in the world right now. As if the war is over and we'll all heal with time.’

“I wish I could be a part of that.” Sparks stated sadly. “But it seems like Patch Work and I will be butting heads for a while.”

‘It’ll just take him a bit of time. He used to be like that with me too. Dee and Haze were extremely protective of me, so I never had a problem with them..’ She let out a wispy chuckle, ‘He learned to back off of me after I yelled at him for a while.’

A confused expression took over the Unicorn’s face, “How um…I-uh-how did you ‘yell’ at him?”

Skye smiled, ‘Just the way I’m talking to you, silly.’ Her smile shrank a little bit. ‘Even though I may not be able to physically speak, I still have a voice, you know.’

“Have you always…um…been like that?”

‘No, I haven’t been. Like most of us here, I too suffered from a life changing injury. The Hell King has a group of extremely powerful Hellions that work directly under him. They’re known simply as 'The Elite'. They're extremely dangerous, and can even stand a chance against Miss Fluttershy when she’s in the second stage of her vampiric form. Anyway...Miss Twilight had sent Master Applejack and I to try and find a good location to make a new base. While we were doing so, we were attacked by one of the Elite. He even had a name...Sombra, I believe. Anyway, Master Applejack and I went tooth and nail with him, but…I was still new to being Master Applejack’s Apprentice. I had only been with her for a few months, and I wasn’t nearly as strong back then as I am now. Basically, I got knocked out of the fight pretty early, leaving it up to Master Applejack to fight him.’ Her smile was completely gone at this point, ‘But…he was something different. He was unlike any Hellions we had fought before.’ She looked over at Sparks, ‘You know how sometimes you can tell what breed a Hellion was before they transformed?’

“Well, yes.”

‘That’s how it was with him.’ She started up again, ‘He used to be a Unicorn in his past life, that much could be said. His body wasn’t that decayed either. He didn’t completely look or act like a normal Hellion…but he didn’t act like a Unicorn either. He was vicious in hoof-to-hoof combat. He gave Master Applejack a run for her money. He…he almost killed her, and I couldn’t let that happen. He went to stomp on her, and I got in the way. He ended up stepping on my neck. Shattered my wind pipe and my vocal chords. Master Applejack got me back to base as fast as she could, and Miss Pinkie did all she could to fix me…but from that day on, I was a mute. Patch had never spoken to me when I tried to be friendly with him. Now that I was a mute, he thought it’d be cool to pick on me all the time. For a while, I took it. but then…Miss Twilight had Miss Pinkie put me back under for another surgery. When I came to, Miss Twilight told me that if I thought of whatever I wanted to say, and who I was talking to, anypony could hear it.’

Sparks rubbed her chin, “So...you're a Pegasus that can use telepathy?”

‘Yeah…it probably would’ve made since to just have said it like that from the beginning, huh?’

“No, not at all. It’s nice to know that you trust me enough to tell me your story.” Sparks smiled, “I appreciate it.”

‘It’s nothing, really. You're part of the family now too.’ She jumped up, ‘Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m going to go and pick a fight with Patch.’

Sparks chuckled as she watched Skye fly over to the cyborg Unicorn and tackle him to the ground. Her smile disappeared as she felt a source of power nearby, somewhere in the forest that wasn’t too far from the base. The others stopped as well. They turned into the source of energy.

“Did you guys feel that?” Haze took a couple steps towards the power. “There’s something over there.”

“Well duh, dipshit. Of course there’s somethin’ over there.” Patch replied. “Let’s go an’ check it out.”

‘I don’t think we should do that.’ Skye stated. ‘I think that we should go and tell our Masters.’

Sparks trotted up to the group, “If it was that powerful, they would’ve felt it already. Master Rarity and another Fallen would’ve been heading towards it.” she looked into the dark forest’s edge, “The only reason we might be feeling it, is because we’re close to it. I honestly feel like we would be able to handle whatever is over there, if we go together.”

Dee began to hover, “Well...let’s go check it out then.”


~MLP~


“Where the hell did it go?” Patch looked around. “How could somethin’ so powerful just vanish like that?”

“Maybe whatever it was, it was like; ‘Oh no, look at these powerful ass ponies wondering all through here and shit! I better get out of here before they find me!’...or something like that.” Haze’s face suddenly took on an expression of realization, “Or maybe…it was never here at all…”

Patch shook his head and let out an annoyed sigh from his nostrils, “Or maybe…yer bein' a fuckin' strung out idiot like usual, an' should just shut yer trap.”

‘Shut the hell up, Patch. Gods, it’s like you don’t know what nice is unless it’s referring to the Fallen.’ Skye snapped. She looked over at the vampony hovering beside her, ‘Have you seen anything?’

Dee looked around, her glowing golden irises shining brightly in the dark, “No, not yet...” They landed amongst the group, “I haven’t used my echolocation in a while though.” She took a couple steps from the group and looked around once more. She opened her mouth and let out a barely audible squeak. Her ears swiveled around for a few minutes. They finally flinched and perked up as she looked over to her left,

“There’s something over there.” she whispered. Her ears twitched a few more times, “It doesn’t look like anything that would normally be in the woods.” She broke into a furious gallop, “This way!!”

The others followed suit. Within a few minutes, they came across a strange creature, fighting a small group of Hellions. One of the Hellions leapt at it. The creature dug it’s fangs into it’s carcass. The Apprentices looked on in shock and disgust, as the Hellion practically shriveled up before their eyes. The creature let go of it’s prey and looked at the other Hellions. Three of them leapt at it, and tackled it to the ground,

“Let me go!!” the creature screamed out in a female’s voice. Another four Hellions quickly surrounded her, and proceeded to beat her. Patch growled in frustration.

“We’ve got ta do somethin'.” He started to move, only to have hooves clamp down onto his shoulders,

“Wait a minute now…we don’t know what that thing is. It just killed a Hellion by sucking it to death!” Dee whispered angrily.

Haze let out a tiny snicker, “Suck.” Dee shot him a glare and smacked him,

“Shut up.” She looked back, “Let’s just see what happens.”

Sparks rose to her hooves, “We can’t do that. She needs our help.” Her horn glowed, “You guys want to stay here, that’s fine. But I won’t.”

Sparks leapt from the bushes, and tackled one of them. The Hellions roared in confusion, as Sparks killed three of them off before they knew what was happening. Two Hellions let go of the creature, and proceeded to retaliate on Sparks. One of them bit into her shoulder. She let out a grunt,

“Not this shit again!!”

Patch stood up, “Great, now we gotta go out there an’ save her hide.” He grumbled. He leapt from the bushes and joined the fray. Soon, all of the other ponies had jumped in, and had taken out the rest of the Hellions. Haze walked over to Sparks,

“You alright, dudette? You took some nasty bites from those Hellions.” He questioned as he helped her to her hooves.

“I’m fine.” Sparks prodded at the fang marks in her shoulder, “They’re just bite marks. Nothing I can’t handle. I can't even feel them anymore.” She walked over to the creature, “What about you? Are you okay?”

The creature rose to her hooves, “I’m fine.” She looked over at one of her translucent wings. A soft clicking sound emitted from her as she fluttered it against her hard body. “My wing has a cramp in it, but other than that, I should be fine…” she looked up at Sparks, “Thank you for helping me. I greatly appreciate it.”

The other sized her up. Her coat was dark ebony, with shimmering black chitin plates that started under her chin and traveled down the underside of her belly. Her cat-like pupils were surrounded by hot pink irises that also matched her transparent wings. She flicked her light pink tail around,

“My name is Locust Charm. What’s yours?”

Sparks gave her a friendly smile, “My name’s Bright Spark, but I go by Sparks.”

Dee trotted up beside Sparks and looked down at Locust,

“If you don’t mind me asking, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like you before.” She stated as she took notice of the holes near the bottom of Locust’s legs. “So what are you exactly?”

“I’m actually a hybrid-”

*SLAM!!*

The others looked on in shock as Pinkie landed in between the Apprentices and Locust. The pink Earth Pony looked over at the Apprentices, 

“Why are you guys way out here in the middle of the woods?”

Haze pointed at Locust, “Well, Master Pinkie, we were drawn to her…”

Pinkie turned and look at Locust. Her smile instantly disappeared.

“No way…a Changeling hybrid…” she stood a bit taller, “You, creature, you’re coming with me.”

Locust backed away from her a little, “What are you going to do to me?”

"Nothing if you come peacefully..." Pinkie closed the distance. "But just so we both understand each other pretty well…” she pulled a small needle from one of her jacket’s pockets. “I’m going to let you meet the Fallen. If you move more than a few hoof steps away from me, I’m going to jam this poisonous needle into your neck, and make you throw up all the blood in your body, until there’s nothing left, and you die…do you understand?"

Locust let out a tiny gulp, “Yes ma'am…I understand…”

Pinkie’s  friendly smile returned, “Great!!” she looked over at the Apprentices, “Alright now, time for everypony to head back to the base.” She rubbed the back of her head, “Although, I’m not going to lie, Twilight’s probably going to be super pissed about this…”

Sparks stood tall, “To be honest Miss Pinkie, I think that helping her is the right thing to do. I’m not going to speak for the others, but I think I’m ready to take whatever our mentors are going to throw at us.”

Pinkie’s smile shrank, “We’ll see, Sparks. We’ll see…”


~MLP~


Dash let out an impressed whistle, “Well I’ll be…a Changeling hybrid.” She leaned forward, “What’s your name?”

“It’s Locust Charm...Fallen One…” Locust replied.

Rarity’s ears perked up, “Locust Charm you say? As in-"

Rarity was cut off as a surge of magic radiated in the room. Twilight was suddenly towering over Locust.

“Locust Charm, Princess of the Hidden Changeling Hive and known as the First Forbidden Hybrid. You’re very far from home.” Her horn started to crackle with a small amount of magic, “Please tell me why I shouldn’t kill you off.”

“I came here because I was told that you worked off of diplomacy first, not destruction…unless it was absolutely necessary.”

“That was before a global sized war broke out, and had destroyed three-fourths of Equis.” Twilight stated bitterly, “Even with all this going on, Changelings are still monsters that feed off of what little love we still have for each other in this world.” Her horn started to crackle a little bit more with power, “So you still haven’t told me why I shouldn’t incinerate you.”

Locust stood a bit straighter, “With all due respect First Fallen, Changelings haven’t fed off of love since my mother and father took control of the Hive over 30 years ago. We eat the dark souls of the Hellions. I never even so much as bitten a pony in my life. Our hive is actually friends with pony kind, thanks to my father.” Her eyes glinted with determination. “As for a reason to not kill me, well…you just said it not too long ago. I am the Princess of a hive. A hive, that you have no idea how many Changelings are in. I have done nothing to warrant an attack from you, so if you were to kill me, you would have an unknown amount of Changelings and ponies retaliate.” She cleared her throat, “Now…may I please explain my reason for being here without your death threats?”

Twilight snorted angrily, “Fine. Why are you here?”						

Locust cleared her throat, “My mother and father wish to speak with you about forming an alliance.”


~MLP~


Corrupted Spike drummed his claws on his armrest, while Eternal shifted nervously beside him. He looked down at her,

“You were defeated by a century old Unicorn…” he looked down at her, “How?”

“Rarity's power has grown immensely. Far stronger than I thought was possible for a Unicorn. It was unexpected-”

He made a fist and slammed it down on the armrest, cutting her off,

“Unexpected?!” he turned to leer down at her, “Don’t give me that bullshit!!” he leaned in, causing her to shrink before him, “You were my host…some of my power still flows through you! So how were you not able to handle that pathetic old mare?!”

She started to speak, but the dragon cut her off again,

“NO!! FUCK IT!! JUST GET OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I TAKE MY POWERS OUT OF YOUR PATHETIC CORPSE!!”

Eternal nodded, “Yes, Great Dragon…”

She vanished from his room. He let out a sigh and rubbed his chin. He snapped his fingers and an onyx colored mirror appeared beside him. He looked over at it to see a reflection of himself in it. The dragon in the mirror however, had no sign of corruption and dark magic in him.

“I figured we’d talk this way. I don’t want to hear your incessant chatter in my head.” Corrupted Spike stated.

The Spike in the mirror narrowed his eyes, “You did the same thing to me before you stole my body.”

Corrupted Spike laughed, “Stole? I didn’t steal your body, you gave it to me. You took me into your soul. When you did that, it was like you signed a contract to give me your body.” he rubbed his chin again, “And I must say, you are the most powerful host that I have ever had.”

“Even with my body, you won’t win this war.” Spike stated. He gave a small smile, “My family is far too powerful to be defeated by the likes of you.”

“Your ‘family’? You’re a fucking idiot if you think that they’re your family. You’re a-”

“Dragon. Yeah, I know.” Spike cut him off. “Of course I know what the hell I am. The differences of two species is not what defines a family. They’re my family because they have been there for me all of my life, even when I left Ponyville so long ago. Twilight in particular…well…she’s raised me ever since I was born…”

“Yes, yes…she’s the best sister you could have ever dreamed of.” Corrupted Spike finished. “You seem to forget that she wouldn't hesitate to kill you the moment she got a chance to.”

“No, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill YOU.” Spike pointed at him.

“Your worthless soul is still residing in this body, you idiot.”

“That doesn’t matter…because at the end of it all, Twilight knows that I wouldn’t hesitate to lay my life down on the line if it mean the safety of Equis.”

“Yes, but you won’t be doing that. I already hold Equis in my claws. The Fallen aren’t even a problem in my life, but a mere annoyance…”

Spike smirked, “And yet your Alicorn weapon couldn’t stop them.”

Corrupted Spike let out a roar of frustration, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!”

He turned and reeled his fist back, before slamming it into the mirror, and destroying it. Black fire quickly covered the cuts to cauterize them. He snapped his fingers again, and a pair of gleaming purple eyes glinted in the darkness,

“You have requested me, Great Dragon?” a sultry female voice spoke from the darkness.

“Yes…I’m going to send Eternal back out there soon.But for now, I would like to see what you can do.” He looked back out at the black horizon, “I will expect better results than Eternal's, so don’t fail me."

“Yes, Great Dragon…”

With that, the eyes disappeared. A wicked smile appeared on his face.

“You managed to stop my little pet Alicorn…impressive…” he rubbed his chin, “Looks like I’ll have to step up my game. Things are about to get…interesting…”
> New Friends & Renewed Enemies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I want to know all of your opinions on this matter.” Twilight ordered. She looked over each of their faces, “This is a huge decision, and I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Ah don’t think we should do this.” Applejack stated bluntly.

Dash rolled her eyes, “You don’t think we should do anything. If everything depended on your decision, we’d probably be living on some makeshift farm somewhere near where Apploosa used to be.”

Applejack shot her a glare, “An' if everything was left up ta ya, we’d probably all be sitting around tinkerin’ with yer stupid lil’ toys!”

Fluttershy started to raise a hoof, “Um, excuse me-”

“My ‘toys’ are high quality weaponry to fight off the Hellions! You’re just mad because I can make weapons and tech gear out of anything!”

Fluttershy’s ears pinned down to her head from the yelling, “Please stop figh-”

“Yeah, Ah’m sure ya can make powerful weapons. Too bad Twilight an’ ya decided ta make weapons out of ponies!”

Twilight slammed her hooves on the table, “THAT’S ENOUGH!!!”

Both ponies sighed heavily and crossed their forelegs. Twilight glared at Applejack,

“Applejack, I’m getting tired of your low blows when it comes to CBS-01. So please…knock it off.”

Applejack returned the glare, “Ya want me ta just keep my trap shut an’ my opinions ta mahself because they hurt ya feelin’s?” she rose to her hooves, “Ah’m still the Element of Honesty, and yer still just a Unicorn. Ya can’t tell me what ta do.”

Twilight growled and her horn started to spark with magic, “You and these low blows...I’m really getting sick of them.”

Applejack chuckled bitterly, “Oh, yer angry? What, ya gonna kill me off an’ turn me intah some twisted experiment of yers?”

The magic burned brighter from her horn, “Keep it up…I dare you.”

Applejack's eyes started to faintly glow green, “Well then, Ah’m just getting’ started-”

“STOP THIS!!!”

All of the ponies in the room froze, as all eyes focused on Sparks.

“What are you doing? I’ve heard stories of your legendary friendship, and how it has defeated the mightiest of monsters. Is this it?” the young Unicorn looked at the older mares, “Is this really all it is? Just a bunch of mares bickering but staying around each other just because it happens to work to their advantage?” her eyes dropped to the ground, “If this is it…well…I can’t believe I spent half of my life looking for you all.”

The Fallen looked at one another. Twilight’s magic dissipated and she sat back down,

“Perhaps I have let myself get too emotional…” she looked over at Applejack, “I’m sorry for snapping at you, my friend.”

Applejack tilted her hat down and covered her eyes, “Mah apologies as well, pardner.”

Sparks nodded and sat back down. Rarity looked over at Twilight,

“I don’t see a more fitting time for the Apprentices to take charge. Let them decide if we make an alliance with the Changeling Hive.”

“Aren’t they a lil’ bit young ta be makin’ a…” Applejack lazily waved her hoof in the air in search of the words, “Massive sized decision?”

Twilight nodded, “I agree with Rarity…they all seem very capable.” She looked over at the others, “Let’s get out of here.”

Pinkie arched an eyebrow, “Where are we going?”

“Were going to let them be in charge.” Twilight replied. “And whatever decision they come up with, we will follow it.”

The older mares nodded and rose to their hooves. One by one, they left the conference room. The Apprentices looked at one another. Haze smacked a hoof on Sparks’ back,

“Woah dude…that was fucking awesome!!” he wheezed out in amazement, “You just put them in their place!”

“I wasn’t ‘putting them in their place’. I just wanted them to stop fighting.” She looked at the others, “Well…I guess we better get started.”

“I think we should join up with them.” Haze stated. “If the Hell King is starting to get all riled up, then we’ll need all the help we can get.”

‘Keep in mind that she was able to literally suck the life outta that one Hellion.’ Skye pointed out. ‘And to think she wants to share that power with us, well, who wouldn’t want HER on their side?’

“It’s because their kind can do that, that we shouldn’t allow it.” Dee pointed out. Patch arched an eyebrow,

“Dee, you’re no different.” Patch threw a foreleg over Dee’s shoulder, “Yer nothin’ but a life suckin’ vermin yerself!!”

Dee elbowed him in the gut. He wheezed out, but still gave her a smile. The vampony rubbed her temples, “As much as I can’t stand when you say shit like that…I guess you’re right.”

Sparks grinned, “So we’re all in agreement of making her an ally?”

The others nodded. She clacked her hooves together, “Okay, so here’s how we’re going to do this.”


~MLP~


“Only three Fallen, and three Apprentices will go to the hive?” Twilight repeated the plan told to her. “And why have you made this your decision?”

“Three Fallen should be more than enough if something bad were to go down at the hive. And with the Apprentices being there as well, it’ll be more than enough security.” Sparks started. “The other three Fallen and Apprentices can stay back here, keeping this base secured, and keeping an eye on us with a simple monitoring spell. If something happens, whichever ponies go to the hive will more than likely be able to handle their own until reinforcements arrive, though I doubt they’re going to try anything.”

Twilight smirked, “I’m impressed by you. All of you, actually. My friends have done well in picking their Apprentices. Perhaps we’ll let you conduct more missions very soon.”

Sparks smiled back, “Thank you, Miss Twilight.”

“So who are the three Fallen you guys picked?” Pinkie questioned.

“We believed there should be one of each breed, ta keep things balanced.” Patch replied. “So for the Unicorn, we decided it should be Miss Twilight, since she’s the figure head fer the Fallen.”

“For the Earth Pony, we chose Master Pinkie Pie.” Haze stated. “I hate to admit this, Miss Applejack, but we’re kinda scared that you might…” he slammed his hooves together, “Beat the fuck out of some Changelings for no reason.”

Applejack snorted angrily, “Ya sayin’ Ah got a nasty temper, Purple Haze?!”

Haze shook his head while wearing a lop sided grin, “No ma’am-I-uh-”

“Oh hush, Applejack. You know that you and Rainbow Dash are the two most hot headed mares in all of Equis.” Rarity teased. She looked back over at Sparks, “Speaking of Rainbow Dash, which Pegasus did you choose, her or Fluttershy?”

‘We chose Miss Rainbow Dash.’ Skye answered her. ‘While she does share some similar ‘traits’ with Master Applejack-'

Dash raised a brow, “What the hell, Skye? Whose side are ya on?!”

Skye giggled at her irritated mentor, ‘I’m sorry, Master Applejack, I didn’t mean to offend you.’ She looked over at Dash, ‘There’s another reason we chose her. She’s the best mechanic that we have. If they have any security systems, she’ll be able to break through them in a heartbeat.’ She then looked over at Pinkie, ‘And we also chose Miss Pinkie Pie because she’s our master Medical and Bioengineering Scientist. If the Changelings try anything, she’ll be able to rip them apart.’

Pinkie nodded, “I’ve actually got a few potions that can melt Changeling chitin in a matter of seconds,” a dark grin appeared on her face, “And it would expose their tender, pulpy flesh, making them easy prey…”

Everypony gave Pinkie a weird stare before looking back at the Apprentices.

“So if you chose one of each breed from the Fallen, what about yourselves?” Fluttershy questioned.

“We’ve already taken that into account, Master Fluttershy.” Dee responded. “Sparks will be the Unicorn to represent us, Skye will be going because she hasn’t been on any missions in a while, and I know she wanted to go, and of course…since Haze is the only Earth Pony that we have, he’ll be going on the mission as well.”

“Well, it seems like you all have everything in order.” Rarity stated. “I’ll go ahead and fetch Locust Charm from the interrogation room.” She turned and trotted out of the meeting room. A few minutes later, she returned with a shackled Locust surrounded by four Unicorns. Sparks looked at the Unicorns,

“Remove the shackles please. They won’t want to be our allies if we show up with their princess chained up like a prisoner.”

One of the Unicorns nodded, “Yes, Fallen Apprentice.”

They quickly removed the shackles. Locust rubbed her wrists,

“Thank you, Sparks.” she shook the Unicorn’s hoof, “It feels nice to get those things off of me.”

“No problem, my friend. However, you would be doing me a great favor by telling Miss Twilight where the hive is, so that we can teleport there.”

Locust shook her head, “I can’t do that...not yet...but, don’t let my looks fool you. I’m a very powerful hybrid. I’m more than capable of taking us there.”

Her horn glowed a bright magenta hue. The other ponies were surrounded in a matching aura. They were surrounded by a flash of light, and a few moments later, stood before massive cliff wall. In a few seconds, Changelings surrounded the small group. Everypony except Locust got into fighting stances,

“Relax, they aren’t here to hurt you.” Locust pointed out.

They all relaxed when the Changelings started to bow to their princess. A bearded, dark grey Changeling slowly walked up to them. He bowed before her,

“It is an honor to know you have safely returned, Princess.”

Locust smiled, “Had you no faith in my return, Priest?”

Priest shook his head, “Of course I did, Princess. I was just stating the emotions of the hive.” His horn started to glow a bright lime green, along with the rest of group that had been waiting for them. The cliff wall glowed bright, then suddenly burst into particle dust. A massive entry way was revealed to the group. Locust started to slowly walk inside. The others looked at one another before they slowly started to follow her. As they traveled deeper into the tunnel, they noticed that the tunnel was lit up by giant lightning bugs that were hovering around inside. There were a few Changelings here and there, chattering amongst themselves and throwing a few glances as the group walked by. 

“It’s Twilight Sparkle…”

“Is that Rainbow Dash?”

“That’s Pinkie Pie. I read about her in the scrolls.”

“Who are the ponies with them?”

"I think those are their apprentices."

The whispers continued as they traveled further and further into the tunnel. 

“This tunnel seems to go some ways down.” Dash pointed out, “How much more do we have to walk, hybrid?”

“Not much further, Fallen One.” Locust politely replied.

They continued to walk until the tunnel started to get brighter. They finally reached the end of the tunnel,

“Whoa…” Pinkie and Dash stated in unison. Locust turned and smiled at them,

“Welcome to my home.”

The tunnel had opened up into a massive cave with a small open ceiling. There were granite buildings that were etched into the cave walls. Changelings and ponies of all breeds were walking around on various levels throughout the carved buildings. Everypony looked happy, and at peace with each other. As the group walked through the city, both Changelings and Ponies bowed to Locust. A couple foals galloped up to them. They gave her a quick bow and started to bounce in front of her.

“Hi, Princess Charm!” the Changeling colt shouted excitedly, “Are these the ponies that will be able to stop the Hell King?”

“Will they be the ones that bring back the Sun and Moon from the scrolls?” the Pegasus filly asked as she hovered above the colt.

Locust scooped up the colt, and the filly landed on her back, “Yes they are. Hopefully, they’ll be our friends and you all will be able to see other ponies outside of the colony.”

“There really are other ponies out there?” the filly asked. “Other Pegasi, an-and Unicorns, and Earth Ponies?”

Locust nodded and smiled warmly at them, “That's right.”

Locust put the colt down. He trotted up to Twilight, and wrapped his forelegs around one of Twilight’s,

“Thanks so much for coming, Miss Unicorn.”

The filly wrapped herself around Twilight’s other foreleg, “Yeah, thanks! I’ve always wanted to see Eventide! I’ve seen it in scrolls and stuff, but I always wanted to see it for real.”

Twilight couldn’t help but give the two a small smile, “My friends and I will see what we can do.”

The two foals let go of her legs and took off down on one of the makeshift streets. Locust’s smile disappeared,

“Tis quite a shame...those poor foals....being born into such a despairing, violent world. A new generation should not be coming into a world like this...”

“it is a sad truth indeed.” Twilight stated. “I don't wan't to delay this any further. Please, take us to your parents.”

Locust nodded and continued walking. As they made their way to a massive castle at the back of the cave, more ponies and Changelings greeted them. They finally made their way inside, and were greeted by a very large throne room. Six of the guards surrounded the group and followed them as they got closer to the throne. In one of the massive chairs, a Changeling sat tall and proud. Her chitin was a glistening black, her mane was bright, shimmering white, with a tinge of light blue in it. Her compound pale blue eyes settled on them and she gave them a soft smile.

“I see you’ve returned with the Fallen. I’m very proud of you.”

Locust gave a curt bow, “I wouldn’t return to you in failure, Mother.”

The queen rose from her throne and gracefully made her way down the small steps. She stopped in front of Twilight,

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Twilight remained stone-faced, “I’m not a princess anymore. I’m just Twilight Sparkle. I’m assuming you’re the queen of this hive.”

The queen’s smile faltered a little bit. “That, I am. I am Queen Sylphina, co-ruler of this colony, along with my husband, King Scarab.”

“King Scarab?” Dash repeated. She looked over at Locust, “That sounds like a Changeling name. I thought one of your parents was a pony.”

“I am a pony.” A strong male voice responded. The group all turned to the direction of the voice. A large, powerful looking Unicorn stood behind them. His coat was a deep, royal blue, and his mane and tail were a bright, flaming red. A rusted red and grey beard covered his maw. He was covered in bronze armor plates that clanked as he slowly walked towards them,

“That is the name I chose when I married into the colony.” He gave Twilight a curt bow, “It is an honor to be graced by your presence, your Highness.”

Changelings and ponies alike in the throne room began to whisper at the action. An irritated expression began to form on Twilight’s face, 

“I’m not a princess anymore, so please, do not bow.”

“You’ll always be the princess that I served long ago…” Scarab replied.

Twilight squinted at him for a few seconds. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and a small smile appeared on her face,

“Comet Streak?” she took a couple steps closer, “Is it really you?”

Scarab smiled and nodded, “Yes, your Highness…”

The others looked on in shock as Twilight wrapped her forelegs around his neck. Guards started stepping forward to break the contact, but Scarab held a hoof up to stop them.

“I can’t believe you’re still alive!” 

Dash's brow furrowed, “I can’t even get a smile out of you that often, but you’re gonna hug him? What the hell!!”

She started to stomp towards them. Feeling the change of mood from the Pegasus' anger, the Changeling and pony guards in the room pulled out their pistols. Pinkie was standing beside Locust, with a needle to her neck,

“Anypony shoots, and I’m ramming this poisonous needle into her jugular.”

Twilight’s horn sparked dangerously, “Comet, I don’t know what this is, but tell them to put their weapons back in their holsters.”

“They are already uneasy with strangers being here. Sudden movements are bound to trigger their protectiveness of the royal family.”

“They need to get it together, because they didn’t act this aggressive when Twilight hugged you.” Pinkie pointed out.

Scarab, “Yes ma’am. I understand that.” He looked around the room, “Put your weapons away! They mean no harm!”

The Changelings and ponies quickly put away their guns, but still maintained rigidity in their postures. Sparks looked around the room at the guards,

'They’re still uneasy.' she thought to herself as she eyed the guards. 'I can practically hear the blood pumping through their veins...'

“We should get this over with.” Twilight stated. “This is just a reminder that we don’t belong here.”

Scarab nodded turned and started to walk to another room, with his wife right beside him. The group followed them inside, as they were led into a large meeting room. The walls were lined with guards of both Changelings, and all pony breeds. The quickly pulled out chairs for the royal family, and started to pull out chairs for the group. Dash held up a hoof,

“I can pull out my own chair, thanks.”

They all pulled out their chairs and took a seat. Twilight was the one to start the conversation,

“So, from what your daughter has told us, you wish to make an alliance with our military. Why is that?”

“What makes you think we even want to?” Dash questioned. “Your guards were about to shoot us.”

“I doubt that you would have even came here if you didn’t at least take it into consideration.” Scarab pointed out. “We could be a great ally to you, and I feel like you all know that.”

“Who’s to say that you won’t try to kill us and feed on our love?” Pinkie questioned.

“I understand that that would be a huge concern for you, and I do apologize on my mother’s behalf.” Sylphina apologized. “Changelings will always follow their queen, doing whatever she commands. It is in their nature. Chrysalis took advantage of that and made them do terrible things, including attacking your brother and sister-in-law's kingdom. I saw the flaws of my mother’s tyranny when I was but a foal. I knew that I wouldn’t be that way when I took control of the hive.” Her expression darkened. “But then...she feasted on one of her own.”

Dash leaned forward, “No way…she ate another Changeling?”

Sylphina nodded, “Yes…the love that each Changeling has for the queen is equal to the love that ponies have when they have an unrequited love. After you all defeated her, the hive had a hard time getting back on it’s hooves. She got desperate, and started eating members of the hive. At first, she was doing it in secret. If anypony had found out about that, things would’ve spiraled out of control. They may not have even retaliated, but they would’ve hated her, and she would’ve starved to death. I looked on in horror, as my mother continued to devour her subjects. Eventually…she ate my best friend…and I could take it no more. I killed her in her sleep, and let the colony know of her treachery.” Her eyes drifted to the table, “I stepped up to the throne and became its queen, and nopony questioned my authority.” A small smile appeared on her face as she looked over at Scarab, “Some years into my ruling, I met Scarab, and the band of ponies he was traveling with. They needed the help of my hive, and they received it.” she smiled and rubbed on of her hooves of Scarab’s chest, “And by taking him in, my entire life changed for the better. He helped me get my life together, and with his help, I was able to change the hive’s mindset. The comraderie that flows through this hive is more than enough to sustain us. My hive has not eaten a pony’s love in over 25 years.”

Pinkie tapped the table with her hoof, “Okay...but surely you guys don't stay in here every single day. What about when you're away from the hive?"

"Then we simply feast on Hellions." Slyphina replied.

Dash leaned in, “How though? Those things don't feel love."

"True. What they do have however, is unwavering loyalty to the Hell King."

"But...that's still not love." Sparks pointed out. "Ponies can love other ponies over and over again. Love replenishes itself throughout the lifespan of that pony. so that means your food source is pretty limited.”

“You think that Hellions are few and far between?” Sylphina pointed out. “The Hell King’s vile grasp reaches far and wide throughout the surface of Equis, his armies stretching out to the far corners of the planet. They are everywhere. For now, food is in abundance.”

“And what about you?” Twilight pointed at Scarab. “Sure, the Hellions may be feeding your wife and the Changelings, but what about the ponykind within the colony?”

“Our species does well here.” Scarab calmly replied. "There is a section of this cave where the soil is extremely fertile. I had scouts of Changelings go out into the world, and bring back the seeds of as many vegetables as they could find. We have planted the seeds and made a massive vegetable garden, from which we always have a bountiful harvest. We have done so well, that we still have thousands upon thousands of pounds of food and seeds from various vegetables, in the slim chance something were to go wrong with the garden.”

Twilight tapped her chin, “So you both have managed to bring two major species together so that they coexist in complete harmony. You’ve managed to find a food source for both of those said species, and for the most part, there seems to be nothing wrong with the hybrids running around.” She looked between the two, “Your colony seems perfectly content living in this peaceful ecosystem that you two have made for it, so why do you need help from us?”

“The food for the Changelings has been getting easier and easier to find.” Scarab started. “That means Hellions have been getting closer and closer to our home. It won’t be long before they find our colony and report back to the Hell King. Stories far and wide have been told of your numerous fights, and the victories that have come with them.” He leaned forward a little bit, “This place is our home…we will fight to the death to keep this place safe. But with your help, we can not only keep this place, but we can survive to see it.”

“That’s great and all, but that benefits you guys, not us.” Dash pointed out bluntly. “If this is an alliance, we’re going to need something from this too.”

“We understand that perfectly, Miss Rainbow Dash.” Sylphina calmly replied. “We know that your purpose is to simply end the Hell King’s reign. We’ve heard that your army is one million ponies and griffins strong. Is that true?”

“Well, give or take a few thousands ponies and griffins, yeah.” 

“Imagine how much stronger your army will be with the help of our colony?”

“How much training do these soldiers have?” Pinkie questioned, “I mean, I just held their princess hostage in a room full of them.”

“I will admit that our fighting style is not the greatest.” Scarab stated solemnly. “After all, I was trained to fight with dignity and grace, as all of the Canterlot Royal Guard was taught.”

“This is a world where you have to play dirty to win.” Pinkie replied darkly. “You wanna win a fight, you’re going to have to stab backs, and slit throats, and gouge eyeballs out…”

Dash looked over at her, “Pinks, only AJ and I understand that sick, twisted humor of yours. Knock it off for now, alright?”

“Who said I was kidding?”

“Enough.” Twilight ordered. She turned back to Scarab and Sylphina, “Rainbow does have a point though. What do we get by joining with your colony?”

“As stated before, you’d have extra ponies and Changelings, making whatever goals you may have in the future far more obtainable.” Scarab replied. “We will also welcome your troops into our home, where they will have access to fresh food, water, and very comfortable living conditions.”

Twilight tapped her hoof on the table for a few moments. She looked over at Dash and Pinkie, “What do you girls think?”

“I think we should do it.” Dash responded. “We could set up the head base here, and have a few bases surrounding the area to beef up security.”

“It would be nice to have someplace to really get into my alchemy and bioengineering.” Pinkie agreed. “And if there’s any place for Jackie to do even just a small amount of farm work, then I know she’ll be on board for it.”

“We could help teach their soldiers how to fight.” Sparks pointed out. “Each Apprentice can take on a small portion of their fighters, and whatever we learn from our mentors, we can pass on to the soldiers.”

‘That would help us expand various fighting styles, and make us all the more deadly to the Hellions.’ Skye stated.

The others turned to Haze to hear his opinion. He shrugged his shoulders,

“Hey, I just go with the flow.”

Twilight turned back to Scarab and Sylphina, “Very well then, we will accept your offer and form this alliance.” She stuck her hoof out for a shake. Scarab smiled and took it into his own,

“It will be a pleasure to stand by your side once more, your Highn-I mean...Twilight Sparkle."

The group rose from the table. “Will we be able to start moving our gear and some of our forces in here by next week?”

“We’ll have a quadrant of unused space opened up for you, and begin construction of expanding the cave as soon as you start heading back to pack your things.”

The Fallen and their Apprentices turned and took their leave. As they left the cave, Twilight’s horn sparked. Her eyes went wide as the others turned to look at her.

‘Is something wrong, Miss Twilight?’ Skye asked.

“I just got an emergency shock from Rarity. Something happened.”

“So what the hell are we waiting on?! Let’s go!” Dash shouted impatiently, “Hurry up! Teleport us immediately!!”

Twilight’s horn burned bright, as she used her magic and teleported them back to the base. When they got back, horror covered their faces,

“My Gods…” Pinkie whispered out.

The base had been destroyed. Bodies were strewn about the base’s grounds. Blood was splattered on the walls that had remained. Papers and gear were thrown all over the place, and fires burned everywhere. The other Fallen and Apprentices were standing not too far from them, and none of them were doing well. Dee was standing over a battered and bloodied Fluttershy, snarling and growling to defend her. Patch was passed out on the ground, his cybernetic limbs ripped from his body, oozing blood and oil. The metal portion of his face was torn to pieces, the metal eye laying on the ground not too far from his head. The left half of Rarity's face was bloodied and covered in massive gashes, and her left foreleg was hanging onto her body by only a tendon. She leaned up against a badly bleeding Applejack for support. The group galloped over to them.

“What happened?!” Twilight questioned as she stood in front of the beaten ponies, ready to protect them.

“They came outta nowhere, an’ we weren’t prepared…” Applejack replied before spitting up a bit of blood. Pinkie rushed to her side to support her. Twilight caught Rarity in her forelegs,

“Gods, Rarity, how did this happen?”

Even though she couldn't see, Rarity tilted her head up towards Twilight's face, “S-spike...he brought back somepony else…”

“Who did he bring back?”

“Twas I that he brought back! The Great and Powerful Trixie!!!”
> CBS-01 Activated
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her arrogant cackle rang through Twilight’s ears as the lavender Unicorn stared up at her enemy from long ago.

“You…motherfucker…” Twilight growled.

Trixie gave an evil sneer, “You don’t seem that excited to see me! Trixie figured you’d be far more excited than that.”

The ground trembled as black electricity sparked around Twilight’s horn. Trixie arched an eyebrow, 

“Is that dark magic? Trixie didn’t know that you turned to that.”

“I’ve done a lot of things that I’m not proud of…” Twilight replied, “With that being said, you should know I won’t hesitate to use the dark arts in order to be rid myself of your pathetic existence.”

Trixie chuckled, “Oh my, you really think things will be like the way they were when we were young mares?” she let out a snort, “Take a look at me. Does Trixie look like the rest of those idiotic Hellions you fight?”

Twilight sized up Trixie. The Unicorn’s coat was still a shimmering shade of baby blue. Her body was more slender, and now that Twilight was studying her figure, she noticed that the mare was larger than the average pony, only being slightly smaller than Celestia and Luna’s Alicorn forms. Her scleras were black like the other Hellions, but her irises had still retained their lavender hue.

“I see you’ve grown a bit-”

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t take you down!!” Dash screamed as she shot towards Trixie. The mare tilted her head to the side to avoid Dash’s hoof, 

“Please, you’ll have to do more than that.”

“Then how about this?!”

Dash quickly dipped low to the ground, then did a quick roundhouse kick, knocking Trixie off of her forelegs. Her chin hit the dirt, giving Dash the opportunity to do an axe kick to her head. The sound echoed with crack of bones crunching, as Trixie’s head smashed into the earth. She lay there motionless, as Dash trotted around her body,

“Yeah bitch, you had what was coming to ya!!”

Fluttershy awoke from consciousness when she heard Dash’s taunt. She summoned a bit of her strength,

“Rainbow Dash, get away from her!!!”

Dash turned to her, “What’d ya say babe?”

