Ultimatum & Cavalry

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Twilight felt her magical energy being drained away as Lord Tirek began the process of taking it from her. In an agreement to save her friends, the purple alicorn surrendered her magic - the power of Equestira's four alicorn princesses - to the tyrant, making him all powerful in the process. As he was taking all of the magic, the draining left her feeling the immense pain coursing through her entire body. It only took the foe a moment to absorb the power, forcing her to collapse onto the ground when it ended as her friends ran over to her side.

Tirek felt the alicorn magic merge with all the power he had already stolen from most of Equestria. It was a grand feeling, such incredible levels of energy now his to use as he wished. But even his increased size and strength wasn't enough yet. There was still more power, and leverage, he had yet to acquire, and given the circumstances with the ponies he saw as pathetic and impotent, he had the best opportunity to seize it.

"Such incredible power alicorn magic is," he stated in proclamation, "it has made me all powerful! Now none can stand against me!" His tone then lowered, and a snarling grin crossed his face as he added "And to make sure of that, it is time we discuss your surrender."

The ponies could only stare up at him confused, without any knowledge of what he meant. "You've already taken the Princesses' magic, and the magic from everypony from Equestria. What more could you take to assure that?!" Twilight asked. She tried to sound strong, but she still felt weak from the draining of the magic.

"Yes, I've taken all the magic of the Princesses," confirmed Tirek. "But I haven't taken the power of all the alicorns..."

With a snap of his fingers, he revealed another bubble prison, just like what trapped Twilight's friends. Inside was the last captive Twilight would have ever wanted to see, a young filly with a royal black coat and purple mane, turquoise eyes with narrow slits, a unicorn horn and pegasus wings. She was scared and confused, not knowing how she just got to where she now was. Her eyes then gazed down to the ground far below, noticing the purple mare below, and began to cry out for her.

"MOM! HELP!"

Twilight knew that voice, that filly, more than anypony else. To hear and see the little pony put her in a panic that she hoped to never have, and yelled out the name of the captive filly; her adopted daughter-

"NYX!"

Within the bubble was indeed Nyx, who was believed to have taken shelter with her friends at Sweet Apple Acres. She recognized how Twilight had the extra magic earlier in the day, and was sworn to secrecy and told to stay with her friends and stay put until things were safe again. Somehow Tirek knew of her existence, keeping that information to himself until the right time, and now was better than ever for his plans.

"LET ME OUT, YOU BIG JERK! LET! ME! OUT!" Nyx wailed. She tried to pound herself against the bubble to break free, but to no avail.

Tirek turned his head towards the captive pony, and told her "That is up to your mother, not to me, Nightmare Moon."

"How in Equestria did he know about Nyx?!" said Applejack, herself and the others seeing this sight. Their eyes took a quick shift towards Discord, who was standing beside the group of ponies and one baby dragon. Before the draconequus could defend himself, the towering tyrant before them answered their question.

"He did not inform me of anything but of Princess Twilight. I learned of Nightmare Moon myself not long after my escape from Tartarus, after finding the first pony whose power I took back for myself. He was a unicorn, 'blessed' with the power of Nightmare Moon and one of the cultists who escaped the night of that ritual. Coming across him gave me what strength I needed to make my way to the first town to steal magic from, and at the same time, traveling around and hearing of Nightmare Moon's rebirth.

"I knew of her existence ever since then, and kept that knowledge in mind as I continued to steal magic. There was a special treatment I wanted to give this pony, one I knew I was too weak to give during her reign as Queen of Eternal Night, but now is different. Now that I have the Princesses' magic, along with the knowledge of Nightmare Moon's legal adoption as Princess Twilight's daughter, I can use the land's last alicorn to my advantage."

The ponies were speechless. To know about Nyx, that was inevitable for anypony, but to do what he was doing, that was low for any enemy to do. Such actions could trump Chrysalis's Changeling invasion easy, and outdo Sombra's enslavement of the Crystal Empire by just enough. At least, according to the history the ponies gathered, Sombra enslaved the adult crystal ponies, and treated foals not as harshly.

"You're nothing but a giant meany mean mcmeaniest, Mister Mean!" Pinkie Pie yelled out. Although her words were not exactly what the others would choose, they agreed all the same.

"What kind of despicable creature would go to such far lengths as to keep somepony's daughter hostage?!" Rarity added with a very disgusted voice.

"Are you that blind?!" Tirek responded. "She is an alicorn, and thus has plenty of magic for me to have. However, she is also Nightmare Moon, and thus has the very energy she used to conquer your land, hidden dormant in her body. By taking that, I would become truly unstoppable.

"There is a price for that power, and it's more than much of her life force as I've taken from all the other ponies. By draining of her entire magic, I will also acquire her life force that keeps her from her demise."

"What?!" 'exclaimed' Fluttershy. "How could you possibly..."

"Because as I understand she was born by a spell, where there was a certain bond that connects her magic with her life energy. If I were to take all of one, the other will perish with it."

Twilight stood in placed mortified more than ever about this information. She didn't want to believe it to be true, but what chance was there that he could be right? Her daughter, in his captivity, was at his mercy, and inside her prison, Nyx began to panic more.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!"

"It is true, Nightmare Moon," Tirek told the filly, "and if you wish to keep your life force..."

It was his turn to be interrupted as a voice growled from in front of him. It came from Twilight, whose anger was rising and her friends could tell what was happening. They all stepped back as they saw her mane begin to flow, with no wind aiding it to do so, and her face giving a livid of livid looks. Then, it happened - Twilight entered a rage shift.

Her coat turned from purple to off-white, her eyes a fiery red, and her mane and tail turned into blazing fire. It wasn't the first time she has done this, perhaps fourth or fifth, but it surprised her friends every time it did happen, including this time. A rage shift happens when magic is indirectly given an outlet through her emotions, hence the action's name, but her magic was taken away. Nopony has ever pulled it off without magic before, unless Pinkie Pie's near rage shift at Dodge Junction a couple years ago but that was settled to be her emotional nature instead. But now, Twilight had done it, but took no notice to it.

"HOW DARE YOU!!! HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP MY DAUGHTER, YOU OVERSIZED LEECH!" exclaimed the enraged mare. "PUT HER DOWN RIGHT NOW AND GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T THROW YOU INTO THE DEEPEST PIT OF TARTARUS!!!"

The enemy laughed a little to himself in amusement, and then replied "You have no right to threaten me, Princess Twilight." The alicorn was ready to pounce on him with unspeakable fury before he held his hand out to her to say "You have no chance to stop me, so don't even bother trying to attack. If you do, the filly will feel the regret of your actions." Twilight, having already stepping a hoof forward, stepped back in place as her anger and worry grew within her.

"What do you want?" she seethed out coldly, annoyed and lividly, to put it mildly.

His humor turned to serious as he looked down at the rage-shifted mare. "My only deal with you is this- you and all ponies must vow to surrender to my rule, with no intention to rise up against me. In exchange, I will take what magic Nightmare Moon...

"NYX!" Twilight yelled back. "HER NAME IS NYX!"

Tirek restarted speaking with "I will take what magic your "daughter" currently has available to her, and spare her that which keeps her alive."

"I'm gonna buck you to last week!" Rainbow Dash yelled, but found her tail being tugged as she tried to charge at their foe. She turned around to see it was Applejack doing so.

"Forget it, Rainbow," the orange mare said, releasing the multicolored tail she had clenched in her mouth. "You know we can't do a thing about it."

"What the hay are you talking about?!" Rainbow Dash argued. "We can't just stand here and say 'we give up' to him!"

"But we can't risk Nyx's safety. We could lose her forever," Pinkie said, and that dark realization caused her poofy many and tail to start deflating into a flat droop.

The pink mare's realization raced through the minds of the others. This ultimatum was one never dealt to them in such a way before, having to choose between the freedom they'd fight for, for themselves and all of Equestria, or the life of a filly who was once the feared Nightmare Moon. Only a horrible monster would make such a proposition of 'compromise' and use a child in such a manner.

All that and more was filling Twilight's thoughts as she remained in an angered rage shift. She didn't want to believe it to be real, to be some kind of illusion casted by dark magic, or this entire ordeal with Tirek to be a horrific nightmare she couldn't awake from. But it was the sad truth that she was awake and seeing it all clearly, her homeland around her turned into a war zone, a colossal foe before her, and her daughter being used as a form of threat.

How she could possibly agree or disagree to the deal presented to her was unexplainable. To choose between Nyx and Equestria, it was like choosing between life and death itself. But to top it all off, this is an enemy using an underhanded tactic of using a child for his own gain, and that made her very, very disgusted. Spike may have been used in a similar way, but there were two major differences between him and Nyx. One was that he was better at taking care of himself, and others when needed, as compared to Nyx who couldn't do so as well as him, not without better use of her magic again. Another was how there wasn't anything more Tirek could take from the baby dragon, assuming he took the magic Spike had when it came to sending and receiving letters with Celestia.

But overall, none of that mattered, and nothing mattered more than the truth that Nyx was Twilight Sparkle's daughter. She would never allow her to be harmed or endangered in any way again, having standing up against so many ponies in the past and still some to this day, and wasn't about to give in again as she did once before. Her friends meant more to her than her gift of magic and willingly surrender that, and Nyx meant more to her than anything, and she would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Twilight looked up at Nyx, the filly's face filled with worry and fear for what might happen to her, and if what the monster that was Tirek was speaking the truth or not. Nyx's turquoise eyes stared back down at her mother, tears forming in each one, wondering what would happen next. The purple mare began trying to calm herself down, but her body remained in rage shift, thus showing that she was unable to calm down enough. She then looked towards her foe, her angry red eyes staring out and looking as if they were about to shoot out eye blasts of fire.

"Set her gently down," she seethed out of her teeth. "Now. You will let her come to me, and then I will offer surrender."

Standing in his own isolated spot, Discord watched what Twilight was doing. He still couldn't believe that she spared him along with the other ponies and Spike, and now she was willing to put all of Equestria at his betraying friend's mercy. That spoke even greater volumes to him than her first action. "She'd do all this to us, for Nyx," he murmured to himself. "Then again, she gave up so much for us already."

Tirek smiled evilly as he raised his hand to snap his fingers. "Excellent. We have a..."

"DON'T DO IT!"

All eyes turned up to Nyx, who cried out just before she would've been freed. She may have been scared, but she still had her bravery to do what she thought was best, and for that moment, it was to stop Twilight.

"Don't agree to that, Twilight! You can't surrender all of Equestria to him! It's not fair to everypony!"

Twilight's conscious began to become much clearer than before, and she felt her rage diminishing after hearing her daughter's voice. Replacing it, however, was sole uncertainty. Her wide open eyes looked up at Nyx, with her entire body slowly beginning to change colors again.

"I have to, Nyx. I'm not going to let you be taken away by anyone. I'll surrender everything before I have anything harm you again," Twilight called out.

"I know," Nyx replied. "That's why I want you to let me go, and let me make this choice. I don't want to see you all sacrifice for me. That's why I... I..." She began to stutter, but tried to put on her bravest face through sadness. "I'll let him take all my magic."

Twilight just stood in place stunned and numb, unable to move. Her mind and body were escaping rage shift as her heart became filled with sadness at the thought of losing Nyx. "No! I won't allow that! It's not fair for you, Nyx! It's not fair to anypony!" Her eyes began to tear up as she added "It's not fair for you, or your friends... Your family... Or me."

Her daughter called out "But Mom, it's part of who I am. You know why I'd do this, why I have my cutie mark? Protecting other ponies is my destiny, no matter what I have to do.

"Do you remember what I said to Celestia and Luna after you freed them from the sun and the moon? I told them I would protect anypony at any cost, and I want to keep my promise. If it means sacrificing myself to protect Equestria, my friends and my family, and most of all you, I'll do it...

"Please, Mom, don't give up everything for me. Please."