Before Dash could turn back around, Trixie had clamped down onto her wings. Her horn glowed and sparked off a light purplish hue. A spark matching the same hue ran through Dash’s body, causing her body to become rigid. Trixie smiled,

“As you can see from the way your friends are now, Trixie has learned far more than illusionary magic.” The Unicorn stated. “Trixie has cast a paralyzing spell on your body. Well…in a sense, it’s a partial, paralyzing spell.” She leaned into Dash’s ear, “You can’t move, but you can still feel everything that happens to you, from pleasure…” she breathed hotly into Dash’s ear and licked her jawline, nibbling softly on her ear. Dash’s face contorted into disgust, and Fluttershy stood up tall, and with bubbling rage. The whites of her eyes started to get bloodshot, her pupils shrunk, and her fangs started to grow,

“You keep your dirty fucking hooves off of my wife!!!”

She started to transform, and Trixie shot her a glare,

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!”

Gravity shifted, forcing a transforming Fluttershy to buckle under her own weight. Trixie sneered again,

“Trixie wants you to watch this…”

The Unicorn nibbled on Dash’s ear again, and rubbed her hoof on the Wonderbolt’s chest,

“You know, Trixie has always admired this athletic body of yours…” Trixie whispered with heat and lust in her voice. “Why, if you hadn’t stayed with these other fools…Trixie would be showing you just how great and powerful she really is…”

Sparks’ horn glowed bright, “Skye, Haze, we have to do something…”

“Don’t attack her.” Twilight ordered in a low voice. “She’s far out of your league, you won’t stand a chance.” She looked over at Pinkie, “Do you have any of those healing potions in your jacket?”

Pinkie nodded, “Yeah.” She took a vial filled with a purple liquid out of one of her jacket pockets, “Here. Put a drop in small wounds, and put four drops in the more serious wounds.”

“Are you fucking rude ponies done whispering to each other?!” Trixie screeched. The group shot a collective glare at her. She smiled,

“Thank you.”

She returned to her rubbing on Dash’s body. She smiled as Fluttershy’s snarling rang into her ears. Dash managed to overcome the spell, as she jerked away and slammed the side of her head into Trixie’s mouth. Trixie snorted in pain and anger as she rubbed her throbbing snout,

“You ungrateful little creature!!”

She reared her hoof back, striking her in the face with the back of her hoof. She cast a stronger version of the spell on her.

“Now, let’s try that again!!” she stated. She placed her head on Dash’s shoulder, “Trixie wished you hadn’t done that…because she was just going to show you pleasure only, but now…” her eyes glowed a bright purple, “Trixie has to make you feel pain.”

She grabbed Dash’s cybernetic wing. She yanked on it hard enough to start to tear the metal from the flesh. Fluttershy scrambled around and clawed at the ground, struggling to rise to her hooves as Dash cried out in agony. She ripped the metal wing off and tossed it to the side. Trixie’s smile got wider and more twisted, as she moved to grab Dash’s real wing. She started to tear it from her body, slowly, enjoying every pop and crunch that it made. Dash’s pained scream reached new octaves as her wing struggled to stay attached by a few tendons and veins. Twilight growled in frustration, and Fluttershy was driven further into her rage, 

“Somepony fucking do something!!” she roared out. Sparks shook her head wildly,

“This can’t go on!!” her horn glowed bright and she stomped her hoof. Energy quickly collected to the tip of her horn, and the ground around her cracked beneath the pressure of built-up magic. She quickly fired the beam at Trixie. The Unicorn dodged the attack, but was forced to let Dash go in order to do so. She also lost focus of her magic that was keeping Fluttershy on the ground. The yellow vampony glared at her,

“You’re going to wish you never fucking touched her!!”

She charged at Trixie, fanged bared and claws ready to slice. The Unicorn scoffed and used her magic to fling Dash’s unconscious body towards the monstrous beast. Dash hit Fluttershy with enough force to send her flying back and landing on her back in the dirt. Trixie entrapped Sparks in her grasp and pulled her towards her,

“You’re quite a powerful, but annoying little pony.” Trixie admitted. “That beam could’ve actually damaged my mane.”

The magic started to tighten around Sparks’ throat. The young Unicorn clawed at her throat with futility. Her head started to turn to the left,

“Trixie can’t have the risk of you doing that again. Trixie has an image to keep in the eyes of our God-King.”

Her head started to turn even farther to the left. Sparks’ let out a cry of pain.

Skye started to charge, but Twilight held out a hoof. The Pegasus looked at her in confusion. The lavender Unicorn shook her head,

“Don’t attack.” Twilight looked down at Rarity, “Are you still with me?”

Rarity nodded, “Yes…”

“Skye Wave is going to look out for you for just a few minutes. There’s something I have to do.”

Twilight passed Rarity over to Skye. She quickly got up and galloped off. Skye, Haze, and Dee looked on in horror as they helplessly watched Sparks’ head twist farther and farther to the left. A dark expression cover Trixie’s face.

“Now, pass away from this world, and slip into the embrace of Death.”

The magic surrounding Sparks grew brighter. There was a loud *SNAP!* as Sparks’ head spun all the way around, and was facing the Apprentices behind her. Trixie belted out an evil laugh as she dropped her unmoving body next to her. She smiled down at her handiwork, then looked back up at the group,

“So, who’s ready to see another ‘head turning’ performance from the Great and Powerful Trixie?!”

Her answer was a beam of golden magic colliding with her face. She landed on her haunches. The flesh on her face was gone, exposing her blood soaked skull. She looked up,

“Which one of you little ingrates did this to my beautiful face?!”

“Contact has been made.” A synthetic female voice replied.

“And who the hell are you?!”

Twilight stepped up beside the mare, “This is Experiment CBS-01. She is a creation from Rainbow and I.” she tapped the mare’s helmet, “You’re familiar with Princess Celestia, correct?”

Trixie scoffed, “Of course. You and her gave up your Alicorn magic for reasons that nopony knows. Why did you anyway?”

“The decisions that we made are none of your concern.” Twilight replied. “Now, after her passing, I preserved her body for my experiments. With the help of Rainbow, we created the mare that stands before you now.”

A look of shock covered Trixie’s face, “Impossible!!”

Twilight smirked, “You know, you had that same look on your face when we had our magic duel all those years ago…” her smirk disappeared. “CBS-01, finish her.”

CBS-01’s eye sockets glowed a bright purple. “Mission activated.”

She fired a golden beam of magic at Trixie. The Unicorn barely dodged it and fired off a beam of her own. It hit CBS-01 square in the chest, and exploded on impact, causing dust and sand to kick up from the ground. When the dirt settled, CBS-01 stood unmoving, a small scratch on her helmet.

“Four percent damage to cranium hull. Cranium hull still operational.” She took a couple steps forward, “Mission status is incomplete. Mission completion requirement;” her eyes glowed brighter, “Decimate the target.”

She charged at a blinding speed. Before Trixie could react, CBS-01 pile-drove her hoof into Trixie’s maw. Trixie staggered back, only to have CBS-01 grab her by her mane and punch her again, and again, and again. She got six good hits in before Trixie sent powerful magic into her hoof. She slammed her hoof into the side of CBS-01’s helmet. CBS-01 staggered to the side, letting go of Trixie and dropping her to the ground. Trixie’s face was slowly reconstructing itself, while CBS-01 stood frozen, her head still facing the right.

“Error e-e-e-error, 67 p-p-percent damage to cranium hull-l-l-l. C-c-cranium hull is incapa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pacitated. Err-r-r-ror, error, cranium-m-m hull is incapacitated. Unable to op-op-op-op-operate. Unable t-t-t-t-t-to operate.”

Trixie smirked and wiped some of the blood off of her lips, “Looks like your little abomination isn’t as strong as you said it is.”

“CBS-01, terminate cranium hull symbiosis!!”

The light from CBS-01’s eye sockets disappeared, “Cranium hull symbiosis t-t-terminated.”

The helmet started to click and whir in various places. Steam poured from the helmet. Trixie’s horn burned bright and hot with magic,

“Oh no, you’ll not be getting time to attack Trixie again!!”

She got ready to fire off another beam, but stopped. Her magic dissipated and surprise and horror took over her face. She looked down to see Sparks underneath her, and a jagged rock jammed into her chest. Her face turned from shock to anger,

“You little bitch, Trixie killed you off!!”

Sparks’ horn started to glow as she smiled up at her, “For somepony who says they’re ‘great and powerful’ you suck as a Unicorn.” She smirked as she quickly summoned magic , "Surely you know about necromancy!!"

She fired off the beam of magic at Trixie’s face, incinerating her flesh and mane instantly. She staggered back, screaming out in agony as she did so.

“TRIXIE LULAMOON!!” CBS-01 belted out. “You will pay for your crimes!!”

Trixie looked up. Despite blood staining her eyeballs and impairing her vision, she could still make out the mare talking her. CBS-01’s face was now exposed. Like the rest of her coat, her face was a glimmering ebony. Her large, purple irises were gleaming with burning rage. Her horn lit up with magic, and she used it to grab Sparks and place her next to Twilight. Twilight smiled up at the mare,

“Thank you, CBS-01.”

“The CBS-01 Protocol has been compromised.” the mare replied. “Memory Program Burning Sun has been activated in its place.”

Twilight took a couple steps forward, “What do you mean the program has been compromised?”

“It was badly damaged before you had me terminate the symbiosis. The program is in dire need of repair.”

Twilight was about to respond, but was cut off when a bullet slammed into her collar bone. She dropped to her knees. Burning Sun spun around to see a large horde of Hellions surrounding Trixie. Some were in fighting stances, baring fangs and snarling. Others had machine guns strapped to their sides, aimed downrange at Burning. Twilight summoned her magic to pull the bullet from her flesh. She looked back up at Burning,

“Burning …get us out of here...” Twilight ordered, “We have to pull back…we’ll die if we stay here.”

Burning nodded in agreement, “Understood, Twilight Sparkle.”

Her body emitted a bright golden light, blinding the entire group. When Trixie and the Hellions opened their eyes, the group was gone. They looked around in confusion, while Trixie stood there, her body beginning to tremble with rage. One of the Hellions turned to her,

“Great and Powerful Trixie…it appears that they have escaped...”

“I can fucking see that!” Trixie snapped.

The Hellion flinched, “What would you like for us to do?”

She ground her teeth together, and stared at the Hellion with bloodshot eyes,

“GO AND FIND THEM!!!”


~MLP~


Sparks opened her eyes to see Twilight and Burning standing over her. She rubbed a hoof over her tired eyes,

“Where...where are we?”

“We’re in a hospital bunker.” Twilight replied. “This is one of the many we’ve built all over the planet, for situations like this…” Twilight and Burning looked over at something, and Sparks followed their gaze. Pinkie was looking at them with glassy, bloodshot eyes.

“You…” her face started to bawl up. “You girls need to follow me…”

With that, she turned around, and slowly started to walk to a door nearby. Twilight helped Sparks to her hooves, and they proceeded to follow Pinkie. Pinkie opened the door, and they entered a room with six beds, all of which had a pony in them, and machinery hooked up to the ponies. Dee was in one of the beds, and the only one that was conscious out of the patients,

“Miss Pinkie Pie, Miss Twilight….” Dee started, her voice raspy and filled with shame. “I’m so sorry…I failed as an Apprentice.”

Pinkie shook her head, “It’s not your fault. You guys were jumped. There was nothing you could do.” She looked over at Applejack somberly, who was still unconscious. “I know you all did what you could do…”

A young Pegasus stallion trotted up to them, “I’m sorry I didn’t bring you all in here.” He apologized. “I saw you two standing over the Apprentice and didn’t wish to disturb you.”

“Its all well, doctor.” Twilight replied. “What are their statuses?”

“The patients in here will make a relatively speedy recovery, Fallen Pinkie Pie. Fallen Rarity, and Apprentice Patch Work are the ones we need to worry about, as they are currently in ICU from suffering the most damage.” The stallion replied. “And Fallen Rarity is still in worse condition than Apprentice Patch Work. His injuries pertain to where his flesh and prosthetics meet. While we can’t do much for him, we can at least support his body until Fallen Rainbow Dash’s blue prints for his prosthetics get here. For Fallen Rarity though…” his voice took on a darker tone, “I’m not sure if we have the means to heal her. She seems to be in a comatose state, more than likely it’s her body’s attempt to heal itself. Even then, she is still never going to be able to see ever again…”

“Please take me to see her.” Twilight ordered.

“Yes First Fallen, right this way.”

The stallion turned and started to walk away to another room, with Twilight in tow. Sparks started to follow her, but Pinkie placed a hoof on her shoulder. Sparks turned around,

“Is something bothering you, Miss Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie shook her head, “Let Twilight go alone…”

“But, Master Rarity is in there, and-”

“I know…you care about her, and you want to go see her, but…” Pinkie gave a soft smile, “Well, Twilight and Rarity-”

“They love each other, as more than friends, and more than best friends.”

Pinkie arched an eyebrow, “You think you know everything, huh?” she put a foreleg on Sparks’ shoulder, and led them to a different part of the hospital,
e''
“You’re wrong. Kind of. Rarity doesn’t know that Twilight loves her so much. We’ve known about that since we were in our 40s. And it makes sense that she would love her so much. As much as they tend to bicker, Rarity understands Twilight better than anypony else. And, well, they should be together. I mean, the rest of us ended up together, so why not them? Heck, not to mention we bear the elements of Harmony, so we'll out live pretty much anypony we could've encountered and loved. On top of that, Unicorns already live longer than Pegasi or Earth Ponies, so two Unicorns as Element Bearers are more than likely gonna outlive us.” She looked at the door Twilight and the doctor walked in, “Maybe now, Twilight will tell Rarity how she feels about her. So...let’s give them that chance.”

Sparks nodded and smiled, “Yes ma’am.”


~MLP~


Twilight stared at Rarity’s expressionless face. For the first time in decades, she felt tired. This was her fault. If she had been at the base instead of going to the Hidden Hive, they never would’ve gotten hurt. She gently stroked Rarity’s cheek,

“I’m so sorry, Rarity…” Twilight stated sadly. “I’m so…so sorry…” she stared harder at her face, hoping for some kind of reaction, “I wasn’t there. I wasn’t able to protect you. And I know you…I know you nearly gave your life to help protect that base…” she placed her forehead against Rarity’s, “I don’t know if you can hear me…I hope you can though, because I have to tell you this.” She leaned forward, “Rarity…I love you…so much…”

She placed a soft kiss at the base of Rarity's horn. She pulled away, “I’m going to do everything in my power to get you back on your hooves…”

She started to stroke her mane, still earning no response from her fellow Unicorn. She searched her face for something, anything, to let her know that she was going to come back from this. She reached over and pushed the nurse call button. Within moments, a Pegasus mare quickly trotted in, 

“Did you call for me, First Fallen?”

“I need to speak with this facility's top surgeon. Please have him come immediately.”

The nurse nodded, “Yes, First Fallen.”

With that, she turned around a quickly trotted out of the room. A couple minutes later, a middle aged cream Unicorn walk into the room.

“Good evening, First Fallen. I’m Doctor Red Heart.” The doctor introduced himself.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard a pony with that name…” Twilight softly stated to herself. “Thank you, Red Heart. I have a theory to discuss with you that may bring Rarity back. Since you are the Chief Surgeon here, you will more than likely be able to give me the most accurate response to my statements.”

Red Heart nodded, “I understand, First Fallen. What would you like to discuss?”

“First, I want to know exactly what’s wrong with Rarity. It doesn’t make any sense that these wounds haven’t healed, when she bears an Element of Harmony. It can heal most wounds, save for severed limbs…” she turned to look down at Rarity, “Why not the other wounds that she's sustained?”

Red Heart pushed his glasses up a bit, “Well…when we did her blood work, there seemed to be a virus of some sort in her blood stream. A virus with massive amounts of dark magic in its structure.” He grabbed one of the chairs in the room, “The last time I’ve seen anything close to this, was when a fighter had been injured by the Hell King’s black fire. It was fused with dark magic, that allowed it to burn forever, and even when we were able to smother some of the fire on his body, we couldn’t completely kill it, and in the end, he burned to death.” His horn crackled with magic, and a thick, green book appeared. He levitated the book in front of himself and magically flipped the pages until he found what he was looking for, “Before this war, the last time this type of dark magic has been used, was during the attempted Griffin Genocide, which triggered The Fourth Equis War over 2,300 years ago.”

“I believe I heard about that strange magic. It started with a ‘V’.” Twilight pointed out.

“It’s called the Void Virus.” Red Heart replied. “All ponies have a Magi Channeling System, which takes magic from our magic reserves and helps push it through our bodies-”

Twilight rubbed her temple in slight irritation, “With all due respect Red Heart, I was the Princess of Magic, and was known for my vast knowledge in it. Please do not insult my intelligence with pre-elementary level Unicornian knowledge.”

Red Heart cleared his throat, “Yes, First Fallen. My apologies.” He flipped to another page in the book. “Basically, what this virus is doing, is that it is eating away at the magic reserves, and the blood cells that carry white matter. In normal ponies, it would shut down their channels, and even if it didn't, there would be no reserves to pull magic from. This would keep them from being able to use any type of magic, and, to put it into simpler terms…strip them of the very thing that makes them ponies…” he looked over at Rarity, “For her though…the situation is far worse, and it’s because she has an Element of Harmony inside of her. The Element can’t do its job properly, and heal her body. Not only that, it’s eating the white matter faster than it can be reproduced in her body. So, not only she not heal her body, but the Element is helping speed up the Void Virus' process by constantly giving it fresh blood to feed on. Her Element is killing her…”

“Does the Void Virus work on non-living material? Even if they do contain magic?” Twilight questioned.

Red Heart rubbed his chin, “It hasn’t been tested, but as I stated before, it only attacks the blood cells that supply white matter. Since non-living things don’t have blood, then in theory, it shouldn’t be able to attack it.”

Twilight’s eyes glowed, and a small Eventide crystal sprouted from one of her shoulders. Her horn glowed and she ripped the small crystal from her shoulder, making a drop of her dark blood ooze from the wound. She handed it to the doctor,

“You think you can find out what it does with this?”

He took it into his hooves and studied it, “I’ve never held one in my hooves…it’s impossible for anypony to break off any pieces off of the pillars…”

Twilight smirked, “Well I’m not a normal pony now am I? And neither are my friends.” She flitted her gaze to the crystal then back to him, “So, can you?”

Red Heart nodded his head, a little too excitedly, “I will have my team run every test right away. We should have results for you within the hour.”

He quickly got up and trotted out of the room. Twilight turned her attention back to Rarity. The strange feeling of fatigue hit her in a wave. She rested her head on Rarity’s chest. Her vision started to blur as she listened to the weak, but steady thumping of Rarity’s heart. It wasn’t until she felt something touching her foreleg that she realized she had fallen asleep. She snapped upright, horn blazing with hot magic, and eyes burning with rage as she laid a protective foreleg across Rarity's barrel. It all fizzled out when she focused and saw the fear stricken Red Heart trembling before her.

“I’m sorry, Red Heart. I’m just a bit…jumpy, right now.” Twilight apologized.

“It’s quite alright, First Fallen. You just gave me a slight scare.” Red Heart responded, though his body language still showed that ‘slight scare’ was an understatement. “Now, I have the test results for the Void Virus working against EvenTide crystals.”

“And?”

“It was very strange. These crystals that you make are…alive, in a sense.” Red Heart started. “Well…a better way to phrase it, is that they’re conscious. They knew that the Void Virus was attacking, and they fought back.” A huge smile appeared on his face, “EvenTide crystals are the cure to the Void Virus. You are the cure to it.”

“That’s great...and I absolutely plan to help in the future, but for now...there was a reason I had you test that.” Twilight stated bluntly. “If I put an EvenTide crystal in her, it should stop the Void Virus, correct?”

Red Heart’s smile disappeared, “I’m afraid not, First Fallen.”

“What?!” Twilight snarled. "What do you mean it wont work?!”

Red Heart flinched, “It’s not that simple…” he looked over at Rarity. Twilight followed his gaze. “The amount of damage her body has suffered is irreversible. She wouldn’t just need EvenTide crystals, she’d need fresh blood, a new eye, a new leg.” He looked over at Twilight with a somber expression, “A new heart…”

Shock took over Twilight’s face as he looked up at the doctor, “What do you mean?”

“The Void Virus has already attacked her heart. The aorta, the right atrium, and pulmonary artery have taken massive damage. A full recovery isn't possible, her heart will always need some kind of mechanical assistance like the way we're providing it now, even with Eventide Crystals...

Twilight’s eyes fell back to Rarity’s face. Gods, how much had her health deteriorated while Twilight slept? She knew she had to do something fast. She looked up at Red Heart, determination shining bright in her eyes,

“Use my body.” She ordered.

Red Heart arched his eyebrow in confusion, “I’m sorry, First Fallen. I didn’t seem to hear you correctly…”

“Use my body to bring help her back.” she repeated. “Take my left foreleg, take one of my eyes, take my heart and give them all to her.”

The doctor slightly shook his head, “I’m afraid I can’t do that. It goes against the oath I took when I became a doctor.”

“This is not the old days when Equis was still fine and dandy, and you didn’t have to worry about this.” She looked over at Rarity, “Doctor Red Heart, I’m going to tell you something, and I want you to listen to me very carefully.” She lean forward. “I love this mare. Very much in fact. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to bring her back from the brink of death. Not just because I love her, but because as the First Fallen, I swore that I would do whatever I can do to help somepony. Now you, as a doctor in this day and age, should be willing to do the same thing. Do you understand what I’m saying, Doctor Red Heart?”

Red Heart nodded.

“Then you’re going to take my foreleg, my eye, and my heart, and put them into Rarity. That's a direct order.”

Red Heart nodded again, “Yes, First Fallen.” He got up and started to turn, “Please follow me. I have an empty operation room available. I’ll have a team in there in a few minutes to begin prepping you for it.”

Twilight nodded and started to follow him out of the room. She was met by Pinkie and Sparks.

“Miss Twilight, will Master Rarity be okay?”

She looked down at her and gave her a small smile, “She’ll be fine. I’ll just be making a few small sacrifices for my friend…”

Pinkie stepped closer to her, “Twilight…”

Twilight looked up at Pinkie with sorrowful eyes, “Pinkie Pie, you’re in charge for now. Okay?”

Pinkie gave her a determined nod, and her eyes got glassy, “Okay...”

Twilight smiled, a genuine one, and gave her a quick nuzzle before she turned away from them to follow Red Heart to one of the operation rooms. Sparks looked up at Pinkie, “Are you going to be okay, Miss Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie nodded, “I’ll be fine…I just never thought I’d end up in charge of our whole damn rebellion in a matter of 45 seconds…”

Burning slowly walked up to her, “Pinkie Pie...I want you to know that you are not alone. I am no longer a Princess of Equestria. To be honest...I don't really know what I am. But what I do know, is my purpose. My job is to assist in the war against the Hell King.” She gave a curt bow, “Since you are the current leader and a co-leader to the rebellion, it’s in my programming...and my honor...to serve you.”

Pinkie gave a small smile and bowed back, “Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

Burning arched an eyebrow, “Pinkie Pie...I told you, I no longer go by that name."

Pinkie’s smile disappeared, “Oh...that's right...I'm sorry...” she spaced out for a few moments before she shook her head, “I can't lose focus right now.” She got a serious and determined look on her face, “Burning Sun, I want you to go to the administrative office and find out the nearest base from here.”

Burning nodded, “Yes, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie turned to Sparks, “You and I…we have got a lot of work to do…” 


~MLP~


Trixie stood before Corrupted Spike’s chair, head lowered and eyes to the floor.

“Trixie is sorry, Great Dragon. Trixie failed in destroying the Mane Six.”

“Who said I wanted you to kill them off?”

Trixie looked up at him, utterly confused. He stared down at her, his claws drumming on the armrest as he waited for a response.”

“Trixie...is not understanding you, Hell Master. Trixie thought it was what you requested.”

Corrupted Spike let out a chuckle, “I never told you to kill them off. I simply said I wanted to see what you could do. You managed to cripple three of them. You also managed to give me that useful little bit of information about Celestia. As painful as it is to admit, it’s been a while since my fighters have managed to even take one of them down.” He got a dark, toothy grin on his face, “Congratulations, Trixie…You truly are ‘great’ and ‘powerful’. Your DNA shall be added to the experiment.” He snapped his fingers and a vial appeared. He levitated it to Trixie.

“Place your blood in the vial, then take it to the chamber.”

She nodded, “Yes, Hell Master.”

“I have something else for you.” He snapped his fingers again, and a small onyx orb covered in violet fire hovered in his palm. He leaned forward,

“Take this.”

“Forgive me for asking…but what is it?”

“It’s a little something that will amplify your magic.” His grin got wider, “The Alicorn Amulet doesn’t have SHIT on this.”

She took it into her magical grasp and bowed, “Thank you, Great Dragon. Your gift shall not go to waste.”

“I would hope so.” He waved his claws, “Now excuse yourself from my chambers.”

“Yes sir.”

She used her magic to vanish from his sight. He snapped his fingers, and the mirror once again appeared beside him. Spike appeared in the reflection, his eyes burning bright with rage.

“You won’t get away with this.”

Corrupted Spike got an amused smile on his face, “Oh, I am most certain that I will.” He licked his lips, “The universe, starting with this world, will soon be mine. I will give you the choice to stay and watch me recreate the universe to my liking, or…you can surrender and finally let me eat your soul.”

Spike growled, “I’ll never surrender to you. Nor will I watch you rule.” He leaned forward, his face nearly pressed up against the glass, “Just you wait…the moment I get a chance to, I’m going to get free, get my body back, and FUCK YOU UP!!!”

Corrupted Spike chuckled, “Aren’t you just precious?” his face suddenly went void of any playfulness. “Keep that up, and I may have to do something horrible to your sister and her little friends. Something so vile, that it’s guaranteed to break that pathetic little spirit of yours.”

Spike bit his lip, in order to keep from saying something that would upset Corrupted Spike bad enough to actually cause them harm. Corrupted Spike smiled,

“You’re such a good little dragon.” He waved at the reflection, “We’ll talk later. I’ve got plans that I need to set in motion. Farewell.”

The mirror faded into nothing, as Corrupted Spike rose to his feet. He walked over to his balcony, observing the hellish land of fire and despair he had created. He looked over his shoulder, 

“Commander Black Light!!”

A Hellion appeared before him. 

“Yes, Great Dragon. You have summoned me?”

“Make sure Trixie has her bloodwork done. After that...bring me the Demon Unicorn’s prison crystal. I want to see what happens if I release another powerhouse pony into the game…”

“But of course, Great Dragon. I’ll take care of it right away.”

The Hellion vanished. Spike looked back at the land surrounding his dark kingdom and smiled,

“Soon the entire world shall be covered in black fire and ash…”
> I'd Give You Everything
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite all of the injuries she had accumulated over the decades, Rarity had been lucky enough to have never woken up in a hospital before, save for the day of her birth. But as the smell of alcohol and other sterilizing products assaulted her nostrils, she realized that was exactly where she was. She opened her eyes, but ended up looking at a white cloth. She knew what had happened…and she knew that she had suffered fatal injuries....

So how in Equis was she still alive?

“Good Evening, Fallen Rarity.” A stallion’s voice called out. “I’m Doctor Red Heart; Chief Surgeon and the main caretaker for your stay here.”

Rarity’s ears flicked and turned to the direction of his voice, “Good evening, I suppose…” her head turned as if she was looking around, though the cloth kept her from doing so, 

“Am I able to remove this cloth upon my face?”

Red Heart arched a brow, “You can tell it’s a cloth? What color is it?”

“It appears to be Cornsilk.”

The doctor arched his brow in confusion, "I'm sorry, what was that, Fallen One?"

Rarity waved a dismissive hoof, "Terribly sorry. Old habits die hard...This cloth is off-white."

“Well, the fact that you can determine colors is a sign of a successful operation.” Red Heart replied in a lighter tone. “I actually came in to see the progress.” Rarity heard a couple hoof steps, “Let’s take a look now, shall we?”

Rarity felt a hoof gently brush against the side of her face, and another hoof lightly tug at the bandage.  Little by little, her world started to get a bit bright. She could make out a blurred silhouette of the doctor standing over her, 

“Fallen Rarity, I’m going to need you to close your eyes for me. I’m going to dim the lights, so as not do damage your eye.”

Rarity nodded, “Yes, Doctor. I understand.”

She was starting to get antsy. She knew she shouldn’t have been able to see. The last thing she had seen was Trixie’s horn, before she felt the searing pain in her eyeball. The world went dim again, sending her into a slight state of panic. She heard more hoof steps come towards her, and the hooves once again reach for her face. 

“Are you ready?”

“Yes…”

She felt the doctor slowly, and carefully, remove the last bit of bandage from her face. She slowly opened her eyes. She was not able to see out of her right eye, she knew that much…but as her vision started to return to her left eye, she nearly wanted to cry.

“Doctor,” she sniffed. “How…how is this possible? How am I able to see again?”

“The First Fallen saw to that. She also saw to you getting your foreleg back.”

“My foreleg?” she looked down at her right foreleg. It seemed fine. A few cuts and bruises, but fine none the less. It was when she looked over at her left foreleg. This couldn’t be right. Her coat was white. It had ALWAYS been white. White…and nothing else. But now...

It was purple. Lavender to be exact.

She let out a tiny squeak, “Doctor, my leg!! Why the hell is my leg this color?!”

She sprung up, pain tearing through her insides as she did so.

“Please Fallen One, try to calm down. Your organs are still trying to recover, and any stress could cause irreversible damage.” He turned and went to grab a small mirror. He levitated it towards her. “Perhaps you should take a look at your eye, before I answer any questions that I know you will have…”

She took the mirror into her own magical grasp, and brought it towards her. She looked at her reflection. Her right eye, milky, but still blue. Her left eye…

Lavender. Bright, sparkling, lavender.

“How…” she spoke softly. “How…how…how…” she couldn’t bring herself to say anything more.

“The First Fallen donated the parts that were needed to repair your body.”

“Wait a minute. Twilight gave me…a leg and an eye?”

“And her heart.” Pinkie added. Rarity looked over at her,

“When did you get in here?”

“Do you really need an explanation?” she gave her a soft smile, “It’s me. I just do what I do.”

Rarity smiled back, but it quickly disappeared when she remembered Pinkie's previous statement.

“How did she give me her heart?”

Pinkie’s smile got bigger, “In so many ways, Rarity. In so many ways…”

“What do you mean by that?” she shook her head, “Nevermind. Where is she? Can you take me to her?”

“Not yet, Fallen Rarity.” Red Heart quickly replied. “We don’t know if your leg is functional yet. And even if it is, it would still need time to recover.”

Rarity looked down at the lavender foreleg. She rose it, carefully, then rotated her hooves to make it work. 

“Looks like it’s functioning to me. Now, take me to see Twilight.”

Red Heart flinched a little, “Forgive me Fallen Rarity, but-”

“She’s not going to give up, Doctor Red Heart.” Pinkie appeared beside Rarity’s bed with a wheelchair. “Get in the chair, Rarity.”

Rarity tilted her head up, “I’ve lost my eye and my leg, and from what you’re telling me, my heart. I can’t afford to lose my dignity too.”

She ripped off the bed sheets and turned to place her hind legs on the cold tile. She was a little achy, but she felt like she could do it. She set her right foreleg down…

All was well.

She breathed a sigh of relief, then went to place her new, lavender leg on the ground.

“SHIT!!”

Her leg crumpled under her own weight. Pinkie quickly scooped her up,

“Wanna get in that chair now?”

With her pride injured, Rarity nodded and let Pinkie help her into the chair. Pinkie looked over at Red Heart,

“Is Twilight awake?”

Red Heart nodded, “Yes Fallen Pinkie. I just came from her room. I must warn you though, she is a bit…groggy and irritable.”

Pinkie smiled, “She should lighten up once she sees our pretty little faces.” She looked down at Rarity, “Let’s get you to her room."

She propped herself on the chairs, standing up on her hind legs, and began pushing her out the door.

“Geez, I hate being in there. It’s super-duper boring and un-fun. When we get outta here, we’re going to head straight to the colony. Locust and her parents were actually very nice an-…Rarity?”

She stopped when she heard a sniffle come from the mare. She looked down at her, and saw the tears flow from her blind eye.

“Rarity…what’s wrong?...”

“Why did she do this?”

“You were on the verge of death, Rarity. Did you think she'd just let you die?”

“But…” the Unicorn looked up at her, “She gave me her eye…her leg…her heart…”

“Well, she’s dead so…it’s not like she was using her heart anyway…”

“Okay, but she was still using these!!” Rarity pointed at her lavender colored iris with her new leg. “And now, she’s laying in her bed, probably-”

“Happy that you’re alive, and really excited to tell you something.”

“Excited? Excited to tell me what?”

“You’ll find out in a second. You may not be patient with Red Heart, but you’re going to be patient with me!”

Rarity flinched, “Okay…”

Pinkie pushed Rarity past a few more room. She stopped at room number 57, and opened its door. She wheeled the Unicorn in, and her smile disappeared,

“She’s all yours, Twilight…”

Rarity looked over your shoulder in confusion as Pinkie turned to leave the room. Rarity slowly turned back to Twilight, taking in the sight before her. The lavender Unicorn was resting in the bed, an IV attached to her right foreleg. Her left foreleg...

Was now nothing more than a bandaged up stump.

Rarity placed a hoof to her lips as she traveled up to look at her face. Her right eyes was closed, and the left half of her face was wrapped in thick gauze. Rarity carefully stood up, choosing to walk on three legs so that she didn’t destroy the leg given to her. Twilight's ear twitched,

“Sit down…before you hurt yourself…” her rasped voice ordered her. Rarity leaned forward,

“No. Scoot over, so that I can sit in the bed…”

A soft smile appeared on Twilight’s face. She opened her eye and looked up at Rarity,

“Seems like the operation was a success, if you've already got this much energy to be snippy...”

Rarity frowned, “Twilight, what did you do?”

Twilight looked away from her, “I…you needed it. And I…”

Rarity leaned forward a bit, “You…you what?”

“…I needed you…”

Her ear flickered, “I’m sorry darling, what did you say??”

“I said I needed you…”

“Twilight, you’ve never been one to speak so softly. That’s more of Fluttershy’s prerogative.”

Twilight forced herself to sit up, and looked into the snow colored Unicorn’s eyes. She outstretched her foreleg and wrapped it around Rarity’s neck,

“I needed you.”

Rarity’s eyes opened in shock as she felt Twilight’s lips pressed against her own. They were incredibly soft, surprisingly warm, and amazingly gentle. She relaxed into the kiss, enjoying their strangely sweet taste. She felt them pull away, and Time continued once more.

“Tw-Twilight…” Rarity stated breathlessly, her cheeks flushing red.

Twilight looked down sheepishly, “If I still had blood flowing in me, I’d probably be blushing.”

“How…long?”

Twilight looked away from her, “Since I was 43 years old…”

“You’ve had feelings for me for almost 70 years??”

“Yes, and I’ll have these them for another 70 years. And even after that...” She took Rarity’s hoof into her own, “I already love you as a friend, but I would like to love you as well…more than that…” she looked down again, “But if you don’t want to…I understand. You're still one of my closest companions, and the one who understands me better than the other girls. I would lay my life down for you time and time again if it meant keeping you safe.” She smiled, “So giving you a leg, an eye, and a heart is nothing but a small price to pay if it means keeping you alive.”

“Why your heart though? What was wrong with mine?”

“Your heart was infected with an extremely deadly disease, and continued to keep spreading the infected blood throughout your body. Giving you an eye and a leg would’ve been pointless if I didn't give you my heart.” Twilight got a sheepish expression on her face, “And I want to give you my heart anyway…”

Rarity responded with a giggle. “I’m hoping you mean that metaphorically still.”

“But of course, Fair Rarity.”

A bright blush colored Rarity’s face. She gave the lavender Unicorn a peck on the cheek,

“Thank you, Twilight…I’ll never be able to repay you.”

“Of course you can…” Twilight leaned forward, “All you have to do, is give me one chance…one chance to prove I’m worth dating, even if I’m a ‘zombie’, as Rainbow would put it.”

Rarity gave her a soft and gentle smile, “I can do that…”


~MLP~


Pinkie looked sadly between her best friend and her wife. Dash had gotten the surgery first, due to the fact that Pinkie needed her to help rebuild Patch Work, and start making a prosthetic leg and eye for Twilight. She’d also be needed in leading a group to go and start construction of their new headquarters at the Hybrid colony that they had recently allied up with. But none of that meant much to her if she didn’t have her lovely Applejack by her side. She walked over to her bed and placed her muzzle to Applejack’s cheek.

“Oh, Jackie…I’m sorry I had to choose Dashie over you. But she was in serious trouble, and we need her a lot right now. You’re both very, very important to me…and I’m not really sure if you can hear me, but I hope that you know that I love you very much.”

“Ah know ya do, Sugar…an’ Ah love ya very much as well…”

Pinkie jerked up and looked into bright green eyes. Oh, how she loved those emerald orbs, and she loved the fact that they sparkled when they were looking at her.

Wait, why were they looking at her?

Pinkie reached over for her patient clipboard and flipped through a couple pages,

“Jackie, how are you awake? You’re supposed to be on a morphine drip right now.”

"It had run out fer a lil' bit, so Ah managed to wake up. When the docs came in, Ah asked 'em ta stop givin’ me that sleepy juice. Ol’ Honesty is healin’ mah body. At a slower pace than usual fer some strange reason, but still doin’ it nonetheless. 

She placed a hoof on Pinkie’s cheek, “R.D’s got an important role tah play. Far more important than mahself right now. So go an’ make sure she’s alright.”

“Nah, she can stay over there, I’m fine.” Dash stated in a dismissive tone, causing both of the Earth Ponies to look over at her. Pinkie smiled and leapt onto her,

“Dashie!! You’re okay!! Thank the gods!”

Dash swatted at the pink pony with her hooves, “Pinks, get off of me!”

Pinkie immediately got off of her, “Sorry! I’m just glad you’re finally awake.”

Dash sat up and looked over her shoulders. The surgery done on her real wing insured that'd she be able to use in with proper time to heal and rehabilitation. However, her cybernetic wing was gone. She let out an angry snort,

“Damn…now I gotta make a whole new wing.” She rested her chin in her hoof, “It took me a year just to make that one.”

Ire crossded Pinkie's features. Dash and Applejack ignored it as the farm pony spoke.

“At least yer real wing is gonna be okay, once it heals up an’ stuff.”

Dash rolled her eyes, “Yeah, that's great. Too bad I still can't fly with just one wing.”

“You think you’re the only one that got it bad?!” Pinkie snapped. Dash slightly flinched before glaring up at her,

“I didn’t say that! But it does suck that I’m going to be a one winged freak for a while!” she pointed at her, “You’re perfectly fine, so what are you bitching about?”

Pinkie’s eyes started to get glassy, “Twilight sacrificed one of her eyes, legs, and her heart for Rarity.”

All the air was snatched from the room as Applejack and Dash stared at her,

“Wh-what?” Applejack stated in disbelief.

“Rarity now has one of Twilight’s eyes, one of her legs, and her heart.” Pinkie took a couple steps towards Dash and cupped her face,

“And then there’s Patch Work, who lost all of the machinery that was attached to his body…” she spoke in a softer tone as she gently rested her forehead against hers,

“That’s why I need you right now, Dashie. That’s why I gave the order to make sure you got the first surgery. These other doctors don’t know how to work those technical miracles like you do, and those two ponies need you…”

“Well, shit…Pinkie, I don’t know what to say…”

Pinkie stood up tall, a fire in her eyes, “Don’t say anything! Just get better faster so you can help our friends!!!”

The sound of the door opening drew their attention. Sparks and Locust walked into the room,

“When Sparks told me what happened, I came as fast as I could.” Locust stated. “I’m here to try to be of any assistance to you.”

Dash looked over at Sparks, “You brought the hybrid to a secret hospital bunker? Why?”

“Because I told her to.” Pinkie replied defensively. Dash turned her attention back to her,

“Wha-“

“I’m in charge right now.” Pinkie stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “I told you, Twilight’s way too injured. She's unable to lead right now. Since I was the only one of us that wasn’t unconscious, she left me in charge.”

The cyan Pegasus stared at her for a few seconds, before letting a small smile creep to her lips. 

Big mistake.

Pinkie leaned forward, snorting hot air from her nostrils, “I swear to the gods Rainbow Dash, if you make one slick comment about me being in charge, you’re going to wish Trixie had finished you off.”

Dash’s brow immediately furrowed, “What the fu-”

“Now girls, let’s not get all riled up fer nothin’.” Applejack cut in. “Pinkie’s in charge now, an’ there ain’t nothin’ we can do about that.” Applejack's eyes went wide as Pinkie shot her a glare. "Not that there's somethin' wrong with that! Pinkie is very capable of bein' a leader, an' Ah give her mah full trust."

Pinkie turned her burning gaze back to Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus and the Earth Pony burned holes into each other’s faces, but said nothing. Sparks took a couple steps forward,

“Um…should we take our leave, Fallen Ones?”

“Yes…” Pinkie replied, her eyes never leaving Dash’s.

Sparks and Locust immediately turned and left. 

“Get out of bed, Rainbow Dash. We’ve got work to do.”

Dash pointed at her wing, “My wing’s still busted. I can’t just hop out of bed and trot out of here.”

“Your wing have nothing to do with your legs. And even if it did, you were never the type to let anything stop you before.”

The sheets ruffled as Applejack slowly slid out of bed. She winced as pain flared through her ribs. Pinkie turned,

“Jackie, what are you doing? Get back in the bed!”

“Ah can’t let a few little jacked up ribs stop me from helpin’ out…” she smiled at her wife, “After all, that ain’t got nothin’ tah do with mah legs.”

She took the few steps needed to get to Dash’s bed, and outstretched her hoof,

“C’mon R.D. Let’s get this show on the road. Ya got work tah do an’ yer gonna need our help.”

Dash sighed, before straining to turn out of the bed. Her hooves hit the tile with a soft tap. She still had her own aches as well. She looked over at her stitched up, bandaged wing. She looked over her other shoulder, at the stump where her cybernetic wing once was. Her tired expression turned to one of determination,

“Let’s do this.”
> Quiet Times and the Experiment from Hell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was like the entire world had been silenced. 

The Hell King could do nothing more than simply let his Hellions go and search for the Fallen and their military. Some came back after decimating some already empty bases. Some didn’t ever return. No matter the outcome, none of them had come back with the news he wanted to here; the Fallen's location. He stared blankly out into the void of the wasteland that was his creation. 

He was bored.

Where had his little playthings ran off to? Trixie had done well to cause them harm, but perhaps she had gone a bit too far to scare all of them off and force them into hiding. Those little ponies were tricky. Such vile, disgusting little creatures. 

‘Those vile, disgusting little creatures are my family…and they will be your demise…’

He rolled his eyes at the voice speaking to him in his head, “You keep saying that. You have been for a while too. When are you ever going to shut up about it??”

‘When they kill you off.’

“I already told you, if they kill me, you’re going to die as well.”

‘I have no qualms with that.’

He smirked, “But Twilight does..."

There was a few moments of silence. His smirk turned into a full on grin when he assumed the voice in his head had nothing else to say. His smile instantly disappeared when the voice spoke up once more,

‘Twilight is my sister…but she is a leader. A leader that understands that the needs of the many vastly outweigh the few. I do not mean as much to her as millions of lives do. I know that…and that’s how it should be.’

Corrupted Spike let out a low growl, as he continued to listen.

‘She will do whatever needs to be done to end your reign of tyranny. You could not even take over her body…that just proves how weak and pathetic you were…and still are.’

Corrupted Spike snarled, “I had complete control over her body!! The only reason I didn’t get to keep it, was because you managed to somehow take me out of her!!”

‘No…you weren’t in complete control. I could see it in her eyes. She was still in there somewhere…you know, you’re kind of like a plant. A weed, to be more specific. You weren’t rooted in deep enough…so it made it easier to rip you out from your foundation…’

“Well then, I seem to have a much better influence upon you, because I’ve had control of your body for decades.”

‘True…you have indeed taken my body…but you’ll never take my spirit…’

Corrupted Spike rolled his eyes, and drowned out the voice speaking to him. His ear fins perked up when he heard knocking at his bedroom door,

“WHAT?!”

“Great Dragon, we wish for you to lend me your ear and let us in, so that we may share this wonderful news with you.” Eternal’s voice declared from the other side.

“ENTER!!”

Eternal trotted in with Trixie trailing behind her. Their heads held high, and Eternal's eyes burning a bright shade of red. They both gave him a bow, before looking up at him,

“I sent out a small squadron of Hellions to go investigate the last base that the Fallen were seen at. When they searched the area, they found a few pieces of Changeling chitin." Eternal reported.

Corrupted Spike tapped his chin thoughtfully, “That’s strange…the Changelings have managed to keep themselves hidden all this time…I wonder how that got there.”

“We believe that the Fallen may have some sort of bond with the Changelings, or at least one of them.”

“Damn…that might be a bit of a problem.”

“Forgive Trixie for questioning you, but how so? They’re just Changelings.” Trixie asked.

“The Changelings aren't as fragile as ponies. Not to mention they do not have the same standards and ethics like the Fallen’s rebellion does. If they travel in groups, no matter how long they’ve been together, if one of them dies, they will not care. It could’ve been family to them, but the only Changeling that will EVER be important to them, is the hive’s Queen. They won’t hesitate or flee just because a ‘friend’ died in their holey little hooves.” He smiled, “Why, if I were to get them to fight for us…they’d pose a powerful threat to Twilight and her rag-tag gang of misfit ponies…”

“What would you like us to do, Great Dragon?”

“You and Trixie shall go and scour that area.”

“Perhaps…I could be of some assistance as well…Great Dragon…”

The trio snapped their heads in the direction of the voice. A Unicorn with a red tipped horn emerged from the shadows, his dark grey coat gleaming from the glow of Corrupted Spike’s eyes,

“How dare you enter the chambers of our mighty God-king without permission, Sombra!!” Trixie snarled. “Have you lost what little mind you may have left in that tiny skull of yours?!”

“I do believe that I was speaking to our King of Hell, not you, Lulamoon.” Sombra hissed back, baring his fangs at the mare..

Trixie’s horn burned brightly, “Why, you conceited little piece of shit-”

“There will be no fighting here. I don’t want your blood splattering the walls.” He gave another evil grin, “Or do I? It would add some color to this place.”

The three ponies backed away from him, their gazes falling to the floor. He focused on Sombra,

“Yes, I think you will be of some use to me at the moment…”


~MLP~


Sparks sat next to Patch on one of the many tiny cliffs that lined the walls of the hidden hive.

“Ah can’t believe we’ve been here fer over three years…”

Sparks looked over at the cyborg with a soft smile on her face. He was a lot bigger than when they first met. What remained of his real flesh was chiseled muscle that rippled under his bright, bold, red coat. He had shaved off his mane, and opted to grow a small fuzz on his chin. Thanks to the colony welcoming the Fallen, Dash now had the materials, tools, and means to not only repair, but upgrade all of his machinery. The plates were painted a matte black, and on the plate attached to his left hind leg, Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark was spray painted onto it (a strange request made by the Unicorn). He now wore a white tank top, and like his mentor's, it was also smudged with grease and oil stains. He opted not to wear a tool belt, as he was able to magically summon any tools he would need.

“Yeah…it is a strange feeling…I remember how we didn’t get along when we first met.”

“Yeah, Ah was the trottin’ junkyard,”

“And I was the zombie freak…” Sparks finished with a chuckle.

“Well now, Ah can say that ya lookin’ nothin’ like a zombie freak.”

Sparks’ smile turned somewhat bitter, “I’m still the scary, brain eating pony that the young Changelings and ponies run from.”

Patch magically summoned a mirror and turned it in Sparks’ direction. She let her eyes fall upon her reflection. Her mane and tail had grown much longer, and somehow, her coat had regained some of its bluish shine. She had a row of EvenTide crystals aligned down her spine, and two short crystals that jutted out of her shoulders. Her eyes had retained the light blue ring of death around the irises, but her eyes had a slight sheen to them. She wore a custom black leather vest that allowed her spinal EvenTide crystals an opening, and it had a few pockets lined with small trinkets and helpful devices that she had collected over the years. Her smile once again returned to full force,

“There we go, made the pretty lady smile.”

She playfully slapped his shoulder, “Shut up, Patch.”

They laughed and chatted a bit more, before Dee landed beside them. She had let some of her mane grow out, some wild strands covering one of her golden orbs. Her upper fangs protruded a bit from her mouth, and most of her teeth had turned into hooked fangs. Her leathery bat wings were now bigger as well, and her hooves had a slight, hooked curve to them as well. She was definitely an intimidating foe to those who lived outside of the colony.

“So this is where you two have been hiding.” She declared. She plopped down next to Patch and looked over at Sparks,

“Miss Twilight and Miss Rarity have been looking for you. They want to do their bi-weekly check-up on your rotting corpse.”

Sparks’ rolled her eyes, “Haha, you’re so funny. Let's just disregard the fact that you were a rotting corpse long before I came along.”

“Oh now, don’t go dying on me because you got your feelings hurt.”

Sparks horn glowed bright, “Oh, that was hilarious, you blood sucking vermin.”

“I prefer the term ‘blood sucking demon’, but that’ll do.”

“Fuck you.”

Dee winked at her, "That can be arranged."

Sparks rolled her eyes and smirked before teleporting herself to the medical center. She slowly walked through the massive halls as she looked for Twilight and Rarity.

“We’re in here darling!”

Sparks immediately turned to the source of the voice and headed towards it. She stepped into the room to be greeted by the two older Unicorns. Rarity trotted up to her,

“Hello, Darling! How have you been doing today?”

“I’ve been doing well, Master Rarity.”

“Step over here, Bright Spark.” Twilight ordered.

Sparks walked over to Twilight and stood tall. The older mare's cybernetic eye glowed bright purple, as it made a line of light that scanned over Sparks' body. After it vanished, she then summoned a small flashlight and put it to Sparks’ eyes. She flickered it a few times over her eyes. A small smile crept on her face,

“Pupils are showing some responsiveness to light. That’s a promising sign.”

She made the flashlight vanish, and summoned a tongue depressor. Sparks knew the drill, and opened her mouth. Twilight inspected her mouth for a few seconds before taking it out,

“Saliva production is in good order.”

The depressor disappeared, and replaced with a notepad and a pencil. She turned and instructed Sparks to conduct a few exercises. After she completed them, Twilight summoned a stethoscope. She placed the chest piece on Sparks, and they all stopped talking. Save for the barely audible whir of the gears in Twilight's prosthetic leg, the room was silent. Twilight’s expression morphed from pure focus to slight confusion, and ended with unbridled joy. She snapped back up,

“My gods…”

Sparks and Rarity leaned in, “What?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, “You...you have a heartbeat…”

The other two Unicorns mirrored Twilight’s expression. Rarity shook her head, 

“D-did we just hear you correctly?”

Twilight did a slight bounce as she trotted over to a nearby table, “Yes! You have a heartbeat. It’s very faint, but I’ll be damned to Tartarus if I didn’t just hear your heart actually beat.” She jotted down a few notes in a book on the table, then flipped a few pages, “I wrote something down a few months ago…about…” she trailed off until she found the page she was looking for, “Aha!! Here!! I wrote down a while back that it might be Bright Spark’s DNA that was reacting differently to the EvenTide crystals. That’s why her body is showing signs of life, while nothing has yet happened to Dead Moon, who died two years before her. Of course, Dead Moon is showing some signs of growing too, and I'll definitely have to look into that...but that's beside the point right now!!” she looked up at Sparks with glee in her eyes, "Do you know what this means?!”

Sparks slightly shook her head, “…No Miss Twilight…”

“It means…that so long as the EvenTide crystals are in your system…you can never truly die. Your body, while it may take time, will regenerate itself. YOU ARE THE CURE TO DEATH ITSELF!!! Gods, the possibilities don’t end just there! With your blood-”

Sparks jaw dropped, while Twilight continued her happy rant. Never truly die? She couldn’t believe it. Was this her purpose? Is this what every moment in her life was supposed to lead up to?

Did she really want to live forever?

Twilight and Rarity looked at her, confused expressions on their faces. She must’ve spoken her thoughts out loud, as Twilight’s face turned to slight irritation,

“It’s not about you not wanting to live forever. It’s about you having the ability to come back to life. An ability that hopefully…we can extract from your DNA.”

Sparks turned her gaze to Twilight, “Extract? You want to extract whatever is happening to me, and give it to other ponies?”

“Yes, of course.”

“…Why?”

Twilight’s face faltered back to confusion, “Why what?”

“Why would you want to bring this upon somepony else?”

“Bright Spark, we may be in quiet times right now, but we’re still fighting a war outside of this cave. We’ve had dozens of platoons go out and search for hundreds of miles. Bases have been destroyed. Medical bunkers have been decimated. Ponies have, and are to this day, being slaughtered. While joining up with this colony has benefited us tremendously, we still suffer greatly from the massive losses outside while we were recuperating from our injuries.” She took a couple steps towards the younger Unicorn, “We are no longer one million strong. We’re lucky if we’re even a half of that now. And for each pony we lose, that’s a potential Hellion for Spike’s army. We can’t afford to lose anypony else, and we certainly can’t afford to GIVE him soldiers on a silver platter. With your help…with your genes, we can keep what few fighters we have left alive, and give us a fighting chance to survive all this.”

“But at what cost?” Sparks questioned. “For them to live in an endless cycle? To let them watch the ones they love the most die off for all of eternity?” her voice rose with her anger, “I didn’t choose to do this! I didn’t choose to be a living zombie! You made that choice for me!!”

“I did what I had to do to keep you alive!!”

“THEN YOU SHOULD’VE JUST LET ME DIE!!!”

Rarity and Twilight stared at her, utter shock plastered onto their faces. Before either could respond, Sparks vanished, teleporting herself to the cave’s secret entrance. She used her magic to open the entrance and slid into the dark forest. Breaking into a furious gallop, she tried to put as much distance between herself and the cave as possible. When she felt like she was far enough, she plopped down on a rock and buried her face in her hooves. She let out a soft wail, like that of an unhappy foal. Her eyes did something that they hadn’t done since she died,

They produced tears.

And so she cried. She had never wanted this. She was so lost in her world of worries, that it took her a moment to notice the smell of burning marijuana. She looked up to see Haze trotting up to her.

“Whoa…I didn’t know you were still able to make with the water works. What’s going on?”

Sparks stared at him for a moment. He was taller than all of them now, but was still a very lanky stallion. His eyes still held a certain, permanent glaze over them. One pupil was now drastically smaller than the other one, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was because of all the drugs he did over the years. His coat was a bit duller with age, but had for the most part, retained it’s violet hue. His mane and tail were still an electric blue, and still somewhat unkempt, though not as bad as it was when they first met. Wisps of foggy white smoke continuously poured from his mouth and nostrils, and he snorted occasionally to clear the smoke while he waited for a response. She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave a soft smile,

“Oh…it’s nothing serious…really...”

Haze slowly rolled his eyes, “We’ve been friends for a few years now, dudette. I can tell when something’s wrong. And even if we weren’t that close, I’d have to be a complete idiot to not see that those aren’t happy tears.” He wrapped a foreleg around her shoulder and pulled her close, “C’mon, tell Ol’ Haze what’s on your mind.”

Sparks sighed, “I just found out that my heart’s beating again.”

She looked over at Haze. She couldn't make sense of his unexpressive gaze, so she continued.

“My body is bringing itself back to life. Nopony thought that it would be possible, but here I am…a living testament to immortality, all without being an Alicorn. Miss Twilight wants my DNA to see if she can recreate those effects, so that she can pass it on to other ponies so that they can be immortal too.”

“Go on…”

“But that’s not the life I want to live. Who would want to live forever? I mean, look at our mentors. They’re only a hundred and some change. But you can see it in their eyes...they’re tired...worn out. Sometimes, they look like they want to give up. I feel like the only reason they don’t is because their lovers are still alive. Don't get me wrong though...they've done alot for me. I’ve been taught some of the most powerful magic that a Unicorn can ever learn, thanks to Master Rarity and Miss Twilight. If I were to leave right now, I would be able to survive on my own against Hellions. I could smite them down with the flick of my horn. I could take care of myself and never have to worry about anypony else. And thanks to my newly found immortality, I could do that forever.”

“So then…why don’t you?”

Sparks looked up at Haze in confusion, “Huh?”

“All that stuff you just said, why don’t you just go ahead and do it?”

Sparks shifted her gaze elsewhere. Why didn’t she? What unspoken bonds were chaining her to the Fallen and the other Apprentices? She was only supposed to go and find the Fallen. They were already in the process of rebelling against the Hell King. And not just sitting around doing nothing, they were actively fighting his hordes of demons and monsters when she found them. Well, when they found her. If nothing, they were more inactive now than they were years ago. So why? Why did she stay?

Because they loved her. Though it was not a blatant as a parent loving their child, it was still obvious enough that they loved her dearly. They had taken her in, and taught her how to truly survive in this apocalyptic world of theirs. She had roughhoused, ate, slept, and fought along the Fallen and the Apprentices for years now. They were-

“My family…” Sparks replied softly. Haze leaned closer, a smile on his face.

“That’s right…we’re family. That’s why you can’t leave. That’s why you go to your bi-weekly checkups. That’s why you’re not happy…because your family will die off before you do.”

“So…what should I do?”

“Well…would you say that being immortal has more negatives than positives?”

Sparks quickly nodded.

“Would you ever put the burden of immortality on your family?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then if that's what you think, you should follow your heart. See, the thing about families, is that sometimes, we don’t like shit that we do to each other. We don’t like something that gets done or said, but you know what? At the end of it all, that’s your family, and there’s not shit that anypony in that family can do to change that.” He patted her back, “Miss Twilight is our family. If you don’t want to pass it on, then you’re going to have to tell her that you don’t wanna do it. She’s going to be pissed. She’s going to yell, and scream, and you’re probably going to be terrified, because let’s face it…she is one fucking scary ass mare.” Sparks groaned while he continued, “But believe it or not, she’ll get over it. Its not like she’s not going to kill you. I mean, not that she can anyway, we just covered that. Eventually, she’ll forgive you. Despite her very logical mindset, she doesn't see you as an asset or a tool She see's you as family. It’s your body, you have every right to decide what happens to it, and because you're family to her too, she wont force you to give you your DNA.”

Sparks sighed softly, “I hope so...because she didn’t give me a chance the last time.”

Haze gave a small smile, “Don’t be so gloomy, dudette. You’re going to be fine. Believe it or not, I’m the first Apprentice…Master Pinkie Pie found me and took me in when I was only a couple years old. She didn’t just mentor me, she raised me. Her and Miss Applejack. So trust me…I’ve been around here long enough to see how these mares act. The formalities are moreso for show, so worry so much.”

Sparks nuzzled his cheek with her muzzle, “Thank you so much, Haze.” She gave him a cheeky smile, “You know, for a somepony that did so much marijuana, that his body now makes the shit itself, you’re a pretty intuitive stallion.”

Haze blew a smoke ring from his mouth, “Yeah, I tend to see the world a little differently.” He pulled away from her and waved a hoof, “Later dudette.”

Sparks waved in response, as Haze slowly walked away. As he got further away, she froze. Without turning her head, her eyes shifted to the direction of where Haze went. He was still there as well, frozen in mid-step, with his head looking over his shoulder back in her direction.

“Blue Unicorn…Purple Earth Pony…”

They felt powerful wave of magic hit them both. They started to turn their heads,

“Don’t. You will not be the same if you look upon my form in this realm.”

They both stopped. Haze turned around and focused on Sparks, briskly, but carefully, up to her.

“Who are you?” Haze questioned.

“I am the voice that guided your mentors long ago. I am the reason they still fight.”

“’The reason they still fight’?” Sparks repeated. “With all due respect ‘disembodied voice’, the reason they fight is because we are in the middle of a world war with the Hell King.”

“The Hell King? I see…so that is the name he has taken on now…”

“You know who the Hell King is?”

“I do know who the Purple Dragon is…”

Sparks closed her eyes and looked in the direction of the voice, and she gasped. There was a transluscent form of a massive Earth Pony stallion, with a vertically split, two-tone coat, and a flowing mane and tail. She knew the form of this stallion from her mother’s stories. She bowed before the pony.

“It is…the utmost honor, to be in your presence right now, Great One.”

“The honor is mine as well, Blue Unicorn. It has been quite some time since I’ve seen a Unicorn with such an excellent expertise of the ‘Mind’s Eye’ spell.”

“Can I open my eyes?” Haze questioned.

“No.” Sparks quickly replied, “Don’t open your eyes, no matter what.” She focused back on stallion, “What brings you to our realm, Great One?”

“Unfortunately, I bring news that does not bode well for this realm. This war is falling into chaos and turmoil. I will be forced to bring this world to its end, in order to restore balance to the universe.”

“How can we stop that from happening?”

“The dark weapon breathes. It's existence is the action that will start the timer to this realm’s end. Find it and kill it. Stir up the Corrupted One and end this for good." He turned and walked off. 

“Wait, Great One, what’s the dark weapon? How do we find it? Where do we look?”

There was no response. The stallion had vanished. The surge of power dissipated.

“Sparks…is it safe now?”

“Yeah…go ahead.”

“Who was that, or better yet, what was that?”

“That was Ubenox, the son of the universe. Any Unicorn worth their salt knows of him.” She turned and started to gallop back to the base. “Let’s go, Haze!”

Haze broke into a gallop to follow her, “Why the sudden rush?!”

“We’ve got to tell our mentors about this!!”


~MLP~


Corrupted Spike lumbered to his dining room. There was a feast laid out for him, extravagant and an amazing sight to behold. He licked his lips and picked up a fat chunk of ruby. Just as he was about to pop the crystal into his mouth, a Hellion wearing glasses and a doctor’s coat trotted up beside the massive table.

“Mighty God-King of Hell…” the Hellion started. “I wish to pass wonderful news to you.”

Corrupted Spiked looked down at him, “What is it?”

“It is my greatest pleasure to announce to you that the experiment is complete.”

A vile grin spread on his face, “You don’t say?...” he rose from his seat and knelt down to be closer to the Hellion, "I’d like to see it.”

The Hellion doctor nodded, “Absolutely, Great Dragon.”

The Hellion quickly trotted off, with the giant dragon trailing behind him. They traveled down an immense length of halls before coming to a massive steel door. The Hellion pushed a few buttons, and the door slid up, welcoming them inside. It appeared to be a massive laboratory, filled with massive steel and glass canisters, filled with twisted forms of things that were questionable to be considered living creatures. They passed them, heading straight to the canister that was the farthest in the back. Inside, levitating in the mass of green plasma, was a sleek, black Unicorn. His mane and tail were a dark blue. His hooves appeared to glow with a very faint, violet hue. Corrupted Spike smiled,

“He’s amazing. You all did an excellent job making him…” he pressed his hand against the glass, “You look like you could fuck some shit up…” he looked over at the Hellion, “Go and start the stimulation. I want to make sure this little guy wakes up…”

“Yes, God-King of Hell.”

He went over to a long table that was covered buttons of various colors and hues. He pushed a few of the buttons, then pulled the massive lever next to the table. Corrupted Spike’s eyes lit up as electricity flowed through the canister. The body inside twitched a little. His eyelids started to flicker as he struggled to open his eyes.

“Yes, my dark prince…Open your eyes for your king!!!”

As if on command, the Unicorn’s eyes shot open. Like other Hellions, his sclera were black instead, but he bore heterochromatic irises as well. Corrupted Spike smiled with dark delight as the Unicorn’s eyes focused on him,

“Welcome to my Hellish Kingdom, and you new world, Dark Star….”
> Prepare For War!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So…Ubenox spoke to you. Is that what you’re telling me?” Twilight questioned. Sparks nodded quickly,

“Yes, Miss Twilight. And he mentioned something about a ‘dark weapon that now breathes’.”

“Why did he choose to speak to you?” Dash asked. “I mean, we haven’t had a vision from him in like, over 90 years…”

“He didn’t show up in some vision.” Haze replied. “He was actually there.”

Pinkie slammed a hoof down, “That’s impossible! You two would be ‘loco in the coco’ if you saw him with your real eyes.”

“I had Haze close his eyes.” Sparks stated. “I used a ‘Mind’s Eye’ spell to see him.”

The others nodded in understanding, and the meeting room fell into silence for a few moments. Applejack rubbed her chin thoughtfully,

“So…a dark weapon that breathes…that’s the clues that he left us.”

“Hold up,” Dash raised a hoof up, “You mean to tell me that we’re about to follow some clues from somepony who hasn’t spoken to us in almost a century? Why?"

“We still must have faith in him and his advice. He has yet to lead us astray.” Rarity pointed out.

“He hasn’t been leading us for a while, so how could he lead us astray to begin with, Rarity?” Dash debated. “Where has he been since the world turned to shit?”

“It could be worse, Dashie.” Fluttershy uttered out, earning the attention of her lover. “If the world had truly turned to shit…then instead of giving Sparks and Haze that little piece of advice, he would’ve just killed everypony off to restore balance.”

“He may do just that if we don’t take heed to this…” Rarity’s voice was low. “And then, this will all have been for nothing…”

They all looked at one another. Twilight rose to her hooves,

“If he warned us about this weapon, after almost a hundred years of silence, then we must be nearing the end of this fight.” She drummed her hooves onto the massive table, “Rainbow and Patch Work, you two are going to go to the armories and make sure that the armorers are ready to start passing out weapons. Pinkie and Purple Haze, you’re going to go down to the biochemical weaponry wing down at the lab to start loading the chemicals into their respective shells."

Pinkie and Dash nodded, while Patch and Haze jumped up to go start on their tasks.

“Applejack, you and Skye Wave are going to tell the blacksmiths to get ready to pass out armor, and when you get there, please, make sure you’re get the additional pieces for your hind legs.”

“Ah don’t need all that extra garbage on mah flank!”

“Jackie, please, just go get the upgrades!” Pinkie implored. “We don’t have time to sit here and bicker about that!!”

Applejack let out a sigh and nodded, “Yes’m.” she ignored the snickers from Rarity and Skye, while Dash made whip sounds. Twilight rolled her eyes before looking over at Fluttershy and Dee, "You two go to the cave quarters and get the vamponies ready.”

Fluttershy and Dee nodded in understanding, before Twilight turned to look at Rarity,

“You and Bright Spark are going to let the council know to start sending the children, the elderly, and anypony who's not fighting into the fallout shelters.”

“And what are you going to do, darling?”

Twilight’s face hardened. “I’m going to talk to Scarab and Sylphina. It’s time to rally up the troops.” She looked around at all of them, “Does everypony know what they’re doing?”

They all nodded in understanding. Twilight smirked.

“Alright then, let’s do this!!”


~MLP~


Twilight stood beside Scarab and Slyphina on the kingdom’s main balcony, as they over looked the Hive’s court yard. It was filled to the brim with everyone from the hive and the rebellion. Scarab took a couple steps forward,

“The First Fallen has brought something to the attention of my wife and I.” his voice boomed loud and clear, commanding the attention of his subjects. “She feels like it should be shared with all of you, so give her your undivided attention just as we have done so.”

He stepped to the side, allowing Twilight to step up to the balcony’s edge.

“For years, your kind has lived in peace and tranquility, despite the chaos and destruction that continues outside of these walls.” She started. “And then, your King and Queen allowed us into your home. You may have not trusted us, but they did. And thanks to them, my group have all felt the type of peace and comfort that they have not felt in decades. You gave us food, a home, and a chance to rebuild what we had lost. As the First Fallen, I could probably never thank you fully for what you have done for the rebellion, and for allowing us to become a part of your colony.”

There was a stomp of hooves that echoed throughout the courtyard. Twilight let a small smile flash across her lips before stomping her hoof loudly, making them fall into silence once more.

“While we couldn’t thank you enough, we did try to show you our ways. We combined our forces, and fortified your home. We made ourselves stronger and now, it’s time for us to show them what we’re made of.” She looked around at the court yard. “The Hell King and his minions have started to rise up again. They bring with them, a new weapon. Something that could destroy our hard work. Something that could kill our loved ones. Something that could not just take away our home, but end our way of life as we know it. We are in the process of bringing back all forms of life from the verge of extinction, and we shouldn’t let them take that away from us!!”

Another round of stomping began again.

“So we will don our armor! We will pick up our weapons! We will rally up our troops! We will stand against them, bravery etched into our faces, and we will fight them! And for generations to come, they will sing songs of praise for us, as history will tell how to put an end to the Hell King’s reign of terror FOREVER!!!”

The stomping reached new levels of intensity, causing Twilight to pause. Her eyes and horn glowed bright, as she reared up on her hind legs,

“NOW, WE SHALL PREPARE FOR WAR!!!!!”

Everyone reared up, roaring in response to her command. Sparks and Rarity, who had finished their task up rather quickly, watched Twilight’s speech from the crowd. Chills rippled through their spines from the power of her words.

“Wow…she’s…awesome.” Sparks stated slowly, completely at a loss for words. Rarity had a grin on her face,

“Yes…my love has always had a way with words. That mare can make or break a pony.”

Sparks smiled in agreement, then proceeded to join the others in their cheering. Rarity couldn’t help but giggle and stomp her hooves as well. The time would soon come where they would cheer again, and this time, it would be for victory.


~MLP~



“Ah heard about ya lil’ speech earlier!!” Applejack stated. “Good job Twi, fer bringin’ up everyone's spirits.”

“They need to be pumped up.” Twilight replied in a serious tone. “We’re at the war’s boiling point now. None of us have had to deal or even seen Spike in three years, and he has no idea where we are.”

“We already know that, or else he would’ve came straight for the colony.” Dash pointed out.

“Exactly. Which means, when we show our faces, he’s going to make sure we don’t get away from him again.”

“He may even…” Fluttershy gave a tiny gulp, “He may show up to kill us off with his own two hands...”

Twilight looked down at the ground, “He might…”

Rarity stood beside the Unicorn and nuzzled her cheek, “Don’t worry, Twilight. We’re going to do everything we can to get our dragon back.”

Dash flicked Applejack’s side with her tail, “Let's go, AJ. I need to get those leg reinforcements in place. I don’t want to procrastinate and risk messing them up.”

Applejack let out a sigh of discontent, before following the prismatic maned Pegasus to her ‘Awesome Room’, as her friend called it. Pinkie giggled and trotted behind them, disappearing from the room. Fluttershy let out a soft sigh,

“I just don’t understand how they can be so…calm about all this.”

Rarity’s head tilted to the side a little, “What do you mean, darling?

“We’re about to put an end to a war that’s been going on for decades…and we don’t know if it will end because we beat Spike, or he beats us…” she started a slow pace in front of them, “And what if we can't save him? Luna was under the spell of The Corrupted One for years….and this thing is something far more powerful and the Nightmare Energy. We were able to save her from the Nightmare…but once she had decided to let the Corrupted One take over for her…she had to be killed off.”

Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried glances as Fluttershy continued.

“And then, there was when you…when you became the Corrupted One…” the Pegasus’ gaze suddenly hardened a bit, “I have a question for you, Twilight.”

Twilight arched a brow, slightly confused by Fluttershy’s change in demeanor, “What is it??”

“We saw Luna make the choice to become the Corrupted One. She chose to become that...thing, that killed my daughter and Applejack’s sister. So…I can’t help but wonder...if you made that same choice.”

Twilight’s jaw locked as she stared down the Pegasus, whom had lost all traces of her meekness. Rarity let out a nervous cough as she looked back and forth between the two,

“Fluttershy, what happened in the past should stay there.” She looked over at Twilight, “Honey, you don’t have to answer that, you know.”

“I did make the decision…” Twilight answered in a hardened tone. Fluttershy’s irises flashed crimson for a second,

“So just like Luna, you chose to become that monster.”

Twilight’s expression turned into one of regret, “It’s not what you think. When I made my pact, I only wanted to make the kingdom better.”

“You turned Celestia into a helpless filly!!” Fluttershy snarled.

“I didn’t know things were going to spiral out of control like that!”

“You betrayed us!!”

“And I still regret that ever happening!!”

Fluttershy’s irises flickered and stayed crimson. “You murdered Pinkie, Dashie, and I!!”

Rarity stepped in between the two, “Fluttershy, that’s enough!-”

“Are you kidding me right now?!” Fluttershy hissed, fangs now bared for the two of them to see, “Look at you!! She made Spike burn you alive!! She made you look like that!!”

Rarity bit her bottom lip, a few tears pricking at her eyes. Fluttershy gasped, immediately regretting that she let the sentence slip from her mouth. Her irises lost their crimson hue, and wings plastered themselves to her sides. Her ears folded against her head as she looked at Rarity,

“Rarity…I’m…I’m so sorry…”

Rarity sniffed, then gave Fluttershy a sharp glare, “You may think I look like a hideous beast…but that’s okay…I have somepony here who loves me, just the way I am.” She tilted her head upward and headed for the door leading out, “Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m going to the spa. A lovely mare such as myself must look fabulous when she goes to battle.”

With that she left. Fluttershy stared at the door, before turning back to Twilight. The Pegasus shifted under the intensity of Twilight’s glare.

“I made a terrible decision. I wanted to make something for the kingdom. Something that could be truly appreciated, just like Celestia’s Day and Luna’s Night. And when they fought, and the sky turned into those colors…well, that’s where EvenTide came from.” She took a couple steps closer to Fluttershy, “I was upset that Celestia wouldn’t let me prove myself. Let me show her that I could be more than just a pretty face to the Kingdom’s royal lineage. The Corrupted One took advantage of that part of me. I fell into that. So, not only did I fail Celestia, and let my friends down, and not show I could better the kingdom, I helped in the near destruction of the planet, because I was too afraid to sacrifice my own life, and let the Corrupted One die while it was still inside of me. I still feel that pain, and that regret, and I don’t need you to make me feel shittier, than I already do…”

She made her way past the Pegasus, turning to go to the spa so that she could comfort and be with her lover. Fluttershy sighed softly to herself…she didn’t know what had come over her, but she’d have to do something to make things right…”	


~MLP~


Corrupted Spike looked down at his precious new experiment. Beside the dragon, stood Eternal, Trixie, and Sombra. The three ponies all looked at the new Unicorn with distrust in their eyes,

“If I may ask this, Great Dragon…who is this pony??” Sombra questioned.

The dragon let out a throaty chuckle, “This is Dark Star…he’s the little experiment I’ve been working on for the past 16 years…”

“I feel like I have seen his face before…” Eternal said softly.

“That is because you have…” Corrupted Spike stated. His smile got even more dastardly as he stared down at Dark Star, “But worry not...everything will be revealed in due time. But I must point out, some of his strengths come from you.” He pointed at the trio of ponies. They looked at one another before bowing to him,

“It is an honor that you find our genes to be worthy enough to go into your newest creation.” Sombra stated politely.

“I know…I would be honored too.” Corrupted Spike replied, his ego seeping from between his teeth.” He looked back down at Dark Star, who looked up at him with an unreadable expression. The dragon arched a scaly brow, but ignored the pony’s expression,

“Dark Star…I have brought you into this world with but one purpose; To serve me. You will be my great claw upon this world, doing my bidding without a moment’s hesitation.”

Dark Star gave an evil sneer, “But of course, Hell Father. I will gladly carry out your darkest desires. ” He replied, the base in his voice sounding like the deep rumble of a far off volcano.

A slight shiver jolted through Trixie. She looked between the two ponies standing beside her. They both gave her a look, each of them confirming that they could feel something strange coming off of this stallion. Corrupted Spike nodded in content,

“You’re going to make a fine addition to my collection of fighters…”

Dark Star’s horn sparked with a bit of black magic, “I sense magic that is not of our own.”

Before Corrupted Spike could respond to his statement, an armored Hellion rushed into the room. His body appeared to be more beaten and twisted than it should, as his armor looked like it had taken some hits as well. He stopped before the group, gasping for air as he reached for something in one of his saddle pack pockets,

“Mighty God-King…forgive me for coming…in here unannounced.” The Hellion started, still struggling to breathe. “But we were ambushed…by the Fallen.”

Corrupted Spike knelt down, a dark sparkle lit his eyes,

“You were attacked by the Fallen? Are you absolutely sure?”

The Hellion nodded, “Yes, your Majesty…Applejack and Fluttershy were with a group of rebels. Their numbers were vast, and we were no match for them…”

The dragon’s brow furrowed, “So you fled for your life like a pathetic coward?”

The Hellion shook his head, “They sent me here. Teleported me to the castle’s main gate.” He pulled out a small crystal, “They told me to give this to you…”

Corrupted Spike snarled, as he snatched the crystal from the creature’s hooves. They knew where this place was? How long had they known? And did that also mean they knew about his newest weapon? He was going to find out.

He snapped his fingers, and the crystal was engulfed in black flames. It spun in his claws before hovering into the air. It then sparked with it’s own lavender hued magic, before dispelling the flames surrounding it. Corrupted Spike grunted at this action. It would seem that Twilight had grown in strength, if even a simple messenger crystal held that much power. It flickered, and a hologram appeared above it. Twilight stared him down, and the Hell King couldn’t help but let a smirk crawl onto his face,

“Wow…Trixie really did do a number on you.” He chuckled, “You look like an experiment gone wrong.”

‘My Gods…she did that to you?’

Twilight smirked, “Yes, but just like the rest of your little minions, she too, failed to stop me and my friends.”

His smile immediately dissipated. “Whatever…what was the point of sending me this crystal? What was the point of attacking my Hellions, when you all have been hiding your worthless hides for three years?”

“Hiding? We were doing no such thing.”

Applejack suddenly appeared beside the Unicorn. She tilted her Stetson up and grinned at him. “Ya see, in order ta be hidin’ that would mean we’re afraid of ya’, an’ we aren’t afraid of ya at all.”

Dash appeared as well, leaning her head on top of Applejack’s hat, “And not only are we not afraid of you, we’re going kick your scaly ass all up and down that kingdom!!”

“YOU WILL HOLD YOUR TONGUE, FOOLISH PEGASUS!!” Eternal bellowed, a trace of Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice still within her. “HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THE MIGHTY GOD-KING OF HELL IN SUCH A MANNER!!”

Fluttershy scooted herself into the camera, a gentle smile was on her face, “Spike…we’re going to get you back. We promise…”

‘I look forward to it!!’

“The Spike as you know him is no more. All that lies behind these eyes, is my rage…”

Pinkie bounded into view, squeezing up to Applejack and resting her head underneath the farmer’s chin,

“Then we’re going to put a smile on that face, and make the old Spike come back to us.”

‘My friends…’

Rarity trotted into view, standing beside Twilight like a proud lover, “Corrupted One, it would be wise for you to simply surrender, and return Spike back to us immediately.”

“We know where the castle is, Spike.” Twilight stated in a dangerous tone. “You’re not going to win this. We’re going to destroy your kingdom of fire and evil…”

‘Please do…’

“We’re going to put an end to your tyranny,”

‘They’re going to beat you, Corrupted One.’

“And we’re going to be reunited with my brother.”

‘Twilight!!’

Her gaze softened, and a small smile appeared on her lips,

“Spike…Brother…I know you’re in there, and I just want you to know, that I love you…very much…”

“I LOVE YOU TOO, TWILIGHT!!”

Everypony gasped, as the room fell into silence. Before any of the Fallen could say anything, Corrupted Spike smashed the crystal into dust. He let out a roar, one that shook the very foundations of his castle. He snarled and raged on, and everypony in the room vanished so that they wouldn’t get caught in his rage. He continued to roar and slam his fists into the walls, shouting out his anger, pounding away his frustration. How dare the insolent little spirit that was still lodged into this body spoke out! He hadn’t actually spoken in over 60 years, so where did this sudden burst of willpower come from? He took a couple deep breaths, then snapped his fingers, summoning the mirror that allowed him to see Spike. The reflection gave him a snarky grin. Corrupted Spike’s rage started to rumble through him again. He pointed at the mirror,

“You don’t speak. Don’t you ever open your mouth again, or I’m going make you watch a horde of Hellions rape and torture your family!!!”