Where all but Tirek stood where they were touched by her willing to lose her life for them, Twilight had fully exited the rage shift. Instead, her heart was torn between listening to Nyx, and doing what she thought was right for her. Her sadness began to break an opening out as her head dropped and back legs gave out to have her collapse down, her rear sitting and her front on knees.

"No," she said in whimper. "Nyx, please don't... I couldn't let you..."

The purple alicorn began to sob in her place, unable to make her choice to accept Nyx's decision or not. How could she even hope in trying to save Equestria, with the price of her daughter? The idea tore her heart and soul apart, and it hurt so bad it began to feel like burning. The others just stood behind her staring, all with tears of their own forming in their eyes at the same thought.

Discord, however, had his eyes focused higher above, high in the skies above Tirek and Nyx. He noticed a light, which was not daylight, that seemed to have flashed above the clouds.

Growing tired of the conversation, Tirek looked down at Twilight to get a confirmed decision from her. "Well, Princess Twilight, what is your decision?"

Twilight couldn't answer, she just couldn't. Her voice seemed to have vanished so that she couldn't let Nyx sacrifice herself by accepting her choice, but she felt so broken that she was lost from staying with her original choice to surrender. She managed to pause from sobbing for a moment, trying to catch a breath of air, but whether she'd tried to speak or continue sobbing was not heard. Instead, there was a different voice from elsewhere.

"There is no surrender, or sacrifice!"

Everypony looked to where that came from, coming from the sky above Tirek and his prisoner. Something was falling out of the sky, diving down closer and closer and falling towards Nyx. The closer it got, the more the ponies could recognize it was not something, nor was it somepony, for it wasn't a pony that spoke those words, nor anything from the world of Equestria. Not a griffon, or a changeling or a dragon, not even a draconequus, but a familiar being from a different world; a world known as Mobius.

"What is this?" Tirek questioned as he saw this being come down towards them.

The ponies knew who it was, and so did Nyx, who yelled out the same of who this newcomer was-

"Cosmo!"

And it was; Cosmo, the Seedrian hero of Mobius, who was diving down as fast as gravity could let her. Her aim was for the prison bubble that held the alicorn filly captive, and once she was close enough, she changed her position. She turned herself right-side up, letting her dress turn into a parachute to slow down her descent, and at the same time, opened her hand out to reveal a weapon that appeared out of a magical flash of light, which those knew it as the Galactic Natura.

"Nyx, get ready to fall to me!" Cosmo called out as she came within swinging reach of the bubble. Once she was in range, she swung the sword-like weapon at the bubble, slicing through it like it didn't even exist and breaking it open, setting Nyx free.

"Quick, come here!"

The filly then did what hovering she could to fly to Cosmo, having herself wrapped in the Seedrian's arm, and safety. The two immediately began their descent towards Twilight and the others.

Tirek, however, was not pleased with this turn of events. "What?! Impossible!" Without another word, his horns began to charge with a sphere of powerful energy between them. "No one escapes from me!"

Without a moment to waste on her part, she used her weapon to cast a new sphere around her and Nyx; a shield of protection. When the blast was dealt, it did more harm than good sending the two to the ground faster. Inside her shield, Cosmo accessed a small thing on her wrist, flipping it open by the flick of a wrist, and then yelled at it-

"Now!"

Back above in the sky, on the upper side of the clouds, another flash of light was seen. Immediately following that, a bolt of light shot down towards everyone, and its target set on Tirek. When it made contact, the evil giant was hit with enough force to be knocked away across the ground, sending him through a self-dug ditch and going deeper into the ground until he went under the surface.

The ponies, dragon and draconequus stared in astonishment as what they just saw, but their eyes mainly locked onto Cosmo and Nyx. The two reached the ground, a little hard from Tirek's blast but safe nonetheless, as Twilight felt her body act on its own and race to where they landed several meters away. The shield that saved them broke open, allowing the Princess to charge straight to her daughter who was now away from life-threatening danger.

"NYX!"

"MOMMY!"

The two yelled for each other just a split second before Twilight locked all her limbs around Nyx, who did so in return. The worry and fear the alicorns had disappeared and were replaced with relief and smiles, and some of the happiest tears either have ever shed. The other ponies raced up from behind, lined up behind the mother and daughter just as relieved.

Rainbow Dash spoke first about what had just transpired with "That was awesome! How did you cut..." She paused for a moment, another thought coming to mind. "Wait, how did you know about that?"

Cosmo only smiled without replying, and another being landed on their feet next to her. It was a fox with golden fur and two tails, and the source of the light that just struck down Tirek. Next to Cosmo was none other than Tails, the greatest hero, and arguably most powerful warrior, of Mobius.

And Cosmo's fiance.

He had a familiar appearance, one the ponies hadn't seen since a trio of dragons were chasing down four fillies across Ponyville, and had a golden aura surrounding him. In a calm breath it all changed back to his normal state, no longer gold but yellowish orange fur in his appearance as well. Seeing Nyx safe was a nice relief for him, knowing who he counted on to save her was an incredible hero herself. He had heard what the cyan pegasus had asked and decided to give a quick explanation.

"Princess Celestia managed to send us a letter through the interdimensional traveling spell. She felt you would need our help somehow and wrote about Lord Tirek and what he was doing." He paused for a moment, a cold glare momentarily directed at Discord. "And that someone had decided to help the enemy instead of turning him in." Although the stare felt cold, his tone didn't sound the same, just disappointed. Discord could tell and continued to feel shameful, but knowing this kind of event with a certain foe from back home, Tails didn't express any resentment or anger, and just left what he said at that.

"It wasn't until we waited patiently in my workshop at home if we needed to come here when an alarm had went off," he continued. "It detected the highest levels of magical energies from your world than ever before, as if it was coming from a battle with our friends, the Z warriors. That was when we knew you could use the help."

Cosmo then continued where Tails had left off, saying "When we arrived at a distance, we saw how your friends were released from those prisons, Twilight. But before we could make ourselves known, we saw Nyx appear, and quickly made a plan to go above the clouds and wait before the right actions were needed. Tails went Super Saiyan after what Nyx said she'd do for you all, and that's when..."

Cosmo was interrupted when Twilight stepped up to her, holding Nyx tightly around one front leg, and embracing Cosmo in a hug with the other. "Thank you, Cosmo," she said through happy crying. "Thank you so much."

Nyx, who used what freedom she had to wrap her hooves around Cosmo's waist, hugged and said "Thanks for saving me," in the same tone as her mother.

Still holding her weapon in one hand, Cosmo used her free arm to wrap around the two and hug in return. She then said "You're welcome," with a happy smile across her face.

The moment of joy was killed when a huge power was sensed, mainly by Tails, and an erupting blast of energy shot off from the distance. They all turned to see its orange color shooting up into the sky, and two familiar red arms sticking up out of the ground, lifting Tirek out from underground and back onto the surface. The enormous growl he let out showed the rage he developed from having been knocked down out of nowhere. He didn't like how Twilight fought him with the alicorn magic, but a new challenger wasn't what he expected at all.

"I'm afraid to say that this is still far from over," Rarity said.

"What do we do now?" asked a feared Fluttershy.

"I think the better question is; what can we do?" added Applejack.

Tails wore a focusing glare on his face, turning towards the distant enemy. He came up with the best plan he could for the moment, telling the ponies "You guys need to get back and stay safe for now. I'll handle Tirek." He turned his head just enough to face Cosmo to add "Can you keep them safe and help out however you can?"

Cosmo gave a determined nod and replied "Right, but if you need me..."

"I know, but I don't think it will come down to that," he said back, knowing what she was about to say. "Hang onto your Keyblade, just in case." He was just about to take off when he heard Twilight speak to him.

"Be careful, Tails. I fought him with the combined magic of all the princesses, and we were equally matched."

The confident fox just gave a thumbs-up to his friend, a gesture she couldn't give back, and wore a confident smirk on his face as well. "Don't worry," he assured, "I can handle him." And with that, a burst of energy shot throughout his body, and he took off to face Tirek.

The ponies and Seedrian watched for a moment before Cosmo directed their attention otherwise. "Let's go. We need to get away and come up with a plan to help."

"But Tails is a super kick-flank hero. He said he can take down that terribly tormenting Tirek," Pinkie said.

Cosmo never wanted to put doubt at her best friend and beloved, but she knew there had to be more than him to stop the foe. "I know he can," she stated, "but we have to think of some way to help. Now come on." She began to lead the others back to a further location, one going towards the ledge of the gorge by the old crumbling castle above the Tree of Harmony.

Confronting Tirek

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"Who dares think they can stand against me?!" Tirek called out. "Show yourself to me!"

His answer came as something was flying towards his direction. As it got closer, he tried to identify what it could be, unable to do so until the thing stopped and landed on the ground before him. He stared at this strange thing, a new being like none he'd seen before, even in Tartarus. As for what it was, it was a non-pony being, something fairly rare in Equestria, but who it was wasn't recognizable.

Tails had landed on his feet, staring up crossly at the giant beast that dwarfed him in vertical stature. He could sense the power level Tirek had, a level that equaled the readings the alarm showed just a short time ago. Even though he knew that he was outmatched for one-on-one combat, the heroic fox remained unphased. His life has had him face greater challenges than this, most memorably the Metarex, and just like those times, he was willing to face the new foe and stop them from causing more harm than already done.

That, and if Tails ever learned anything from all the adventures he and his friends had shared, it was always to expect the unexpected, and that they could accomplish anything.

Moments of silence would pass as the two stood opposite of each other, only staring. The hero kept his cross expression, but the villain had a more unexpected, but intrigued, glare from his eyes. "So," Tirek said, "you must be the one that helped save Nightmare Moon." He was given no reply, just the fox's silent glare.

"I must admit, what you did was impressive, knocking me into the ground like that. You must possess powerful magic yourself to make that happen, as there isn't a pony left that could do that. And I can clearly see you are definitely not from Equestria, so that leaves to wonder- who are you? Where do you hail from?"

Tails remained unresponsive, glaring up at Tirek with an untapped rage to let loose. It remained this way for a few moments still, until the foe began to become impatient, so instead he prepared to attack the fox. "Not one for words, are you? Very well, then let me give you a reason to stay silent."

With a thrush of his arm, Tirek slammed a clenched fist right onto the fox, pounding him into the ground. The villain wore a smirk on his face doing so, but it disappeared when he felt his fist being pushed against from underneath, being lifted off the ground. From his height he couldn't get the right angle to see that Tails was lifting it up, staying on his feet even after the attack. With great force, the hero gripped onto the fist's giant fingers, spun the foe around in a circle once before releasing and causing Tirek to hit the ground and slide away.

Tirek was quick to get back on his feet, and went on to compliment this newcomer, but with a non-pleasing tone. "Very impressive. You are indeed strong, perhaps as strong as one of those pathetic alicorns," he said. "I'm sure you weren't around to see how one alicorn, with the power of all the land's princesses, matched against me, that is before I gained that magic through negotiation. Perhaps now you'd be willing to speak when I ask how you possibly think you can stand against me, the most powerful being in all of..."

"You attacked my friends... You threatened the life of a child!"

Tails finally spoke up, and at the same time let his energy channel through himself to give it its physical appearance as we went on speaking. His tone was filled with his growing anger, and he made sure to not show this enemy any holding back.

"You had no right to attack and steal from all the ponies! I could tell you did that when I saw my friends and sensed their depleted energy. But the fact that you took Nyx... that you took a filly... to use to make my friends surrender to you... is revolting! You were willing to take her life and not even care in the end!"

His energy then spiked to one of its higher levels, the same that he used earlier to help Cosmo get Nyx to safety. It showed after he exclaimed "And here's an introduction for you-

MY NAME IS MILES 'TAILS' PROWER, AND I WON'T LET YOU HARM ANYPONY!... AGAIN!!!"

As he exclaimed the last word loud and long, his body changed back to his golden Super Saiyan form, but he didn't let it stop there. He focused his power and channeled it through another exclamation, this time a strong scream, that caused his power to multiply again. What Tirek just witnessed was this fox unleashing himself into his solo most powerful state known as Super Saiyan 2.

"Incredible," complimented Tirek. "That power is an incredible magic you have, Tails. I can sense its greatness, and now I want to have a good display of it."

And with that an orb of energy glowed between his horns, only taking a moment to charge it enough to his satisfaction of usage. He sent a blast of energy right at Tails, believing to having the fox engulfed and harmed within it. It seemed to be the right level of energy to accomplish the objective, but the effort was proven to be underestimating what exactly was going on then.

As appearing with little effort, Tails used his hand to knock the incoming blast out of his direction and towards the distant mountains, causing one of the land's greatest formations to be nearly destroyed in the process. It wasn't as if Tirek's battle with Twilight did the land any fairer treatment, but this time, the levels were higher in destructive and dangerous measures. After his deflection worked, Tails stared back up at his opponent just as angry, not in any mood to play games, but just flexible enough to have some of a certain hedgehog's 'rubbed-off' confidence show.

"There's a lot more to me than you realize. I'm not here to be your new siphoning target, and I don't care just how powerful you are. I'm here to help make sure that you are stopped once and for all, and compared to what I fight for, you are nothing!"

Tirek, now enraged by such insults, replied to this with "We will see about that!" He then began to charge for the fox, his four feet stomping against the earth with the force of an entire nation of ponies. Tails shot himself into the air to counterattack the new foe, a fist clenched and an objective in his battle strategy. The two opposing forces clashed when coming in range, an occurrence that was as booming as thunder and as forceful as lightning, starting the new battle for Equestria-

Tails vs. Tirek.

Their first encounter was the clash of two fists hitting against one-another, a brief stalemate. The next was in Tails' favor, as Tirek's first move was thrusting his fist towards the fox. Being relatively the same size as Twilight, and learning some agility from his older brother Sonic, the heroic fox dodged the incoming blow and charged towards the foe like a golden dart. He struck against Tirek's chest hard at first, but quickly shifted into a swifter form of attack where he sped all around the foe landing as many blows as possible. This was a tactic borrowed from another friend, Shadow, who used this strategy against a Metarex warcraft known as Scarship several years ago. It proved to be effective, but to a different degree, as it just confused the evil titan as he tried many times to swipe his hand and stop the barrage.

After so many tries, Tirek used his powers to magically grab hold and stop Tails in his tracks. Like what he did to Twilight before, and what the fox did to him, he gave the hero a spin and threw him into the air. Unlike the purple alicorn, however, Tails had managed to regain control of himself and stop in place in the air once the spell had let him go. He then saw a blast of energy coming right for him, reaching too close to focus the right kind of deflection strategy, so he counterattacked with a blast of his own energy. The two blasts met just several feet in front of him, canceling each other out with a bright light. But once the light had faded, he noticed the foe having jumped into the air and charging right for him.

Tails quickly put his hands open in front of him to resist some of the impact as Tirek slammed against him with his head. The villain tried to grab him with his hands again, but failed again as if he had teleportation magic as well, the fox disappeared and reappeared above him, using his might to ram himself against the enemy's back, plummeting them both towards the ground. Just a few seconds before they'd both hit the ground, Tails stopped in the air, charged both of his hands with Ki energy, and began to throw shot after shot of an energy barrage. Tirek, however, hit the ground but recovered quick enough to only take the first few shots directly, using his own powers to form a shield around him afterwards. Each of the fox's attack still had enough force to push him back bit by bit, a strong force to accomplish.

Seeing the attacks doing no good, Tails stopped the barrage, and in turn having Tirek lower his shield. The powerful foe tried another tactic he used against Twilight, focusing his power to slam the ground and cause pillars to rise out of the ground. Unlike before, he put all the focus onto only one pillar, shooting up like a rock-made geyser. Clenching his fists together, Tails raised them in the air, and when the pillar came in near contact, used all his strength to smash it at its peak and send a crack from the top down in, shattering it to pieces.

The heroic fox charged at the foe again, flying through the falling fragments of the pillar, kicking some towards his target in the process. Tirek guarded himself with another shield, allowing him to see the fox's next tactic. Racing down, Tails held one fist down and another back, the latter being focused for a powerful blow one of his fighting teachers had taught him between Metarex wars. The fist began to glow with energy, appearing as if it had taken the shape of a strange dragon. The shield kept up when Tails made contact, exclaiming the technique's title-

"DRAGON FIST!"

The throw of the fist was incredibly powerful, hitting against the shield and causing a sound-waving boom and earth-shaking quake. Tirek had to focus more of his power to keep his shield up, and crossed his arms as well, all to push him back across the ground. That blow felt more powerful than Twilight's first blast of magic based on Tirek's judgment, but proved to be much more when he came to a stop, and part of the shield looked fractured and breaking apart. He let the entire shield down, and stood in his place firmly, but also collected. He saw Tails flying towards the ground below and remained unphased as the fox landed on his feet just meters away. Both would glare at one-another for a moment before the villain broke the silence.

"You know how to hold your own well," said Tirek, "even with my strength increased by the alicorns' magic. It is unlike anything other than myself that I've seen, even with my previous confrontation with Princess Twilight. Tell me, small Miles, what sort of magic do you possess that makes you so strong?"

Tails only stared up at the foe and replied "I'm using no magic against you. It is inner strength and energy alone."

Tirek refused to believe this and said "Don't lie to me. I saw that other strange creature..."

"Cosmo," the fox interrupted sharply. "Her name is Cosmo."

"...I saw that strange creature Cosmo make a weapon appear out of nowhere in a magical light. Surely if she has magic, you would as well. Now, show me your magic!"

Tails knew that Tirek's unquenchable thirst for magic wouldn't cease anytime soon, so in reluctance, he gave in. He reached his hand out in front of him, holding it open as if he was waiting to grab something. Not one second later did a quick flash of magical light appear, and out of that was a weapon similar to what Tirek had seen before. It was a long tool, held like a sword, but looked as if it was a giant key. The fox held his weapon tight in a fist, and decided to briefly describe it to the giant foe.

"The most magic I'll show you is this. This is a tool known as a Keyblade, a mystical sword that is connected with our hearts, and helps connect worlds together. Cosmo has her own, called Galactic Natura, and I have mine, the Kitsune Animulus. There are also others, superior to myself, who are the master wielders of the Keyblades. The magic through these is connected and channeled with our hearts, so as long as the wielder is one who stands for good and for the better of others... unlike you."

His Keyblade then vanished in another magical flash, the hand that held it switched to present his physical form more clearly. "And like I already said, what I use against you now is none of that. It is solely my own strength and energy, enhanced by ascension once only able to be done by another race." He then lowered his hand and addressed as sternly as he could "And that's all you need to know."

Tirek looked down at the fox, pleased with the idea of there being even more magic to take for himself. "How interesting. Perhaps there is a way we can make an exchange that will..."

"You will NOT be stealing any more magic from anyone, Tirek," Tails interrupted, "especially from me. I've come here to help make sure of that, so don't even bother try to threaten me. You'd regret the effort."

"Why you little pest!" Tirek yelled. "How dare you think that you can tell me what I can do as if you're one of the alicorn princesses! I have near all the magic of Equestria, and I'll make sure..." He paused when another idea came to mind, one that made him grin. If he couldn't negotiate for the fox's magic and power, then there were other options.

"Very well. You can keep your magic, as it would do you no good against me. I can seek magic elsewhere, whether it's that filly Nightmare Moon, or that Cosmo..."

Tails felt his rage build, something he had the hardest to handle at times. When anything or anyone would threaten his loved one, that was especially when he would have the hardest time controlling his temper, not after all the two have been through. He stood in place, but his power level surged around him in a strong wave during his next exclamation.

"You will NOT take any more magic again! NOT FROM NYX! NOT FROM COSMO! NOT FROM ANYBODY!!!"

"Then prepare to be mistaken!" Tirek exclaimed back, and charged a new sphere of energy between his horns, blasting it down at the fox.

Tails defended himself, surging Ki through his body and retaliate with a blast of his own. The two energies clashed together, causing an explosion that boomed a sound that would reach the farthest ends of Equestria.

/)∞(\

Twilight and the others felt the last explosion's shockwave through both air and ground from their distant location. They were now near the Castle of the Royal Sisters, and the gorge where the Tree of Harmony sat under the castle. It was the best place to stop as some of the group couldn't keep running for too much longer, especially Nyx. The filly ran as fast and hard as she could, but was exhausted by the time they had stopped.

But if it wasn't exhaustion that would give Nyx a hard time breathing, it would be her mother holding her. The moment they all stopped, Twilight wrapped legs and wings around the filly, part still relieved that she was safe, but a greater part nervous for any danger there could be next. Nyx wasn't particularly happy with being squeezed so tightly, but she didn't want it to end either. She felt safe again, and was hugging her mother in return.

The ponies noticed after a few minutes that the only one not appearing to rest was Cosmo. She was looking out at the distance, where the energy clash came from. In her hand was her Keyblade, in case she would need its magic to create a shield or attack with, seeing that nopony was able to do so themselves because of Tirek's siphoning. But what really kept her mind occupied was Tails and how to help him, to help their pony friends, stop the giant villain for good. They had to think of a new plan and fast, because there was a sad truth Cosmo didn't want to admit-

As strong as he was, Tails was outmatched in power. It's something that never stopped him before, but at the same time, Tirek had to potential to fatally injure her loved one.

"Be careful Tails," she thought to herself. "I know you know better, you always have. I just..." Her thoughts stopped as she remembered the events in the climax of the Metarex War. "...I just don't want to lose you, like how my decisions had you lose me..."

She felt a hoof touch her shoulder, and turned her head to notice that it was Applejack. The orange mare walked up to her when she was zoned out on the battle. "You're worried about him a might, aren't ya, Sugarcube?"

Cosmo shut her eyes and sighed to herself, perhaps an easy enough response to give. But she did speak and said "You never get used to it, I suppose, watching those you care about fight for your friends."

"But don't you do the same thing?" Spike asked, walking up to the two.

A small smile crossed Cosmo's face, along with a weak chuckle at just how true that was. "Yes, I suppose so," she replied, "but it never gets old with every new enemy." She looked out at the battle again, sensing the energies between the combatants. Her little grin faded back to a frown.

It was silent for a couple moments, most of the ponies unsure of what exactly to say next. Rainbow Dash broke the silence, saying "Well let's not just sit around and wait to see what happens with Tails or Tirek. We need a plan and we need it now!"

"But what... What can we do?" Fluttershy asked worriedly. "We don't have anything. We can't fly anymore..." Both the yellow and cyan mares looked at their wings, saddened at how their ability to fly was gone.

"Or earth pony magic," added a saddened Pinkie Pie. That sadness, however, jumped to confusion in her own little world as she pondered aloud "Wait, earth ponies have magic?"

Nyx leaned off from hugging her mother, looked around at everypony. For the first time she saw something different with them all. "Tirek..." she said, "he took all your magic away?" She saw how they all lost their cutie marks, and had glassy eyes that displayed emptiness within them. "But what about..."

The filly took a good look at Twilight, her eyes looking like glass and lacked her familiar six-pointed pink-purple star cutie mark with the five little white stars surrounding it. She then looked at the purple mare, her face saddened as Nyx made the realization of what had transpired before her appearance. "You gave up all your magic..."

Twilight frowned as she rubbed a hoof through Nyx's mane. The expression on her face was more than enough to be an answer, but a tear of emotional pain made its way out of her. Nyx sat there in a moment-long gaze, unsure of what to say next. The filly's face looked sad as well, but also traumatized at the same time. Twilight had given up her magic - her special talent in life - to save her friends, and was willing to give up the freedom of everypony of a nation, all for her.