Spike’s smile immediately disappeared. He bared his fangs, but said nothing.

“You think this is over, don’t you? You really think the Fallen are going to be able to kill me? This world belongs to me, and I will not let some pathetic rebellion take control of it!! I’m going to destroy them, and after that, I’m going to destroy your very soul!!!”

He snapped his fingers again, making the mirror vanish. He teleported himself to his balcony. He let out another fierce roar, one that summoned all of his minions into the courtyard. He slammed his fist on the railing, earning the attention of his followers,

“My legion of Hell….the Fallen have done us a great favor!!! They have managed to find the location of the castle, and they will be bringing the battle to us!! Soon, you shall all have countless bodies to feed upon!!”

The creatures of brimfire and darkness cheered on.

“They think they stand a chance against us, but we know that we greatly outnumber them, and the strength I can give you is limitless!! So be ready, for you all will bring about an end to the Fallen, and the Kingdom of Hell will rule for all of eternity!!!”

They cheered on even louder. He smiled and roared out his final command;

“GO FORTH, AND DESTROY THEM!!!!”
> Reunion Among The Battlefield
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sparks was amazed at how much the world had changed in the three years she stayed near the hive. She thought it couldn’t get any worse, but somehow, it had. The bones of ponies and other strange species lay strewn upon the layers of ash that covered the ground. The air reeked of burning, decayed things and almost seemed void of breathable oxygen. Trees had fossilized, caked in dust and debri that made them look like bony fingers reaching out of the ground. A chill ran through her spine at the scene she was taking in. She didn’t know whether to be glad at the small sign of her body showing life, or terrified. The only sounds hitting her ears, was the sound of the mini Gatling guns tapping against her armor. She looked behind her. 4000 members of the rebellion slowly walked behind her. This was her brigade of fighters, her warriors that would follow her commands without hesitation. She had been training to be a leader since they joined the hive, but she never thought that her time to step up would come so quickly. She took a few calming breaths, then looked up at the darkened sky. Dash was supposed to be stopping by to check on her and the rest of the Apprentices, even though all of the Fallen and the Apprentices were wearing communication headsets. She figured that Dash just wanted to have some face-to-face time with each of them. As if on cue, the Pegasus landed beside her. She looked over at Sparks,

“How are you feeling, kid?”

“I’m okay, I guess. I just wish I had something to distract me right now.”

Dash looked away with a thoughtful look on her face, “You know, when I was just a little filly, I had one dream; to be a Wonderbolt. So I raced, and flew, and raced some more. I didn’t really care if I made friends or not. I just figured I’d make plenty of them when I became a Wonderbolt.” She smiled, “But then, ‘Shy came along.”

“With all due respect, she seems a bit…’shy’. No pun intended. I’m sure you didn’t see yourself being friends with her.”

The Wonderbolt let out a raspy chuckle, “Yeah…I know. I honestly didn’t. She was getting picked on by a couple of our classmates. I stood up to them, and in my race to defend her, I earned my cutie mark.”

Sparks grinned, “That’s pretty cool, Miss Rainbow Dash.” She grinned even harder, “Master Rarity told me you’re the reason that The Fallen got their cutie marks as well.”

Dash’s smile shrunk a little, “I guess…I mean, that’s what Egghead said, but I can’t take all the credit. Those girls are amazing all on their own, and I don’t think that I’m the reason that they’re that way.”

“Well…whether you’re the reason or not, you’re still absolutely awesome, Miss Rainbow Dash.”

Her smile returned full force, “Well thank you, Sparks. You’re pretty cool yourself.” She unfurled her wings, “I’m gonna go check on the others. Make sure they’re doing alright.” She flapped her wings, and hovered beside her for a moment, “Catch you later, kid!!”

There was a small wave of power that surged from her as she shot into the sky. Sparks’ armor rattled against her body, along with the soldiers behind her. She was glad she’d done crazy sparring in this armor.


-Flashback-

“This is the Multi-Kill Mesh Armor, also known as, the MK-MA!” Dash declared. “It’s a breathable form fitting mesh suit that allows interlocking titanium-alloy plates to be attached to it. Each place is also coated with pressurized diamond dust.”

“Perfectly good diamonds WASTED!!” Rarity screamed out. Dash rolled her eyes and carried on,

“Anyway, this shit is impenetrable to anything Spike throws at us.” She scratched the back of her head, “At least…it should be able to…”

“It should?” Twilight repeated. “What if it doesn’t?”

“Then we’ll all probably die.”

“Then what in tarnation is the point ta us wearin’ it?” Applejack questioned angrily.

“Because it’s better than running into a fight with no protection at all.” Dash replied bluntly. “And you seem to forget that I’m the best mechanic in the whole damn militia. On top of that, I have a great team of fellow mechanics that help me out. So, how about you have a little faith in me, shut up, and let me finish?”

Applejack snorted angrily, but said nothing. Dash cleared her throat and continued.

“Now, there’s two things that you have to know about the suit. First off, despite it’s sleek look, it’s actually heavy as fuck. The reason being, is because the amount of pressurized diamond dust that coats the armor. We put a lot on so that there won’t be any weak spots on it.”

“Well how much does it weigh?” Fluttershy asked.

“300 pounds.”

Pinkie was the only one in the group to not cringe. Twilight was the first to speak up,

“Rainbow…that’s a lot of weight, considering the fact it doesn’t even have any weapons mounted to it yet.”

Applejack sized up the suit, “That’s a good amount of weight, even fer me.”

“Annnnd that’s where I come in!!” Pinkie stated excitedly, as she bounced over to the suit. She grabbed the helmet and brought it over to them. She flipped it, so that the others could see the inside of it.

“See that teeny little pin, right there?” Pinkie asked as she pointed at it. “It’s connected to a series of signaling interface inside the helmet. This needle syncs up with your brain and shoots little pulses into it, making it send signals to the adrenal glands in our kidneys, and forcing them to pour adrenaline into the body at a slow but steady flow. It’s enough to let us carry more than it’s average amount of weight, without burning them out before they even get into a fight. The only thing to not like about this thing, is that when you put it on, this needles extends at an incredibly fast rate, lodging itself into your skull!!”

Dee got a pained look on her face, “With all due respect, Miss Pinkie, that sounds very painful, and somepony would feel that every time they put one of the helmets on. And what happens if it misfires and shoots in too far?"

Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Maybe I shouldn’t have worded it like that.” She looked at at the helmet in her hooves, “But don't worry, Dashie and I calibrated the needle until, and tested it out on myself first before mass producing them. The perfect calibration has been set, and perfected. Besides, I didn’t want anypony dying because of an overlooked mistake on my part.” 

Applejack took a step forward, “An’ yer always on me about takin’ risks! Dammit Pinkie, how could ya go about an' do somethin' like that that an’ not tell me?!”

Pinkie gave her wife an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, Jackie. I should’ve told you what I was doing…” she walked over and put the helmet back in it’s respective spot. “At least…I did my job, and the helmet works perfectly. The only thing you’ll feel when putting the helmet on, is a small prick to the forehead.”

Patch walked up to it to get a closer look at it, “Ah think Master Rainbow Dash an’ Miss Pinkie Pie did a fine job with this armor. Ah’d be mighty proud tah be wearin’ one in battle.”

Dash grinned and patted his back, “You keep this up and you might get the first of it’s future upgrades!!”

'With all due respect…I hope we don’t need upgrades.' Skye spoke out. They all focused on her,

“What makes you say that?” Fluttershy questioned.

'Because hopefully…this will be the last war we’ll ever have to fight in…'

-End Flashback-


“Brigadier General Spark.”

Sparks’ ears perked up as she heard her name being called out. She turned to see an Earth Pony Commander walking beside her.

“Yes? What is it?”

“We’re approaching out first destination, Ma’am. What would you have us do?”

“Deploy Battalions 10-16 here. They’ll become the center flank. I want the 5th Aerial Squadron up ahead, and have it split up into two parts. They’ll need to keep an eye out for Brigadier General Work and Brigadier General Moon’s brigades.”

“Yes ma’am.” The commander turned away and went to pass on the word. Sparks’ earpiece crackled as Fluttershy spoke to her,

“Sparks…you and I are going to go first. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Miss Fluttershy.”

Sparks tilted her head. All of her soldiers that weren’t staying in the area followed her. She continued forward, and looked to her left. She could make out a few silhouettes of ponies flying. For about half an hour, there was nothing. No sounds of war. Nothing but the sounds of their armor clanking and the beating of wings in the air. And then;

There was an explosion of sounds.

“Pinks, you got hordes on your left!!” Rainbow's warning reached all of their head sets.

Sparks flinched as gunfire rang out to her left. She felt a prick right above her horn, and her eyes went wide. She suddenly felt wave after wave of electricity coursing through her veins. She heard the screech of monsters on her right. A Hellion leapt in front of her and fired a pistol with a long barrel. Rounds ricocheted off of her armor as she turned and aimed her Gatling guns on the enemy. She fired rounds that pierced it’s already rotting flesh with ease. She spun around and faced her brigade group, 

“BREAK INTO BATTALIONS, AND TAKE OUT THE ENEMY!!!”

The entire brigade group let out a war cry, as they split into massive groups and let loose on the Hellions. She charged into the fray, signal after signal blared into her head piece.

“Dash, there’s a horde of flying Hellions above your squadron!!”

“Ah’ve got hordes on mah flank an’ on mah right!!”

“Fluttershy, I need back up immediately!!!”

Sparks charged on, her mini Gatling guns automatically aiming in on Hellions that came within firing range. The sound of rounds bouncing off of her armor echoed in her ears. A Hellion landed in her field of view. She tackled it to the ground and stomped it’s skull in, before continuing on with her gallop. Voices continued screaming into her earpiece.

“Duuuuuude, there’s so many of these things!!”

“Yer tellin’ me! These vermin are all over the place!”

“MASTER FLUTTERSHY, LOOK OUT!!!”

In the distance, a dark blue mushroom cloud rose from the ground. Sparks skidded to a halt and looked at it. She tapped the button to activate her mouthpiece,

“Miss Fluttershy?!”

There was no reply in the earpiece.

“Somepony, get me a location for her, NOW!!” Twilight commanded. A mare answered her through the headpiece,

“It looks like she’s about 300 yards away from me, First Fallen!!”

“What is your location point, Commander?!”

“93 degrees latitude, and 124 degrees longitude, First Fallen!!”

“I want Bright Spark and Rarity over there, stat!!”

“I’m already heading there, darling!!”

“Yes, Miss Twilight!!”

Sparks turned and galloped in the direction of the cloud as quickly as she could. She saw a rainbow shoot across the blackened sky over her head and heading towards the cloud. She focused magic in to her horn, doing quick teleportation jumps in between her sprints. She came up to the scene of Fluttershy standing tall, soaked in blood and peppered with the ashes of the world. Her fangs were bared and her eyes were tinged crimson. Dee landed beside her mentor, splattered with the lifeblood of her fallen comrades and enemies. Across from them, stood Eternal Slumber. Her ebony eyes were shimmering from the various explosions across the battlefield. She pulled her lips back into a crooked smile, fangs spotted with blood,

“You barely managed to dodge that. No matter, I managed to take out some of your pathetic little pawns. It looks like we’ll be adding more soldiers to serve our mighty God-King.”

Fluttershy snorted, a light blood mist spouting from her nostrils. She took a couple slow steps towards the Alicorn. Eternal raised a brow, wondering what the Pegasus-now-turned-vampony was doing. Before she could blink, Fluttershy was but an inch away from her face. She let out something between a hiss and a shriek. Eternal’s ears folded against her head to block out the sound. Black blood oozed from her ears and nostrils. She fell to her knees from the sound. Fluttershy raised her forelegs up, before bringing them down on Eternal’s skull. Her head slammed into the ground, and her skull caved in under the pressure. Fluttershy removed her hooves from the skull with a soft, squishing sound, and she landed delicately back on the earth. She turned to Dee and Sparks,

“I’m fine here. Go ahead and-”

Her ear twitched, and her wings snapped open. She rocketed into the sky as a beam of black magic smashed the ground where she was just standing. It rippled through the surface, and caused the ground to become unstable. Sparks leapt to the side to avoid it, but the failing stability of the earth was starting to spread faster than she could avoid it. She felt hooves latch onto her as the ground crumbled under her hooves. She looked up to see Dash had grabbed her.

“Thank you, Miss Rainbow Dash!”

“No problem!” she landed somewhere where it was safe, and set the Unicorn down. She landed beside her and looked at the source of the attack. Sparks couldn’t help but get unsettled as she saw the shocked look on the old Wonderbolt’s face. 

“No, fucking way!!!” Dash snorted angrily. Fluttershy and Dee landed on each side of them. The butter yellow Vampony also had a look of shock upon her face.

“My my, Eternal. It seems that they’ve gotten stronger. Or perhaps, you’ve gotten weaker.” A deep, throaty voice teased. 

Even though Eternal’s skull was repairing itself, the part of her brain that controlled speech had yet to heal. She sputtered and made strange moans and groans in a futile attempt to speak. She slowly rose to her hooves and looked over at the pony speaking to her. Fluttershy arched a brow,

“Well, if it isn’t the Old Tyrant of the Crystal Empire…”

Dash stomped her hooves excitedly, “Oh my Gods, I can’t wait to put your ass back into the dirt! I’m surprised Spike decided to bring you back from the dead in the first place!!”

Sombra smiled, his fangs bared as well, “Because unlike Trixie and Eternal Slumber, I have ALWAYS been a master of the dark arts. That, and I’ve always been evil. Neither one of these silly mares can match me hoof to hoof when it comes to my vileness.”

“I head hurts...Fast than use to be…” Eternal slowly stated. Speech had returned to her mind, but she wasn’t able to put them into completely comprehensible sentences yet. Sombra shook his head and rose a hoof,

“Please, shut up. I’ll take care of them myself.”

His horn started to ooze with violet and lime green magic, and strands of violet magic lined his eyes. His fangs appeared to grow as his smile seemed to turn more dastardly with each passing second. The ground started to tremble beneath their hooves,

“You’re about to learn a lesson, my little fillies!” he cackled out. “You’re going to learn just who the most powerful fighter is!!”

Sparks’ horn whined with powerful magic, begging to be unleashed on this new (to her, at least) enemy that stood before them,

“And you’re going to learn that there’s always somepony that’s going to be stronger than you!! And that’s-”

“MEEEE!!!!!!”

The southern war cry that followed after was surprising to say that least. The group had a collective shocked look on it’s face, before a certain, country loving farm pony slammed into the ground in front of him. She stared into his vile eyes, without a trace of fear in her own.

“IT’S BUCKIN’ SEASON!!”

She spun around and quickly coiled her hind legs up like muscular springs. He fired off a bolt of black magic as quickly as he could. Applejack was undeterred though, and let loose those bucking legs that had made her famous all those years ago. Her hooves hit his chin with a sickening *THWACK!!*, and Dash couldn’t help but stomp her hooves with an energy that matched that of a filly cheerleader.

“Alright, Applejack!!”

Applejack leapt forward, as Sombra stumbled a bit. He shook his head, while Eternal belted out a laugh.

“I’m so glad I healed quickly enough for my mind to process that, because that was FANTASTIC!!” the Alicorn shouted between laughs. Sombra looked up at Applejack with bubbling hate, as he cracked his jaw back into place.

“That was…painful.” The smoky grey Unicorn admitted. He cracked his neck and stared at her, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take my turn.”

His horn instantly flared up again, and he fired off at the group. He blasted Dash, making her slam into her wife.

“Master Fluttershy!! Miss Rainbow Dash!!” Dee bolted over to them. She nuzzled their faces. Dash patted her cheek,

“I’m fine, kid. Just…just give us a sec. Go check on the others…”

Dee jumped up and searched for Sparks and Applejack. The young Unicorn had shielded Applejack with a magic spell.

“Are you okay, Miss Applejack?”

“Ah’m fine.” The Earth Pony replied. “Looks like ya returned the favor of the day we saved yer hide.”

Sparks smiled, “It looks like I did…”

Their friendly conversation was cut short by another blast of hot magic shooting Sparks on the side of her armor. It jarred her bones, and she rattled from the shock of it. Sombra stomped the ground, and dark violet crystals shot out of the earth. One of the crystal pillars managed to rip off one of the plates of Dash’s armor.

“Dammit, dude! You fucked up my armor!!”

Eternal spread her wings, “I think I see the white one in the distance. You said you could handle them, correct?”

“I’ll do a better job than you ever could.”

Eternal rolled her eyes and took to the skies. Sombra’s smile had disappeared,

“Your souls will soon belong to our God-King…”

He stomped a hoof again. Rows upon rows of dark crystals shot out of the dirt. The Pegasus and the two Vamponies swiftly dodged the spires of crystals that were aimed at them, while Applejack and Sparks danced around to avoid the ones aimed for them.

“STOP MOVING AND ACCEPT YOUR FATE!!” Sombra screamed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Sombra. But, we can’t do that.”

He couldn’t help but flinch as he felt something breathing on the back of his neck. He turned to see Fluttershy was hovering right above him. Magic whirled through his horn, but not quickly enough to avoid being bitten by Fluttershy. She latched down onto his neck, and all movement from him stopped. The others stopped moving and looked on at the scene.

“Why…why did we all stop?” Sparks asked the Earth Pony beside her. Applejack took her hat off,

“Welp…ain’t nothin’ we can do tah stop her now…”

Dee and Dash landed beside her. Dash took a couple steps forward before looking at Dee,

“Are you sure nothing bad is gonna come from this?”

Dee nodded, “Yes, Miss Rainbow Dash. Master Fluttershy has been training very hard to keep her powers in check. This situation will turn out no different than her training.

“WHY CAN’T I MOVE?!?!?!” Sombra shouted in confusion. Dee smirked at him,

“What you’re experiencing right now is known as the 'Shock Bite’. The toxins being secreted from her fangs now will course through your body, paralyzing you and melting your organs at a painfully slow pace. Eventually, your body won’t be able to handle it, and will go into shock.”

“Of course, since yer dead an’ all, that just means that yer gonna be sufferin’ a lot longer than yer supposed ta.” Applejack added. “So…have fun with that!!”

Fluttershy pulled her fangs out, the hook of them pulling a bit of his flesh off. She rubbed her lips with her foreleg and smirked at him,

“Your blood tasted delicious. Now...you can think about my sweet little compliment before you die…again.”

She flitted back over to her friends, leaving him to lock his legs out and topple onto his side. They all high-hoofed each other as Rarity called into their headpieces,

“Does anypony have a status update?”

Applejack pushed her mouthpiece button, “Ah got Dash, ‘Shy, Dee, an’ Sparks right by me. We took care of Sombra.”

“Spike brought back Sombra too?” Rarity questioned.

“Not only that, he brought back my grandmother as well!!” Locust stated in a strained tone. “She’s trying to turn my Changelings against us!!”

All of their head pieces crackled before Pinkie shrieked into them.

“I’m fighting Trixie now, and I need back up!!!”

There was yet another mushroom cloud made of magic not too far off in the distance. Applejack didn’t respond, but simply broke out into a fierce gallop towards the cloud, in hopes of that being where Pinkie was. Dash, Dee, and Fluttershy took to the sky, and headed in that direction. Spark's horn flashed brightly as she sprinted/teleported behind them. It wasn’t long before they had joined Pinkie and Rarity, who were facing off against Trixie and Eternal, who had joined the Unicorn in battle. Patchwork galloped up to the group,

“Ah came as quickly as Ah could!!” he looked over at Trixie and Eternal, “Ah’m assumin’ we’re gonna take ‘em out.”

Rarity took a couple steps forward, “We have to finish them off for good this time…”

Trixie snorted and let a snarky grin plaster itself to her face, “You really think you fools are going to be able to defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie?!”

“They’ve gotten a lot more powerful than when we fought them three years ago….” Eternal warned in a whisper. “The yellow one managed to actually deal a heavy blow on me…”

Trixie arched a brow, “Oh really?” she looked back her smile darkened, “Very well then…it seems like Trixie won’t be able to play around like Trixie did the last time we got to.” She licked her lips, “Even so, Trixie had so much fun getting 'in touch' with Rainbow Dash like Trixie did…”

Dash cringed, while Fluttershy let out a fierce snarl. Rarity and Patch got in front of them, 

“Yer gonna have ta deal with Miss Rarity an’ mahself, so just back off!!” Patch demanded.

“We’ll do whatever we please, cyborg.” Eternal stated.

Sparks stepped forward and shook her head, “Oh no you won’t. This has gone on far enough.”

Her eyes started to glow as pawed at the ground. Trixie, smirked and stepped forward to face her challenger. Her eyes glowed white, and her horn got a baby blue hue to it. The magic formed to make it longer, then solidified.

“I don’t think I caught your name the last time we fought. What was it again?”

“I am Bright Spark, Apprentice and one of the Head Commanders of the Rebellion.”

“Good, good…It’s nice to know the name of the mare I’m about to kill.” Her horn crackled to life, “And no, I won’t be giving you any last words…”

Sparks let a small, calm smile work it’s way onto her face, “That's fine...I won’t be needing them anyway.”

Trixie’s smile vanished at the statement, and she charged. Sparks barely dodged it, as she felt Trixie's horn tear off the Gatling gun, and rip some of the armor’s plates with it. Before she could detach the other shoulder plated machine gun, the Alicorn was towering over her, horn lit ablaze with magic. Her eyes lit up with terror in them. Just as Eternal was about to fire off the magic, Pinkie head butted her. She rolled and tumbled in the dirt. Trixie turned and fired off some magic, searing the side of Pinkie’s face, and exposing the muscle. 

“Pinkamena!!!” Applejack shouted, as she immediately dashed to her side. Steam rose off from the wound.

“I’ll be fine…” Pinkie stated, her teeth clacking loudly now that they were exposed to the open air. “Just…we need to split up. We don’t all need to be here.”

“No way, we’re not leaving! You’re hurt!” Applejack shouted.

“Pinks is right, AJ.” Dash agreed. “There’s too many of us here, and we’ve still got hordes left and right.”

“Well, I’m staying here.” Rarity stated. “I’m not going to leave my Apprentice. Dash, if it’s okay with you, I think that Patch should stay here as well. We’re going to need all the Unicorn magic we can get.”

Dash nodded, “You heard the lady, Patch.” She looked over at Dee, Fluttershy, and Applejack, “Let’s get out of here. They’ve got this.”

Fluttershy and Dee nodded, shooting off in different directions to help clear out some of the Hellion hordes. Applejack looked back at her wife, before reluctantly galloping off away from the. Patch was already firing his gatling guns and magic at Trixie. She teleported as quickly as she could around the battlefield, but Patch still managed to put a few rounds into her body.

“That’s not fair! You’re not supposed to have your little friends jump into the middle of our fight!!”

Sparks snorted angrily, “You’re one to talk!!” She charged at Trixie, only to feel a hoof crack into the side of her face. In her blurred vision, she saw Eternal towering over her again. She smiled and leaned down a bit,

“I never said that I played fair.”

Sparks cried out as Eternal jammed her horn into her shoulder. She ripped it out, taking some of the Unicorn’s flesh with her, and causing her scream to reach a new pitch. Eternal let out a cackle, but it was quickly cut short as her head was caught in a beam of burning, light blue magic. She flailed in pain and confusion, and was tackled by Rarity, who had also managed to spear her in her side. The white mare looked down at her Apprentice with worry etched onto her face,

“Sparks, are you okay, darling?”

Sparks was in complete shock. She could actually feel her pain. Her body was still was trying to figure out what had happened to it, as the throbbing in her shoulders started to course down through her foreleg.

“It hurts…” Sparks let out a tiny giggle, “I…I can feel it.”

Rarity tilted her head in confusion as Pinkie bounded up to them,

“Lemme see that wound.” Pinkie ordered, as she reached into her thigh pouch and pulled out a tiny vial with light blue liquid in it. The Earth Pony popped the top and let a few drops fall into the gash. It hissed and fizzled angrily. Sparks started to giggle maniacally as she felt the pain in her shoulder get worse, then start to subside.

“I can…feel…that….”

Rarity caressed her cheek, “Darling…are you alright?”

The turquoise Unicorn sprang to her hooves, a new pep in her step, 

“I CAN FEEL THAT!!!”

Bits of gravel started to tremble, as the grin on Sparks’ face stretched to proportions that would even put Pinkie’s smile to shame. She let out a burst of giggles, shutting her eyes and clacking her hooves together.

“I’M…ALIVE!!!!!”

When she opened her eyes, lavender magic poured from her right eye. Her left eye glowed with a strange orangish brown hue. Rarity and Pinkie backed away from her.

“Bright Spark…” Rarity uttered out, in hopes of getting some response from the younger mare, though none came. Sparks teleported herself in front of Eternal, causing a pulse of magic to burn the air around where she once stood. Eternal already had no eyelids to open or close, but that didn’t stop her grotesque face from forming a look of surprise. Sparks grinned at her,

“Thank you, for making me feel so alive…”

With that, she fired off a powerful burst of magic. It engulfed the Alicorn, causing her to shriek out in agonizing pain. All of the ponies around them looked on in shock at the ferocity of the mare. Eternal fell to the ground, and Sparks was quickly on top of her, stomping into her midsection until she ground the bones and organs into mush matter and dust. Eternal’s screams turned into gurgled whimpers. Rarity and Pinkie didn’t know what to do. True, Eternal was the enemy, but this…this almost seemed too much. Before the two Fallen could do anything, Trixie had intervened. She tackled Sparks into the dirt, and began to pound away at her face. Sparks didn’t cry out however, but simply giggled as her head was snapped to the left and right. Rarity started to leap forward, but Pinkie outstretched a foreleg in front of her,

“Don’t…” Pinkie gently ordered. “I’ve seen this in my studies with Twilight…she’s having a complete sensory overload from the fact that she is now able to feel pain.”

Rarity looked over at her, “But shouldn’t we intervene?”

“Under normal circumstances, yes. But…this is not one of those cases. Sparks seems to have a raw reserve of magic that has now been unleashed. Remember when Twilight told us how she got her cutie mark, and all of that stuff happened? Well, it looks like the same thing is happening here. She probably can’t control her magic, and we don’t wanna be near her when something happens.” Her body suddenly started to convulse and her tail twitched violently. She immediately started backing up, 

“We need to get further back than this…”

Rarity had been friends with the mare long enough to understand to listen to Pinkie. Patch saw the convulsions from where he was standing, and having heard stories about the Pinkie Sense, he knew to get as far back as he could.

“I…can…feel…each…punch!!!” Sparks cackled out between the blows, angering Trixie even more.

“If you can feel them, why do you keep laughing at the Great and Powerful Trixie?!?!”

Sparks didn’t answer her. Instead, she upper hoofed the mare, sending her into the air and making her land on her back. Sparks rose to her hooves, a smile still on her face. She smacked the side of her head. Hard. The helmet shattered into pieces.

“I thought Dash said that the armor is supposed to be impenetrable!” Rarity stated in shock.

“This is what I was talking about…” Pinkie replied. “She’s too strong for us to reach out to…”

Sparks’ horn glowed, and she shed the armor off as well. She looked at Trixie,

“Now…there’s nothing protecting me. Nothing that’s stopping you from hurting me.”

Trixie sat up and rubbed her head. She looked up to see Sparks slowing trotting towards her. She scooted back a little, instincts deep within her warning her about the threat in front of her.

“Nothing is in between us. So come on, oh Great and Powerful Trixie.” Her smile reached to her ears, 

“MAKE.ME.FEEL.ALIVE.”

Trixie cried out as Sparks gripped her by her shoulders, “COME ON, TRIXIE!!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! YOU TOO AFRAID TO FIGHT ME ALL OF THE SUDDEN?! LOOKS LIKE I’LL HAVE TO BRING THE 'GREAT AND POWERFUL' OUT OF YOU MYSELF!!!!”

Sparks proceeded to rapidly punch Trixie in the face. She was landing punches faster than the evil in Trixie’s body could heal them. Pinkie, Rarity, and Patch only looked on in horror, as they watched Sparks beat her into unconsciousness. Rarity glanced over at Eternal’s beaten form. She was still sprawled out and on her side. Her midsection was almost flat, ground into practically nothing thanks to Sparks’ hooves. She looked back up at Sparks,

“This is not how I’m going to allow my Apprentice to act.”

She broke into a quick gallop before Pinkie or Patch could stop her. She grabbed Sparks’ shoulder,

“That’s enough, Bright Spark!! We're here to defeat them, not torture them!!”

Sparks turned to look at her mentor, eyes burning angrily with wisps of magic in them, and her lips pulled back to expose teeth in a twisted, yet angry grin. Rarity was taken aback. She had never seen her like this. For a moment...

She was afraid of the younger Unicorn. 

Sparks suddenly blinked a few times, and her angry expression turned to one of confusion,

“M-master Rarity?” she looked down at Trixie, who had actually passed out from the pain that had been inflicted on her. She gasped and let go of her, letting her collapse to the ground. She backed up and looked around at Pinkie, Patch, and the destroyed Eternal.

“Did…did I do this??”

Rarity had a somber look on her face, and slowly nodded her head, “I’m afraid so dear…”

Sparks was about to ask what happened, until they saw a violet and crimson streak race across the sky. It slammed into the ground, the dust on the horizon kicking up in a large cloud. Power rippled through the air in waves that managed to reach even Sparks and the others. For a few moments, the world was utterly silent. There was static in the head pieces for a few seconds.

“I want the other Mane Six here immediately.” Twilight ordered in an eerily calm voice. "And Bright Spark as well." Pinkie tapped her mouthpiece button,

“Okay, Twilight, but…where exactly is ‘here’?”

There was a burst of lavender magic that shot into the sky for them to see. It exploded, then fizzled into nothing.

“Got it. Now quick question; why only Bright Spark? What about the other Apprentices?”

“Since the beginning of the attack, Spike’s army has been divided into more manageable groups. Have the other Apprentices spread out and help the other commanders finish them off.”

“Gotcha…” she disengaged the mouthpiece and looked over at the others,

“You all heard her.” Pinkie waved a hoof at Patch, “Go and uh….kill stuff.”

Patch smirked as his horn lit up, “With pleasure, Miss Pinkie.”

With that, he vanished. Pinkie looked over at Rarity and Sparks,

“So, which one of you is going to teleport me over there?”

Sparks scooted up to the pink pony, “It’d be my honor.”

Her horn sparked with magic, as she teleported herself and Pinkie to where they saw Twilight’s signal. They met up with the others. The trio trotted up to them, now noticing the fact that none of the others were actually looking at them. They were all staring at something, jaws slacked and mouths agape.

“What the?...What are you girls looking at?” Pinkie questioned.

Dash grabbed Pinkie’s chin, and turned her to what they were looking at. She joined them, letting her jaw drop as well. Rarity and Sparks followed their gazes. What they saw made their heart bottom out into their guts. Sparks took a couple steps forward, a horrified expression on her face as the eyes of Dark Star bore into her soul.

“What’s the matter…you’re acting like you’ve seen a ghost…” he stated with a deep, growly voice, before letting out a low laugh. Sparks took a look at his thigh, staring at his cutie mark. She had to know. She had to be sure that it was really him.  Tears started to build in her eyes when she saw what it was.

An explosion of bluish stars with a few rings of light behind them. She shook her head as if to rid of herself of the image, but it was too late. The cutie mark confirmed who he was. It belonged to only one stallion, and she uttered out the word that she knew him as.

“...Dad??”
> The Prince Of Hell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sparks stared at the stallion in utter shock and horror, as his mix-matched eyes bored back into her soul.

“Ah….my daughter…it is….quite nice to see you again.” Dark Star stated. Black magic wisps poured from his mouth like a smoky waterfall. Sparks slightly shook her head,

“Dad…”

He smiled at her, and his hardened expression softened a bit,

“Come…give your ol’ Dad a hug…”

Sparks’ hooves instantly started to carry her towards him. She stopped when she felt something clamp onto her shoulder. She looked over to see Dash holding her. 

“That’s not your dad, Sparky. Not anymore.”

“I’m still her father, Rainbow Dash…just like I was your friend,” Dark Star’s smile disappeared. “Before you and Rarity let me be crushed to death.”

Rarity stepped forward, “You’re the one who jumped in the way, remember? And you did it to save Rainbow and I!! We would’ve never let you die, if we had been given the chance to save you, Star Blast!-”

He stomped a hoof. Fissures broke through the ground and shot towards the group.

“DO NOT CALL ME THAT!!!” he roared, causing the ground to tremble a bit more. “Star Blast died, long ago, saving your pathetic hides!!” he stomped again. Dash and Fluttershy took to the sky while the others dodged a pit that formed itself in the ground.

“I am Dark Star, prized warrior for  my Hell-Father!!!"

A tear slid down Sparks’ cheek, “Dad, please don’t do this!!” she started to gallop towards him. Pinkie tackled her,

“Are you loco in the coco?!" Pinkie shouted. "What are you trying to do?!"

“Let me go!! He needs us!!”

“Bright Spark, he’s not the same anymore!!”

Dark Star chuckled, earning all of their attention,

“You’re damn right about that…”

His horn glowed a strange, violet color, with black electricity sparking around it. He rose onto his hind legs, and the magic atop his horn grew in size. He slammed down at the earth, and the magic made a humming sound in the air, before a massive beam shot across the battelfield. The air grew hot with sizzling magic, and a numbness ran through all of their bodies. A ringing echoed in their ears as the explosion filled the atmosphere. Pinkie was the first to get her senses in order, and when she did, she was horrified.

“…Sparks?”

The other Fallen slowly rose to their hooves, rubbing their heads and letting out groans of mild confusion and pain. When they all heard Pinkie, they focused on her, then followed her gaze. All of their jaws dropped, and Twilight’s normally calm expression was turned into one of horror.

“My gods...”

Sparks was standing tall, massive chunks of her flesh hanging from her skeleton, or missing altogether. Her bones had been replaced with EvenTide Crystals, and her body had pillars of steam and black wisps swirling around her. Her irises had retained their strange colors, while the whites of her eyes had turned pitch black. She stared straight ahead at her father, motionless. Dark Star arched a brow,

“So…you too possess some of Hell-Father's black magic??”

Sparks blinked a few times before she looked over her body, assessing the damage that had been done to her, “WHAT?!” she looked over at Twilight,

“Miss Twilight, what’s going on with me?!”

Twilight lightly shook her head, “I…I don’t know…”

Sparks turned away from her dad and took a couple steps towards them. The exposed parts of her crystal skeleton were clanking with each step, “W-what do you mean you don’t know?!” she snorted angrily. Black mist shot from her nostrils like a dragon, “Everything that has been happening to me, is because you tethered my soul back to my body!”

Dark Star chuckled and looked over at Twilight, “Good job, Twilight. I heard about you using necromancy, but I figured it was just a rumor.”

Twilight shot him a glare, “You stay out of this!!” she looked back at Sparks, her expression softening, “Bright Spark, please calm down. More than likely, this is just another side effect of your body coming back to life.”

“Just another side effect?” Sparks repeated. “I…this can’t be. I’m…scared…”

“You have nothing to be afraid of, my child…”

Sparks’ ears swiveled to the sound of her father talking. She looked at him,

“What did you say?”

He smiled at her, “I said there’s nothing to be afraid of.” He took a couple steps towards her, “That magic is powerful, and if you want…” he outstretched a hoof, “I can help you control it…”

Her eyes glazed over, while his seemed to shine brighter than ever.

“Come with me, Bright Spark. Let your old dad show you just how strong you can be…”

Sparks started to walk towards him, slowly at first.

The others took a couple steps forward, each calling out to her,

“Sparks, don’t go with him!”

“Snap out of it, Sparky!!”

“Bright Spark, stop!!”

A big grin worked it's way onto her face, as Dark Star’s coat and mane stared to turn back to the way it used to be when she was still a little filly. It was a shade of deep blue, while his mane and tail turned fiery orange. His smile seemed friendly and more inviting. More fatherly.

“Dad!!”

She broke out into a gallop. The Fallen were cheering for her, excited that she had finally been reunited with her dad. It seemed that her mentor was the most excited out of all of them. She was coming to give her one of her dramatic hugs right now.

*THWACK!!*

She hit the ground. Hard. Stars swam before her eyes as she sneezed a few times she tried to get rid of the ash that had invaded her nose. She blinked a few times before focusing on the white mare hovering over her. She felt hooves cup her cheeks. She looked up at bright lavender and milky sapphire eyes.

“Ma…Master Rarity?”

“Sparks...honey, I’m sorry I had to tackle you, but I just want you to know that I did it out of love!”

“I…what?”

Rarity helped Sparks to her hooves, “Please….don’t let Dark Star fool you...it was just illusion magic..."

“But…he’s my dad…if anypony can help me, it’d be him.” Tears started to well up in Sparks’ eyes, “I just…I miss him. I miss my dad and my mom…I just want at least one of my parents back at least…”

Rarity’s face screwed into an expression of sorrow and pity. Tears started to fall from her eyes, as she watched Sparks cry like a lonely little filly. She wrapped her forelegs tightly around her quivering form, letting the younger mare cry into her coat. Dark Star let out a loud sigh, 

“Bright Spark, I know that you are much stronger than this.”

Sparks and Rarity looked over at him as he continued.

“I am still your father, and I have never led you astray. You were not meant to be crushed under the might of Hell-Father, but to stand beside him.” He outstretched his hoof towards her, “I will help you control the powerful magic flowing through you. If you join our side, you will not be seen as a zombie…as a monster. You will be known and respected as being one of Hell-Father's elite warriors, one of the powerhouses for his army.”

Rarity let go of Sparks, wiping her cheeks, and glaring at Dark Star,

“Do you really think that that’s the reason she’s crying?!” she screamed. “You’re a damn fool if you think so!! She doesn’t need Dark Star’s false promises of power and glory in exchange for serving that evil dragon! She needs Star Blast, holding her and loving her like a father should!!” she stood in front of Sparks, her glare never leaving Dark Star’s face. “I can’t believe how far you have fallen. You were a great stallion. You fought with a purpose. You fought not for glory, but for the peace and tranquility of all life that remained. You were…a great friend, Star Blast…”

“I already told you not to call me that! That’s not my name anymore!” Dark Star snarled.

Rarity shook her head, “Very well then! Since you are not Star Blast, you are not Sparks’ father. And since you are no longer her father,” she looked over sadly at the turquoise Unicorn, “Then that means both of her parents are gone…”

Sparks’ gaze fell to the ground. Rarity tilted her chin up, looking her in the eyes while still talking to Dark Star, 

“But that does not mean she is unloved! I care about her very much! I will give her the love you can no longer provide her!”

A smile and fresh tears appeared on Sparks’ face at her mentor’s words. She felt a small rush of wind, and looked over to see Dash and Fluttershy landing beside her,

“We care about all of our Apprentices. They were hoof-picked by us, and receive the utmost care.” Fluttershy stated.

Dash smirked, “These kids are following in our hoofsteps, so of course, we have to be excellent examples for them!”

Applejack and Pinkie trotted up to join them,

“Shoot, we done raised a couple of 'em since they were still lil' fillies an’ colts! They may not be our blood, but that don’t mean they ain’t our kin!”

“They’re not just our students, they’re our close confidants as well! We go to them just as much as they come to us! THEY’RE OUR FAMILY!!” Pinkie added.

Twilight slowly stepped in front of the group, giving the black Unicorn one of the fiercest glares Sparks had ever seen,

“These mares behind me are my closest friends and family. The ones that are fighting for what’s right, are my family.” Her iris started to glow a little, “And I will do anything and everything…to protect my family…”

Dark Star belted out a hearty laugh, “I see you have corrupted my daughter’s mind. Okay…I can work with that…” he started to trot towards them, “She’ll just have to endure what I went through to understand just how great Hell-Father is…” he then broke out into a gallop, going fast enough to surprise them,

“I’LL HAVE TO KILL HER!!”