"There's not much we can do, Nyx," Twilight said, "not without the right amount of magic."

"But what in Equestria can we do?" Rarity asked. "We can't leave Tails all on his own out there to fight a foe that isn't his."

"Well we have to think of something," Rainbow said, "or we might as well..." She then stopped speaking as her eyes fixated on Nyx, and then on Cosmo. They went back and forth in such motion for a few seconds before an idea came to her mind. "Cosmo and Nyx! They can help us out!"

"What are ya talkin' about?" Applejack asked.

"Both of them still have their magic. Cosmo with the magic that comes with that Keyblade thing, and Nyx with what she already has, plus what Tirek explained about before. Maybe we can combine them somehow, maybe even unleash all of Nyx's magic, and use that with Tails's power to take down that oversized freak."

Normally everyone Cosmo has fought with would contemplate if it was a plan worth the chance. The ponies, however, were more immediate with decisions, taking action the moment any kind of inspiration was found. But not even seconds after Rainbow said her idea did Twilight make her choice about it-

"NO."

Everyone turned to the alicorn after she said that, seeing an angry glare from what became cold eyes to look into. Just by her tone they could tell she did not like the thought at all, but her look made it scary.

"If you think that I'm letting Nyx anywhere near Tirek again, you're wrong. I'm not allowing her to potentially risk her life, not after having that ultimatum he made. She can still barely use her magic as it is, the best being able to divert objects that other ponies have tried to throw at her for her past sins! There is not a single way I'll let that plan happen!"

"But Twi,..."

"No buts, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight snapped. She jumped onto her hooves, and stared furiously at the cyan pegasus, their foreheads just a couple inches apart. "I won't let that happen! There has to be another way!"

Rainbow Dash stood in her feeling a little threatened by Twilight's anger. Perhaps her idea wasn't the best to go with. She just wanted to come up with something to stop the villain that's stolen so much from Equestria already.

"Twi," Rainbow said, starting to stutter in her speech. "I'm... I'm sorry. I just wanted to think of something." Unfortunately the apology didn't fully calm the purple mare down, but another pony stepped up and put a hoof to her side.

"Mom, calm down," Nyx said, getting her mother's attention. "I don't want to do that. I don't even know if Tirek was actually telling the truth about me or not. You said yourself that alicorn magic, as strong as it is, still takes time to build into the strong magic that it can be. Protecting ponies is my talent, as my cutie mark says, but I know I only have so many limits... for now at least.

"I won't risk myself like that, Mom, not that way here. I promise."

Hearing her daughter say that calmed Twilight nerves just enough, and wrapped a hoof around Nyx and held her close. Funny thing was how she had to calm Nyx down from the filly's occasional temper outbursts, but now it was the other way around. "Thank you, Nyx," she said, a relief sound in her voice as she feared of repeating of what she tried to argue with before.

She nuzzled the top of Nyx's head in a loving manner, and got a nuzzle in return. She turned her head over back to her friend and said "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. I know you were only trying to help."

Cosmo, Spike and the Mane 5 stepped around them, unable to argue against Twilight's opinion. They wanted this whole ordeal to end as it is, but none were willing to let such a little pony to play a possibly fatal role again. Cosmo was all too familiar with that herself, and kneeled down to Nyx's level, lifting the filly's head up to look back at her kind, smiling face.

"Nyx, we won't let you be used in such a horrible way. I risked my life to save those I cared about. You know the story I told you about with the Metarex and Galvatron, and how Tails and all my friends were heartbroken from it," Cosmo said, referring to a conversation from the not too distant past of her Equestria Games visit. She then gave a more determined look, but lacking the smile her beloved fox would have. "I wouldn't listen to a word that monster has said if I were you. He probably doesn't know what he's talking about, or who exactly he's messing with."

"You're right about that first part, Cosmo. He can be a liar," said a certain draconequus. She and everypony turned to Discord, who stood in front of the line of ponies and the Seedrian to speak a few words of his own.

"Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer me something more valuable than friendship. But there is nothing worth more. I see that now." He held an item worn around his neck, given to him by who deceived him earlier, displaying it to the group.

"He lied when he said that this medallion was given as a sign of gratitude and loyalty. But when I say that it is a sign of our true friendship, I am telling the truth."

He took it off and placed the medallion around Twilight's neck, and remained standing before them solemnly. Just then, a rainbow of colors shined from the item, but not a typical rainbow aura. Cosmo and Twilight noticed this, both looking at the item given from Discord's honest gesture. The purple alicorn then had an insightful realization, stared up at the distant battle between Tails and Tirek, and her eyes returned to their full color, as if her magic was restored.

"Mom, your eyes," Nyx said, seeing what happened.

"Do you think that's the last one we need?" Applejack asked.

Cosmo then tried to ask "The last of wha..."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhh!"

A distant scream echoed from the very direction of the ongoing battle, catching everyone's attention. They recognized that voice, crying out in agony as if bones could've been broken, or perhaps worse. Cosmo's worry grew even worse as she knew that voice like none other, and clenched her hand over her heart as she felt a terrible pain.

"Tails!"

Rules of Nature: Unite & Ascend

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Tirek gained an upper hand in the battle with Tails. The fox attempted to charge with another Ki attack but was caught in a holding spell and unable to free himself immediately. After having been smashed onto the ground repeatedly, there came a point where he was held in one spot as the villain jumped high into the air. The launch was higher than expected, and the result of it was having a hoof slamming right down onto him like a foot stomping on a bug, with the hero's head spared.

Tails cried out in pain, feeling the force break at least one bone in his body. When the hoof lifted off of him and still trapped in the spell, he was lifted into the air, and tossed against several broken pieces of earth formed from the battling. He was finally released after being slammed against the ground face first as hard as Tirek's magic could allow. It took several seconds before he got back on his feet, or at least try, as his right leg surged with incredible pain and his chest not as better.

After collapsing back down, a hand over his chest and another supporting him off the ground, there was no denying that his leg and most of his ribs were broken.

It had been a little while since the heroic fox felt that damaged, the most recent from the events from home just prior to discovering Equestria. It took a minute for him to try and regain what control he had, with Tirek just standing there and watching all the while. The villain watched as his opponent was clearly suffering damage, and himself barely even bruised. Yet he watched in intrigue as Tails finally lifted himself up, flying into the air to be eye-to-eye with him and panting through exhausting pain.

"It looks as if there is no impasse for this fight," said Tirek. "You are indeed strong, lasting far longer than I had anticipated, but not strong enough to win."

Tails stared back with the still determined and ferocious glare he had at the battle's start. "I'm not done with you yet," he told the foe with his fatigue-toned voice. "I've been in worse shape and fought worse enemies than you. You're not going to win. I promise you that."

"I wouldn't make a promise I doubt you could keep," Tirek growled. "I have enough power to turn Equestria into a wasteland, the power that was always mine to control. Compared to me, you are nothing!"

"No!" Tails snapped back with releasing rage. "You're a thief, a liar, and an endangering monster to my friends! You can't break me down and stop me from making sure you're stopped!" With a cringe he took an aerial stance and glowed a bright gold aura, and let out an open hand to blast the foe with an energy blast. Tirek countered with a counterattack of his own, canceling the two out between them with a blinding light.

Tails seized this new chance to make a surprise attack and disappeared behind the bright light. When it had faded, Tirek did not see where the fox went, that is until he looked directly above him. Another bright light shined, from another energy blast that the villain was too late to block, causing the attack to knock him on his knees. With all the might he could collect, the hero clenched his hands into fists, and threw a punch that face-planted the foe right into the ground. Tails didn't stop there as he barraged his opponent with blow after blow as fast and effective as possible.

Tirek used his arm to swipe the fox into the air, allowing him to begin getting back on his hooves. He was halfway up when he saw Tails charge back at him, landing a rolling kick with his good leg right across his face. The fox then began a new barrage of punches right on Tirek's dark red face, going from left hook to right hook, then left, then right, and so on. With every punch the giant foe made a step back, and the fox threw one after another until what felt like three dozen blows. It was at this point that Tirek's patience had finally run out.

"I've had enough of this!" the villain exclaimed, catching another attempted blow from the fox with his magic. He charged up a sphere of energy between his horns and blasted Tails dead on.

Tails didn't have time to block the attack as he was only inches away from it, and took it full force as it blasted him across the Everfree Forest below him. When the blast had lightened enough he began to fall down to the ground, smashing through tree limbs in the process. He then tumbled meters after meters before dragging dozens of feet against the dirt, stopping just before the edge of a cliff.

He laid there hurt and damaged, his eyes making out his surroundings in a blur. When his vision began to clear, he found what was a massive gray blur turn into a building with an older style of architecture not so existent where he was from. He found himself near the Castle of the Royal Sisters, just far away at the stairs leading down into the gorge below, where a light shined and sound of rushing feet could be heard.

He looked down to see numerous colors racing towards the light, one of which the most familiar shade of green he ever knew. The green one was Cosmo without question, and she was with their Ponyville friends rushing into a cave where the light was coming from. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he was sure there was something about what was inside that cave that would help them. If that was true, then he had to make sure to keep Tirek away from them more than ever.

But marching his way towards the hero, Tirek was walking through the forest as if it was nothing. He blasted spot after spot with his power, causing more and more destruction as he marched. It was when he was just near the tree line that he blasted at the ground where Tails was, but the fox jumped out of the way to dodge it. He tumbled on the ground again, going over the edge of the cliff and grabbing hold of the edge before he could fall. But before he could lift himself up, a magical force did it for him.

/)∞(\

"Keep it movin', y'all! Get to the Tree!"

The last blast sent rocks and stone flying down into the gorge, some being small pebbles, others the size of teenage ponies. It caught the attention of the group of friends, who turned to see the incoming rocks heading right for them. Applejack called out to them to keep moving and escape from harm. It kept them all running, but they still had to dodge falling rocks from left to right. Then again, the Mane 6 did have experience in avoiding falling objects, such as avalanches and dive-bombing Changelings.

Fluttershy managed herself well, but a boulder nearly as big as an average pony crashed down just a few feet in front of her path. It scared her into a yelp and she slid to a complete stop just before where the boulder landed. Fortunately she used her wings as air resistance to assure she wouldn't slide right into the stone. However, she neglected to notice another rock aiming right in her place, but another noticed this.

"Look out!"

Discord did some quick thinking and used his tail to wrap around Fluttershy and pull her out of the way just before the next falling rock came crashing down into the first one, both turning into gravel. He kept on running with her in tow until they were both inside the cave. She was set back down on her hooves in great relief that she was safe, but shocked that a huge rock was right on line with her head.

"Are you alright, Fluttershy?" Discord asked her.

Fluttershy immediately nuzzled against Discord, tears of relief flowing out of her eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said as she tried not to sob too heavily.

Before the draconequus could say anything back, and as Twilight was just entering herself, another pony made a cry outside. The alicorn's head jerked around in an instant to see that Nyx had tripped over.

The moment the rocks came coming down, Nyx did her best to keep up. Because she was much smaller than the other ponies, and especially a smaller scale compared to her former full-grown self, she had a hard time trying to keep up. She eventually stumbled between her hooves, causing her to fall and slide a few feet before coming to a stop. Rocks fell all around her, but her mother noticed one stone in particular making its way down towards Nyx.

"NYX!" Twilight cried out.

But just as Nyx's eyes began to look back at the incoming stone, she found Cosmo jumping between it and her, swinging her Keyblade in a vertical slash. The rock split into halves, falling at their sides rather at the filly and Seedrian, and crashed onto the ground. She then used her Keyblade's magic to make a shield to keep them covered as they saw the last of the rocks fall towards them and others further way.

Cosmo turned around to help Nyx back on her hooves, kindly asking "Are you alright?"

The filly nodded and replied "Yeah, thanks," to which Cosmo just smiled back. But then Nyx saw what was happening back up at the gorge's top. She pointed her hoof in that direction and said "Oh no! Look!"

Cosmo, and Twilight, who was still standing by the entrance of the Tree's cave, looked up to see Tails hanging off the cliff. They could see he was not in the best condition, seeing battle marks all over his body, and thin streams and smears of red in his fur. He was holding himself up by one hand, his other looking to be grabbing his chest. An orange aura surrounded him as Tirek came into view next, using his power to levitate the fox into the air, and he was barely able to put up a fight.

Cosmo could tell that he wasn't well and needed help. All she knew from the ponies was that the medallion Twilight wore could be the last key they could use to stop Tirek, and if that was the case, then she may not need to help them much more at this point, as they had made it to the Tree of Harmony. Without turning back to Twilight, she said to her friend "Tails needs help. You go do what you can." She didn't turn back to see that Twilight nodded, and began to run her way to the battle.

Twilight called out to her daughter "Nyx, get in here, quick!" The small filly immediately began to run, meeting her mother at the cave opening. "Come on, let's see what this thing can do," she said, holding the medallion in her hoof before starting to run to the box with her daughter starting to follow.

Nyx, however, only took a few steps forward before turning her head back to look outside. The thought of Tails in trouble bothered her, even though she was aware of his history as a warrior and hero. She took a few steps back out of the cave, facing where she saw Cosmo racing her way back up the stairs, and Tails still in Tirek's magical bind. The couple have helped save her life from the villain earlier, and all she began to think about returning the favor to help them, to help her mother and her friends, and to help Equestria.

/)∞(\

Tails remained trapped in Tirek's magic as he felt it lift himself to the foe's eye level. The whole time, he had a whole eye open and a half-shut eye staring back, his mouth panting breaths of air in and out. The tumble worsened his breaking body, particularly his already broken ribs, but he showed the minimal reaction to the pain he could allow himself. When he stared eye to eye with the villain, Tirek began to look amused, grinning at the site of the fatigued fox.

"Look at you," he said with an evil laugh, "broken apart with barely anything left to continue. This battle is over, as I've proven you are no match for the power I possess..." He paused for a moment before adding "...and now with the power you will supply me with..."

Tails spat out some blood and spit built up from his mouth, right down to the ground below him, continuing to stare back at the villain. As one hand was still on his chest, the other was limp, but limp in appearance. "You want my power?" he said, and immediately followed by the spit landing on Tirek's hoof. "Then here!"

Using his free hand, he waved it across his front, releasing a wave of Ki straight at his target. It hit Tirek's chest, but wasn't strong enough to break his focus to release the hero from the magical bind. Unpleased and enraged, Tirek shook off the attack's impact, and then said "Enough games! Your magic is mine!"

He shut his eyes and opened his mouth, and then began to take Tails's power, but there was a problem. He wasn't drawing any power from the fox. His own power wasn't increasing at all. It was a moment of deja vu when he attempted to take Celestia, Luna and Cadance's magic and got nothing. His eyes opened to see what was going on, and widened to what he saw.

Tails was just as surprised to find that a shield had appeared around him, shielding him from anything from its outside, and keeping his power safe inside. "Where did this..." he wondered aloud, but his eyes looked down as he sensed where the energy came from.

Below he found Cosmo running up to the top of the gorge's staircase, casting a shield spell through her Keyblade's magic. As she reached the top, she kept herself in a focused stance to keep the shield as strong as possible, but at the same time, used magic in her weapon as a blast of energy at Tirek.

As they knew from their training with the King during the Dimensional Metarex War, their hearts are always connected, and the magic power can be shared between them through their Keyblades. Because of this, Cosmo's strike was just as powerful as what Tails had just done. Unfortunately, it did nothing to break his concentration enough to free the fox. Knowing she couldn't do much more than keep the shield up around her love, Cosmo tried to take advantage of the small window of opportunity and have Tails use both Keyblades as one.

"Tails, catch!" she called out to him, using all her might to toss her weapon into the air.

But Tirek, knowing of the Keyblades' magical properties after Tails's description of it earlier, intervened just in his perfect timing. He dropped his jaw and began to absorb the magic of the tossed blade. The Keyblade came just within Tails's reach before vanishing in thin air, and its magic beaming into Tirek and increasing his power more.

But it wasn't the end of that.

"Your magic is very quenching," the villain said, "and now I'll take the rest."

His jaw opened and began stealing magic again, this time from Cosmo. Caught in his magical bind instantly, she felt herself being drained of what power she possessed. The inner power of a Seedrian, the magic of a Keywielder, even the Seedrian Spirit Stone she wore on her chest, all being siphoned. When the deed was done, she was freed from the bind, but collapsed onto the ground on her side, only barely conscious.

"COSMO!" Tails cried, horrified by what he just watched. He was still trapped in Tirek's bind and Cosmo's shield, that magic seeming to have taken much more power than normal to keep so strong. He turned his enraged eyes back to Tirek, whose power and size grew again, but still wanting more.

"Interesting. You've already given me so much magic," Tirek said, "but I can still see something in you. But what exactly?" He stared down at the girl laying on the ground, her only movement from her chest as she breathed lightly. He studied her, overhearing the fox to turn his eyes away, but ignored him nonetheless.

"Yes... Yes I think I figured it out. You are like what I thought of Nightmare Moon. You may have a greater power tied to your life force that you do not access."

Although she couldn't do much except hope to feel her energy regain itself, Cosmo could hear what Tirek was saying very well, as did Tails. Both Mobians thought of two things about what the villain had said. One was that what he did to Nyx earlier was a bluff, as he just admitted not knowing for certain that hidden reserves of her full alicorn magic remained in her that connected with her life directly. The ultimatum between Equestria and Nyx meant nothing, and that if she did went on to sacrifice herself, she'd still be alive, only completely drained of her magic. In the end, she was only a small tool used by Tirek for selfish gain.

The other was that unlike Nyx, Cosmo did have a tie-in between her life force and a certain power. At the end of the Dimensional Metarex War, the Seedrian had died again, but returned to life following an infant spirit, named Aura, using her newborn life to bring Cosmo back. Although it wasn't thought of much, the power to revive Cosmo may not have been all of it, given what Tirek claimed to be true and some power still does course through her body. Neither could believe it to be true, not without proper tests done of course, but the villain wanted to find out right then and there.

"Let's see how much power you still have..."

"Don't you DARE harm her!" Tails exclaimed from within the shield. He strained himself to release what energy he could to bring out his Keyblade, and used it to make himself free from both the foe's bind on him, and the shield Cosmo conjured. But as he did, he was too late to stop Tirek's siphoning from starting.

But none of them there saw what had happened during the time of their actions. A bright light shined from below, glowing brighter and brighter. As it glowed, Tirek found himself unable to steal power again, the third time in one day. He focused his eyes downward to figure out why. What he saw, and Tails just after, surprised them both.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Tirek exclaimed as he saw yet another shield spell having been casted, this time around Cosmo.

The Seedrian hero focused her eyes enough to look next to her, finding four little black hooves standing right next to her. To her shock, to the three's overall surprise, there was Nyx in a firm but straining stance as her horn was glowing a dark shade of blue, the same color as the shield. The little filly had arrived to the scene just at the perfect time, sneaking in as Tirek's focused remained on the fighting couple and not the greater surroundings.

"Stop it!" Nyx cried out to the villain. Her voice sounded as strained as her body was being trying to cast the shield. "Stop hurting... my friends and... my family! We've had enough!"

Tirek took no pleasure at such a sight in his eyes, an insignificant pony trying to prevent his plans again. "WHY YOU!..." That was all he could say, as everyone then noticed something else; a powerful light energy.

The bright light was not coming from Nyx, but from down in the gorge below. It continued to get brighter with each second, and as Tails could sense, an overwhelming power was emitting from down below. He couldn't explain it, and Tirek couldn't comprehend it. The light's source floated into the air above, higher than where Tails flew at the foe's towering level, with six figures floating inside a sphere of great energy. All those who could see recognized who they were, despite some strange new appearances. It was the saviors and heroes of Equestria, the Elements of Harmony;

It was the Mane 6.

The broken, beat and scarred Tails continued to stare as he remained in the air, and Nyx and Cosmo trying to look their best from below. Tirek, on the other hand, was not patient enough to understand what was happening this time. He immediately charged his energy between his horns, firing it against the bright sphere with no effect.

"How is this possible?!" Tirek exclaimed in disbelief. "You have no magic!"

"You're wrong, Tirek!" Twilight said back. "I may have given you my Alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!"

Cosmo, overhearing this and barely able to make a sound, smiled and said to herself quietly "...Friendship."

"Unacceptable!" yelled the enraged villain. "I refuse to believe this!"

Tirek once again charged energy from between his horns, firing another blast just as strong as the last. In the center between him and the Mane 6, the blast was being stopped by Tails, who used his power and Keyblade to guard against it. He did struggle through the physical pain, but with a loud yell he used his might to knock the blast into an adjacent direction, going into the day lit sky above them. With his powered up friends behind him, the fox stared down at Tirek with confidence, but did not show it by smile, but by a growling mouth instead.

"ENOUGH OF THIS, TIREK!" Tails proclaimed, his Keylade disappearing once again. "THIS FIGHT IS OVER!!!" The golden aura surrounding him intensified.

"NO! IT IS FAR FROM OVER!" Tirek proclaimed. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU FAIR AGAINST ALL THAT I'VE GOT!!!" He then immediately began to charge all of his power into one more blast, aiming straight for Tails and the Mane 6.

Tails found himself right in what would be the crossfire of Tirek and the ponies' attacks. He looked back up at his friends, seeing their new forms from whatever source they came from. He had all the confidence they could handle things, but he was someone who would never leave his friends to fight a battle, not as long as he was there to help however he could. Then, he noticed how Twilight appeared, recalling what she had said moments ago, and then especially noticed Rainbow Dash's appearance. The cyan mare's mane, it bared a strong resemblance to a different form of power, and that struck an idea to him.

He knew how he could help more. He knew that thanks to Nyx, she and Cosmo were fine. He remained in the air, and put himself in the stance for a signature attack used by the greatest warriors of other worlds. His eyes were deadlocked on Tirek as his hands began to collect any and all energy he could collect from his own reserves for his strongest attack all day.

"Twilight!" Tails called out. "No matter what happens, I need you and everypony to give Tirek all you've got, even if I'm caught in your attack!"

The Mane 6 floated in their place shocked, and not too keen on the idea. They knew how their interdimensional friends were capable of great things, but this new power, the power they opened from the box from the Tree of Harmony, there was no telling what could happen. Even as a force of good, could it harm Tails more than Tirek had already done, or perhaps worse?

"Tails, No!" Twilight said. "We don't know what will happen to you! Protect yourself before anything else happens to you! You don't deserve that from our fight!"

"You've all demonstrated to me the magic of Friendship! It's a power meant for good!" yelled back the fox. "I trusted you before! Now I ask you to trust me! I'll be fine, and we'll win!"

Everypony still questioned the idea, almost refusing to do a thing until he would move. To gamble with chance, they've done it before, but it's never an easy action to repeat.

"Friends don't harm friends!" Another voiced called from below.

Struggling onto her feet, Cosmo and Nyx tried to support each other from collapsing face-first onto the ground, the former again. It was Cosmo who called that out, a reassured grin across her face from knowing and trusting not only her closest and best friend, but the young man she loved. "Trust him, everypony, and finish this once and for all!"

"ENOUGH!" bellowed Lord Tirek. "THIS! ENDS! NOW!!!" The villain then released the biggest and most powerful blast he could unleashed right for the heroic fox, but the hero was more than ready.