He suddenly vanished into thin air. It was but another moment in time when he reappeared, his horn drilling into Applejack’s side, cracking her armor in the process. The farmer let out a whinny, before she bucked him off. He hit the ground, then poofed into a small explosion of smoke and magic dust remnants.

“Was he a damn doppleganger the whole time?” Applejack questioned, as steam poured from her self-healing wound.

“No…” Twilight answered. “Somewhere in his little teleportation, he summoned that fake.” She quickly began looking around, “He’s around here…I can still feel him.”

Rarity suddenly gasped, “Pinkie, in front of you!”

Pinkie only had a second to blink, before she was tackled by Dark Star. The two tumbled in the dirt, hooves pounding away at each other. Pinkie snarled, spittle flying out of her mouth as she jammed a small dagger into the side of his neck. With ferocity, she gripped onto it, twisted and yanked on it, causing the puncture wound to tear open into a thick, wide gash. He let out a gurgle, before teleporting away from her. He appeared about 10 feet in front of them, blood pouring from his neck,

“You think…this can stop me?...” he coughed, more blood spurting from his wound and mouth. He chuckled,

“This is nothing…”

The wound healed almost instantly. He cracked his neck a few times before chuckling,

“I am the strongest fighter in Hell Father's army…do you really think that little toothpick would be enough to stop me?” he clicked his tongue, “Shame on you for thinking that...”

Rarity teleported towards him, then leapt into the air. She spun, her hind leg cracking into the side of his skull. He staggered to the side, but didn’t fall over. He shook his head,

“Now, Rarity, I don’t apprecia-”

Rarity silenced him by bucking him into the air, then jumping to drill her hoof into his chest. He wheezed out. The older Unicorn tackled him in mid-air, sending them both crashing back into the earth. The dust cleared, and Twilight gasped as she saw Rarity crumple into a pained heap. She galloped over to her, Sparks following right behind her,

“Rarity! Rarity, say something!”

Rarity weakly opened an eye, “I’m…I’m okay. I’ll be okay…”

Twilight and Sparks helped Rarity to her hooves. Twilight and Rarity’s horns suddenly flickered with black electricity,

“He’s right next to us…”

A moment later, Dark Star appeared. His horn was covered in a blade of thick, bubbling violet magic. His eyes were wild with blood lust, as he smiled maliciously down at the trio.

“YOU ALL CAN JOIN ME IN SERVING HELL-FATHER!!!”

He brought his blade of magic down.

Sparks felt something smash against her shoulder.

Sparks slammed into Rarity, causing them to both tumble and roll in the dirt. Stars swam through the two mares’ eyes. Sparks rubbed her eyes, her ears perking up as Rarity let out a horrified scream. The screams of the other mentors soon followed, as Sparks stared in horror at the scene in front of her. 

Twilight was lying on the ground facing them. She was looking at them with her eyes wide open, the pupil was nonexistent in the white of her natural eye. Her flesh on the side of her body had been ripped to shreds by the acidic magic of Dark Star's horn blade. EvenTide Crystals jutted from her wounds, which were pouring with steam and magic as her Element began to heal it’s host. Her prosthetic limb was on the ground not too far away, a broken mass of gears and wires. Rarity pulled the broken mare closer to her, feeling Twilight’s ragged breaths against her face. Hot, salty tears rolled down her cheeks,

“TWILIGHT! LOOK AT ME!!”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up, followed by the others. The laughter of Dark Star started to ring in their ears.

“That’s not going to work. She’s unconscious, in case you can’t tell.” The chuckle rang out some more, “And soon, she’ll be dead.”

“Show your fucking face, Dark Star!!!” Dash screamed out.

There was no response. Only the sounds of faraway screams and  the clashing of weapons. Dash growled and stomped an angry hoof,

“Dammit, I can’t believe he just vanished like that….” She looked back over at Twilight,

“How is she?”

“Her element’s healing powers are slowing down, for some reason…” Rarity replied worriedly as she looked down at Twilight’s fizzling wounds. Pinkie got closer to the couple and sat down. She reached into a satchel on her left hind leg and pulled out an Erlenmeyer flask with dark violet liquid sloshing around in it. She looked over at Sparks,

“Sparks, come here please.”

Sparks trotted over to her, “Yes, Miss Pinkie?”

“I need you to spit into this flask.”

“WHAT?!” Sparks and the others cried out in unison. Pinkie remained deadpanned as she looked up at Sparks,

“I’ve seen your test results from your bi-weekly checkups. Mixed with your blood, this chemical would bring a pony back to life, and let them live forever.”

“But ma’am, that’s gross…and-” Sparks was cut off as Pinkie placed a hoof on her lips. The Earth Pony got a hardened expression on her face,

“This is not a discussion, Bright Spark. Now do it.”

Sparks’ ears went flat. She was never one to disobey the orders of The Fallen, Especially when Pinkie Pie was the one to get serious. But, she didn’t want to place the burden of forced immortality on anypony, much less the ones she called her family. She glanced over at Rarity, who was staring up at her with pleading eyes. She took the flask from Pinkie, and reluctantly spat in it. The chemical inside bubbled, fizzled, and changed to a shade of lime green. Pinkie snatched the flask from her and tilted Twilight’s chin up, so that the Unicorn would be able to drink it. Twilight downed the drink, and her pupil rolled from underneath her eyelid. Twilight focused on Rarity, her pupil flickering from the size of the head of a pin to the size of a dinner plate. The group’s eyes went wide with horror as Twilight started to violently convulse in Rarity’s forelegs. Rarity looked up at Pinkie,

“What’s happening to her?!” she asked in a panic-stricken voice. Pinkie ignored her and cupped Twilight’s face,

“Twili-TWILIGHT! Look at me, okay? You’re going to be fine, but I need you to calm down and let the potion do it’s thing.”

Twilight’s convulsing died down to shudders. Pinkie softly smiled and nodded,

“Atta girl…”

Her ragged breathing began to normalize, and Pinkie let go of her face. Her gaze trailed over to Rarity, a tired smile working it’s way onto her face,

“I’m so glad that you’re okay…”

Happy tears fell from Rarity’s eyes, “Thanks to you I am…”

“W-where’s Bright Spark?”

Sparks leaned forward so that she’d be in Twilight’s field of view, “I’m here, Miss Twilight.”

Twilight feebly reached up and patted her shoulder, “Sorry I had to push you…it was the only way I could make sure you both made it out alive…” she slowly sat up on her own, and looked over at Pinkie, “Was that the immortality potion? How were you able to make it? Bright Spark wouldn’t allow us to.”

“It wasn’t a perfected state of the potion, just a reagent chemical to Sparks’ DNA.” Pinkie started. “Since the only way to make it work as an immortality potion is to use her blood, I used something else so that it wouldn’t make you immortal, it’d just help you heal quicker.” She paused for a moment before sheepishly adding, “Annnnnd maybe add another decade onto your lifespan.”

A mixture of relief and joy crossed Sparks’ features, as she looked over at the pink Earth Pony. Pinkie looked back at her and winked.

Twilight coughed a bit, “So…what did you use?”

Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, “Ummmm, I used-”

All of their earpieces crackled loudly. Patch’s voice was screaming through them,

“We need back up NOW!! They…they got Haze!!”

Applejack and Pinkie jumped to their hooves, and Applejack turned on her mouthpiece, 

“Shoot a magic flare up intah the sky! Pinkie an’ Ah will head towards it!!”

Twilight slowly rose to her hooves, “I’m going with you…”

Applejack placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “Yer body still needs time ta heal. An’ besides, yer missin’ a leg.”

“There’s the signal!” Pinkie shouted, as she pointed up at the sky. She broke into a furious gallop. Applejack soon followed right behind her, and Fluttershy not long after. Twilight looked over at Rarity, Sparks, and Dash,

“They’re going to need your help. Go on without me…”

“We’re not going to leave you here.” Dash replied. “Well, I won’t, at least. Rarity however, will be going.”

Rarity snorted, “You can’t make decisions for me!”

“I’m staying so that I can repair that prosthetic for Egg Head.” She tilted her head towards Sparks, “And Sparky here is going to stay and teleport some spare parts from the base. Since you’re the second strongest Unicorn we have, you have to go and help the others.”

Rarity looked worriedly back and forth between Twilight and Dash. Twilight nuzzled her and smiled softly,

“I’ll be okay, Rarity. You and I both know they’ll take care excellent care of me.” Her smile disappeared, “Now go and help them.”

Rarity sighed in defeat, before placing a gentle kiss on her lover's lips, “Please stay safe.” She looked over at Dash and Sparks, “All of you.” She hugged Dash and gave Sparks a peck on the cheek, “You two keep her safe, okay?”

Sparks and Dash nodded in unison, “Yes ma’am.”

Rarity smiled at them, before galloping off into the direction the others went. Dash looked over at Twilight, 

“Alright, sit down so I can get your leg back on.” She looked over at Sparks, “Levitate EggHead’s prosthetic over here, then summon my tool kit, and my box of spare parts."

"Which one, Miss Rainbow Dash? You have alot of boxes..."

"The one that's in between the second calibrations table and the sawing booth."

Sparks vanished for a few minutes, then returned with a box of parts and a tool kit hovering beside her. She dropped the items next to the mechanic, then magically grabbed Twilight’s battered prosthetic leg. Dash reached into her toolbox and pulled out a mini-welder, a couple screw drivers, and began to work on her leg. Twilight looked over at Sparks,

“Bright Spark, tell me…how are you feeling right now?”

“It feels like something is crawling underneath my skin…” the younger Unicorn replied solemnly. “Something that wants to get out. I’m scared, Miss Twilight.”

“I didn’t know I passed on some of the Corrupted One’s magic to you…” Twilight started. “It seems your body has magnified whatever it did take when I brought you back to life. The fact that your entire skeletal system is now EvenTide Crystals, seems to be a proven fact of that.” She leaned forward, “Your scleras are black like an Elite…yet you’re not being aggressive like them. Maybe…maybe you’re immune to the black magic. You could be-"

“Hold still, Egg Head.” Dash cut Twilight off, as she lined up the limb to her shoulder socket, “I’ve gotta make sure this is going to be the right length before I reattach it.” She placed the hoof on the ground, making sure it was long enough for the lavender mare. After a few minutes, she reached into her tool box and grabbed a tiny plank of wood,

“Alright, I’m going to need you to lie down. Sparky, I’m going to need you to sit on top of her.”

The two Unicorns looked at her in confusion, but obeyed none the less. Dash hovered the wood over Twilight’s lips,

“Put this in your mouth.”

“Why?” Twilight questioned in a worried tone.

“We don’t have any anesthesia, Egg Head…” Dash replied in a regretful tone. “So this next part is going to hurt like a motherfucker, and you’ll end up biting your tongue off if you don’t use this.”

Twilight grimaced for a moment, then reluctantly opened her mouth to let Dash slip it between her teeth. The Pegasus looked up at Sparks,

“Sparky, pin down her other leg, and keep all of your weight on her no matter what. I need her to be still so that I don’t mess this up…”

Sparks nodded, “Yes, Miss Rainbow Dash.” She looked down sympathetically at Twilight, “I’m sorry, Miss Twilight.”

Twilight nodded in understanding as the younger Unicorn got into a comfortable and more stable position. Dash grabbed a laser pen from her tool box and lined the prosthetic back up with her shoulder socket,

“I’m going to reattach your nerves to the brainwave receiving wires, alright?” Dash started. “Like I said, it’s going to hurt like a bitch, but I need you to stay as still as you possibly can okay? I don’t want the nerves to end up attached to the wrong receiving wires.”

Twilight nodded again, then shut her eyes. Dash leaned forward and turned on the laser pen. Sparks cringed, as she watch Twilight’s eyes pop open, and scream as loud as she could with the wood still in her mouth. The younger Unicorn’s ears flattened against her head, as the sound of the small plank cracking under the pressure of Twilight’s bite hit her ears. Twilight started to tremble violently, her resolve to stay still quickly evaporating.

“Hang in there, Egg Head. I’m going as fast as I can.” Dash stated. 

Sparks placed more of her weight onto Twilight. The older mare was starting to buck from the pain.

“Miss Twilight, you’ve got to stop moving! Look at me, please!”

Twilight’s eyes settled on her, wild with pain. She snorted repeatedly as Sparks firmly placed a hoof on her foreleg, and stared down at her with a hardened gaze.

“You have a fight to finish! You’re our leader, and we will follow you to the ends of the world! But we need you to stay alive for us to do that, and you can’t stay alive out here on three legs. So be strong, and let Miss Rainbow Dash finish!!”

Twilight vigorously nodded, tears streaming down her face as the smell of burning flesh and hot metal started to waft into the air around them.

“I’m almost done. Just a little bit longer…” Dash announced.

“You’re doing great, Miss Twilight. You heard her, she’s almost done, so just hold on until then!” Sparks encouraged.

The plank of wood splintered into pieces, and Twilight screamed like nothing else in their world mattered.

“Don’t let her bite down on her tongue!” Dash ordered.

Sparks used her magic to pin Twilight’s other leg to the ground, and moved her foreleg to Twilight’s mouth. Just as she did, Twilight bit down onto her, breaking the skin and causing blood to surface almost instantly. Sparks let out a quick, pained yelp, then looked down at Twilight,

“You’re our voice, Miss Twilight. You won’t be able to speak without a tongue, so I'll make sure you don’t lose that!”

The orange mare hissed in pain, as Twilight gnashed down on her foreleg. She could feel the heat of Dash’s laser pen on her face, and the smell of burning flesh was much stronger now. She glanced up at Dash,

“Miss Rainbow Dash, how much longer?!”

“Just a few more seconds, Sparky….” Dash squinted and leaned closer, “And…DONE!!”

She pulled away from the surgical site, and examined her work. Twilight released Sparks’ foreleg from her mouth, gasping as her body tried to make the pain go away. 

She looked up at Sparks with regretful eyes, "I'm sorry, Bright Spark. You know I'd never want to hurt you.”

Sparks looked down at her foreleg. EvenTide crystals had formed a casing over the bite wounds. 

“I think I’ll be okay…” Sparks stated sadly. Twilight propped herself up with her flesh foreleg, and looked over at Dash,

“Thanks, Rainbow. I don’t know what I’d do without you…”

“You’d be a three legged pony leading an army, kicking ass and taking names. That’s what you’d be doing.” Dash replied, a smirk etched on her face. “Alright, now do some basic leg movements. I want to make sure everything is connected properly.”

Twilight winced as she moved her prosthetic leg. She moved it in conjunction with Dash’s orders, until the Pegasus told her to stop.

“Alright, so it works…” Dash stated. “You’ll be able to stand on it, but not right away. It’ll hurt too much and you may sever the nerves. Let me hit Pinks up and see if she’s got a topical anesthetic on her. I’ll have Sparks get it.” Dash clicked her mouth piece,

“Hey Pinks, do you have any topical anesthetic in your medical kit?”

There was loud crackling, and the sounds of screaming in the background.

“Pinkie? Pinkie, what’s happening?”

There’s was more feedback. Magic exploded into an array of bluish lights and violet fire off in the distance. There was collective group of screams that even the trio could hear without their headsets.

“PINKIE PIE?!?!”

Another crackle went through all of their headsets. Pinkie was sobbing,

“S-s-she’s d-dead!!! She's fucking DEAD!! Dark Star got her!!!"

All three of their eyes went wide,

"Whoa whoa whoa, Pinks, who did he kill?!?!" Dash questioned.

Static. Crackle. Pinkie screamed and cried out at the same time,

"HE FUCKING KILLED RARITY!!!"
> Transcendence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were galloping as fast as their hooves could take them. Sparks’ adrenaline was kicking through her body so fast, that it felt like she was on fire. The tinnitus in her ears nearly drowned out the sounds of war that surrounded her. Her once un-beating heart, now thundered in her chest. Her legs felt like she was running through molasses, and tunnel vision had kicked in long ago. She hadn’t even realized Twilight was galloping beside her until she heard Dash screaming at her from the skies above,

“You’re gonna mess up your leg, Twilight!”

“I DON’T FUCKING CARE!!”

She looked over at Twilight. Despite just having the leg put back on, she was keeping up with Sparks. Blood poured from the socket, coating the prosthetic in a crimson hue. Dash was suddenly flying right above the older mare,

“Well, I’m not going to let you mess up something that I just fixed!”

She picked up Twilight, then shot off towards where the explosion happened. Sparks’ horn blazed to life, as she began of series of short teleportation jumps to the site. A few minutes later, she found herself standing beside Fluttershy, who stared straight ahead with wide, glassy eyes. The Unicorn followed her gaze, her breath catching in her throat, and her heart sinking in her chest.

Dark Star was standing across from them, in front of the rest of the Elites. Eternal stared at him with shock on her face. Trixie looked at him with a tinge of fear in her eyes. Sombra was taking in the whole scene with an amused look on his face. There were other Hellions, and fighters from the rebellion nearby. All fights in the surrounding area stopped and they all froze, waiting for either side to make a move.

“Rarity….”

Sparks’ ear swiveled towards the voice, then looked over. Twilight slowly walked towards her. No one around them moved, but simply looked on as Twilight treaded towards Rarity’s form. The mare’s armor had been shattered to pieces, and her brilliant white coat was now red-washed and tainted.  Her body was badly burned, and a gaping hole in her barrel replaced where most of her organs should’ve been sitting. Steam flowed from the wound in a thick torrent, as the Element tried it's hardest to sustain it’s host. They all knew better though.

The damage was far too great, and she just simply didn’t have enough time to recover...

Twilight sat down beside her, and gently took the mare’s head into her forelegs. Rarity’s chest rose and fell just a fraction, as the mare struggled to hold on. Rarity slowly opened her good eye, and focused on Twilight,

“Darling…”

The lavender Unicorn choked back a sob as Rarity’s scratchy voice hit her ears. The white mare got a tiny smile on her face,

“Don’t cry, my love…you’re far too beautiful to be crying…”

Twilight rubbed a hoof through her lover’s blood soaked mane, but said nothing.

“We knew…when we started this war…things were going to get very dangerous…” Rarity continued. “We knew there…would be a lot of bloodshed, and sweat and tears. We knew that everyday…we were putting our life on the line…” she let out a wet-sounding cough then smiled again, “But what I didn’t know would happen…was that I would end up falling in love…while we were in the middle…of a war. I didn’t know...that I would wake up...and find myself wrapped...tightly in your forelegs…” her voice got even softer, “I didn’t know...that I would end up...falling for you, loving you, and...finding happiness from you…” she strained to lift her neck and head up, gently placing her lips to her lover's in a gesture of affection,

“I love you, Twilight Sparkle…and I always will…”

Twilight started to open her mouth and reply, but a lump formed itself in her throat as she watched the light in Rarity’s eyes start to dull. Rarity let out one last shallow exhale as her life winked out of existence. Twilight’s eyes went wide with horror,

“No…no…NO! NO NO NO NO NO!! You can’t do this to me!! You can’t leave me without hearing me say ‘I love you’ back! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME AT ALL!!!” she gripped her closer to her, “RARITY!!! RARITY, PLEASE, DON’T LEAVE ME!!!”

Her screaming morphed into hard, uncontrollable sobs, as she started to rock back and forth while holding on to her lover’s corpse. A faint glow emanated from the white mare, and the tiny purple jewel that was the Element of Generosity slowly emerged, hovering in front of Twilight’s surprised face.

“R…Rarity?”

The jewel zoomed past her head, skidding to a mid-air halt in front of Sparks. The orange Unicorn looked at it through teary, confused eyes,

“Is this…is this one of the legendary Elements of Harmony?”

Fluttershy turned to her, “Yes…and its chosen you to be it’s next Bearer…”

The Element started to glow brightly and get closer to Sparks, getting warmer to her as it got near. She closed her eyes as a warmth enveloped her. When she opened her eyes, the Element was gone, and she felt stronger than she ever had before. She let out a sharp exhale and looked at the scene in front of her. Dark Star smirked at her,

“So…my daughter is now the Bearer of the Element of Generosity…” he slowly shook his head, “And I thought I was going to be able to save you from certain destruction, but it seems that you’re truly have chosen to walk the same path as those pathetic creatures you call your family…” he looked over at Rarity’s body and sneered, “Oh well…at least I killed off one of the conniving bitches that let me die.”

The ground suddenly shuddered, and gravity seemed to shift to a slightly higher level. The air started to get warm, and all turned to the source of it; Twilight.

“How dare you…” she whispered in a dangerously low tone. “You took the mare of my dreams…the savior from my nightmares…the love of my life...away from me…” her real eye had a wisp of lavender magic flowing from it. She gently placed Rarity back on the ground and rose to her hooves, “Dark Star...I will make you suffer. And after torturing you, making you cry out in agony until I feel like you have felt the same amount of pain that Rarity felt, I will end your worthless life. After that, I will rip your head clean off of your body, and present it to the Hell King…and show him what a pathetic little shit of a fighter you turned out to be…”

Dark Star snorted and let out a chuckle, “You can’t even defeat the other Elites. Do you really think you’ll stand a chance against me?”

The ground shuddered some more from the epicenter that was Twilight. Dark Star arched a brow while the others looked on in surprise. EvenTide crystals started to burst from the ground around the Unicorn, sparking with black electricity. Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide,

“Somepony…call CBS-01. Now.”

Fluttershy turned on her mouthpiece and spoke as quietly as the environment would allow. Although, none of them were paying her any attention at this point. Sparks staggered back a couple of steps. Her body was reacting to the magic Twilight was giving off. The small crystals that had sprouted from her body long ago were growing, black sparks circling the small pillars. She then noticed something that she was sure the others noticed as well,

The EvenTide Crystals were starting to turn black. 

She felt as if there was almost too much power coursing through her veins. The thing that crawled beneath her skin was now clawing it's way out, begging to be released. She wanted to attack all that had made her suffer, and return that same suffering tenfold, until she destroyed them. She could only imagine what Twilight was going through. The smell of burning ozone started to float through the air, as more and more black crystals started to burst from Twilight’s body. Neither of the two Unicorns noticed that CBS-01 had arrived. Dash looked over at her,

“Disengage CBS-01 Protocol. Activate Memory Program: Burning Sun.”

The light from CBS-01's eyes faded to nothing, and the Alicorn removed her helmet. She shook her mane a couple times before focusing on Dash,

“What is it, Rainbow Dash?”

“I know we rebuilt you and everything...but you still retain the memories of Princess Celestia…” Dash stepped closer, “So please…tell me that something, somewhere in you, remembers being a Follower of Ubenox, and knows what the hell is going on with Twilight…”

Burning Sun looked over at Twilight’s twitching form, and her eyes went wide.

“The Corrupted One’s magic and her magic are supposed to be separated, kept in different magical reserves in her body. But now…her rage has caused the two reserves to spill over into one another, and forming a type of magic that even I haven’t seen, but have heard of from my elders…”

“What was the magic called?” Dash questioned.

The crystals that had exploded from Twilight’s body had started to form a casing over her body, slowly forming a full body suit of some strange armor over her. The white and iris of Twilight’s real eye started to morph and fade into a deep, infinite black. The cybernetic eye popped out of her socket, as a new, onyx colored eyeball started to form itself. Her horn straightened itself out and grew to intimidatingly long proportions.

“It goes by many names, most of them lost over the course of Time…But my elders used to call it ‘GodFlow Magic’…” Burning Sun looked over at Sparks, “And it would seem that it’s starting to happen to Bright Spark too, though she does not have as much of the Corrupted One’s magic flowing through her as Twilight does…”

Dash looked back at Sparks. Sparks’ eyes had gone completely black as well. She gasped out, as her teeth turned into wicked fangs made of black crystals. Casings of black crystals had formed themselves around the lower halves of her legs, and her coat paled until it was an ashen grey. Her mane and tail had all of the hues sucked out of them, until they were both bleach white. Her hooves became hooked cloves of onyx, digging into the earth beneath them. Her coat bristled up, as each hair turned into individual strands of grayish crystals. A surge of power burst from them as they both stood tall and proud, black electricity sparking off of them.

“’GodFlow Magic’?” Applejack tilted her head in confusion, “So…what are they?”

“They are something…stronger than any Alicorn. Something stronger than Discord, or any previous Harbinger of Chaos.”

Twilight and Sparks’ eyes lost their shine. Their bodies went completely stiff as a massive surge of black electricity flowed off of them. There was a few moments of complete and utter silence in the world as they remained motionless. Then, there was a soft electrical hum in the atmosphere as glowing irises rolled from the backs of their sockets. Twilight’s were a shade of bright lavender, with matching magical wisps flowing from her eyes. Sparks bore a glowing orb of lavender with a wisp to follow, and a strange glowing orb of hazel from the other, with a tail of amber colored magic flowing from it.

“While us Alicorns…and Draconequui, and Dragons, and any other powerful living beings may bear magic with ease…these two, have in a sense…become goddesses among us. They are deities, that now walk among the living…”

Their heads slowly swiveled towards Dark Star’s direction, the crystal of Twilight’s body clinking as they both turned. The humming in the air grew louder as they focused on Dark Star. More electricity shot off of them, and their irises glowed brighter. 

“And they are…in lack of better terms…very…very pissed…”
> War Of The Gods and Goddesses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They could all smell the burning ozone in the air, and taste the electrical flavor of static on their tongues. Twilight and Sparks’ bodies clinked and rattled as they slowly started walking towards the Hell Prince. He smiled at them,

“Things are about to get interesting…” he stated. “Now we get to use our powers to the fullest…” he looked over his shoulders at Sombra, Trixie, and Eternal. Their horns started to glow with black magic as he nodded at them. He looked back at Twilight and Sparks, his horn glowing as well. Their bodies were engulfed in an orb-like wall of dark magic. None of the others could see what was happening inside of the black magic spheres. They could only hear the sounds of snarling and almost pained screaming. The spheres started to grow in size, before exploding into nothing. From the spheres, the Elite Hellions had grown to monstrous proportions. Fangs protruded from their mouths, and muscles rippled under their coats. Flickers of black fire hung onto their coats, manes, and tails. Their irises glowed brightly as they all stared Twilight and Sparks down,

“We’re going to grind you down until nothing remains of your corpses…”

Sparks’ jaw unhinged itself, and she let out a sound that was morphed between a roar and a shriek, that made everyone except Twilight’s ears fold down. The sound continued on, causing the ashes and dirt to rise up from the roar reverberating against the earth. It warbled out into nothingness, and her jaw clicked itself back into place. With that, she and Twilight broke into furious gallops, leaving small craters in the ground with each step they took. Pinkie looked around at the other Hellions, then at her companions,

“Well, what the heck are we standing around for?! Let’s finish smacking these assholes around!!”

The others let out war cries, before breaking off into small groups and resuming their attacks on the now surprised Hellions. Burning Sun didn’t move, but stared at the two beings that were charging at the monsters that were the Elite Hellions.

‘Oh Great One…is this the will of the gods? Do they wish for this to happen?’

The electrical hum in the air grew to deafening proportions, momentarily silencing and stopping everyone around the things Twilight and Sparks had turned into, and the Elite Hellions. Everyone stopped and turned to the two titanic forces of power that were about to clash. Time seemed to slow as the six powerful beings were moments before impact from each other. The hum died down into a pregnant silence, and then,

They collided. 

There was an explosion of blinding white light, and deep, infinite blackness. Everyone was thrown off balance from the shockwave that came off of them. Dark Star felt fangs bury themselves into his shoulder. Sparks tackled him into the ground, the earth cracking under their weight. 

“Really, daughter?! I figured-” he let out a grunt as she ripped a chunk of flesh off of his shoulder and clamped back down on the open wound, “You’d go after one of the others first!”

He drilled a hoof into the side of her face. She ripped off another piece of flesh as her head was snapped violently to the right. She let out another screech and snapped her teeth at his face,

“Gods, it’s like you’re teething all over again!!”

He grabbed her and slammed her into the ground. She quickly jumped to her hooves and growled. He towered over her, dodging Trixie as she flew over his head. Twilight fired a beam of magic at his face, and he roared out in pain. He blinked through the blood, and Sparks was looking up at him with sad eyes. He blinked again, and Twilight was mere inches from his face,

“I’m going to destroy you…” her voice softly echoed out. 

The tip of her horn had a tiny orb of white and black magic sitting atop it. It got smaller and smaller, until it was a barely visible dot sitting on her horn. Another round of deafening electric hum rang out, before the upper half of his body was engulfed in the burning magic. He flailed his forelegs frantically in an attempt to get the acidic magic off of him. Black magic wisps poured off of him as his body started to rapidly heal itself. He wiped the blood and melted flesh away, exposing empty eye sockets and dark grey bones,

“You little shit!!”

He swiped a heavy hoof at Twilight. She slammed into the ground, loud cracking sounds resounding off of her crystal armor. Sparks moved in to help her, but was tackled to the ground by Sombra. Sparks screeched, and it was instantly cut off by a hoof to the throat. She gagged and looked up to see Trixie pinning her down. Both she and Sombra sneered down at her, exposing fangs of their own.

“You’re not the only one with a set of sharp little fangs.” Trixie stated.

“And I’ve had mine before you were even born, you little fuck.”

Her jaw unhinged itself once more, as she let out an ear piercing scream. While they were momentarily stunned, she clawed at Sombra’s face with her crystal hooves, then kicked him off to chomp down on Trixie’s snout. Trixie snarled out and thwacked Sparks off of her, smashing her into the ground with an audible snap. Sparks let out a pain-laced scream, earning Twilight’s attention instantly, and summoning her to her side. Twilight formed a dorm made of magic, and expanded it quickly, shoving the Elite in all directions. She looked down at Sparks’ body, noticing a crystalline rib bursting out from her flesh.

“Heal yourself…quickly, Bright Spark…” Twilight ordered, her voice echoing on it’s own. Sparks looked up at her, 

“What’s wrong with us?” she questioned, slightly surprised that her crystalline vocal chords made a clinking sound when she spoke.

“We do not have time to figure that out right now…” Twilight replied. “However, we do know that we have the power to easily fight back against them….” She looked around as the Elite were banging against the dome shield. “So heal yourself, and let’s defeat them, for Rarity’s sake…”

Sparks nodded, “For Master Rarity.”

Twilight shook her head, “No…not ‘Master’. You are now an Element Bearer. We are equals, and she is just ‘Rarity’. Your fallen friend, and my…fallen lover…”

Sparks closed her eyes, and her rib slowly forced itself back into place, making cracking and snapping sounds as it did. Her crystalline coat closed over her wound, and she rose to her hooves. She looked over at Twilight and nodded. The Unicorn deity nodded back, and let the shield down. Dark Star and Eternal lunged at Twilight, while Trixie and Sombra went for round two with Sparks. They fought wildly at each other, tearing away at each other and ripping each other to shreds over and over again. For every bone broken in Twilight or Sparks’ body, the Elite had pieces of their body ripped off of them. And for each piece that either side loss, their god-like strength simply regenerated it. Sparks formed a blade of magic on her horn, and sliced Trixie in half. Her irises rolled into the back of her head, as her upper torso flew in one direction, while her lower half hit the ground elsewhere. The other three Hellion looked over at her, as Sparks quickly bounded up to the upper half of her body,

“Now, may your soul be cleansed from the evil that has tainted it, as I purge your mortal form from this world!”

Her body was surrounded by more black and white magic that formed a sphere around her. It expanded more and more, washing over Trixie’s body. She screamed out in agonizing pain, as her body was disintegrated into nothing. The lower half of Trixie’s body kicked violently, before exploding into black dust. Dark Star, Eternal, and Sombra looked on in shock, all three taking their eyes off of Twilight for but a moment,

And it was a fatal mistake.

Twilight rammed her horn into Sombra’s neck, and snapped her head to the side. Along with her horn, thick jugular veins tore themselves free of his neck. He gurgled out, and his forelegs buckled, forcing him to collapse. Twilight spun around, and bucked him in the jaw, propelling his body upward, and forcing him to stand on his hind legs for a second. He started to fall back again, his throat landing squarely on Twilight’s horn. She swiped her head in the other direction, this time, ripping out a portion of his windpipe. She fired up a quick burst of magic on her horn, burning away the piece of esophagus that was stuck on it. Sombra’s eyes went wide with panic, and Twilight leaned in until their snouts were nearly touching,

“May the deepest pits of Tartarus swallow you up, and rip your souls to shreds for all of eternity…”

She reeled back, then slammed her forehead into his snout. It crumbled, and he let out a gurgled wheeze. She leaned back, and did it again. Some of his teeth fell out.

Bang.

What teeth remained fell down his throat.

Bang.

The bones and cartilage that formed his snout crumpled.

Bang.

His face was now caving in on itself.

Bang.

His eyeballs popped and the juices flowed as tears.

Bang BAng BANg BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!!!

She head butted him until his face was nothing more than mush matter. His limbs twitched a few times, before stopping all together. She reeled her hoof back, then slammed into his chest, piercing his flesh and reaching around his organs. She pulled out an onyx orb in dark violet flames and placed it on the ground. She slammed her hoof down on it over and over, until it broke into minute shards. His body then followed the same fate as Trixie’s, exploding into magic dust remnants. She looked over at Eternal, her eyes glowing with a fierce light,

“You…you were the start of all this…”

She slowly starting walking towards the Alicorn. Eternal didn’t back down, but the tinge of fear in her eyes was as clear as day to Twilight. Dark Star lunged for Twilight, but was stopped when fangs snapped onto his trachea,

“Your fight is with me, Dark Star!!”

He shook his head, but Sparks held on with a powerful vice grip. While still hanging on, she used a spell to make her density multiply over and over, and Dark Star could no longer hold his head up. She continued still, more and more of the ground turning into gravel, as the pressure in the area grew too strong. Dark Star tried to rise to his hooves, all attempts were futile under Sparks’ weight.

“Bright Spark, release me!!” he roared. “Do…do as your father commands!!”

She ripped out a hunk of neck flesh, “You killed Rarity! She wanted to give me the chance to have a parent again, and you took that from me!!” she leapt out of the hole she had made, and head butted him in the chest. His ribs crumpled inward as he was thrown into the ground,

“Why?! Why did you kill her?!” she cried out. “If you didn’t care about her, then you should have at least let her live for my own happiness!!”

She punched him in the jaw, the side of his face smacking into the ground.

“But you didn’t let her live! You killed her without a moment’s hesitation, with no remorse!!”

His vision was snapped into the opposite direction. He caught of glimpse of Twilight tearing one of Eternal’s wings off.

“What’s worse, is that you relished it!! You smiled with glee! You were happy that you killed her!!”

Another blow to the face.

“Star Blast wasn’t known as a cold blooded killer!! He was known as a kind, benevolent stallion, who would throw his life down for even the weakest fighter!!”

*SMACK!* Twilight now had her hoof buried deep into one of Eternal’s eyes sockets.

“Star Blast was my father!!! YOU’RE NOT STAR BLAST!!!”

Sparks used the spell to further intensify her weight. She raised her hooves and slammed them down on his chest, forcing all of the air out of his lungs. He flailed a bit, but he couldn’t budge under her weight. She lifted her hooves just enough for him to breathe, then leaned towards him,

“You’re a monster. And I won’t lie, you’re a terrifying one at that…” her eyes glowed bright, and she leaned just a bit closer,

“But we can be terrifying monsters too, if you force us to be…”

She grabbed the sides of his face, then forced his head to look in the direction of Twilight and Eternal. She pressed her hooves down on his face and leaned towards his ear, 

“I know the Hell King can use your eyes as if they were his own…” she started. “So, let’s let him watch as Twilight destroys Eternal…”

Twilight had gouged one of Eternal’s eyes out. Eternal was screaming. She wouldn’t stop, and it was pissing Twilight off. She smacked her in the face with a heavy hoof,

“Shut up! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” Twilight screamed, her voice booming and echoing at the same time, “YOU FORCED ME TO DO THIS!!! I DIDN’T WANT TO FIGHT ANYPONY, BUT YOU CHOSE TO SERVE THE HELL KING!!!” she quickly started raining blows on her face, “YOU BACKED ME INTO A CORNER, AND YOU ALL KILLED MY RARITY!!! SO NOW…I HAVE TO KILL YOU ALL!!!!”

Her hooves were moving at a near blinding speed. The only way Dark Star could tell that the blows were landing, was because Eternal’s head was getting flatter and flatter by the second. Eternal was no longer moving, but Twilight kept pounding away anyway. She beat her far beyond death, and until the same black orb that was in Sombra appeared from the brain matter and bone fragments that were once her skull. The crystal casing around Twilight’s maw moved, exposing a glowing lavender coat. Twilight opened her mouth, and a long, black, tendril-like tongue peeked out from glimmering hooked fangs. Her tongue wrapped itself around the orb, and her teeth bit down on it with a audible ‘click’. Suddenly, she opened her mouth, then quickly snapped down, her fangs shattering the spherical crystal into shards. Eternal’s body slowly disintegrated away as Twilight chewed on the crystal shards and swallowed them up. She looked over at Sparks and Dark Star, teleporting over to them and standing over the two Unicorns,

“Dark Star…you’re the only one left…” she pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sparks’ eyes glimmered with a bit of pity, as both her and Twilight’s horns started to form orbs of powerful, swirling magic,

“Somewhere, I pray that a bit of my father’s soul remains. And if so…I hope he understands that Twilight and I are doing this for the greater good.”

There orbs started to get bigger,

“And if he’s looking at me through your eyes, I also want him to know that I love him very much, and miss him every day…”

The orbs were now touching, melding together and growing still.

“Thank you for everything you’ve ever done, Dad…”

Just as they were about to fire off the magic, a powerful beam of sapphire colored magic collided with the side of Twilight’s face, making her stagger to the side and knock over Sparks. Dark Star slowly rose to his hooves, throwing a glance in the direction of the powerful magic. His eyes went wide with mild shock,

“How? What are you doing?”

Twilight scraped away the crystal armor that was barely hanging on, so that it could quickly replace itself. It covered her luminescent coat once more, and her glowing irises appeared back in her sockets. Sparks was looking in the same direction as Dark Star, her mouth wide and unspeaking. Twilight followed her gaze, and what she saw nearly made her irises vanish once again. 

“My Gods…”

Not too far away from them, a white Unicorn mare stood. Her head was lowered, and her horn was still smoking from the remnants of magical heat it gave off from shooting. Her violet mane and tail lightly billowed in the wind. She seemed just a bit taller, and a bit more muscular, but Twilight nor Sparks paid that too much attention,

“Rarity…you’re okay…how can this be?” Twilight questioned, utter confusion on her face.

“Twilight, now’s not the time to overthink!” Sparks yelled with glee laced in her voice. She took a couple steps towards her, and Twilight followed. Neither of them even cared the Dark Star was slowly slinking away to further the already growing distance between them. But all three of them froze when Rarity fired another beam at the two mares. Now, the confusion was shining bright in both of their eyes, and Dark Star looked on with interest,

“What…Rarity, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, “I understand you getting enthusiastic and just trying to finish up Dark Star and accidentally shooting me the first time, but…” her sentence trailed off as Rarity rose her head. She opened her eyes, staring them down, and actually causing Twilight and Sparks to take a couple steps back. Both of their eyes were open wide, as sheer terror, denial, and hurt competed to portray themselves on their faces. Twilight said nothing, but Sparks shook her head just a few fractions of a degree, softly whispering a one worded mantra,

“No…no…no…no…no…no…”

Rarity bore an iris that was a pale blue, and a lavender iris that reflected back all the emotions Sparks and Twilight were going through. But instead of her scleras being white,

They were now onyx black.
> The Last Stand
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike had his claws pressed against the mirror, as he stared in wide eyed horror at what he saw in Corrupted Spike’s crystal pillar. Rarity was now a pawn that belong to the Corrupted One. One of the Fallen had truly…fallen. Spike looked over at the corrupted version of himself.

"What did you do to her?!"

Corrupted Spike chuckled, “This battle is practically taking place right outside my front yard…the very air itself is teeming with black magic.” He rubbed his chin, “When Dark Star killed her, I had the pleasure of watching. As soon as she did, I decided to…hmm…send a bit of my magic her way.”

"CHANGE HER BACK!!!" Spike roared. "NOW!!!"

Corrupted Spike belted out a laugh, “You’re not the one in charge here. I am. And now…whatever fragment of her soul that’s still left in that body…belongs to me now…”


~MLP~


The world seemed to come to a standstill as Twilight and Sparks stared at Rarity. Dark Star’s interested expression turned into amusement, as an evil grin worked its way onto his face,

“It seems like she’s finally made the right choice…to serve our mighty God-King…”

The two Unicorns ignored him, still keeping their eyes on Rarity,

“Rarity…why?...”

Rarity didn’t respond. Instead, she began a painfully slow walk towards them.

“You can either be destroyed by me,” Dark Star boomed out.

Twilight and Sparks glanced over at them,

“Or…you can be destroyed by her!!”

There was the sound of air rushing, and a light hoof step. Twilight and Sparks spun around to see Rarity was right in front of them. Before either could react, Rarity struck Twilight in the face with a heavy hoof. The blow didn’t send her flying. It didn’t even make her stumble. But, as her head snapped to one side, she felt her un-beating heart shatter, as if Rarity had struck her down with the most powerful of weapons.

Well…The Corrupted One had made Rarity become said weapon.

Twilight didn’t move, but Sparks instinctively shoved Rarity away from them. She stared at her with hardened eyes,

“We do not wish to fight you, Rarity…but you will leave us no choice if you continue to act this way.” Sparks warned, her crystalline vocal chords now clinking louder than before, “Stand down, or we will make you stand down.”

Rarity’s expression remained dead as she lunged for her. Twilight looked on in shock as the two Unicorns rolled around in the dirt, firing beams of magic off in random directions. Sparks cried out as Rarity stomped onto her chest. Twilight was still too shocked to move. Dark Star took this opportunity to gallop over to them and join into the fray. Twilight snapped out of her shock as she watched Dark Star pick up Sparks and slam her into the ground with enough force to make it shatter. Twilight tackled Dark Star, ramming her horn into his eyeball. He let out a pained howl, staggering back and giving Sparks the opportunity to get back on her hooves. She ripped her horn out of his socket, taking the eyeball with it, and tearing his face open. Twilight got ready to fire off a beam of magic, but was cut off by Rarity slamming into her. They hit the ground, and Twilight’s crystal armor shattered where Rarity had tackled her. Twilight looked up at her lover in horror, unable to fight back. An orb of magic appeared on Rarity’s head, and started to grow at an incredible rate. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks as Rarity reeled her head back, ready to unleash the magic. Twilight knew this blow wouldn’t kill her, but it would hurt like hell. Why couldn’t she move? Why couldn’t she shove the mare on top of her off, and strike her down? She just shut her eyes and waited for the magic to engulf her.

But it never came.

Twilight heard a rush of air, and a heavy thump. When she opened her eyes, Rarity was no longer standing over her, but pinned down by Sparks. The Unicorn was snarling at her, belting out that painful screech right in Rarity’s face. Twilight rose to her hooves, thankful for the younger Unicorn’s intervention. She turned to face Dark Star,

“I can’t do it.” Twilight stated bluntly. “The Corrupted One’s magic now wears the face of my lover. Because of that, I cannot attack her…” Her eyes started to glow, "You however…are fair game…”

Dark Star smirked, “You caught me off guard before, but rest assured, it shall not happen again…” he started to walk towards her, horn ablaze with dark magic. “Now…let’s get this over with…”

With that, he broke out into a furious gallop. Twilight was surprised, as she barely dodge his attack. He had gotten bigger. Faster. Stronger. Spike must’ve infused him with more black magic than he had the other Elites.

He rivaled her in strength now. 

He suddenly turned on his hooves and speared Twilight in the side with his horn. Twilight let out a pained whinny as she was slammed into the ground. Dark Star peeled his horn out of her, then pressed down onto her wound with a heavy hoof,

“Our God-King is going to be pleased that I had taken down the leader of the Fallen…even though…you’re nothing more than a pathetic, worthless excuse of a pile of flesh…”

Twilight’s eyes shut tight with pain as Dark Star started to press even harder on her wound. Twilight opened an eye to see that Sparks and Rarity were in a stand-off, and too focused on each other to focus on the two of them. She managed to tilt her head and fire off a beam a magic at Dark Star’s face, but it didn’t even faze him,

“There’s no point in stopping this, Twilight. No matter what you do, you’re going to die.”

A couple of Twilight’s ribs cracked under the pressure. She let out another scream. Suddenly, the pressure was taken off of her side. Her body had time to heal, and she looked up to see that titan sized, Vampony version of Fluttershy tearing away at Dark Star’s back, and pulling him off of her. Twilight jumped to her hooves, and focused on healing her wounds as quickly as possible. Dark Star was holding Fluttershy’s jaws open, as he struggled to keep her from ripping his face off. He started to summon magic into his horn, causing a soft hum in the air. Just as he was about to fire the beam into her open maw, Applejack tackled him, releasing his grip on Fluttershy, and sending them both flying. They tumbled and rolled on the ground, raining heavy blows on each other. He shoved Applejack away, and glared at her,

“I’m going to tear you to shreds!!”

“NOT IF I GET TO DO IT FIRST!!”

The declaration confused him when he realized it hadn't came from Applejack's mouth. He looked up, and saw Dash dive bombing towards him. She slammed into him, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris. She stomped on his chest until she felt ribs crack, then jumped away before he could grab her. He sat up and snarled,

“Ganging up on me won’t make a difference!! I’m still going to kill y-”

His sentence was cut off as a hoof met his cheek. He staggered and hit the dirt, managing to catch a glimpse of Pinkie before he did. As soon as Pinkie landed, Applejack was charging at him again. He let out a frustrated roar, before smacking Applejack away. Fluttershy snarled, latching on to him again and pulling him into a headlock. He punched her repeatedly, but her grip didn’t lighten up in the slightest. He suddenly felt something cold being jammed sharply into his side,

“Move Fluttershy!!”

Fluttershy jumped back, and Dark Star only had a moment to turn to see the Gatling guns attached to Applejack’s armor, were digging into his flesh. There was a hum as the gears in the guns whirred to life, before rounds exploded from the barrel, and drove themselves into Dark Star’s body. Under normal circumstances, Dark Star wouldn’t be concerned with being shot at. But, with this many rounds, and at this close of a range, they were actually doing damage. He fell over, and his attempts to get back on his hooves were thwarted by the continuous barrage of attacks from the Fallen. He felt a particularly powerful punch to the jaw, sending him off of his hooves. Another heavy blow was delivered to his gut, as he was shoved back into the earth. The air was forced out of his lungs, and he felt a hoof press down on his throat. He looked up to see a pair of glowing, mix-matched eyes staring down at him. A growl rumbled deep from Spark's throat, before she let out an earth trembling, other worldly shriek. She screamed in his face, a light mist of hot breath and powerful magic covering him. Her scream died down to a soft clinking, then silence, and her fierce facial expression turned into one of utter despair.

“Dark Star…” she lightly shook her head, “No…Dad…” she placed a hoof to his cheek, “I’m really sorry. I’m sorry that I let you down. I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you…” she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his snout, “I’ll always love you, Dad…”

Her jaw unhinged itself, and a ball of magic started to form in her mouth. Dark Star shook his head,

“You’re such a foolish pony, Daughter!” he then mirrored her, his mouth opening to unnatural proportions, until a sickening snap sounded out, as his jaw popped out of place. He quickly formed an orb of black magic in his mouth. Sparks’ eyes went wide, and she quickly summoned as much magic as she could. The Fallen had let go of Dark Star, knowing the impact of the colliding magic was going to be massive. Dark Star and Sparks were screaming at each other, as the balls of magic got larger and larger. The orbs suddenly shrunk, before they both fired them at each other, their faces mere inches apart. The Fallen and any nearby fighters, had to shield their eyes from the explosion. When the light faded, and the dust settled, they all turned to see what had happened. Dark Star was laying in the bottom of a massive crater.

“Sparks!!” Applejack screamed out, before breaking into a gallop. The others followed her. Sparks was strewn out in the dirt, the light of her irises completely gone. Applejack scooped her up into her hooves,

“C’mon now, Sparks! Don’t tell me Pinkie an’ Ah saved yer hide fer nothin’!”

Sparks remained unresponsive. Dark Star slowly crawled out of the crater. He shook the dust off of his coat, then glanced over at Rarity, who was joining him and walking towards the Fallen. Twilight stood in front of her friends, ready to shield them from whatever Rarity and Dark Star threw at them. Dark Star looked down at Rarity,

“Ladies first…”

Rarity nodded, then slowly walked towards them. Twilight shook her head,

“Rarity, please don’t do this!!”

Dark Star started to follow her,

“This isn’t you!!”

Rarity’s slow walk turned into a light trot. Twilight’s eyes started to glow brighter,

“You’re my lover! We are your family! You’d never attack us!!”

Rarity’s trot turned into a gait.

“Please…” Twilight’s voice cracked. “Come back to me…”

The tip of Rarity’s horn started to build up with magic.

Twilight pile drove her hooves into the dirt, her expression was a mixture of sorrow, but determination,

“I won’t attack you, Rarity. I won’t let you hurt our family…but I won’t attack you.”

She broke into a fierce gallop, with Dark Star right behind her. Twilight closed her eyes, waiting for the blast of magic to explode on her body.

She waited. Nothing.

She waited some more. There was the sound of bodies colliding. A collective group of gasps sounded off behind her. She opened her eyes, and joined in the symphony of shock. 

Dark Star was sprawled out on his stomach. Rarity was on top of him, her body engulfed in dark blue magic. The monstrous Unicorn underneath her was squirming and flailing about, but she too had used the same spell to increase her weight to near unbearable levels. He looked up at her,

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

She ignored him, keeping her eyes directly on Twilight. Her mouth didn’t move, but they could all hear her words clearly,

’No matter what they do to me…' A tiny smile appeared on her face,‘I’ll never let them hurt my family…’

At this, the light in Sparks’ eyes returned once more. She slowly rose to her hooves and turned to face Rarity. A smile worked it’s way to her lips,

“I knew some part of you was still in there, Rarity…”

Rarity’s smile got a bit bigger, but then immediately contorted into a grimace, and black electricity coursed through her body. She gasped out,

‘I-I can’t hold the Corrupted One’s black magic away much longer…’ she twitched as more dark energy shocked her core. ‘You must destroy us both!’

Twilight shook her head, "No, we can save you!"

Rarity cried out as the magic continued to surge through her. She panted,

‘It’s magic is…unyielding. The Corrupted One is going to take this body…’ Another surge. A sad smile formed on her face as she looked at Twilight, 'But you…you have my heart, my soul!! I will always love you-‘ she screamed as the corrupting magic started to reach unspeakable levels of pain. ‘I’ll always be yours!!'

Twilight shook her head in denial, but didn’t say anything. Sparks placed a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked over at her, and shook her head solemnly. Sparks gently moved her to the side,

“I will end your suffering, Rarity.” She stated, as black and white magic started to swirl through her horn. “Thank you for teaching me, caring about me…”

She lowered her head, the air around her started to get hot, and an electrical hum filled the air once more. The aura around her horn formed into a ball of magic on the tip of her horn. It shrank, and the hum in the air started to become deafening,

“Thank you…for loving me…”

She fired the magic, the recoil from it pushing her back a bit. The other Fallen behind her shielded their eyes. The beam of magic was screaming towards the two Unicorns. Dark Star frantically looked up at her,

“RARITY, GET OFF OF ME!!! DO NOT DISOBEY OUR GOD-KING!!”

A few tears fell from her eyes. The small smile on her face, got bigger,

‘Bright Spark…you…were the daughter I never got to have…’

There was a split second of silence, before the magic impacted them. The shock wave blew all but Twilight and Sparks’ away. A few more aftershock waves washed across the battle field. They died out, and when the ash and dust and debri settled, Twilight and Sparks remained rigid. The ground where the magic had impacted, had been utterly destroyed. There was no sign of Rarity or Dark Star. Sparks galloped over to the impact sight, and a few tears fell from her eyes. At the bottom of the crater, there were two crystal orbs. She knew they were what powered the Elite, but they were not onyx black orbs like the others. One was a deep, dark shade of blue, and the other…

A rich shade of violet.

Sparks trotted to the bottom of the crater and picked up the two orbs. She made her way back to Twilight and the other Fallen. She levitated the violet crystal and placed it before Twilight. She felt tears start to prick at the corners of her eyes as she placed the dark blue orb underneath her hoof. She wiped her tears away and focused on the crystal,

“I love you, Dad…”

With that, she shut her eyes, and put all of her weight down onto it. There was the sound of crackling, and then the orb shattered into tiny fragments. Her ears perked up when she heard a few tiny gasps from her friends. She opened her eyes, and for just a moment, her eyes fell upon a barely visible figure. A stallion, who’s coat was a brilliant blue, with a bleach blonde mane and tail. His eyes sparkled for a moment, as they met her own. He smiled at her, and got just a bit closer to her,

"I am so proud of you, Bright Spark...'

Sparks felt a light tingling sensation on her forehead as he kissed her, before he faded into the nothingness. She stared at the spot where she had just seen Dark Star. No…where she had seen her father…

Where she had seen Star Blast. 

Sparks let the tears fall this time. She had managed to save her father from eternal damnation. Her joy was short lived however, as a sob from Twilight drew her attention, and the others as well.

“I didn’t see her…” Twilight whimpered. Pinkie walked over to her and placed a hoof on her back,

“Maybe her soul might’ve already left the crystal…”

“That doesn’t make any sense…” Twilight sniffed. “Why didn’t that happen to Star Blast? Did…did we not save her?”

Sparks placed a hoof on Twilight. Twilight looked up at her. Calmness and determination burned in her glowing eyes.

“Rarity has been saved. She sacrificed herself in a final act of love for all of us. I promise you, that her soul has been set free from the Hell King…”

Sparks didn’t know where the words came from…but they were spoken from the heart. Twilight knew this. A very tiny smile made it’s way to her lips,

“Thank you, Bright Spark…” she started. “Perhaps you are right…I pray to the gods that you are…”

A flash of lime green drew their attention. The battle worn Apprentices trotted up to them

“Ah felt a massive decrease in dark magic, an’ we figured ya’ll had managed ta defeat the Elite.” Patch stated.

‘We’ve destroyed most of the Hell King’s army.’ Skye started. ‘However, there are still a large amount of stragglers, but our squadrons and brigades are picking them off.’

Dee looked around at the group in confusion,

“Where’s…where’s Miss Rarity?”

Heavy silence fell amongst the group. They all looked at each other. Dash stepped forward,

“Rarity…she’s gone…”

Shock covered the Apprentices’ faces. Sure, they had attempted to prepare for moments like these, but they never truly thought that the Fallen could be killed off. A few tears started to fall from their eyes. Patch wiped his away and looked at their mentors,

“She’s really gone…that just don’t make a lick of sense…”

“She sacrificed herself to make sure the rest of us lived.” Twilight started, before looking over at Sparks. “Over the three years she had been Bright Sparks’ mentor and primary caretaker, she taught this young Unicorn everything that she knew. Bright Spark learned well, and honestly…” she smiled a bit, “I can see a bit of Rarity in her now…”

Sparks’ eyes started to well up with fresh tears. Twilight turned back to the Apprentices,

“When Rarity passed on, the Element of Generosity left her, in order to find a new host. It has chosen Bright Spark, to be it’s bearer. She is no longer an Apprentice…so when we rise up and defeat the Hell King…remember that she now deserves your respect as one of your superiors.”

The Apprentices nodded in unison, “Yes Miss Twilight.”

Patch stepped forward and at attention in front of Sparks,

“Ah’ll have great pleasure in servin’ ya, Miss Bright Spark.”

Sparks smiled, “Thanks, Patch.”

Applejack leaned over into Twilight’s ear, “Twi, we gotta go, while his defenses are lowered…”

Twilight nodded, then faced the group,

“Alright…this is it…we are at the boiling point. The peak of the war.” She turned and pointed at a building that was still off in the distance. “That is the castle of the Hell King.” She started. “He knows that we are here. That much, I am sure of. He probably knows that we have already defeated his Elites, and are heading towards him. Inside of that castle, there is an unknown amount of Hellions in there, waiting to kill us to protect that tyrant.” She looked back over her shoulder, “We will not allow them to succeed. We will not allow the Corrupted One to live another day on Equis.” She turned to face the Apprentices, “The five of you are going to help the troops find the stragglers. I assume there are still thousands upon thousands of them still trying to either fight back or escape death. You will take no prisoners, you understand?”

The Apprentices stood at attention, “Yes, Miss Twilight.”

They turned and bounded off back into battle. Sparks started to follow, but Twilight grabbed her shoulder,

“That is a job for the Apprentices. You are no longer one. You are needed elsewhere.”

“But I’m not a Fallen either, Twilight.”

“True, but you are an Element Bearer. And, you're the only pony we’ve encountered so far other than myself, that can use the Corrupted One’s magic against it. You’re too powerful to be finishing off those Hellions. We need your magic here.”

Sparks nodded in understanding. Dash started to hover above them,

“I’m going to go and scout out the area up ahead.” She looked down at her wife, “You coming with?”

Fluttershy nodded and flew up to her. Dash shot off, and Fluttershy took off as well to join her. The crystals casing around Twilight’s neck started to creep back up and encase her head. She looked back at Applejack, Pinkie, and Sparks,

“Let’s go and finish this…”

They nodded at her, then broke off into a blazing gallop towards Corrupted Spike’s castle.


~MLP~


Corrupted Spike rested his cheek on his hand, as he stared into the crystal pillar that was showing him what was going on outside of his castle. An image of the Fallen racing towards him was showing in the crystal,

"You’re running out of time." Spike stated, as he smirked at him through his mirror prison. Corrupted Spike shot him a look,

“Actually, your ponies are the ones who are running out of time.” He replied, an evil grin spreading on his face, “What do you think happens when a Hellion dies?”

Spike arched a scaly brow, “That’s one step closer to my friends kicking your ass.”

Corrupted Spike rolled his eyes, “No, you idiot. When a Hellion dies, my magic does not just disperse into the atmosphere. It returns to me…” He leaned towards the mirror, “I was actually getting weaker by bringing all of those ponies back to life.”

Spike’s eyes went wide, “Then why did you do it?”

The dragon chuckled, “Don’t you see? Even in my weakened state, I’ve managed to wipe out a vast majority of the rebellion. I’ve taken…millions of lives, without ever having to raise a claw myself…”

Spike growled, and slammed his fist against the glass, “YOU’RE A FUCKING MONSTER!!!”

“OF COURSE I AM!!” Corrupted Spike roared back, “I AM DEATH AND DESPAIR, RAGE AND BETRAYAL!! I AM ALL THINGS  DISGUSTING AND DISTURBING, VILE AND HORRIFYING!! I AM FUCKING EVIL ITSELF!!!” he placed a claw up to the mirror, “And thanks to your little ‘sacrifice’ all those decades ago…your face is now known as the face of Evil. You are the embodiment, of evil…”

He chuckled in Spike’s face, further enraging the imprisoned dragon. He left him to beat on the mirror, snarling and cursing at him, as he walked out to his balcony. He could see dust kicking up on the horizon and smiled,

“That’s right…come to my domain…the time to end this, has finally come…”
> Dance With The Devil Pt.1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the others walked up to the castle, they took note of its sheer size. It was a massive black beast, made of stone and hellfire, looming over them, daring them to enter. They stood outside, waiting to get word from the Pegasi that had shot off earlier to investigate. They didn’t want to hit them up on the headsets, in fear of exposing them if they were hidden. It wasn’t long before Fluttershy and Dash landed amongst them.

“There’s nopony around.” Dash stated. “Like, nothing. No Hellions, no demons, none of our fighters, nopony.”

“We can’t say the same fer the inside though, can we?” Applejack questioned. “There could be a bunch of ‘em in there, waitin’ fer us ta just mosey on in.” she pawed the ground with a heavy hoof, “Ah don’t know about ya’ll, but Ah’m done foolin’ around. Ah say we go in there, hit ‘em fast, an’ hit ‘em hard.”

Dash smirked at her, “I like the way you’re thinking, cowgirl!”

“Hold on now.” Pinkie intervened. “Does that really sound like a good idea? This isn’t like us just going and fighting a massive horde of them. We’re deep into Spike’s territory. This is his home. There are probably thousands of Hellions waiting for us inside. Not to mention this place is probably armed to the teeth with traps and gods knows what else.”

Dash snorted, “That’s what I’m here for, Pinks. You know, top mechanic, weapons specialist, and pretty much awesome in all things that have to do with making stuff?” she threw a hoof over the pink mare’s shoulder, “Have a little faith in me! In us!!” she looked around, “We’re the Fallen! And even if we weren’t, we’re still Element Bearers! It’s our job to put an end to all this!”

“Pinkie has a point though.” Fluttershy agreed. “This is still very dangerous. Not to mention…we weren’t prepared to lose…” she trailed off. None of them needed her to finish. Sparks stepped forward,

“I understand your apprehension about going inside, due to the fact that one of the Fallen has died.” She started. “Yes, it’s true, there are only five Fallen now…but there are still six Bearers to the Elements of Harmony. Six ponies, who bear magic unlike anything the new world has ever seen.” She stared Fluttershy straight in the eye, “I may be new to this role I’ve had to assume, but it does not mean I don’t understand the responsibility I now bear, and what lies at stake. The fate of Equis doesn’t just rest in your hooves, but in mines as well now. I understand that you all are counting on me just as you were for Rarity. You’re all my family, so even if the world wasn’t at stake, the fact that this puts my family in danger is enough to make me fill whatever role I'm needed to fill”

The others stared at her for a moment, eyes slightly wide from her speech. Applejack was the first to speak up,

“Wow, ya sound jus' like yer daddy. Ya definitely came from his loins."

Dash chuckled and looked over at her, “What the hell is wrong with you? You ruin the best moments.”

Pinkie patted Sparks’ back, while Fluttershy smiled at her. They then stepped aside to let Twilight stand in front of her,

“You had very good parents raising you, Bright Spark. They would be proud of you…and Rarity would be too…”

Sparks smiled, her irises glowing just a bit brighter. Twilight turned to look back at the castle,

“It’s now or never. I’m sure Spike already knows we’re here, so if there’s Hellions in there, we’ll have to try Applejack’s method…” she looked over her shoulder, “Are you all ready?”

The girls looked around at each other, before nodding at Twilight. Twilight looked back at the castle, then broke off into a gallop. The others joined her. Twilight used her magic to blow the massive doors clean off their hinges, and the others leapt inside. Faces that were once formed into rage and determination, now turned to confusion as they were greeted by quiet halls. Fluttershy transformed into her more vampiric form so she could see better, while Twilight and Sparks used their magic to make their horns glow.

“Where…where is everypony?” Applejack asked.

Twilight looked around, “I honestly have no idea…”

“Maybe the Hell King really did send all of his minions out into battle.” Sparks stated. “He probably thought that he could handle us on his own.”

Dash smirked, “Well, he was stupid to think that. He’s gonna be dead bef-”

“We’re not here to kill him.” Twilight cut her off. The others focused on her.

“I’m sorry,” Dash reached up and dug in her ear a little, “I don’t think I heard you right.”

“No, you heard exactly what I said.” Twilight replied in a monotone voice. “We’re not here to kill him. We’re here to defeat him.”

“Uh yeah, the only way to defeat him, is to kill him.”

Twilight spun around, “Why do you think that? Who gave you the right to be able to kill him off?”

Dash snorted angrily, “Have you forgotten what he’s done? He’s ended countless lives!”

“He’s still my brother!” Twilight hissed. “You have no right to kill him!!”

“Oh, and that means you have every right to let him walk away a free dragon?!” Dash retorted. Applejack stepped in between them,

“Twilight, ya can’t be serious. Ya can’t really expect us ta just let him live after all of this…”

“Spike’s still somewhere in there!!” Twilight shouted. “Don’t you remember the last time we managed to contact him? When I reached out to him and told him I still loved him? He said it back! He’s still in there, and if we have the chance to save him, then we have to take it!”

“Rarity was still there when her body got taken over too, and even she knew that his magic couldn’t be stopped!” Dash had jumped back in.

“Did you forget that I was once the Corrupted One’s host? I managed to escape from that!!”

“NO THE FUCK YOU DIDN’T, TWILIGHT!! You killed everypony, including your closest friends! The only reason you lived is because Spike absorbed that thing into him!! Do you realize that you'd be the Hell Queen, if not for him?!”

A mist spouted from Twilight’s nostrils, and her irises glowed bright, “And he proved that not only was he strong enough to even learn the spell to withdraw the Corrupted One from my body, but that he also still has retained enough sentience to speak out against it!!”

“That’s fucking great. He managed to talk to us. And then what happened? There was a big ass battle! You know, the one that’s still going on outside?! He sent all those Hellions, and the Elite to fight us! TO KILL US!!!”

“The Corrupted One did, not Spike! Spike’s magic doesn’t bring living things back from the dead! Spike’s magic doesn’t corrupt their souls, and cause them to do things they don’t want to do! You saw how some of those Hellions acted. Some of them ran off to gods-knows where, instead of back here! They don’t respect him, they fear him! Spike’s magic DOESN’T DO THAT!!”

“IT DON’T MATTER WHOSE DAMN MAGIC IT IS!!” Applejack roared, now back in the fray as well. “Whether it’s Spike’s magic or not, his body is still under the Corrupted One’s control! An’ so long as It has Spike’s body, It’s gonna keep killin’ every livin’ thing ‘til we’re all lifeless bodies buried in the ground! He has ta be put down!!”

“It’s not his fault!!”

“He killed Rarity!!”

“No he didn’t!! Dark Star killed her!!”

“AND MY FATHER WAS TURNED INTO DARK STAR, BECAUSE HE WAS KILLED OFF SAVING YOU GUYS!!!”

All attention fell of Sparks, as her statement enraptured their attention. Little billows of black wisps puffed from her flared nostrils and mouth, as she stared angrily at the trio of bickering mares.

“We can sit her and try to throw the blame at each other all day, but that won’t do anything. All we’re doing right now, is drawing unwanted attention to us, so please, do what you all need to do to decide what we do with the Hell King.”

Twilight, Dash, and Applejack looked at each in shame. They weren’t sure what to do. Dash and Applejack wanted to make sure Spike never did anything like this again, but they would need Twilight’s participation as well. And that still didn’t account for how Pinkie and Fluttershy felt. Pinkie walked up to Twilight, and tilted her chin upward so that the Unicorn was looking her in the eyes,

“Twilight…” she drew in a deep breath. She knew that the mare was not going to like what she had to say.

“We all think it’s for the best to do whatever it takes to end the Corrupted One’s reign. Even if that means…we have to kill our friend.”

Twilight moved her chin away from Pinkie’s hoof, “Easy for you to say…you may not have any problems killing off a friend, but I do. And that doesn’t even apply to me. Spike isn’t just my friend. He’s my little brother…”

“I don’t think he’d want you to be hesitating like this. I think…I think he would want us to stop him, no matter the cost.”

Twilight looked back into her eyes, “What do you know anyway?”

Pinkie lightly pawed at the ground, “Well…you may have raised him, and stuff like that…and believe me, he turned out a lot better than we had all expected. We all thought he’d revert to Dragonian tendencies, but clearly, you had done well. He loves us, dearly. When you were Corrupted One, your consciousness rose to the surface a couple times too. You were hurting, Twilight. When you were talking to us, was that the only time you were hurting?”

Twilight shook her head, “No…I felt like I was helpless.”

“Exactly. You caused some serious damage too, while the Corrupted One was in control of your body. So…just put yourself in Spike’s situation. You already kind of have, if you think about it. But just imagine…over 70 years of suffering and frustration. And Spike was no idiot. More than likely, he knew full well what he was getting himself into by becoming that thing’s host. Why do you think he was gone for so long after he did that? He probably knew what a danger he would be the moment he activated that spell. As for trying to save him…well…Twilight, you’ve never been the same since the Corrupted One left your body. In fact, you still have some of it’s magic in you. You still suffer from it to this day, over a century later…” she looked over at Sparks, “You’ve even managed to pass some of that magic on to Sparks. You’ve both have been suffering from this. Spike would be going through the same thing, maybe even worse because he’s been the Corrupted One’s host far longer than you had been. Is that what you want?”

Twilight looked down at the ground shamefully, “I’d never wish for such a fate upon even the worst of my enemies…”

“Then there’s no point in putting our friend…your brother…through the same thing…”

Twilight looked up at her. Her irises faded into the blackness of her orbs, and she let out a sigh. Pinkie lowered her head to Twilight’s level, and nuzzled her crystalline cheek. The crystal armor retracted back, exposing her head once again. Twilight returned the nuzzle, then looked at her friends,

“Thank you all for putting up with my behavior, after all these years. You girls are the best friends I could have ever asked for. No…the best family I could have ever asked for.”

They others softly smiled at her, before getting closer to her for a group hug. A throaty chuckle boomed through the halls, causing them to all jump into fighting stances.

“You truly think that you’re going to be able to stop me?” Corrupted Spike’s voice echoed again. “You are in my domain…my magic is floating in the air, traveling through the walls, flowing through the floors…” Bright blue flames came to life in sconces at the far end of the hallway, “Let me welcome you into my home…” The flames shot down the hall towards them, lighting it up in the process. The group’s expression turned into horror at what they saw.

Bodies. Countless bodies of Hellions, their husks lying in positions as if they had been scrambling to escape something. Fluttershy gasped and took a couple steps back away from a Hellion whose face was contorted into an expression of pure agony, and had it’s hooves outstretched towards her. Some of them were leaned up against the walls, mouths agape, and faces sunken in more so than before. 

“You like it? I did a bit of decorating while you were out fighting.” Corrupted Spike’s voice started up again. “They weren’t really all for the idea, but you know…’my house, my rules’.” There was another small chuckle, “But please, feel free to make yourselves comfortable. After all…”

A set of bright green orbs with red magic wisp trails stared down at them,

”You won’t be leaving this place ever again…"

A jagged pillar of ebony rock shot forth from the ground, and slammed into Applejack. She hit the opposite wall with a heavy thud, before crumpling to the ground. Pinkie wordlessly bounded for her, but shrapnel rained down from the ceiling, 

“Pinkie!!”

Sparks leaped towards her, horn ablaze, as she formed a dome of magic over Pinkie’s body. The shrapnel bounced off the dome, each piece lightly clinking to the ground. Applejack and Pinkie were enveloped in a veil of magic, and whisked over to Sparks’ sides. She tossed the Earth Ponies closer to the group, then sent the dome to hover over them. Dash banged on the dome,

“Put this damn thing down!”

More shrapnel shot out from the walls. The strands of her crystalline coat tucked close to her body, forming a shield. The shrapnel bounced off of her, and she remained completely unfazed. Twilight cocked her head to the side a bit,

“When did you learn how to do that?”

Sparks looked over her body, noticing it glimmer from the firelight, “I didn’t…”

The eyes at the end of the hall glowed ominously. A massive dark colored, scaly tail slunk out of the darkness. The group immediately honed in on it.

“I see that mere tricks are not going to work on you all…” the tail rose up a bit from the ground, “I am waiting for you, right down the end of this hall.” The tip wiggled a bit in a come-hither motion., “You can stand there and let me just kill you off…or you can come to me, and still be destroyed. The choice is yours.”

With that, the eyes seem to get higher, before swiveling around into the darkness. The tail soon followed the eyes. The fires in the sconces winked out, sending the hall back into a deeper shade of black. Twilight and Sparks sent glowing magic into their horns to light up the area around them.

“Well then…Spike’s called us out.” Applejack started. “No more games…this is it.”

She started to step forward. Pinkie grabbed her tail to stop her, then spat it out when she earned her attention,

“Hang on a second.” Pinkie protested. “We could be walking into a trap! We could step forward and more of the skewers could turn us into pony kabobs!”

Dash rolled her eyes, “Pinks, you’ve had acidic magic thrown on your face, been stabbed, been slammed into the ground, been shot at, been poisoned, and everything else that can happen to a pony under Twilight’s EvenTide. Are you really that worried about another little poke through the gut?”

Pinkie let out a tiny sigh of defeat, “Fine…I guess…”

Sparks smiled at her, “Then how about I go first, to make sure it’s good to go?”

The others looked at her,

“That’s too dangerous. You could set off a trap and be killed.” Fluttershy stated.

“Yes, but if I die, the Element will find another host, and you will have a new Bearer to assist you.”

Dash grabbed a hoof-full of her tail, then yanked the younger Unicorn back.

“Sparky, there’s a couple of things wrong with that statement of yours.” The Wonderbolt started, “First off, we have no idea who the next Bearer will be or where they would be in the world. Shit, we didn’t even know it was going to be you. So that’s a no go. Secondly,” she smirked and threw a foreleg over her shoulder, “We don’t want you getting replaced. If you go, we go.”

Sparks smiled at her, “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Rainbow Dash is too formal. Just ‘Rainbow’ or ‘Dash’ works fine.” Her expression turned serious, “Alright, nowhere to go but forward!”

Dash’s wings snapped open and she launched herself into the air. Fluttershy outstretched her wings and followed suit, while the four Earth-bound ponies galloped down the hall. Twilight and Sparks used their magic to open to the doors, and were greeted by utter blackness. The same glowing orbs from before shined bright across from them,

“My little ponies…” the eyes crinkled up at them, “Welcome to…my humble abode…”

Violet fire burst to life from sconces on the walls. Just as they did in the hall, they spread from sconce to sconce until they reached the walls behind the Fallen. And just like the last time, they did not light up a portion of the other side of the room. The tail hit the ground with a heavy thud, while the beast it was attached to remained in the shadows that it almost seemed to be producing on it’s own. This room was not littered with the rotting husks of dead Hellions, but was a polished, onyx floor. The smooth floor however, was marred by towering pillars of dark violet crystals and tiny craters that spurted black fire. A long violet rug strip cut the room in half, starting at the doors, before crossing the room and into the darkness from where the eyes stared down at them. Twilight took a couple steps forward,

“Show yourself! Now!”

A chuckle rumbled through the room, “You’ve done incredibly well to get this far, Fallens. I suppose that you deserve to see the new body of Evil…”

There was the sound of a single snap, and a massive pillar of fire rose up on each side of the eyes, showing the beast that they were attached to. Shock and horror carved themselves onto each of the ponies’ faces. Twilight slightly shook her head as she uttered out a sentence softly.

“Spike…what has this thing done to you?...”

Corrupted Spike was sitting in his massive throne chair and was much, much larger than they had remembered him to be. His color scheme had changed, his violet scales now a dark silver, and his emerald scales now dark crimson. The bone plates that ran along the top of his head and down his back were dark silver as well, and were longer than before, curving upward like upside-down scythes. Little plumes of black fire burned on random places on his body, each producing a small crackling sound as they devoured the oxygen surrounding him. The magic wisps from his eyes had gotten longer as well, and his pupils shrank to vertical slits as he leaned down a bit,

“Do you remember when you were my host, and I tried to make him better?” Corrupted Spike questioned. “Well, it was after I obtained this body, that I realized how pathetic yours was. Your Element of Magic made it quite bothersome. But now…” he extended his claws out to observe them, “I have more strength in one hand, than you have in your tiny little body. And let’s not forget the fact that you were an Alicorn when this all transpired. Now, you’re just an old Unicorn, leading four other old mares and a youngling who probably can’t tell the difference between her head and her own ass.”

Sparks snorted angrily, “And you are but a foolish lizard. You claim to be the most powerful being in existence, yet I see otherwise.” She retaliated. “In fact, you are one of the most disgraceful forms of magic that I have ever laid eyes upon. You cannot even bring the destruction that you so crave unto us, without the aid of some unfortunate soul who has crossed paths with you. You are the incessant whisper in someone’s ear, that nagging thought in the back of their mind, and a defiler of pure hearted creatures. You can only strike when someone is at their weakest, and even then, you are still not fully in control. You are so pathetic, that you don’t even have a true body to call your own…”

Corrupted Spike roared in anguish and rose from his throne. The crystal pillars rose even higher, before arcing downward, and shooting towards the Fallen. Twilight leapt in front of Sparks, her eyes and horn lit up with magic. The pillars stopped, mere inches from their faces, before turning back to aim at mighty dragon.

“I still have some of your magic, remember?” Twilight questioned as the pillars crept upwards towards him. “And these crystals were my creation. I will not let you turn them against me.”

Corrupted Spike smirked, “You don’t have it in you to kill me…” he smacked his hands against the pillars, shattering them into massive chunks. His smirk turned into a wicked sneer, “But that won’t keep me from destroying YOU!!!”

He quickly lunged towards the ponies. They all barely dodged him, his weight slamming into the wall so hard, that the entire room shook. Twilight summoned black crystal pillars from the walls, giving her friends a place to land. They looked down at him as he rose to his feet.

“What are we going to do?” Fluttershy questioned. “I mean, Dashie and I can fly to avoid him, but what about you guys?”

Sparks looked up at the crystal Twilight was on, “Do a knowledge transfer spell on me so that I can summon EvenTide Crystals too. I’m afraid I’ll mess it up based on the knowledge Rarity had given me all those years ago.”

Twilight’s eyes started to glow, “Step closer to me, the distance is still a bit too far.”

Sparks stepped closer to the edge of her pillar. Twilight’s horn started to glow, then flicker,

“Damn it. Still too far.” Her magic faded. “Let me try to get closer.”

Twilight started to walk towards the edge of her own pillar. Pinkie outstretched her hoof, 

“TWILIGHT!!!”

Twilight looked down at Pinkie’s crystal pillar, only to have something else catch her eye. A stream of fire was screaming towards her at an inescapable rate. The fire consumed her, knocking her off of her pillar and sending her hurdling to the ground. Dash started to gallop to the jump, but Fluttershy leapt before her and dived down for the falling Unicorn. She knew they were too close to the ground, and wrapped her wings around them as she clasped her forelegs around the Unicorn. They hit the ground with a heavy thud, and rolled. Twilight tumbled out of her grip, and smacked into the wall. Spike charged at her, a gleam of bloodlust in his eyes. Fluttershy scrambled to her hooves, but she knew she wouldn’t make it this time.

“Twilight, get the hell up, now!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Twilight’s glowing pupils returned once more, and she looked to see a massive hand ready to come down on her. It slammed down on her, each of the other ponies letting out cries of protest and horror. Everything was silent for a few seconds, before a chuckle rumbled out of Corrupted Spike’s throat. He raised his claws up, and looked down at the hand-shaped crater he created. Twilight was motionless, her crystal armor shattered, and her eyes completely black. Corrupted Spike chuckled, rose to his feet, and looked at the others,

“Now…who’s next?”

A screech emitted from Sparks was let loose into the room. Corrupted Spike turned to face Sparks, who’s eyes were glowing unnaturally bright. Her crystalline coat bristled up, reflecting the flames on the walls, giving her a bit of a glow.

“You’re going to pay!!” she screamed out, in a voice that was not completely her own, before charging at the mighty dragon. Corrupted Spike swiped at her, but she moved at a speed that gave the illusion of her vanishing into thin air. She landed on his arm, then quickly galloped up to his shoulder. She fired off a beam of magic that blasted his right eyeball, and made it pop almost instantly. He roared out in rage and pain, before grabbing Sparks and chucking her into the wall. Dash looked over at Pinkie and Applejack,

“Pinks, go and see if you can help out Twilight and Sparks. Applejack, you’re with me. You, me, and Fluttershy are going to distract him while she takes care of them.”