"KAAAAAAAA, MAAAAAAAAAAAAY! HAAAAAAAAAAAA, MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Tails collected his energy within his hands, his sights dead set at Tirek's blast. Within inches of the opposing attack making impact, the fox unleashed his counterattack with a final yell.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Firing all the energy he could muster, the heroic fox held the villain's attack back and away from himself and the others. He gave all the might he had left until the two blasts met and stayed in the middle, as such making the two attacks stuck at a stalemate. This would not last forever as Tails knew he didn't have enough energy to keep it up for so long, or for the matter, too much longer. It was now or never for his friends to act, and use this new magical source to finish this battle once and for all.

While still shooting at his current full force, Tails turned his head back, only so far as half of his face to let an eye look back at the Mane 6. He took what breath he could from his lungs, through the pain of his broken ribs, and called out to them.

"NOW’S YOUR CHANCE!"

The Mane 6 heard his call, but they were still too hesitant to do anything. All their faces expressed signs of uncertainty and worry for him, as they had no idea what their actions would do to him in the crossfire. The last thing anypony ever wanted to do was bring harm to friends, and with no idea of what exactly their actions would do, other than stop Tirek of course, Twilight was about to go completely against the idea. After all, her friends helped save her daughter from a deadly fate, so what right did she have to risk Tails' life?

"What do we do, Twi?" Applejack asked, but the alicorn princess remained silent.

Twilight let her eyes shift down to Nyx and Cosmo on the ground below, seeing them both try to hold each other up. The Seedrian and filly came to each other's rescue today, and for practically the same reasons, and now they remained in Nyx's shield, waiting to see what happened next. Looking down at them reminded Twilight what Cosmo had said to convince her and her friends to do whatever it would take to beat Tirek. With that in mind she looked back at Tails, and that's when she and the rest of the Mane 6 were shown their epiphany.

For a moment, a rainbow aura strip began surrounding up Tails, wrapped horizontally around his body from his feet, and going all the way up to his head. This rainbow, however, was one that didn't have the most known color scheme, but instead six different ones - the Mane 6's coat colors. The same colors wrapped around their irises for a second, forming a new rainbow connection to remind them of one of the many important things about friendship-

Friends do not hurt friends. They work together and help each other become stronger.

With this new realization in mind, Twilight wore a determined grinned on her face, now knowing what she and the others had to do. "Come on girls," she said to her friends. "Let's finish this!"

The five agreed with her, and began their own attack. Out of the sphere came six strands of magic one by one, each having one of the colors of their rainbow connection. Each one hit Tirek, forcing him to flinch every time, as this power began to overwhelm him. When all six strands had struck, they began to form into a single beam, starting from the ponies, and engulfed Tails as he remained in the center.

Tails felt the magical power of the new magic fuel him with new energy. He felt himself getting stronger and stronger, much more than his states that didn't include the Chaos Emeralds. This power was exactly what he needed, not only to help finish this battle, but perhaps allow himself to ascend to the next level of his abilities. He let the magic flow through him, and in turn help charge his own attack, and made the last call of the fight.

"TIREK," Tails exclaimed, "THIS FIGHT IS OVER!"

And with another great yell, his blast combined with the Mane 6's and increased dramatically, completely overtaking the enemy's attack. The dark orange opposing energy diminished to nothing as the rainbow power dominated and engulfed the magic-siphoning tyrant. The villain cried in pain as his power was stripped out of him, and sending him back to one of the lowest prison cells in Tartarus. At long last, the evil Lord Tirek was defeated.

Remnants

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All across Equestria, a wave of magic spread to the farthest reaches; the rainbow-powered Mane 6 being the ones to cause it. Their effort rejuvenated everypony with the magic that gave them their talents, cutie marks and livelihoods. Even the three Princesses that were sent to Tartarus felt their magic return in full, and they had their turn to escape their prison. A momentary return to the Tree of Harmony saw them witness the mysterious chest levitate from the Tree all the way to Ponyville, where it entered the ground. Once planted like a seed, it transformed and emerged above the surface into something new.

Sprouting onto the surface was a building, looking to be made out of crystal, with a crystal star being the highest point. Its architecture looked to be a palace, a place of royalty and great importance for the highest ranked of ponies. The crystal material, however, did lack a shining luster as compared to structures like the Crystal Empire's castle, but there was one shining part; a sphere of light that sat at the highest tip of the palace's star.

The Mane 6 appeared in front of the palace in a flash, and returning back to their normal selves shortly after. They looked upon it in amazement and wonder, never expecting such a building to be in Ponyville of all places. After a moment of speechless gazing, Rarity commented on the sight.

"Sweet Celestia," she said. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, we see it," Rainbow Dash stated. "But all that came from that box?"

"It did," added Pinkie Pie in a high-pitched voice. "Well I don't know about that light ball, but a whole crystal castle, popping up in Ponyville! A-MA-ZIIING!"

"But... Whose is it?" Twilight pondered aloud.

"I believe it is yours, Princess Twilight."

All six ponies turned around to see where that comment came from, as none of them said it. Standing not too far away was Princess Celestia, along with Luna, Cadance and Spike, with Discord behind those four, and the two in the front that caught Twilight's attention first; Nyx and Cosmo. Both looked very happy and healthy, like the rest of the group, but those two were the purple pony's greatest relief to see.

Nyx, unable to contain herself, began to run full gallop up to her mother, chanting out "You did it! You did it! You all did it!"

Twilight galloped a few steps up before she saw Nyx jumping into the air and tackling her on her behind. The little filly had her hooves wrapped around her mother's neck, nuzzling just under Twilight's head, who nuzzled back in return. Twilight wrapped a leg around her daughter, doing her best to keep a couple tears from shedding out of her eyes, but ultimately failed. Then again, everypony else were practically the same, saving the alicorn's peers, as the sight of both mother and daughter safe from harm and still together was a beautiful sight to see.

"We all did it," Twilight said quietly at first, but allowed her voice to pick up. "We all did it together." She saw Cosmo walking up to her and Nyx, followed by Celestia and the others. The Seedrian stood before the two smiling happily, managing to hold in her own tears, but Twilight couldn't help but have the bigger smile on her face. "Thank you, everyone, for everything you've done to help save Equestria."

Cosmo bowed in respect to the princess, and once standing back up, replied with "Tails and I needed help before, and you helped us. It was the least we cou..."

"Wait a minute!" Pinkie yelled, interrupting Cosmo. "What happened to Tails?! Where is he?!"

That realization quickly went through everypony's mind. No one knew what happened to him following the last attack on the evil titan. "Oh horse apples! Where did he go?!" Applejack said.

Everypony's head cocked side to side in search for the easily recognizable fox. After all, there were no two-tailed foxes in Equestria before he appeared.

Yet Cosmo, the one who would be worried more than any being of any world, did not look unphased or distressed over the matter. She still wore the same grin she greeted her friends with, doing no other action whatsoever. "Do not worry. He is alright," she told them all, who turned their sights to her confused. Her vision, however, was directed upward as she continued with "What you did had no harm on him. In fact, you helped him more than you think."

The ponies didn't know what Cosmo meant, but they looked up at the direction she was looking. She was looking at the ball of light above the crystal castle, emitting a bright glow of some form of energy. It took them a couple minutes, but they began to see something within the light; a silhouette that they couldn't depict what it was exactly. They thought of what it could be; another creation of the Tree of Harmony? Another pony powered by the chest? Or could it be the foe they had just defeated, or even another?

Their answer revealed itself as two narrow eyes opened, glowing out of the light. It then spread out its limbs- two legs with covered feet, two arms with hands instead of hooves, and showing a familiar body shape. But the most obvious detail were two parts that opened out, hanging loosely in their own directions. The hanging limbs were furry tails. There was only one being everypony knew that had two tails, and that being was Tails. It explained how Cosmo was being so calm, because he was right there the whole time, yet there was one other detail in his silhouette that confused them.

"Is it... Is it really him?" Nyx asked.

"It has to be. No one else looks like that," Twilight replied, but thought to herself "At least I hope so. He looks... different."

"I assure you, it's him," Cosmo told the two.

"But he looks a little different, like the back of his head sprouted something as big as one of my cotton candy clouds," Discord mentioned. "Only... Spikier."

Cosmo chuckled to herself about the thought. He had no idea how close he was to being right with his description. She took some steps forward, standing just before her pony friends, and still looking up at the bright sphere above the dull-shined castle, all the while still smiling. When she stopped, she took a minute to look up at the silhouette in the sphere.

Little could she see, the figure looked down at her, down at everypony, and grinned as well.

"Come on, Tails," Cosmo called up into the air. "Enough floating around now. Finish what you need to do and come down here, please."

What followed her calling was two occurring things. One was the silhouette's actions in the light, constructing itself for a few seconds before letting its body spread out, and unleashing a loud, energy releasing scream. Everypony listened to the vocal tone of that scream and immediately recognized it as it belong to Tails, confirming to them that it was him. A wave of relief came down onto them, but it was only brief as they saw the next action.

The light that shrouded the two-tailed fox glowed even brighter, creating a flash that sent out a magical wave below him. This wave was the coloring of the special rainbow connection from before, circling around Tails once before descending down around the castle. As the cast of magic streamed down the palace, it turned its appearance from a lack of shining luster to the brightest shine that could be compared to Crystal Empire buildings or the stained glass murals across Canterlot Castle. The ponies stared in amazement as the rainbow shined down the building to the ground, where it panned out like a sonic rainboom, casting its colors across the ground and spreading to the farthest corners of Equestria. All but Cosmo watched the wave pass until beyond their sight, keeping an astonished look on their faces.

"Whoa," Spike said. "What the heck was that all about?"

"I don't have any idea, but it seemed to be more magic of Twilight and her friends," Cadance guessed.

"Surely there is an explanation that Miles Prower will be able to give us," added Luna.

Spike turned himself back around to face the palace's direction again, and was the first amongst the ponies to do so. What he saw next caused his jaw to drop, leaving his mouth like a wide open cave of near speechlessness. His head has his eyes looking upward, and very slowly lowering itself as he tried to mutter something out to everypony.

"Wh-wha-wha-th-da-da-da-Equ-qu-est-ria..."

"Spike," Rarity said in attempt to get his attention, "what's the matter?" The little dragon pointed his finger towards what was causing his actions, and everypony turned around to see what made him that way.

"What the hay?!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

Their sight was a familiar two-tailed fox floating himself down onto the ground at a slow and steady pace. He was floating down facing the castle, looking about is as he continued to descend, and his back towards his friends and loved one. His back, however, looked very different than the ponies have ever remembered it. His fur was still bright gold, which meant he was in his powered up form as they've seen before, and his two tails were spinning to control his descent, but that wasn't left them shocked by his appearance.

There were long quills stretching down the fox's backside, reaching down to just passed his waistline. Judging by where they were coming from, it looked as if they all grew out from the back of his head, shining with a luster of gold like the now brighter gold aura that surrounded him. Nopony could explain this phenomenon, most likely because they remained speechless as they saw him float himself down until he touched the ground just a few feet in front of Cosmo.

More specifically, he landed with one foot landing flat onto the ground, and limply supported the other up by the heel. Also unseen was how one hand was gently clenching his chest as the other just laid to his side.

Silence fell for a minute with nothing but a small breeze passing through taking place. The silence was broken by Tails as he stated "That's quite the castle you now have, Princess Twilight. I'm sure it will serve you and the others well."

The ponies found the vocal sounds of the heroic fox quite different. It sounded deeper and a little raspier compared to his usual lighter voice he's always had before. It was another different aspect of the fox now, and one that made a majority of them all the more concerned.

Applejack, leaning herself towards Pinkie Pie, whispered "What's goin' on with the feller's voice?"

"Beats me. It sounds like he lost his voice from screaming so much," mused the pink mare in her always cheerful tone.

Princess Celestia had mixed emotions about this. She felt herself conflicted with intrigue, concern, and confusion, and decided to address this in the best manner possible. "You sound strained, young Miles," she said to the fox from where she stood. "Are you alright?"

Her answer didn't come from him, but from Cosmo as she said "He's alright, Your Highness. His looks and voice are just a part of his ascension."