Applejack and Pinkie nodded in understanding. Pinkie started leaping from pillar to pillar to get down to Twilight and Sparks, while Applejack leapt on pillars to get closer to Corrupted Spike.

“Hey there, Hell King! I’m next!! Why don’t you see if you can take me on?!” Dash challenged. “I’m ready to whoop your scaly ass!!”

Corrupted Spike snarled and reached out to grab her. But, the loss of his eye had thrown off his depth perception. His ear frills perked up when he heard a whistle from behind,

“Howdy there! Ya seem ta be in quite a predicament!” Applejack pointed out. “C’mon now, why don’t ya use that unholy magic of yers ta heal yer eye?!”

He swiped for her too. Once again, his sight failed him.

“ENOUGH!! THE ONLY WAY TO BREAK YOU PONIES, IS TO BREAK YOUR SPIRITS!!”

He turned and looked down at where Twilight was. His eye opened a bit in shock when he saw that she was gone.

“Whoo-hoo! Over here!!”

He glanced up. Pinkie waved at him, before pointing at the mare that was on Fluttershy’s back,

“Is this who you were looking for?”

Fluttershy giggled and looked down at him, her red eyes gleaming with delight, “You seem very upset, Mr. Dragon.”

Corrupted Spike shot her a devilish grin, smoke billowing from his nostrils as he did.

“You seem to have forgotten somepony else.” He stated, small spurts of fire slipping between his teeth as he spoke. He started to turn his head towards his next available target; Sparks.

“Her…”

He inhaled a big gulp of air, before shooting off a massive wave of black blaze. Sparks struggled to her hooves. She looked up to see the fire coming at her, and knew that she wouldn’t be able to dodge it. The flames swarmed around her, ready to devour her in a never-ending blaze. Suddenly, there was a flash of brilliant white light with sapphire colored magic swirling through it, and the burning fire never came. When the light faded a bit, Sparks opened one of her eyes. Then, her other eye snapped open, and a huge smile made it's way on her face, while tears started to prick the corners of her eyes. She felt a lump in her throat as she tried to get a sentence out,

“You...you're here..."

The light faded more and more, until the source of it’s glow was visible. It was a beautiful, shining alabaster mare, that stood as tall as an Alicorn. She turned to look over at Sparks, her curled, violet mane bouncing a bit as she did. Her sparkling sapphire orbs gazed down at her, and she gave her a soft smile,

“Hello there, darling…"
> Dance With The Devil Pt. 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ringing in Twilight’s ears stirred her out of unconsciousness. Through her blurred vision, she could see Pinkie giving her a crooked grin,

“Hey there, sleepy head...”

Fluttershy popped into her field of view, “We’re so glad that you’re okay!!”

Twilight sat up, but winced as pain tore through her side. She looked down to see a massive gash on the side of her barrel, where the crystal armor hadn’t formed over yet.

“I don’t know why your armor hasn’t come back yet…but I injected the wound with a coagulant and a topical anesthetic. The anesthetic should kick in soon, so you should be okay.”

Twilight glanced over at Pinkie and Fluttershy, giving them grateful looks as she slowly rose to her hooves. She suddenly felt a wave of magic wash over her. It was gentle, soothing, and had a familiar aura about it. The light scent of lilac wafted into her nostrils, and her ears perked up as she faintly heard a mare’s voice speak. She tried to take a couple steps towards the edge of the crystal, but stumbled. Fluttershy quickly walked over to support her fellow pony, as they all walked to the edge. What they saw made them smile, tear up, and their hearts pound all at the same time.

“My gods…” Twilight felt herself start to tremble in excitement. “Rarity?…”

Sparks’ grin got even bigger, “I can’t believe this…I’m so glad that you’re here, Maste-”

She was silenced as a white hoof was placed onto her lips. Rarity shook her head,

“No dear. I’m no longer your mentor.” She moved her hoof away from Sparks’ lips, “One would not even call me a pony anymore. I am the Spirit of Generosity..."

She lightly stroked Sparks’ mane, her smile turned into a motherly, protective one. She then turned and faced Corrupted Spike, all traces of gentleness voided from her face,

“I have come to learn something, Corrupted One.” Rarity started. “I’ve learned, that no matter what you do, you will never win this war.”

“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!!” the dragon snapped. “I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU GOT BACK HERE, BUT WHEN I KILL YOU THIS TIME, I’M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU STAY DEAD!!!”

He reached out for the two Unicorns. Rarity dodged him with ease, while a still slightly dizzy Sparks scrambled to get away. Sparks felt hooves wrap around her torso, and looked up to see Dash had scooped her up. She dropped her onto a crystal pillar, then landed beside her,

“I can’t believe it! Look how tall she is! How is she doing this?!” Dash shook Sparks, “Or are you doing this?! Are you the reason she's tall too?!”

Sparks was still too awestruck that Rarity had returned, and slightly confused by her statement. The Spirit of Generosity? She was the previous Element’s Bearer, but that still didn’t make too much sense. Applejack hopped up to the crystal pillar they were on, 

“While ya’ll are sittin’ here all willy-nilly, we got a bigger problem on our hooves!!”

Dash and Sparks looked down to see Pinkie and Fluttershy were dodging punches, kicks, and fire blasts from Corrupted Spike. Twilight focused her magic to heal her armor, before leaping onto the massive drake’s arm. He swiped at her, but missed, allowing her to leap onto his other arm and gallop up it to his shoulder. He spat out a wad ball made of molten rock onto her. It hit her with a loud *THWACK!!*, sticking to her armor and completely engulfing her. It hardened instantly, freezing her within it. He smirked and flicked the ball of molten rock off of him. The ball exploded on impact, and Twilight fell to the ground once more. She quickly leapt to her hooves, and charged towards him once more. Pinkie galloped up beside her,

“You can’t just keep trying to tackle him! Do you have another plan?!”

They saw Corrupted Spike’s fist coming for them, and began leaping up the crystal pillars. Rarity suddenly caught his eye, and he turned to pursue her. Twilight stared at the mare, entranced by her. Her coat, mane, and tail were glowing, and her eyes had a sapphire shine to them. Rarity fired off a blast of magic that seared off most of the scales on Corrupted Spike’s face. He belted out another roar of frustration and chased after her. She tore her gaze away from the scene to look back at Pinkie,

“I need to get closer to Bright Spark. If I can do a knowledge transfer spell, she can help me summon more of the crystals. That way, she and I can take turns being on the offense and defense.”

Pinkie nodded in understanding, before she jumped off of the pillar, and into the chaos in search of Sparks. Streaks of rainbow shot across the room, as Dash repeatedly slammed herself into the Dragon’s face, then zipping away before his teeth could snap down on her. Fluttershy, now further into the monstrous stages of her vampiric form, was also lunging at the dragon, spearing through his scales and piercing his flesh with her fangs. He’d swing at her, but her heightened speed made him miss time and time again. Finally, the pale grey coat of Spark caught her eyes. She was climbing higher and higher onto the crystals pillars. Rarity was close behind her, hopping from pillar to pillar. They stopped when they were once again out of Corrupted Spike’s reach. The Unicorns were exchanging a few words, before Sparks turned her head in Twilight’s direction. Rarity soon followed, before her sapphire orbs settled on Twilight’s form. Twilight could immediately feel a lump rising into her throat, and a grin spreading underneath her crystal helmet. The mare smiled at her for a few moments, before she turned and walked away from the edge. She trotted until she reached where the crystal burst from the wall, then turned back around. She lowered her head just a bit, before breaking out into a gallop. Her hooves pounded at the pillar, sending hairline fractures through it, as she raced towards the end of it. She coiled her legs tightly and leaned close to the crystal, before springing off of it. Sparks caught Twilight’s gaze for just a moment, as she leapt onto another pillar, the one that had been underneath her hooves crumbled away from the force of Rarity’s jump. Just as the glowing snow colored mare recaptured Twilight’s attention, she had recaptured Corrupted Spike’s as well. The massive dragon got a wicked sneer on his face, crouching down, and his irises turning into slits, as he honed in on her. He leapt into the air, and to the others’ horror, snapped his claws around Rarity’s body. He hit the ground with an earth shaking thud, thick torrents of smoke billowing from his mouth and nostrils. He pulled Rarity close to his face, his eyes glimmering with the blackest of desires for destruction,

“Finally…I have you in my grasp once more…”

Rarity stared back at him, not even the faintest glint of fear in her eyes. His grin got toothier and viler. He opened his mouth just a crack, and the back of his throat glowing with fire as he summoned it from his core. Rarity continued to look up at him. His mouth opened wider, flicks of flames reaching out towards her. Twilight lunged for him,

“LET HER GO!!!”

Corrupted Spike’s head snapped up towards her. A snarl rumbled up with the flames, and a roar soon followed after, as he belted out hellfire from his throat. Twilight threw all of her weight to one side to avoid the brunt of the spiraling fire attack, a few flames only licking at her armor. She slammed into his snout with enough force to hear an audible crack from both her armor, and his snout. She ‘thunked’ against his shoulder, before limply rolling off of him. Just before her irises faded, she saw Rarity staring down at her with wide eyes, screaming something out at her. Her vision completely darkened, she felt something collide with the side of her barrel, a tumbling sensation…then nothing.


~MLP~


"Get up…RIGHT NOW."

Twilight’s irises flashed back to life at the booming command. She knew who the voice belonged to, and wouldn’t dare to disobey. She rose to her hooves, her ears twitching as the sound of tinkling crystals reached them. She looked over to see Sparks rising to her hooves, her irises flickering, as if she were struggling to stay conscious. They both staggered a bit, as a surge of magic washed over them, filling the white void they were residing in with a soft humming sound.

“Look at me.”

They both turned to the sound of the voice. Ubenox stood before them, as proud and regal as a deity could be. His eyes however, burned with an intensity that Twilight had never seen before.

“Twilight Sparkle…Bright Spark…what have you two done?”

A chill ran through both of the Unicorns. Ubenox was never known to address a being by their name without the title of 'Follower' in front of it. Twilight knew this through the various encounters, and Sparks knew from her time reading any tomes that pertained to the arcane, and the rulers of such things. Twilight, the braver of the two, replied to him,

“I’m terribly sorry, Great One…but I don’t know what it is that Bright Spark or I have done.”

“I have gone against my code as a deity…” Ubenox started. “I showed faith in the faithless…”

“Great One…forgive me for speaking out…but what have we done?” Sparks questioned.

Ubenox’s eyes shined with a fierce light, “YOU ARE WASTING WHAT I HAVE BESTOWED UPON YOU!!!”

Sparks flinched, while Twilight continued to stare up at him. Slowly and carefully, she looked up and down his form. He was still massive, muscles rippling under his coat. And yet…

He looked just a bit smaller than she recalled.

His mane and tail still flowed, twinkling from the billions of stars within it, and the planets that floated across it, each reflected the light of their own respective suns.  Still…

They didn’t seem quite as luminescent as she remembered them to be.

His coat was still cut vertically down the middle of his body. One side, a shade of deep ebony, while the other side was a shimmering ivory. But…

She knew that his coat was so much duller than she had ever seen it before.

She studied his eyes. They were still teal. They still showed knowledge that she knew most ponies couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Still shining with power that would make all ponies tremble before him. However…

There was a weight behind them...a tiredness unlike anything she had ever seen. A dark glint behind them that made Twilight’s eyes widen in realization,

“You gave us some of your own power??”

Ubenox nodded slowly, “Do you really think you both would have survived this long, with remnants of the Corrupted One’s magic within you?” Ubenox questioned. “Bright Spark's transformation was the signaling of something bigger at stake. The scale was tipping in Evil’s favor. The Corrupted One’s magic could now be transferred without it having to have taken over that being’s body. But now, I have given you so much of my strength that I do not even have any power left in my reserves.” His eyes crinkled up, and for the first time that Twilight had ever seen, he bared his teeth at her,

“YOU HAVE MADE ME INTO A FOOL!!” he roared out. His eyes shined brighter, and his mane and tail flared with angry power. Twilight stood up straighter, and stared him straight in the eyes,

“Tell us what to do, Great One.”

Ubenox snorted, “I have already told you what to do! You all had been listening to me up until this point!”

“No you haven’t. You’ve been leaving us clues and riddles, then leaving us to figure them out.” Twilight started. “You want to redeem yourself? Then help us!!”

Sparks was taken aback. It was completely unheard of to speak out without permission, but to shout back at the son of the universe? Twilight was going to die.

“YOU DARE TO SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY?!” Ubenox boomed. “SUCH TONES WILL BE RETRIBUTED WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR SOUL!!”

Twilight stomped her hoof defiantly, “You gave Bright Spark and I some of your powers. You cannot destroy me or her.” She then took her eyes off of him, and knelt before him, “But I still have much respect for you, Great One. If I speak out that is not to your liking, it is because I am simply concerned for the well-being of my family and my friends.” She then looked back up at him, still kneeling before him, “I implore you, to help us defeat the Corrupted One. You have already given us some of your power. Surely you could push the boundaries just a bit more, and just tell us what we need to do.”

The void that they were residing went completely quiet. Ubenox stared down at the Unicorns, his eyes searching them, as he contemplated his next words.

“I…cannot…” Ubenox slowly replied. “I cannot just give the answers that you seek. If I were to ever break the verbal code, I would never be able to speak to mortals again…” he looked off into the nothingness, “And by giving you so much of my magic, I have already gone against the gods. Whether or not you are able to stop the Corrupted One, I still will be punished for this misdeed.” He looked back at them, his eyes softening, “But…if you ask the right questions…then perhaps…I can help just a bit more…”

Twilight’s crystal helmet retracted back to expose her face. She smiled up at him. She quickly made it vanish, then rose to her hooves,

“Is there a way to kill the Corrupted One?”

“It's mortal form can be killed…but not his essence.”

Sparks stepped forward, “May I have your permission to speak, Great One?”

Ubenox nodded, “You may continue.”

“You have stated that there’s no way to kill it. But…is there at least a way to defeat it? Keep it from finding another host?”

He nodded, “There is…however, I cannot give the answer.”

Twilight started to speak, but Ubenox held up a hoof,

“Twilight Sparkle…for as long as your soul has been shining in this universe, you have always been one to over-analyze and worry about every single detail…” his gaze softened even more and a tiny smile appeared on his face, “There is a Spirit of Harmony that walks among you. Her purpose is to protect the Elements, and their bearers at any cost. Listen to what she has to say. Her role does not require her to make any pacts with the gods or goddesses.” He leaned down just a bit, his tired smile growing a bit bigger,

“She has free reign of her will. She can say, what I cannot…”

Twilight and Sparks smiled back up at him. The moment was cut short however, as the empty world around them started to tremble. He looked around into the nothing, then back down at them,

“I no longer have the strength to return you back to the waking world.” Ubenox stated grimly.

Sparks looked up at him, “Then how are we supposed to get out of here?!” the trembling got stronger, and they started to feel raging heat against their coats. “We have to go and help the others!!”

“Bright Spark, you are now the Bearer of Generosity! And whether you knew this before or not, you are more in tune with your Element than the other Bearers! Use the link to your advantage!!"

Twilight turned to look at the younger mare. How had the newest Element Bearer become the strongest one out of them? Her confusion rose to higher levels, as Sparks looked around in panic.

“Um! I need help, Generosity! Help us please!”

The void world around them continued to crumble into destruction.

“Nothing’s working!!”

“TRY HARDER!!” Twilight snapped.

Sparks flinched, then inhaled and took a couple of calming breaths. She opened her eyes, determination shining brightly behind them,

“HELP US NOW, SO THAT I CAN SAVE MY FAMILY!!”

In an instant, a set of ocean blue eyes appeared in front of her. They glanced over at Twilight, then settled back on Sparks. They started to glow, and Twilight and Sparks were enveloped in a swirling aura of blue and violet. The last thing they felt, was a strong yanking sensation, before Ubenox and the void vanished from their sight.


~MLP~


Sparks and Twilight snapped their eyes open. They sat upright and looked around. The battle was still going on. They were sitting on one of the highest crystal pillars in the room. Rarity was standing in between them,

“I will always keep you safe, Bearer of Generosity, and Bearer of Magic.” Rarity stated. She looked back and forth between them, “Are you two ready to jump back into the fray?”

Twilight slowly rose to her hooves. She looked up, and stared deep into Rarity’s eyes,

“Rarity…do you…do you remember who I am?”

Rarity smiled softly at her, “You are Twilight Sparkle, The Bearer of Magic.”

Twilight averted her disappointed gaze elsewhere. Rarity gently grabbed her chin, and tilted it towards her,

“You were also the last lover I had in my mortal life. And…the greatest one that I ever had. The one that was there for me for everything. The one who I would gladly lay my life down on the line for, my mortal one and spiritual one.”

Twilight let out a tiny chuckle of relief, “Thank the gods…I thought that you had forgotten who I was.”

“Darling, I may be the Spirit of Generosity…but I will always be your other half.”

The smile on Twilight’s face got bigger and goofier. She got on the tips of her hooves, but still couldn't touch the mare's muzzle,

"Um...you're...really tall. A little help please?"

Rarity giggled, before leaning down to nuzzle Twilight's snout with loving affection. Sparks felt bad that she had to cut their moment short.

“How do we defeat the Corrupted One?” she questioned. “Surely there’s a way to keep the cycle from repeating itself.”

“The Corrupted One feeds off of the desires and weaknesses of mortals. We need someone who has no desires to weaken them. Someone who can host the Corrupted One, without having anything for it to feed on.”

“A host? So…we’ll have to sacrifice someone else, just because they’re strong?” Sparks asked angrily. “Basically turn this whole thing into a ‘sacrifice a few for the many’ type of situation?”

“No…” Twilight answered in a soft voice. “She means someone that has virtually no emotions.”

“Someone like a robot?” her eyes widened. “Oh gods…you don’t mean-”

“Burning Sun.” Twilight finished sadly.

“But…she has feelings! She cares for us, just like anyone else!!”

“Yes, she does….but CBS-01 doesn’t. If we can get her to come here, Rainbow or myself can destroy her Memory Program, so that CBS-01 Protocol will activate in it’s place. She’d be a cyborg, completely devoid of emotions…making her the perfect container host for the Corrupted One.” She started searching the room for the cyan mechanic, “My headset is gone. We have to find Rainbow. She may still have another headset on her that works. She’ll be able to get in contact with her…”

“It’s not fair to her!” Sparks argued. “She cares about us, just as much as anyone else!”

“Burning Sun is Dash and I’s greatest creation!” Twilight snapped back. “She can be cold and calculating, yet gentle and sweet.” She looked down at the battle, “We tried to make her as close to Celestia as we possibly could…”

Sparks placed a hoof on her shoulder, “I’m sorry for questioning your judgment, Twilight. I know that she’s important to you, and I’m sorry you have to make this decision…”

She leaned forward and lightly nuzzled her cheek. Suddenly, the sound of screaming drew their attention.

“LOOK OUT!!!”

They looked to see Dash careening towards them. She slammed into the pillar, shattering it, and forcing the others to jump onto other pillars. She continued through the debris, and smacked into the ceiling. A few pieces of it fell from the imprint she had made, and she started to fall back to the ground. Sparks sprung into action, leaping off of her pillar towards Dash. She outstretched her forelegs, colliding into the Pegasus, and sending them towards another pillar. Sparks flipped them in mid-air, so that her crystalline coat would protect them while she was sliding against the pillar, and slamming into the wall. They laid there for a few moments, before Dash rolled out of her grasp.

“Thanks, Sparky…I owe you one…”

Sparks slightly rubbed her head, “Well, I’d like to cash in my favor now.”

Dash helped Sparks to her hooves, “Sure kid. What do you need me to do?”

“Does your headset work?”

Dash tapped her mouthpiece a couple times, then the ear piece.

“Yeah, but barely. Why, what’s up?”

“We need to get in contact with Burning Sun. We need her here.”

Dash nodded, then pressed down on her mouthpiece. “Burning Sun, please respond immediately!”

Crackle. Crackle. Static.

“I repeat, Burning Sun, please respond immediately!!”

Crackle. Static. Warbled sounds.

“This is Burning Sun. I read you, but not very well. What’s wrong, Rainbow Dash?”

“We need you at the castle pronto! When you get here, meet up with Sparky!”

“Good to go, Rainbow Dash. My ETA is 5 minutes.”

Dash clicked her mouthpiece off, “She said she’ll be here in five. Is there anything you need us to do until then?”

“We need to keep the Hell King distracted until she gets here, so that Twilight can do what she needs to do.”

Dash snapped her wings open and leaned down a bit, “Well hop on. Let’s go and make a BIG distraction for him.”

Sparks smirked and climbed onto the old Wonderbolt’s back. Dash galloped to the edge of the pillar, then dived towards Corrupted Spike. Sparks fired her horn up,

“Keep flying straight, but lower your head a bit! I don’t wanna burn off the top of it!” Sparks screamed. 

Dash obeyed, and tucked her head down. Sparks reeled her head back, then shot off a beam of powerful magic, that exploded upon contact to Corrupted Spike’s face. The dragon blew the smoke from his face and smacked them out of the air. Sparks once again flipped them in mid-air, so that she would receive the brunt of the blow. They crashed into the ground, so hard, that they drilled a hole into the floor.  Corrupted Spike reeled his fist back, preparing to deal a heavy blow. Sparks’ eyes snapped open, and she summoned a shield to protect them. It warped under his fist, but didn’t break. He snarled in frustration, and punched the shield again. It bent more under the weight, but still held it’s own. The dragon reeled back for the third time. Sparks looked at Dash,

“I can’t hold this up much longer! I’m going to teleport you out of here!”

“No way! I’m not leaving you in this pit!”

They both flinched when a loud crackling sound rang in their ears. They looked up to see hairline fractures all over the shield. Sparks turned to look back over at Dash,

“You will die if-”

*CRACK!*

“If I don’t get you out of here! Even if this punch doesn’t kill me, and trust me, it wont,-”

*CRACK!!*

“Then Fluttershy will when she gets her hooves on me for not saving you!!”

Bits of the shield broke off and crumbled into magic dust.

“WE DON’T HAVE ANYMORE TIME!!”

Sparks teleported Dash out of harm’s way, just as Corrupted Spike’s fist broke through the shield. He drove his fist into her body. She let out a wispy screech of pain. He smiled and raised his fist in the air again.

Rarity leapt in between the fist and Sparks.

There was a blinding flash of sapphire and violet magic.

Corrupted Spike froze his eyes growing wide with surprise, as his whole arm was immobilized. Thick strands of magic were wrapped around his forearm. Rarity was standing over Sparks’ broken form, her eyes glowing with a rich, royal purple hue,

“I will not let you kill this mare!!!” Rarity’s voiced boomed out threateningly, “Not so long as I am the Spirit of Generosity!!”

The drake tried to pull his arm out of the magic, but to no avail. He used his free hand to swipe at her. She summoned a wall of purple magic and looked down at Sparks,

“Darling, I need you to stand up.”

Sparks let out a small groan of pain. She cracked an eye open and focused on Rarity,

“Rarity…you saved me…”

“Get up!”

She struggled to rise to her hooves. Her legs trembled under her weight.

“Stand up, Bright Spark!!”

A wave of willpower coursed through Sparks, causing her to rise to her hooves quickly. With newfound vigor, she stood tall beside the white Unicorn, who gave her a small smile,

“Good job darling…I’m glad to see you’re back on your hooves.” Her smile disappeared, “Now…I, am your Spirit of Harmony. Your magic is my strength, and my magic is yours. So,” she outstretched her hoof, “Let’s help the others put an end to the Corrupted One's destruction.”

Sparks smiled and touched her hoof to Rarity’s. The moment they connected, another surge of raw magic radiated through the room. Corrupted Spike was tossed to the other side of the room, and landed on his back on the floor. Rarity’s body dissipated into alabaster, sapphire, and violet magic that swirled around Sparks’ body. It continued to flow around her, forming into thick tendrils of magic that lashed out at Corrupted Spike as he rose to his feet. Dash landed beside her,

“That was freakin’ awesome!” Dash stated excitedly. “But…where’s Rarity?”

One of the tendrils wrapped around Dash’s foreleg, momentarily startling her, and earning her attention,

“I am the magic in the air that protects the Bearer of Generosity.” Rarity’s disembodied voice replied. “And I will not just protect her, but all of you.”

“Wait…you’re ‘magic’? So…are you dead or-”

Dash was cut off as Corrupted Spike charged at them, with his fangs bared and claws glimmering from the fires lit around the room. He outstretched his arm, ready to grab them. Just as his claws were about to slice them to shreds, Applejack landed in between them. She turned and coiled her hind legs back, her body glowing with a bright orange aura. Corrupted Spike was going far too fast, and sailed over her, exposing his throat to her. She smiled at the opportunity, and bucked him in the throat. The muscles in his throat contracted violently, and he grabbed his throat as pain tore through it. He fell over onto his side, his pinpricked pupils focusing on Applejack.

“You…little…shit!” he managed to croak out, before the pain in his throat was too much for him to speak. Applejack simply smirked and joined the trio, giving Dash a high-hoof as she did. She stepped closer to Sparks and lightly swiped at the magic wisps surrounding her,

What’s up with all these tentacles floatin’ around ya?” Applejack questioned as she swiped some more at the tendrils. “Are they fer some freaky fetish of yers? Ya get yer rocks off fighin’?”

One of the tendrils smacked Applejack’s hoof,

“Really now, must you be so uncouth?”

Applejack’s jaw dropped, “Rares? But…how? Not that Ah ain’t surprised that yer here already…but Ah’m so confused…”

“All will be explained in due time, Applejack. The Corrupted One’s magic is being weakened the more we attack him. I can still sense Spike from within, and we must try to reach him. Only he knows the spell to place the Corrupted One into another being.”

Corrupted Spike started to rise up, but Pinkie cannon balled into the side of his face, knocking him back to the ground. She hit the ground with a heavy *THUNK*, but quickly rose to her feet,

“STAY DOWN!!”

She turned and galloped over to the others, while Fluttershy landed down beside Applejack. Corrupted Spike opened his eye, looking over at the group of ponies,

‘How are they doing this to me?’ he thought to himself. ‘This is different than before…I can’t even heal myself like I should be able to…’

‘It’s because I’ll never let you truly have this body.’ Spike’s voice replied from within. ‘I told you from the beginning, they will do everything that they can possibly do to stop you. They will defeat you.’

‘This body is mine, whether you want to believe it or not. I’ve already taken it, and I'm not going to let you stop me from healing it. And now...I’m going to destroy them before your very eyes with it.’ Corrupted Spike let out a wheezy chuckle, earning the attention of the ponies,

“You’re never going to defeat me. Do you understand?” He slowly rose to his feet once more. “I am all things wicked. I am the despair and sorrows of the world. I am the dark desires and twisted thoughts of all beings with a conscience. I am Evil itself.”

Small pillars of black fire started to rise up from between his scales. His wounds healed, and it looked like none of them had even laid a single hoof on him,

“And I’m going to be your end…”

He was on top of them before they could even react. He swiped up Dash into his grasp, and glared down at her as she struggled to free herself from his grip. Fluttershy snarled and shot into the air, fangs glimmering, and honed in on his face. He back handed her, sending her crashing into a wall and crumpling down into a dazed heap of a pony on the floor. He smirked at her, then turned his gaze back to Dash,

“Kick my scaly ass all up and down my castle…” he tapped his chin, “I recall a certain Pegasus telling me that.” He brought Dash closer to his face, “Well?! WHY DON’T YOU KICK MY ASS?!”	

Dash stared him in the eyes. She inhaled, making a big, wet, snorting sound. She pulled her lips back and hocked a loogie on his face. He roared out,

“HOW DARE YOU!!!”

He inhaled, and fire started to rise up from his throat. Pinkie hopped onto Sparks’ back,

“Use these weird magic thingies to get me up there!!”

Sparks instantly obeyed,

“Rarity, get me up there!!”

The tendrils shot forth, wrapping around Corrupted Spike’s arm, and quickly helping Sparks make her way towards his mouth. Twilight followed suit, at near blinding speed. Her eyes went wide with horror, when she saw the color of the flames that were rising.

“The black flames…”

Twilight focused magic into her horn, and used it to yank Pinkie off of Sparks' back,

“Hey!!!” the pink pony screamed as she flew by from being tossed back to the ground by the Unicorn. Twilight used all of her strength to catch up to Sparks and yell out to her,

“Grab Rainbow!!”

Sparks galloped faster, faster than she ever had before. She saw the black fire crawling up his throat, ready to be released. She landed on his hand and fired off the beam at the back of his throat. Before her vision was enveloped by smoke, and her body was engulfed in the black fire, she heard Twilight zip by her. Corrupted Spike went into a coughing fit, while Sparks slammed into the ground, flames still licking away at her crystal coat. Her tricolor magic tendrils were lashing about, trying to get rid of the black flames. Sparks trudged her way over to the others. Twilight held up a hoof,

“Don’t come any closer!” she urged. “Those flames never stop burning. While it may not have any effect on you, if it were to touch the others, they will die from it.”

Sparks glanced over at Dash’s prosthetic wing. Her eyes widened when she saw a little spurt of black fire burning away at it. She pointed at the wing with a shaky hoof,

“She’s burning!!”

All attention was focused onto Dash’s wing, as the flames started to get bigger. They quickly swallowed up half of the wing, and were making their way towards the base of it.

“We’ve gotta get that wing offa her!” Applejack shouted.

Pinkie snapped her head in Twilight’s direction, “Twilight, make me a hatchet!”

Twilight quickly summoned an EvenTide crystal, and used her magic to mold it into a makeshift hatchet. She levitated it over to Pinkie, who quickly snatched it out of her magical grasp. She held it high in the air, and smacked the blade down where the flesh and metal met. Dash cried out in agony as Pinkie yanked what few wires still attached the melting prosthetic to her. She tossed it aside, then reached into her thigh satchel to pull out a small jar.

“This paste is going to burn really bad, really quickly.” Pinkie stated, as she popped the lid and grabbed a small hoof-ful. “Just ride out the pain, and we’ll keep you safe until it stops.” She looked over at Fluttershy, who was still rubbing her head,

“You good to fly, Fluttershy?”

“I’ll be fine…” she scooped Dash up into her forelegs. “I’ll get her out of here, then jump back right into the fight…”

She flew up to the highest pillar in the room, while the others focused on Corrupted Spike. He pounded away at his chest, coughing up blood and smoke. He finally cleared his throat, and honed in on Sparks.

“You…you should be dead…my Hellfire should’ve killed you off….”

The fire continued to burn on her coat. Each crystal strand that was being affected by the black fire fell off, and was immediately replaced with another. Eventually, her old coat laid all around her, black flames still dancing around on them. She looked up at him,

“Where is the spirit of the dragon whose body you stole? I wish to speak to him!”

Corrupted Spike snorted and smirked down, “He has perished, and soon, you shall join him.”

He reeled his fist back, using his magic to engulf it in black flames. The magic surrounding Sparks peeled away from her, shaping and molding itself into Rarity. Corrupted Spike brought his fist forward,

‘NO!!!!!’

The dragon stopped, eyes wide with rage and confusion. His massive fist was mere inches from Rarity’s face, trembling as a war broke out within him. Rarity took this opportunity to speak up,

“Spike…I know you’re still in there…somewhere…I could feel your loving aura when we were outside.” She took a couple steps forward, “We need your help, Spike. Now more than ever.”

Corrupted Spike’s face contorted with suffering, as a voice struggled to escape his throat,

“I…want…to…help…”

Twilight’s eyes lit up, and she stepped closer to the drake, “Spike?! Thank the gods, you’re still alive!”

A pained smile made it’s way across the dragon’s lips, “I’m so glad…to see you too…”

“Spike, we need your help…we can’t truly defeat the Corrupted One without you…”

Corrupted Spike’s arm trembled violently,

“I won’t let you help them!!”

“I won’t let this go on!!”

He grabbed his wrist with his other hand, and pulled his arm back. He backed away from them in an attempt to keep them safe. The beating sound of wings in the air drew their attention, as Burning landed beside Applejack.

“Rainbow Dash summoned me here.” She started. She then looked up at Corrupted Spike, “Have I been called here to help dispose of the Hell King?”

“In a sense…” Twilight responded as she walked up to her. “We…we have a big mission for you to complete.”

“What is it?”

Twilight looked down at the ground for a second, then back up at her,

“We need your body…to use it as a container for the Corrupted One.”

Burning remained silent, her face expressionless. Twilight shifted uncomfortably,

“Please…say something.”

“That mission can be accomplished.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, “Burning Sun…”

“Just tell me what I need to do.”

“We don’t want to have you dealing with the Corrupted One, nor do we want it feeding on your thoughts and emotions. So…we need to destroy your Memory Program, so that only the CBS-01 Protocol remains.” Twilight averted her gaze elsewhere. “I’m…I’m sorry…”

Burning tilted Twilight’s chin up, so that she was looking her in the eyes,

“Twilight…my purpose is to help in the war with the Hell King, in any way that I can. If I must be sacrificed so that the world is at peace again, then so be it. It will be but a small price to pay for the greater good.” She leaned closer to her, “I know that my spirit lies within my Memory Program…and to be honest…I would love nothing more than to be reunited with my sister in the afterlife…”

Twilight smiled softly at her, “And I would want nothing more than for you to be happy…”

Burning looked at the others, “You all have been destined for greatness from the moment you all were born.” She looked up at Corrupted Spike. “Fate has chosen to end my second life here, and help you all complete your destiny.” She looked over back at them. “Now…what else do you need me to do?”

“Stay out of sight, no matter what happens. When one of us calls for you, that’s when you show up, okay?”

Burning started to reply, but a gurgled roar emanated into the room. Twilight’s ears perked up, as did the other ponies’. They all turned to look at the dragon, who was looking at them with a pained expression on his face. His irises were no longer a crimson color, but bright emerald green, just as Twilight had remembered them to be. She took a couple steps forward,

“Sp-…Spike?”

“Spirit of o-old…to body of-”

Black electricity jumped all over his body,

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, LIZARD!!!”

“Body of new!!”

“What the hell is he talkin’ about?” Applejack questioned.

“Shut up, Applejack!” Twilight hissed. She looked up at the dragon desperately,

“Finish what you’re trying to tell me!”

“Possession…by CHOICE!!!-” he tensed up, “Is what I wish to do!!”

His massive hands wrapped around his scaly throat,

“I’LL CHOKE YOU UNTIL YOU’RE NO MORE!!” he screamed out. “I’LL KILL YOU OFF BEFORE I GIVE UP THIS BODY!!”

“You need me alive...to control this body...” he gurgled out.

“NOT ANYMORE I DON’T!!”

His eyes went wide. He let out a loud hacking sound.

“Stop him!!” Twilight shouted. “If he slips into unconsciousness, the Corrupted One will gain complete control again!”

Sapphire and violet aura tendrils rose up from underneath Rarity’s coat. She galloped closer to him, and the tendrils lashed out. They latched themselves onto one of his wrists, and slowly pulled his hand away from his throat. His gasped out, still struggling to breathe. Sparks leapt up some crystal pillars, and summoned one of her own. The crystal shot out towards the other hand, and pierced his forearm. It formed a hook on the end, and soon pulled the other hand away from him. He gulped in mouthfuls of air as he tried to normalize his breathing.

“Thank…you…” he spoke out, despite the fact that his body was still struggling to break free, against his will. “And through love so strong, an-”

The electricity returned with a vengeance, making his body tremble with pain.

“I…said…NOOO!!!”

“And void of strife!!” his eyes went wide and he focused on Twilight,

“I sacrifice my all…”

“I’LL DESTROY YOU!!!”

“AND GIVE YOU MY LIFE!!!”

The black electricity surged to levels unlike anything any of them had ever seen. It traveled through his fingertips, and down the crystal and tendrils. They hit Rarity and Sparks with full force, exploding on contact and sending them flying. The emerald irises vanished in an instant, replaced with the brightest shade of blood red. The purple wisps of magic were now long pillars of light that trailed from his eyeballs. He bared his fangs out at them,

“I’M NOT GOING TO PUT YOU INTO THE GROUND… OH NO...THAT WOULD BE FAR TO EASY!! I’M GOING TO TEAR AWAY AT YOUR FLESH UNTIL THERE’S NONE LEFT!!” he charged at them, “THEN I’M GOING TO GRIND YOUR BONES INTO DUST!!” he smacked Pinkie aside as hard as he could. Twilight barely heard the squeak of pain from her as Corrupted Spike still charged at her,

“AND WHEN I’VE EXPOSED YOUR BEATEN AND BATTERED SPIRIT…I’M GOING TO ENGULF IT IN BLACK FLAMES, AND LET IT BURN FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!!!”

He grabbed Twilight and clenched his fist. Twilight’s armor crunched and crackled under the pressure. He walked up to the nearest wall and drove Twilight’s head through it. When she was neck deep into the wall, Corrupted Spike walked down the side of it, dragging Twilight through the concrete. He pulled his fist out of the wall, then chucked her into the opposite wall. The sound of the impact stirred Dash into consciousness. Her ears twitched as she heard a couple of the crystal pillars near the impact site crumble and fall.

“Don’t try to move too much…” she heard Fluttershy softly order. “You’re still badly injured…”

Dash’s eyes snapped open, and that was when she felt pain surge through her back, more so in her shoulder blade. She looked over her shoulder to see that her prosthetic wing was gone. She noticed that the base of her wing was shredded and caked with dried blood at the end.

“Geez….Pinks fucked up my wing real good…I don’t think I can even hook up any of my other prosthetics up to this…”

“I know your wings are important to you…but we have a bigger problem right now…”

Dash saw Fluttershy look down over the side of the pillar. She followed her gaze, eyes resting on the dragon who was mauling Twilight in his rage. She immediately jumped to her hooves with a new vigor,

“We’ve gotta help her!”

Fluttershy gripped her uninjured shoulder, “Wait, you can’t go down there! You’ll get killed!”

Dash pulled away from her, “I can’t just stay up here while the rest of you girls keep fighting! What do I look like, a freakin’ punk?”

“How fast are you going to be able to go on your legs?”

“I trained my entire body when I was growing up. All of it. Now, I may not be able to go as fast as I can if I DID still have both of my wings, but I know damn well I can move fast enough to where I’ll be more than able to handle my own.” She walked to the edge of the pillar, “Now, I love ya babe. Really, I do. But you’re getting in the way of me helping the others. So, are you going to fly me back down to the ground, or do I have to start hopping until I get down there?”

Fluttershy let out a sigh of defeat, before scooping up Dash into her forelegs once more. She leapt off the edge and glided down. She saw Rarity reaching into a hole in the wall, and pulling Pinkie from out of it. She flew over to the couple,

“Oh my gods, are you alright?”

A massive shard of crystal was speared into Pinkie’s side. She winced as Rarity’s magic carefully pulled the offending object from the wound,

“I’ll be alright…” she studied the area where Dash’s prosthetic should’ve been. “How about you?”

Dash flapped her nub, “I’m great...” She looked up at Fluttershy, “Put me down. I have to go help Twilight.”

The sound of crashing rang out once more, as Corrupted Spike had grabbed Twilight, and thrown her into Applejack. Pinkie and Rarity’s eyes snapped open, as they rushed over to the injured ponies. Corrupted Spike slammed his fist down in from of them and sneered,

“I have not forgotten about you…”

He smacked Pinkie and Rarity again. Rarity’s body dissipated into aura that wrapped itself around Pinkie’s body in a protective shield just before impact. The dust cleared, and Rarity’s body formed once more. 

“Thanks Rarity…”

Rarity smiled at her, and started to say something, but stopped. She felt a strong tugging sensation from within her core, and her eyes went wide. She snapped her head towards Twilight and Applejack’s direction. Sparks was standing in front of them, protecting them from the enraged beast. He roared at her, and she screeched back at him. Rarity’s body dispersed once more, and the magic mist rushed over to Sparks’ side. Rarity flowed and wisped around her body,

“Bright Spark…what are you doing?”

“Get Twilight and Applejack out of the way. I’ll hold my own until they wake up.”

Rarity floated away from her, and wrapped herself around Twilight and Applejack. She whisked them off, leaving Sparks and Corrupted Spike to stare each other down.

“You took so many lives away…” Sparks started. “And the ones that were left behind, were left with an unbearable weight on their shoulders. So many without homes…without families…without hope.” Her eyes glowed bright as she narrowed her eyes, “You took everything from everypony…and now…we’re going to take everything away from you.”

Her crystal coat clasped down tightly around her body, as Corrupted Spike shot out more black fire at her. She dodged it with amazing speed, surrounded herself with the weight altering spell, and slammed herself into his chest. They slammed into a wall with enough force to shake the whole room. The rumbling woke Applejack and Twilight up. Twilight rubbed her head and slowly rose to her hooves. Applejack tried to stand up as well, only to crumple under her own weight. Twilight immediately scooped her up into her forelegs and examined her over,

“Oh no…”

Applejack saw Twilight looking at the lower part of her body, and followed her gaze. Her right hind legs was a shredded fleshy nub from the gaskin on down. The braces around it were shattered and partially melted. Her left hind leg was bent at an odd angle, parts of the leg brace bent around it as well. Her bones were snapping and cracking as her Element tried to heal it, but was unable to do it well with the warped metal surrounding it. 

“Shit…looks like Ah’m out of this fight…” Applejack stated as she grimaced. Twilight started to pulled the brace off, but Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder,

“Sugarcube, there ain’t nothin’ we can do fer me…”

Rarity nuzzled Applejack’s cheek, “I’m so sorry, Bearer of Honesty…”

“Ah’m okay…” she looked over at Twilight, “Are ya gonna send CBS-01 down there or what?”

Twilight looked out into the room, “Burning Sun!!!”

There was no response for a few moments, before Burning flew up to the pillar they were on,

“Yes Twil-oh gods…” Burning gave Applejack a quick nuzzle and turned to shoot a glare at the dragon, “The Corrupted One shall pay for this…”

“Did you hear what Spike was telling us? The incantation?” Twilight questioned.

Burning nodded, “Yes, I did.”

“I need you to go dow-”

They all froze when they heard Sparks let out a horrified wail. Twilight, Rarity, and Burning ran to the edge of the pillar. The deity Unicorn was clutching onto a destroyed pink Earth Pony. She was rocking back and forth, as Corrupted Spike lumbered towards them. The dragon inhaled, preparing to belt out more fire. Fluttershy swooped in and scooped them up as he shot the fire towards them. He looked up at the Vampony,

“COME BACK HERE WITH MY PREY!!”

He clamped down on her prosthetic hind leg. She felt the sudden tautness, and before her leg was ripped off, she threw the two ponies towards the closest pillar. Her legs came off, a flurry of sparks shooting off where a part of it still remained to the flesh. She screeched out in pain and spiraled into one direction. Corrupted Spike swiped at her, his claws nearly slashing her in two. The others gasped in horror as Twilight and Burning leapt into action. Burning caught Fluttershy before she crashed to the ground, while Twilight teleported Sparks and Pinkie to the pillar they were on. Corrupted Spike saw the flash of Twilight’s magic and walked towards them,

“Your end is near, Fallens. And when I kill you all off, I will finish spreading my black magic through whatever land remains untouched, and devour the souls of all who reside on it.” A vile sneer appeared on his face, “And then I will make more Elite Hellions, and send them out into the universe to destroy life wherever it may be…” he started digging his claws into the walls. “And when all life is gone…” he started to slowly climb up the wall, “I’m going to make the universe to my liking.” He licked his scaly lips, “My desires are so close…that I can almost taste them…”

Twilight looked on with sorrow and horror as she watched Applejack dragged herself over to Pinkie’s side. The pink pony face was littered with shards of black crystal. Bones were sticking out of her chest, and a slight sucking sound could be heard from the open wound. The flesh on her left foreleg and hind leg was gone, hanging together by a few thin strings of muscle. Her body was sizzling with steam and bubblegum pink colored magic. Applejack had buried her face into her neck, her own injuries forgotten, as she took in the mutilation of her wife.

“Fluttershy…”

Twilight turned to the source of the whispered name, to see Dash clutching onto the Vampony’s head. She was slowly stroking her cheek, whimpering as Fluttershy was trying to comfort her lover. She was still conscious, but her body was in no better condition. Her hind leg was still crackling with a few sparks from what remained of the prosthetic. A massive gash started from her shoulder, and jaggedly ran down her torso and to her right thigh. The wound was wide open, exposing organs that had also become mangled bits of flesh. Her heart was struggling to pump blood, as a bone fragment had been rammed into it. She smiled and coughed up blood, still trying to whisper sweet nothings to her loving Wonderbolt wife. The pillar started to tremble as Corrupted Spike got closer to them. Twilight got a determined look on her face and turned to Burning,

“We do this, now…”

Burning nodded, and they both galloped to the edge of the pillar. Just as Corrupted Spike showed his face, they slammed into him. They knocked him onto the ground, and Twilight summoned the weight altering spell once more. He struggled to move, and she summoned EvenTide crystals to act as wrist and ankle cuffs. 

“Do it!!” Twilight ordered. “DO IT NOW!!!”

The mouth guard to Burning’s helmet retracted back,

“Spirit of old, to body of new!!”

“NO!!!” Corrupted Spike roared out. He started to gurgle up black molten lava.

“Possession by choice is what I choose to do!!”

The lava had bright flames coating it. His eyes got more feral,

“And through love so strong-”

Sparks leapt down there as he started to spit up the lava onto them. 

“And void of strife-”

She summoned a small shield to push back the flames and molten rock. 

“I sacrifice my all-”

He tried with all his might to spit her out. She looked back at them,

“HURRY!!”

“And give you my life!!!!”

Burning’s mouth opened as wide as physically possible. Corrupted Spike’s eyes went wide, and tendrils of black magic started to crawl up his throat. They pushed Sparks out of the way and seeped into Burning’s mouth. The magic rushed into her, the force of it making her stagger. The dragon’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp, while Burning started to convulse violently. Twilight looked up at her with tears in her eyes,

“I’m so sorry, Burning Sun!!”

Burning’s lips turned up into a small smile. Tar like drool flowed from her lips as she replied,

“May the gods guide you all into eternal peace...”

“Engage Protocol PX-MPBS…”

Burning stood up straight and her body went rigid,

“Are you sure wish to permanently exterminate Memory Program Burning Sun?”

Twilight choked back a sob, “…Yes…”

“Engaging Permanent Extermination of Memory Program Burning Sun.”

Her body started to rattle a bit. The mouth guard covered her mouth again. She closed her eyes, and they disappeared in the blackness underneath of her helmet. Violet orbs appeared where they once were, that looked down at her,

“Protocol CBS-01 automatically engaged. What can I do for you, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight started to give the next ordered but stopped. She looked on in despair as she watched CBS-01’s orbs started to turn a shade of crimson red. She took note of the small rattles that were snaking through CBS-01’s body. She cleared her throat and tried again,

“Call the Apprentices and have them come here immediately…”

There was a small click of gears and a few blips.

“I’ve sent out a GPS signal to their headsets. They should be here within the next 5-10 minutes.”

“Thank you CBS-01…”

The trio jumped onto the floor beside the unconscious dragon. Sparks teleported to where the other Fallen were, then brought the back to where Twilight and CBS-01 were at. There was a slight rumbling as Spike came to. He slowly sat up and looked over his body. When he saw that he was okay for the most part, he smiled,

“Thank you all so much…” his smile instantly vanished when he took in all of their injuries. “Oh Gods…no…”

The other four ponies looked up at him. They all gave him smiles,

“Glad to see you’re all right, Spike. I thought-” Dash coughed up a bit of blood, “I thought I was gonna have to kick your ass to get you to stop…”

Spike wanted to chuckle, but as he stared down at Pinkie and Fluttershy, he was unable to do so. “What have I done to you…”

Pinkie outstretched her hoof towards him, “It wasn’t your fault…”

He touched her hoof with the tip of his finger. Fluttershy reached up and placed a hoof on it as well,

“It’ll be okay Spike…you did what you had to do to save us before…”

“But it backfired. By the gods, did it backfire…” he looked over at Twilight, “All I wanted to do was save you from the Corrupted One’s influence…”

“It is finally done…”

They heard the voice of Ubenox, and shielded their eyes when they turned to face him.

“It no longer matters if you lay eyes upon me. My strength…is no more…”

They moved their forelegs and looked at him. His coat was faded on both sides, and his mane and tail were hanging limply. His once bright turquoise eyes were now glazed over, barely showing any sign of life. He still towered over them, but his body had lost most of it’s muscle mass. He treaded over to them,

“You all have done so well…and now the balance shall return to the universe…”

There was the sound of slight crackling, and they looked back at Sparks. Her coat was falling off of her body in patches, and was being replaced by her familiar turquoise color. Her black crystal teeth fell out of her mouth, and her normal pearly whites poked out from her gums. Her mane and tail reverted back to their smoky grey color. She shook the last remaining shards of her crystal coat off of her body and rubbed her eyes. Her sclera flickered from black to white, then back again. Her glowing irises went back to normal, as did the whites of her eyes. Twilight felt a tingle run through her body, and the damp air hit her coat as her body armor fell off of her. She shuddered as she felt powerful magic leave her body, and blinked a lot as her eyes returned to normal. Black and white swirling magic coming from her and Sparks flowed towards Ubenox,

“Thank you for helping us out, in our greatest hour of need…” Twilight stated.

They both smiled at him, though it quickly disappeared when the magic continued on past him, and flowed into the ceiling.

“What…what’s happening?” Sparks questioned. “Where is your magic going?”

Ubenox looked up at the spot where the magic disappeared, “I gave mortals my magic…I have been deemed irresponsible to bear so much magic. I won’t be getting it back…ever…” he smiled softly as he looked back at them, “But it was for a good cause. I find your kind very…intriguing…”

Bright firelight spilled into the room, as the Apprentices rushed in. They all broke out into collective gasps and other statements of shock, as they galloped over to the group, and to the respective mentors. Pinkie was the first to speak up out of the Fallen,

“We…we’re not going to make it…are we…”

Twilight bit her lip, refusing to answer. Ubenox walked closer to them,

“I’m afraid your wounds are far too grave for the Element to heal them…” he glanced over at Fluttershy, “As it is for the yellow Pegasus…” he then looked over at Applejack, “You…you and the blue Pegasus will live…”

Applejack spat up blood and looked at him, “An’ fer what? Fer me ta be paralyzed from the waist down, an’ fer R.D, who won’t ever get ta fly again…” she placed a hoof on Pinkie’s cheek, “An’ Ah don’t wanna live without mah better half…”

Rarity floated over beside Ubenox, “I know there’s something you can do about this…”

Ubenox looked over them, “Yes…I’ve already fallen out of the gods and goddesses’ grace…” he turned his gaze to the Apprentices, “Younger generation…I think that it would be wise…to make peace with your mentors…”

The Apprentices looked at one another in confusion. Skye turned to look back at him,

“Why?...”

“These ponies have gone through so much, battling with the Corrupted One for well over a century...They have restored balance to this world, and met their destinies. The Elements of Harmony will keep them alive for a very long time…” he looked at the older mares, “But…if they wish for it…I can help them pass on from the world of the living…”

“So you’re going to mercy kill them?!” Dee hissed. “I don’t care if you are a deity, I won’t let you kill them!!”

Rarity stepped in between them, shooting the Vampony a hardened glare, “Dead Moon…they're old…they’re tired and  have been through so much, and for this to be the ending…This is not fair to them…None of them are going to want to live without their other half.” Her expression softened, “Surely this is not what you want for them.”

“Pardon me fer askin’ Miss Rarity…but why do ya keep referrin’ ta 'em like that? Are ya not…one of ‘em?”

Rarity shook her head, “No, not anymore. I have ascended to a greater plane of existence. One that allows me help you in ways that I would never have been able to accomplish before.”

“She is no longer ‘Fair Rarity’…” Ubenox jumped in and looked over at the mare, “She is the Spirit of Generosity, a being made of pure magic, with the memory of her past life.  the source of power, the magic itself...that flows within the Element of Generosity…”

All of their eyes went wide. A big smile made it’s way to Rarity’s face,

“And it’s such a wonderful thing…there’s so much that can be learned from this.” Rarity walked over to Twilight and tilted her chin up, “Twilight…I know more about the Elements of Harmony than you will ever know in this lifetime…”

Purple Haze pulled Pinkie closer to himself, and then placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder, 

“You two acted as the parents I lost long ago…” he stated softly, “I can’t bear to see you both suffering like this…”

Pinkie patted his cheek, “You’re too sweet…”

“An’ yer the weird lil’ son we never got ta have…” she looked over at Skye and pulled her close, “An’ as fer ya, mah lil’ Skye Wave…” she got a tired grin on her face, “Ah’m so proud of ya, sugarcube…”

Skye smiled and nuzzled her cheek, “Master Applejack…thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me…”

Dash stroked Fluttershy’s mane, while Dee and Patch sat next to them.

“Patch…kiddo…I’ve taught you all I know…” she started to stroke Fluttershy’s mane, “I know…you’ll be the best damn mechanic that’s ever existed. You’re gonna do wonders…”

“Thank ya kindly, Master Rainbow Dash. Ah’m mighty proud ta have been under yer tutelage…” he wrapped his massive forelegs around her, “Ya done so much…” he started to sniff a little, “Thank ya…fer everythin'…”

Dee nuzzled Fluttershy’s snout, “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t save you…why didn’t you call for me earlier, Master Fluttershy…?”

Fluttershy reached up and caressed Dee’s cheek, “Because…there’s a greater purpose…for you, Dead Moon…”

Dash chuckled and patted Patch’s head, “You got a bigger purpose too, kiddo.”

“There’s a greater purpose for all of you…” Ubenox stated. He looked up at the dragon. “Purple Dragon…you’ve done so well, through all of this. You’re one of the few souls that I’ve see managed to fight off the Corrupted One’s influence…” he looked over at CBS-01. The Alicorn was slightly trembling, her red eyes staring blankly at them as she awaited the next order, “Together…you all have done what no others were able to do…” he smiled as he scanned over them, “You’ve managed to stop the vicious, destructive cycle, that is the Corrupted One…”

The older mares smiled at him, and his eyes started to glow with a bright white light,

“And with the last bit of strength within me…I shall guide you one last time…so that you may get the peace that you so justly deserve…”
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She leaned against her bedroom balcony railing and stared out at the night sky. A soft smile made it’s way onto her face as the stars twinkled back at her. She took in a big gulp of air and looked down at the city lights below. Slowly, lights were going off as ponies turned in for the night. She sat down on her haunches and closed her eyes, listening to her steady heartbeat, and feeling the light breeze on her face as it flowed through her mane. She heard wings beating on the air, that made her smile get even bigger, 

“Hey there.”

She opened an eye, and looked to her left. A licorice black Vampony had landed beside her. She flicked her long snow colored mane out of her face, and her golden eyes crinkled up as she gave her a toothy smile. She arched a brow and looked at the mare,

“What’s up, cutie?”

The Vampony smirked and nuzzled her cheek, her toothy grin turned sensual, “I crave your loving touch. To feel the brush of your coat against mine…” she pressed herself up against the other mare, “I want you to satisfy me in a way nopony can…”

She rolled her eyes but maintained a smile, "As much as I would love to, I know you're just being a tease. What do you want, Dee?”

Dee’s sexy smile turned into a smirk, “I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been getting an urge to go there…” her smirk disappeared, “Sparks…do you feel it?”

Sparks’ smile disappeared, and she slowly nodded, “It’s been so long since we’ve gone…”

There was another pair of wings on the wind, as a Pegasus with a baby blue coat, and a wheat gold mane and tail reflected the moonlight from above. The pony gave them friendly smiles,

“Hello, my friends…it’s been far too long since we’ve seen each other…”

Sparks gave her a quick nuzzle, “Yes, far too long.”

Dee chuckled and threw and a foreleg over her shoulder, “They came far along with medicinal science, didn’t they? You have a beautiful voice, by the way. It still sends chills down my spine every time.” She tilted the Pegasus’ chin up so that she was looking up at her, “Skye Wave, the Siren of the Sky.”

Skye blushed and pushed the hoof away, “If anyone’s a Siren, it’s you. I’ve heard about your little escapades. You’ve been swooning mares left and right…”

Dee chuckled and sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, “I uh…I may have flirted a bit here and there…”

They chuckled a bit, then started to cough as a smoky mist started to waft around them. The smoke got thicker and thicker and flowed away from them. It puffed up a bit, then started to form itself into an equine shape. It solidified, then flowed over the balcony and into the night, leaving behind a violet coated stallion. His electric blue mane was spikey, but it was cut to give a more manageable and cleaner appearance. His tail was spiky and matching in color, and but there was a few streaks of silver that running through it. His silver eyes bounced the moonlight off of them, almost giving his eyes a glowing appearance.

“Haze…” Sparks raised a brow, “That weird smoke shit still gets me. Seriously…how do you do that?”

Haze chuckled lightly as he walked up to them, “Now you know I can never tell you the secrets that were bestowed upon me.”

“You’re still a weird hippie, huh?” Skye questioned. Haze gave her a friendly smile before smacking her in the face with his tail. He rubbed the bit of scraggly hair that was on his chin, “Hey…where’s the grease monkey at?”

As if on cue, there was an explosion off in the distance.  A small mushroom cloud bloomed into the air, and lights from buildings surrounding started to turn back on. Then, there was a flash of green magic that briefly lit up the room they were in, before the smell of smoke kicked in full force. A few wisps of residual smoke swirled around a muscle bound red stallion, as he coughed out violently. He pounded his chest a couple times, then looked over at the small group with bright eyes.

“Howdy! How have ya’ll been?!” his voice boomed, a big smile planting itself on his face. “It’s been a mighty long time since Ah’ve gotten ta hang with ya’ll!! Well…at least, fer everypony except Sparks.”

Sparks raised a brow, “Yeah…I just saw you last week because you caused a massive explosion in the Dawn Star District…” she pinched the bridge of her snout, “What did you do now, Patch?”

Patch nervously pulled at his beard, “Ah uh…Ah might have uh…made a chimera out of a hawk an’ a scorpion.”

“How did that cause an explosion?” Haze questioned.

“Because, Ah-it…well gah! Ah don’t have ta explain nothin’ ta ya!!”

“But you do have to explain it to me.” Sparks pointed out. “I can only keep the Council off of your ass for so long, Patch.” 

“Then stop doin’ it. Ah don’t want ya gettin’ in trouble over lil’ ol’ me, oh mighty ruler of the planet.”

Sparks rolled her eyes, “I’m…I’m not the ruler of the planet.”

Haze scoffed, then chuckled, “Seriously? Your title is one of the most planet rule-y sounding titles that I've ever heard.”

“I didn’t choose the name, it was unanimously decided. And I didn’t even want this position. Twilight passed the torch on to me…”

“Well if you don’t want your position, I’ll do it.” Dee pointed out. “I’d have no problem taking over for you.”

Skye slapped her shoulder, “Oh shut up. You’re the Night Bringer, or some shit like that-”

Dee interrupted. “That’s not my title!”

“You’re already super important. The last thing you need is a different position that’ll make your head bigger than it already is.”

“Well excuse me for wanting to better myself.” She teased. “If I were in your horse shoes, I’d be aiming higher too, Mistress of the Land.”

Skye huffed and turned her snout upward, “I will not even dignify your teasing with a legitimate response.”

A flash of prismatic light shot through all of their eyes. They all lightly shook their heads, then looked at one another.

“They’re growing restless. Perhaps it’s time we leave.” Skye suggested.

The others nodded in agreement. Sparks looked over her shoulder and at the bedroom door,

“Guards! Come here please!”

In an instant, three silver armored Pegasi, and one golden armored Pegasus entered the room,

“You requested our presence, Grand Comma-” he stopped when he saw the others in the room. He and the others bowed before them,

“Forgive us…we did not expect to be graced with the presence of the Harbingers of Eternal Peace.”

Sparks smiled softly, “It’s all well. Please, rise. My comrades are none too fond of unnecessary bowing.”

“But of course, Grand Commander.” He guard replied. He instructed the others to stand up as well. He then stood at attention, “Is there anything you request of us, ma'am?”

“Yes. I just wanted to let you know that I will be taking my leave with the others. I will be returning in three days.”

“Understood ma'am.”

She placed a hoof on shoulder, “With that being said…there’s no point in you all standing here, guarding an empty room.” Her smile got a bit bigger, “So…why don’t you guy go ahead and go home tonight. Oh, and tomorrow as well.” She patted his shoulder, “And be sure to pass the word on to the rest of the castle staff. The Council can take over for me until I return.”

The golden guard nodded excitedly, “Yes, ma’am! Will that be all you request of us, Grand Commander?”

Sparks nodded, “That’ll be all, guards.” She playfully shooed them away, “Now go. Stop wasting your time here.”

All four of the guards gave them a curt bow, before turning and quickly trotting out of the room. When the door shut behind them, Patch lightly elbowed Sparks,

“Look at ya, bein’ all nice an’ shit.”

Haze nuzzled her cheek, “Not even the smallest act of generosity will go unnoticed.”

The Unicorn smiled at them, “Thank you…” she turned and started heading towards the balcony railing. Her horn lit up brightly with magic, as she summoned a portal that led to a mountain side,

“Let’s go and get out of here…”

She walked through the portal, and was soon joined by the others. They landed lightly on the mountain, facing an opening, with stairs carved in and spiraling downward. They started to trot towards the cave opening, but stopped when they heard wings clicking against something.

“You’re not going in there all by yourself, are you?”

The group turned to see a Changeling hybrid. Her coat was a shimmering black, and her chitin plates were shining as bright as the first time her friends met her. She smiled at them with pointed fangs, and gave them a curt bow,

“Tis a pleasure to see you, Harbingers of Eternal Peace.”

They each smiled at her and bowed back. Sparks remained bowed before her,

“Quite frankly, the pleasure is ours, Queen of the Hybrid Hive.”

The hybrid's smile turned from polite, to downright friendly. She trotted closer and pulled Sparks into a hug,

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you guys!!”

“Your chitin plates make you look like a total badass, Locust!!” Dee complimented, “I mean, seriously, you look fierce.”

“Ah’ll say…” Patch eyeballed her and gave her a smile that was far too friendly, “Ya think a queen as gorgeous as yerself would do me the honors of takin’ ya out on a date?”

“You will do no such thing!” A voice barked out.

Patch flinched, and looked over at the source of the voice. A tall, muscular Earth Pony stallion stared at the group with piercing turquoise eyes. His mane and tail were a deep shade of royal blue that had a bit of a sparkle to it. His coat was split down the middle, one side was a rich black, and the other side was bleach white. Sparks eyes went wide when she realized who he was. She and Patch bowed before him,

“Never did I think I would see you here, of all places, Great One.”

The stallion held up a hoof, “Please…you grace me with such a formality.” He replied. “I no longer go by that name, or any of the names from my previous title, for that matter. I am simply an Earth Pony who has more knowledge and understanding of the world than others. The gods and goddesses decided that since I sided with the mortals so much, and ‘foolishly’ hoofed over my powers to them, that I should walk among them.” he stood a bit taller, “My name is Cosmo Trot, but my Hive name is King Scorpion.” He looked over at Locust and lovingly nuzzled her cheek, “As by my monarch title, it is obvious that I am the husband of this beautiful piece of art.”

Haze outstretched a hoof towards him, “Well then, it’s a pleasure to see you again, King Scorpion.”

Scorpion smiled at him, “No, the pleasure is all mine…” he looked over at the cave entrance, “Shall we?...”

Sparks started to walk inside, and the others soon followed. On each side of them, light blue fires started to appear in the sconces on the walls. They lit the way, showing them that they had further down to go. They walked down the staircase in silence, listening to the sound of their hooves clacking on the stone, and the sound of the fires crackling in the sconces. It wasn’t long before they reached the bottom of the staircase. The fires didn’t continue any further, and they were met with nothing but blackness. Sparks stepped forward,

“Um…it’s a little dark in here!” she shouted. “Can you turn on the lights please?”

Her question echoed into nothing, and then, silence. Then, as if to respond to her, there was a rumbling that emanated from the room.  Little balls of white light started to poof into existence and hovered around the room. It wasn’t long before they were able to see the room in its entirety. The room was filled with a massive amount of gold coins and jewels of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Along with the vast amounts of wealth that was there, there were books of every genre that were lying about as well. They stepped further into the massive space, but stopped when a growl rumbled into the room. A beast at the far end of the room turned and looked down at them, emerald orbs glowing and irises contracting as they focused on him,

“Ponies…you dare to enter my home…” the massive creature turned all the way to face them, “What reason do you have to be here?”

Sparks stood tall and proud, “We are here, to speak with the dragon who resides here! The Bearer of the Element of Magic!”

The eyes scanned over them, then crinkled up a bit. The eyes lowered down, the hovering balls of light exposing the massive dragon head that they resided in. His rich, violet and emerald scales glimmered in the light. A deep growl consistently rumbled in his throat, and got a bit louder before he started to speak,

“What is it that you request of me?”

“We request for you to drop the act, Spike!” Skye shouted. “Stop trying to act all big and bad!”

He snorted, thick torrents of smoke billowing from his nostrils,

“Alright, alright…you guys got me.”

The balls of magic light exploded into brighter shades, illuminating the room on a larger scale. His teeth shined brightly from them, as he scooped up all of the ponies into his grasp,

“Its so great to see you all again!” his voice boomed. “I've heard so much about you all!!”

“How so?!” Patch wheezed out, as they were all being hugged to death by the drake. Realizing his own strength, he set them down,

“My apologies! I forgot that I am much larger than I was before.” He beamed at them, “Its quite strange…that the most powerful beings in this day in age, are so fragile.”

“Who are ya callin’ fragile?” Patch questioned.  

Spike chuckled, “Calm yourself…I know that you’re not at all weak by any standards.” He scanned over them, “The titles that have been bestowed upon you prove otherwise…”

Dee stood a bit straighter, “I do like the names that they gave us.”

Spike arched a scaly brow and gave them a toothy grin, “Would you care to state your title loud and proud?”

Dee beamed a bright, big smile, while Skye rolled her eyes,

"Ugh...here we go with this again...”

“I am Dead Moon, Whisperer of the Blackest Nights and Dreams!” she looked over at her Pegasi companion, and nudged her with foreleg. Skye let out soft sigh of defeat,

“I am Skye Wave, the Bringer of Bountiful Harvest and Flourishing Lands…”

Patch and Haze chuckled at her tone. She shot them a glare and smacked them with her wings,

“Why don’t you two show off then?”

Patch beamed and smirked, “Ah’m Patch Work, the Maker of Second Chances!”

“And I am Purple Haze, the Prophet of Change.”

All eyes settled on Sparks, who looked around and sighed,

“Do I have to? It’s so damn formal…”

“Well duh!” Patch shouted, “You are after all, the boss!” he got in her face, “Now, we all had ta say it, so say it!!”

Sparks rolled her eyes, cleared her throat, and brought her posture up,

“I am Bright Spark, Grand Commander of the New World.”

Spike’s spinal plates rattled a bit before stiffening, “Even though I am a hot blooded beast, that name still sends chill up my spine every time I hear it.”

Sparks smirked up at him, “And what about you? You think because you live way out of town, that you don’t have to use your title?” her smirk turned into a full on grin, “Come on, dragon…say it.”

Spike cleared his throat, and the expression on his face soured into an intimidating scowl,

“Who dares to disturb Spike, the Magic Dragon?!”

A heavy silence filled the emptiness of the cave. It stayed for a few more moments, before the pony’s exploded into a round of laughter. Skye flew up to his head and landed on his snout, 

“What, was your dad named ‘Puff’? C’mon now, say the actual title!”

“I really don't like it. Who decided that that should be my title?”

“The populace.” Sparks replied. “Now go on and say it! The ‘Grand Commander of the New World’ orders you to!”

Spike boomed out with explosive laughter, wiping fake tears from his eyes as he looked down at her,

“Now is the time you choose to abuse your power? You do realize that we are equals in terms of strength, correct?”

“Spike…please, just say it!”

“Alright alright...calm yourself.” He cleared his throat once more, and spoke in a powerful voice,

“I am Spike; The Ancient Dragon King!!”

The others shuddered at his tone, and bowed before him. He blinked a few times in confusion,

“What are you all doing? Stop that!”

They giggled a couple times before rising to their hooves. More multicolored magic flashed through their eyes. Spike rubbed his eyes a few times,

“Let’s go…it’s been so long since we’ve all be together…”

Spike turned and walked to the end of the cave. Another set of spiraling stairs awaited them, and they all followed. They all walked in comfortable silence, until they reached the last step. The room was pitch black, and they were forced to follow Spikes thundering footsteps, as he walked deeper and deeper into the dark room. Spike snapped his fingers, and on command, prismatic hued flames burst to life on sconces throughout the area. With the room now lit, they noticed something that lie in the center of it. A glass pillar that reached from the ceiling to the floor, had more magic orbs of light floating around it. Encased within the pillar, was an Alicorn suited in a deep black armor. The pink mane and tail were dull and limp. The helmets eye sockets remained empty and black. Her coat still shimmered with pristine blackness, dark as the night skies outside. The others walked up to it, pressing their hooves against the glass,

“So…no signs of her struggling to escape?”

Spike shook his head, “Not anymore…the armor stopped trembling about 82 years ago…”

Sparks suddenly clutched at her chest. Her eyes were filled with a violet colored light, as magic matching in color, poured from her mouth in a thick waterfall. The others focused on her, and the magic that was starting to form itself into a Unicorn silhouette. The silhouette started to gain definition, and varying colors. The magically formed ivory colored mare opened her eyes, revealing dazzling sapphire irises, that sparkled as they settled on them,

“It is done…we have finally stopped the Corrupted One’s terror…” she looked around at the group, focused on Sparks, “Where are the others? I miss them all terribly…”

As if to respond, Dee, Skye, Patch, and Haze all gripped at their chests. Magic filled their eyes and poured from their mouths. Each torrent of magic formed itself into equines, until four other mares stood before them. They each wore proud smiles as they looked at each other, the cyan colored Pegasus was the first to speak up,

“You guys look awesome!!” she trotted over to the yellow Pegasus and nuzzled her snout, “I missed you…”

Fluttershy smiled softly and enjoyed the contact, “I missed you too…”

Pinkie leapt onto them, “I missed both of you guys!” she jumped away from them and onto Rarity, “And you too, Rares!” she skipped over to the orange Earth Pony, “But I missed you most of all, Jackie…”

Applejack smirked and held the pink pony close, “Ah wish Ah’d been reunited with that beautiful lil’ face of yers much sooner…” Applejack then kissed her, “Pinkie…ya don’t even know how happy Ah am tah see ya.”

Pinkie hardcore nuzzled into her lover’s neck, smiling all the while. She pointed at Dash,

“Dashie! My favorite pranking partner! How have you been doing?!”

Dash chuckled and snapped her wings open, “Oh you know, just being the Spirit of Loyalty and guiding Patch here. In other words, just being awesome.”

“Spirits of Harmony…” King Scorpion walked up to the mares and bowed before them, “It is an honor to meet you all once again…”

Rarity arched a brow, “Great One? You have become a mortal? How so? Was this of your own doing?”

Scorpion shook his head, “No…this was a punishment given to me by the gods and goddesses.” He smiled over warmly at his wife, “But little did they realize, that this fate they have chosen for me, has been a bigger blessing than the ones I’ve been able to bestow upon mortals.”

Rarity nodded in understanding. She looked back over her friends and the ponies, and her smile disappeared,

“Where…where is she?” she looked around again, “Why isn’t sh-”

“She is well…” Spike interrupted. “Relax, Generosity. I have more control over of my Element of Harmony than the others. After all,” his eyes glowed with a fierce lavender light,

“The Spirit of Magic has taught me so much, after all this time.”

He opened his mouth, and reached down his throat. The others looked on in awe and disgust, as his arm kept reaching down until it stopped at the elbow. He then slowly pulled something out from his body. He opened his hand, and magic shaped in the form of a six pointed star hovered in his palm. He then slowly closed his other hand around it, and clamped down tightly. After about a minute, he opened his hands, the magic had shaped itself into a slender Unicorn. She brushed her bangs out of the way and smiled softly at Rarity.

“Did you really think that I would leave you?” she gracefully trotted up to the other Unicorn and softly nuzzled her,

“I was there for you in the world of the living, and I shall stay with you in the realm that lies beyond…”

A single tear rolled down Rarity’s face, “Oh, Twilight…” she nuzzled her harder before standing on her hind legs and wrapping her forelegs around her lover’s neck, “I knew that. I should’ve known better than to even let that thought cross my mind…”

“Magic…” Scorpion smiled softly, “It has been two hundred years...I honestly did not think I would ever see you again...”

Twilight chuckled, “You used to be a deity. Even with your punishment, you and I both know that your lifespan will exceed that of any pony now, and future generations to come.”

Pinkie bounced over to Locust, “Halfling! I see you got a pretty big crown on your head! You're the Queen of the hive now?”

“Yes, Laughter. My mother passed away gently, whilst in slumber. My father soon joined her, and I was able to step up.”

A tiny frown graced Pinkie’s features, “You know, it’s kind of sad that you guys don’t know our names anymore…”

Everyone except Scorpion looked confused by her statement. Scorpion stepped forward and placed a hoof on the pink mare’s shoulder,

“Your names faded as Time continued on. No longer were you to be known by the names given to you at birth. Remember, all of you are the Elements themselves now, not just their Bearers…”

The other Spirits of Harmony stepped closer to listen.

“Such information that mortals can become the embodiments of magic would be life-changing if others knew about it. So...history only states that you all died fighting bravely in battle. It was an extremely rare occurrence that you were able to choose those who were meant to bear the Elements of Harmony. And because of your choices…” he looked over at the group of ponies that were chatting with each other. The older mares followed his gaze, smiling at the ponies that they once cared for and nurtured like their own children.

“They were allowed to know that you all taught them everything all those years ago. They still carry memories of your faces, of the love, whether it be tough or not, and care that you put into them. The Prophet of Change still remembers the Laughter and Honesty taking him in, and raising him as their child. The Bringer of Bountiful Harvest and Flourishing Lands, still remembers Magic giving her a way to speak her thoughts, when she didn’t have to do that. The Whisperer of Blackest Nights and Dreams…still remembers Kindness supporting her, when her brother was killed in battle. The Maker of Second Chances, will never forget Loyalty, and her abilities to build him a chance to continue on with a healthy life, just as he does for others now. And the Grand Commander of the New World…will never forget Generosity, the mare who gave her a second chance to have a mother who loved her, and help her stand against her father, the stallion who had became The Hell King’s darkest creation and weapon. And The Ancient Dragon King, will never forget Magic, whom he considered his elder sister, since the time of his birth.” He looked over the faces of the ethereal mares, who were smiling while tears pricked at the corners of their eyes,

“It is because of you all that they are who they are today. With your help, they brought about an era of peace that the universe has not seen in eons. So…for your safety, your names have faded with time, and when spoken, they hit their ears as ancient, untranslatable incantations…but I can assure you, that just because they cannot remember them, does not mean that they forgot just who you all are…”

The mares were sniffling now, earning the attention of the others, and drawing them closer. Each pony nuzzled their respective Element, showing concerned for the mares, and giving them as much attention as they desired. After a few minutes of consoling, they all turned back to the mare encased in body armor and glass. Twilight and Dash walked up to the glass, each of them pressing a hoof against it. Dash threw a wing over Twilight and looked over at her,

“We did good, huh Egghead?”

Twilight nodded softly while she sized up the mare, “Yes we did, my friend…” she turned and walked up to Sparks. The younger Unicorn met her gaze for a few seconds, before averting her eyes elsewhere. Twilight placed a hoof underneath her chin and tilted it, so that Sparks would be looking her in the eyes once again,

“What do you see in my eyes, Bright Spark?”

“I see an infinite amount of bubbling magic that could control the cosmos if it wanted to.” Sparks replied with a bit of a quiver in her voice. Twilight giggled softly,

“No young one…I was hoping that you’d be able to see…gratefulness. The infinite amount of thanks that I want to give you, for your time in bearing the Element of Generosity, and therefore, carrying responsibility in the protection of the Spirit of Generosity…” she looked over at the alabaster Unicorn, “I am sure that watching over her, is by no means an easy task…”

Sparks got a big grin on her face, “I can assure you, that she has been nothing but the best for me, and has been guiding me with the best of intentions, for all of this time. There is no inconvenience from her that is great enough to make me feel like protecting a Spirit of Harmony is a burden.”

Twilight was about to respond, but the slight clanking from within the glass tube drew not just their attention, but the rest of the group’s as well. They all focused on the armor inside, watching with wide eyes as the armor resting on the Alicorn, was quivering with the tiniest tremble. The tremble morphed into a rattle, and after a few seconds, the Alicorn’s entire body was shaking violently. Suddenly, it stopped, and everyone pressed their faces up against the glass. The inside of the black eye sockets of the helmets were filled with the faintest glow of a crimson hue,

“Corrupted One…” Sparks whispered softly.

There was no response. Not even the slightest movement from the mare trapped in glass. Dash stepped around her, and tapped the glass with a bit of force,

“Hey, I know you hear her talking to you!”

The orbs of red light slowly focused on Dash, glowing just a bit brighter than they did before. Dash smirked,

“Oh, so you hear me talking to you, huh?” her smirk got bigger, “You’re stuck in there. Do you hear me? You’re never going to get out. You’re going to sit in a body that you have no control over, and rot for the rest of your days. It sounds like a perfect fate for a monster who did the same to everyone else…wouldn’t you agree?”

The eyes glowed brighter, and the armor rattled harder. It continued on for a few more minutes, before finally going still. The angry eyes stared at her. Dash turned away from the tube,

“That thing isn’t going anywhere. It’s not going to hurt anyone ever again, so long as we are around…” she looked around at her friends, “Let’s get out of here, huh? It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to get a good flight in.”

The others smiled, letting out statements of agreement. One by one, the group turned away from the tube. They made their way to the stair case that led back up, and filed up them. Spike and Twilight were hanging around at the entryway to the room. They looked back at the Alicorn, then at each other.

“I’m so proud of you, Spike.” Twilight started. “Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think that we’d be where we are today. It was a long and painful struggle…but the end results were completely worth it.”

Spike smiled down at her, “Friendship can do a lot of things. That’s something that our generation was lucky enough to be able to understand.” He leaned down so that he was right in front of Twilight’s face,

“And I know that I had the best big sister in the world to teach me that. You were worth all the suffering I went through, Twilight Sparkle. And if I had to, I would do it all over again for you…”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, as a few tears streamed down her face,

“You…you said my name. You remember it?”

His smile got bigger as he was filled with pride, “I am the Bearer of the Element of Magic. Magic’s kind of my thing. You taught me quite a few things, sister. But…you didn’t teach me everything…”

Twilight got a child-like excitement on her face, “Well, you have to tell me what you did! Perhaps we can pass it on to the others!”

Spike scooped up Twilight into his palms, and placed her on one of his shoulders, “Or, perhaps not. Not everything can be taught.”

Twilight frowned, and crossed her forelegs, “You’re not being fair, Spike.”

Spike chuckled, “Don’t worry…I’ll tell you...”

He started to walk back up the stairs, his thundering steps fading as he did. The fires in the sconces throughout the room started to go out one by one. The room was sent back into darkness, save for the glow of the crimson lights within the tube. There was the sounds of more clanking and rattling. The eyes glowed brighter with determination. After a few hours, the rattling stopped for good, and the eyes faded into the blackness...