She then turned her focus to him and added "I'm so proud of you Tails for becoming a Super Saiyan 3, but Celestia has a point. Are you well?"

The fox chuckled to himself, his back still turned towards the others as he did. He then turned his upper body to face her, and revealed an accomplished grin on his face. Her reaction was simply a content smile, but everypony were surprised by his appearance yet again. His eyes were furrowed narrow, appearing more like a primal creature than his usual look, and looking towards the top of his head confirmed that the long quills he now wore did come from there.

"I'm alright," the fox said. "A few broken bones and a little tired, but that's just a cost of a rough fight."

Tails then took a brief, calming breath, and let his power go back down to normal. His body returned to normal as the golden aura faded away and his fur returned to his normal color, and his eyes becoming their normal, wider state. As Cosmo took another step towards him, and he tried to turn himself completely, but he slipped in his turning step. As a result, he began falling to the ground, but Cosmo jumped in front of him to try and catch him, attempting to grab him at his shoulders and waist as she tried to avoid the broken ribs in his chest. Unfortunately him falling into her caused them both to fall to ground.

But just a couple inches away from hitting the ground, the two froze in place. A purple aura shrouded around them and held them, preventing the impact with the ground from happening, and it began to lift them back up. Cosmo returned to her feet as she kept one arm wrapped around his upper back and the other around his front waist, and Tails put his good foot on the ground as he had one arm wrapped around her shoulders to help keep himself up. When they were back up, they looked forward to see where this familiar aura came from.

As they guessed in their minds, the couple saw that it was thanks to Twilight's magic that helped them. Her horn glowed as she used levitation magic to hold the two in a magical grip until they were safe. When the task was made, the aura around her horn disappeared, followed by the aura that surrounded the Mobian couple. The purple alicorn stepped up to them, followed by everypony else behind her, her smiling a grateful and happy grin.

"Thanks for the save," Tails said humorously, his voice sounding normal again, but now a bit more tired.

Twilight had a small chuckled and replied "It's the least I could for you two. You've done so much to help us as it is. You helped us stop Tirek and save Equestria..."

"And you helped save my family," Nyx added, herself standing right next to Twilight, "and you saved me." She then walked up to stand in front of the two and nuzzled her head against Cosmo. "Thank you. Again." Her voice sounded with an overwhelmed sound of gratitude, trying her best not to be too emotional.

Cosmo took a hand and rustled it in the filly's rich purple mane for a second before she looked up at her. "You don't need to thank us. What are friends for?" Cosmo told her sweetly.

Tails couldn't help but have a little laugh, regardless of sharp chest pains. "Well, friends mean a lot in many ways, especially around here," he said through his fatigued voice. "After all, friendship has an incredible force behind it."

"Magic," Twilight said, standing right in front of the three. "Friendship is magic."

Following that last statement, Twilight's friends and peers stood right there behind here, all grinning in agreement. One that couldn't agree more was Celestia, who said "Very well said, Princess Twilight. Now speaking of magic, do you know the first couple forms of recovery spells?" The purple mare nodded. "Very good. We'll need that knowledge to help Miles."

The tall and grand Equestrian ruler then turned to those of Mobius and asked "Are you able to support yourself for a minute, Miles?"

"I should be able to," he answered.

"Very good," Celestia replied, and then turned her sight to Cosmo. "Would you please be kind enough to step aside? The Princesses would like to repay Miles for what he's done today."

"Of course," Cosmo replied. She turned to Tails to get a small confirming nod from him before they let go of each other. Again he kept himself supported with his good leg and the heel of his other foot, showing a small sign of strain upon full release. "Tails, do you need to hover yourself?"

The fox shook his head and answered "I don't think so." He then turned to Celestia to ask "I assume you're going to try to heal me?"

"No Miles," the grand alicorn said. "There is no trying here, but solely accomplishment in the task." She took a stance at one of his sides, addressing the other alicorns with "Luna, Cadance and Twilight, please take a place around him."

The three nodded and did just do. The royal sisters stood opposite of each other at the fox's side, and the sister-in-laws stood at the front and back of him, with Twilight at the front.

"Stand back, everyone," Twilight warned the others. "This requires some space on our part."

They all took a few steps further back to allow the Princesses the necessary space they needed, with Nyx standing right next to Cosmo, and the Mane 5, Spike and Discord grouped together. When they seemed to be ready, Luna asked "Now, sister?"

Celestia nodded and said "Yes. Let us use our returned magic well."

The four alicorns focused their magic together, combining it into a single force. Each of their horns glowed their colors, channeling their magical energies and shrouded Tails within it. Streams turned to swirls that formed an orb around his body, lifting him into the air as he felt the magic course through him. He felt his leg mend and straightened out normally, and his ribs no longer feeling jagged in his chest, relieving the constant pain and allowing his breathing to relax.

After about two minutes, the four Princesses set him back onto the ground and ceased the spell, the auras around their horns and the orb around Tails fading away. When the magic's light disappeared, the fox's body appeared just like normal. Any scrapes or scratches, any visible damage that the fighting caused, all of it had disappeared from sight. Everypony and Cosmo looked at the result with amazement at the successful result of the princesses' magic.

Tails took a look around his body as he enjoyed his prime feeling returned. His fur wasn't ruffled up anywhere, and crimson red stains were cleaned away. Both his feet were planted firmly onto the ground, both supporting himself up, and he no longer felt pain when his chest moved as he breathed. He no longer had broken bones causing so much pain in him just moments ago, and it was a lot of nice relief for him.

"This is incredible," he said, still looking around his body. Twilight remained where she stood as the other princesses moved to stand around her as he kept looking around his body. A few seconds later, he recalled something of the not too distant past. He turned his attention to Twilight, a humoring glare in his eye, and asked "Where was this magic when Cosmo and I first came to Equestria? It could've been very useful then."

He made a good point. When the Mane 6 first found him that day, he was severely injured, but healed with only minimal magic used as he recovered with time. Thinking of that, Twilight sympathetically replied "I'm afraid I've only just started learning the most advanced healing spells a few weeks ago. Sorry I didn't know it back then." The two looked at each other for a moment before sharing a small laugh to themselves, with a chuckle from Cosmo as well.

"You don't need to be sorry," Tails said as he ended his laughter. He then took a couple steps towards the four alicorns, and dropped to a knee in bowing respect. He set a forearm across his bent leg and set the fist of his other arm onto the ground, which was the common form that he and many other warriors did out of respect for royalty. "This was a wonderful gift on your behalf. Thank you, Your Highnesses."

Just as most of the princesses were about to give a bow in return, the purple alicorn took the few steps up to the fox. She stood in place for a moment, and then set a hoof on his shoulder. When he looked up at her, she gave him the kindest smile and said "There is no need for that."

As Tails got back up on his feet, she continued with "You've done so much for us today to help save all of Equestria. It's the least we would do for our friends." She then lifted her leg up and wrapped it around the fox's shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. He gladly gave one in return as he wrapped his arms around her neck. "Thank you so much for saving my friends and family." Those last words sounded the most grateful she could be, without shedding tears of joy in the process.

"Hey! Don't forget us!" Nyx yelled, galloping up with Cosmo closely following.

The black filly forcefully squeezed into the hug, getting herself tightly in between the two. Her effort worked as her mother opened up a little space to let her in, nuzzling cheek to cheek with her as they both shared the happiest smile.

Cosmo joined in and pit herself at the fox's side, wrapping an arm around his waist as he did in return. He used her free hand, her left hand, to pull his lips to hers and share a quick kiss together. When it broke, they stared at each other with most loving faces, and overjoyed hearts, with a small glare coming from Cosmo's ring finger.

The four shared a group hug together, faces smiling and nuzzling with each other, and Nyx taking a mane rustle from Tails's hand. Cosmo and Twilight thanked each other again for their efforts from that day. When the group hug released, Nyx looked up at them and said "So now that everything is good again, and everypony is back to normal, what do we do now?"

The answer to that question came simple. Tails looked back at the crystal-like castle before them all, shining brightly under the day's gleaming sun. As the rest of the group looked at it, the fox answered the filly's question with another.

"Well, for starters, why don't we see what's in your new home?"

Outlooks & Identities

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The long day had reached its twilight time as the evening hours came around. Princess Twilight, along with her friends and family, introduced the newly erected castle to the Ponyvillians, and had just bid them, along with the other princesses and Discord, a day's farewell and a good night's rest. It was a long day that was finally near its end, but with so much to reflect upon.

The group had taken its tour of the palace earlier, taking in the new sights of the new home of the newly titled Princess of Friendship, her faithful assistant, and her daughter. It was a beautiful new layout, even if there were some crystals that shined a little too bright at times, or caused a certain dragon to salivate a bit. One stop that held the group up the most were two adjacent bedrooms belonging to Spike and Nyx, and the two erupted with joy and excited. Now they wouldn't be crammed in with Twilight in a single bedroom, and they all loved it. Twilight didn't show it, but she could admit that it was very well needed for all of them, particularly herself, even if she was used to sharing the bedroom space for so many years.

The group found themselves gathered in the throne room, everypony sitting in their respective seats. The Mane 6 each had the same sized throne that had their cutie marks engraved at the tops of the backboards. Even Nyx and Spike had their own thrones, both at a smaller scale and one sitting on each side of Twilight's. The only notable difference between the two was Nyx's, whose throne sat to Twilight's left, with her cutie mark engraved on it like the other ponies.

They were letting the reality of what was there sinking in, and what their roles in Equestria have evolved to from being Elements of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle, now with her role as a princess defined, and with her friends and family, all part of the newly established Royal Court of Harmony.

"This is quite somethin', aint it?" Applejack said. "I never would've thought I'd be a part of anythin' like this, even with us bein' the Elements of Harmony and all."

"It is very surprising," Fluttershy said, her tone putting it mildly. "I guess with all the strange and interesting things that happened to all of us, this could be their result."

"Speaking about something strange, or should I say someone..." Rarity said, her attention on the group's purple mare. "You seemed kind to Discord earlier, and Fluttershy was as well. How could you have possibly acted that way towards him after what he's done in the recent few days?"

Twilight didn't respond to this question immediately, and she looked back at what times they spent with him since his reformation. From learning friendship from Fluttershy, to his number of stunts between the two and other ponies, all the way up to asking about having his own throne and giving Princess Celestia a bouquet of flowers. She thought of an answer that was careful, and wise. When she found the right conclusion, she turned to Rarity and gave her response.

"I know that he helped Tirek take magic from so many ponies, and that includes the majority of us. However, not everypony is an evil monster like how Tirek is, and to me, not all of Discord's actions have been for evil; it's just his way of behaving. He showed us sincere regret for his actions, and his gesture of giving me my key to the chest was a form of apology I can accept. Discord might be the Lord of Chaos, but even he deserves a chance to be forgiven."

"And he said he was sorry," added Fluttershy, "and I could really see that he meant it. If a pony is willing to say they were sorry and try to make up for their actions, then they're not a bad pony. They were just a friend that made some bad decisions."

The ponies heard those words like an echo of past events. She had said that back when Nyx was turned to Nightmare Moon, and Luna asked Fluttershy for her opinion on how the former villain should be punished. The comparison between Nyx's actions as Nightmare Moon and Discord's recent betrayal were parallel in occurrences, but the biggest thing both shared was the regret they each had after later events.

Nyx sat on her throne with her head bowed and ears flattened. Her eyes stared down to the ground as her hoof twirled around in a circle on the seat. Although it was for a more positive reason, she didn't like being made an example of, especially with what bullies had done to her and what she did to ponies as Nightmare Moon. It made her uncomfortable and embarrassed, but it was a consequential part of Luna's judgment from what happened two years ago.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Nyx said. "Discord did help Tirek do terrible things, but forgiveness is worth giving him another chance."

Twilight looked down at Nyx with a smile. She knew what her daughter was going through, and how mentions of her past made her uncomfortable or provoked other ponies. But as often as it has tended to happen, sometimes too often, Nyx has grown to handle it maturely, just like that moment. To her, Nyx was a perfect example of why she forgave Discord so easily, and that was knowing what he did was wrong and facing judgment of others when in regret and apologizing.

Twilight reached her hoof down to Nyx's chin, turning the filly's head to face up at her. She did see some shame in Nyx's eyes, but the smile she had helped break through it as Nyx gently smiled as well.

"If there's anything I know," Twilight said with optimism, mainly to everypony at first, "is that if you can be the best little pony you can be, then Discord can become the best he can be. It just takes time, just like how I waited for you to come around back then."

Nyx's smiled widened, and she began to feel much better. She got up and set her hooves on her throne's left arm, extending her head out to nuzzle just under Twilight's head on her neck. Twilight returned the nuzzling until Nyx pulled her head back and sit back onto her throne, keeping her head turned up to her mother.

"Do you think I, or even Discord, can be the best pony he or I can be?" Nyx asked.

"Of course," Twilight replied, "I have no doubt about that."

"Well," Nyx said, a small bit of doubt, but trying to hide quite a bit of humor, in her voice, "I don't know if I'll be able to be that."

All the ponies were puzzled by that last comment, unsure of where that came from. Pinkie Pie took initiative and asked "Well why do you doubt yourself, Miss Down 'n Doubty?"

"Because to be the best pony I can be, I want to be the best pony anypony would want to be. I want to be like my mom..." She paused herself as everyone looked at her, the feelings in their hearts warmed and touched by such a sweet filly. "But seeing that my mom is my mom, being the Element of Magic and the Princess of Friendship, I have a looong way to go before I can become that great."

The entire circle of friends laughed at Nyx's comment, it being so adorable it was funny. Twilight playfully nuggied the top of her daughter's head before Nyx used a hoof to push it away. Just a moment following that, another arm's end playfully rustled on her head, but it was felt more like a hand than a hoof.

This action came from Cosmo, who was standing next to Nyx's throne during the conversation, but was quiet because she hadn't had the opportunity to add to the conversation. After she could tell the filly had enough, she stopped and let her arm rest to her side as she looked down at Nyx happily.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that Nyx," Cosmo said. "Your mother is an extraordinary alicorn and wonderful friend in her own ways. You are her daughter, thus you are a mirror to how she is and what you'll be."

Nyx looked up at the Seedrian confused. "A mirror?"

"Yes," Cosmo continued. "You are a reflection of Twilight, which means you will become her in many ways and always be just as great as she is, but with your own image by your own actions."

"Well, that's one way to look at it," Rainbow Dash stated a moment after the Seedrian spoke, scratching the back of her head with her hoof.

"I think that was very well worded," Rarity said, "but if I may return us to our earlier conversation, I think the new roles we have now is something very impressive to put it at least."

Pinkie then added "Oh I know! We're like a super important royal-like group of ponies! We have a lot of big decisions to make."

"We do?" Fluttershy said nervously. "Oh my, I don't know if I can make such important decisions for other ponies."

"Don't worry about that, Fluttershy. It isn't as if we'll be having to do it every day, just when something needs to be discussed," Twilight assured her friend.

"Sounds like the right kind of plan to me," said Applejack.

"It's a plan that worked for us," said Tails. The fox was leaning against the left side of Fluttershy's throne, which basically put him at the opposite of Nyx. He spent the entire time leaning on his back, his arms crossed, and one leg crossing in front of the other, a very laid back way similar to an influential friend from home.

"Cosmo and I have had plenty of experience having those kind of meetings with our friends whenever there's been trouble to prepare for. What you have here is not that different; everyone has their say, ideas are given, and decisions are made. I have no doubt you'll do amazing things for your world."

Spike wore a face of pride and said "Naturally. We are that important after all." The ponies just rolled their eyes amused as the fox just had a small chuckle.

"Yes you are," Tails replied, and left it at that. He looked around at the others and said "This begins a whole new chapter of adventures in your lives, and if there's anything Cosmo or myself or any of our friends can do to help, never hesitate to call us."

"Thank you," Twilight said. "It means a lot to know we have so much help from so many friends, no matter where they're from."

"The feeling's mutual," Cosmo replied.

Tails nodded and then added "And we look forward to where this will take us, but I do want to ask one thing."

"And what's that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I know you can handle whatever comes your way, and I know that through the best or worst of times that your friendship with each other, with us, and with everypony and every other being, will see you through. You all have what it takes and I can't wait to see your actions take action, just like how Cosmo and I are with our friends. My question for you is-

"Are you ready?"

The circle of mares, dragon and filly smile confidently towards one-another, showing each other that they were as prepared as Tails had described them to be. Twilight looked at the fox with a smile and replied "We're more than ready."

The fox leaned himself off of the yellow pegasus's throne and back onto his own two feet. He had the same facial expression, but gave the princess a thumbs up and said "That's just what I was expecting."

Nyx was next to speak, or at least to try and speak as she said "So what's next to..." She let out a long yawn that made her unable to finish.

Before Twilight could say anything, she yawned as well. The yawning was followed by Fluttershy, then Pinkie Pie and then everypony else, and Tails and Cosmo as well. Yawning is a funny thing sometimes, how it can be an involuntary action by others after one would do it. It could be called a contagious and most safe kind of 'disease' that could spread around any group of beings. Some only yawned once, but others that were much younger yawned multiple times, and it took a minute before the yawns have ended.

"Well," the purple alicorn said, "I think we've had a long enough day. It's time we get some rest."

"...Sounds good to me," Tails agreed as he stretched his arms up in the air. Walking across the circle of thrones, he approached his loving fiance and said "Ready to go home, Cosmo?"

Cosmo nodded and then said "Yes. A good night's rest is well earned right now." When he stood next to her, she wrapped an arm around his back and added "Because we have some important plans to start making tomorrow. Wouldn't you agree?"

Tails laughed at what she meant and answered "Oh I know we do." Then, he gave her a quick peck on her lips, causing her to laugh afterwards.

"Oh come on, man," Spike complained. "Save that for your home, will ya?"

"Ah, come on, Spike," Nyx said. "I think it's cute."

The couple and Mane 6 just laughed at the two's words for a moment before Tails looked down at one of his wrists. On it was an item called a com-link, which could help those from worlds foreign to Equestria accomplish several incredible things. After pressing on several buttons built into the device, it emitted a strange sound from it, sounding musical in a way. He shut the item when he was done, and turned around to find Twilight, along with her friends and family, standing behind them.

"Twilight, if it wouldn't be too much trouble..." Tails tried to request a favor from the alicorn, who cut him off knowing what he was about to ask.

"It's no trouble at all," Twilight replied.

She then used her magic, putting immense focus into it. After a few moments, she shot a beam of magic out of her horn just a few feet in front of the interdimensional couple. It took a circular shape and maintained itself, but at the cost of a little fatigue on her part. What she had accomplished was the interdimensional spell she mastered not too long after the couple's first visit, opening a portal that will lead the two back home to Mobius.

Tails and Cosmo faced the ponies, with the former saying "Well, it's been good everypony, but it's time to relax for a little bit."

"After all the horrors that monster Tirek put us through, I couldn't agree more," said Rarity.

"Well I guess this is..."

Cosmo was interrupted by Nyx, who jumped up to the couple and wrapped her hooves around the Seedrian hero's waist. She gave the biggest hug she could and nuzzled her head against Cosmo's body.

"Thanks for everything today," the filly said. "You're wonderful heroes."

Cosmo smiled and leaned down eye level to Nyx for a moment. She said "And thank you for saving me, and being a hero, too," and then picked the filly up and hugged her back.

Tails joined in as he wrapped an arm around Cosmo, and then found Nyx nuzzling her head against him. The Mane 6 and Spike decided to join in as well as they surrounded the trio for a big group hug. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew up to get behind Tails and Cosmo. Rarity took to Tails's open said, and Applejack at Cosmo's open side. Pinkie Pie popped up between the pegasi as if she came out of nowhere. Twilight found a place in the middle of the Mobian couple, and to be able to nuzzle against Nyx's head, with Spike sitting on her back. It was a warming circle of best friends, and multiple definitions of family.

"You know what this calls for?" Pinkie Pie said. Where the immediate thought through everyone's mind was a party, she took them on a different turn. "A picture!"

The end of her puffy pink tail then popped up in front of them, holding a camera that faced their direction. The ponies and Spike never argued how Pinkie does every single thing she could do and became used to her actions, but it took Nyx a longer while to get used to it compared to the others; some things she wasn't even used to yet. Tails and Cosmo, however, looked at each other for a second in complete surprise as to where that camera came from, and how her tail was able to act like a third arm to use. Given what they have seen in many other worlds and from their inhabitants, there was no point to question it at all, and instead they each giggled internally. They also recalled a few key words of advice they received by one of the ponies-

It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question it.

"Alright, sayyyy... Uh, what should we say?" said Pinkie.

"Uh, cheese?" Applejack suggested.

"No, silly," the pink mare said, "not for this picture. Cheese doesn't cut it this time."

They all thought for a few seconds for the right thing to say. It was Nyx who came up with what to say, and after giving her suggestion, they all agreed to it. Pinkie began a small countdown to follow before saying it together.

"1... 2... 3!"

"Best Friends Forever!"

And with a press of a button, the camera flashed and took the desired picture. The group had one more quick embrace before releasing, allowing Tails and Cosmo to be freed and make their way to the portal. They stood just before it and gave their goodbyes, but Tails also said to them "We'll get everything ready for you soon!"

The couple then took their steps through, crossing through the portal that exited Equestria, and for their case, entering Mobius again through their dimensional gate at their home. Only a few seconds after they were out of sight, the portal shrank in size and disappeared from sight. It was the end of the day's events and adventures for Tails and Cosmo on Equestria, and for Twilight Sparkle and her friends and family, an end to one chapter of their lives to start another. The remainder of the group then dispersed as Twilight's friends left her palace to return to their own homes, and she, Spike and Nyx went to their new bedrooms and spend their first night in their new home.

Tomorrow would begin Twilight's new reign as the Princess of Friendship, her royal calling she seeked, but also the beginning to plan a new adventure. She might be a princess, but she did manage to set time aside to allow a nice vacation to a new place in the near future for herself and those she cared so much for. After all, it's not every day that she, her family and best friends get to see a new world together, and get a broader look at the life and experiences new places had to offer.

/)∞(\

"A few days ago I felt that my royal position in Equestria had little meaning. In the time between then and today, I discovered many things, all of which that helped me realize just what I can do for everypony as a princess.

"Your friends can so often make mistakes for many reasons, and sometimes in those mistakes do they learn that they harm everypony around them, and themselves. If they see that and are willing to admit to their mistakes and apologize, then they earned themselves another chance. A pony can make mistakes every day, but true friends are willing to accept them for taking responsibility of their wrong-doings and say they are sorry, and their friends willing to forgive them in return. Nyx taught us all that when she believed she was Nightmare Moon, and that made me think that Discord deserved the same for his recent actions.

"When you have to deal with a difficult task, friends are always there to help you when you need it, sometimes from the farthest places. Cosmo arriving to save Nyx was a blessing, but when Tails was in a position where he would be in line of fire, the last thing anypony would want to do is harm a helping friend. But instead, his insistence and confidence taught a lesson in a way perhaps nopony could experience in our world. Friends have this incredible way to strengthen each other, whether it's by morale or action, regardless of the circumstance, that all help reach the desired goals of one or all. It also has two ends of consequences as where there are the supporters, the receivers give back in return, and today was Tails, who helped give us victory against Tirek, and us who helped him ascend to a new pinnacle of power.

"Being reminded that we have friends beyond Equestria is a reminder I was very glad to be given. If it wasn't for Tails and Cosmo's arrival, Tirek would have the entire country under his control, and even worse, Nyx may have been taken aw...

We all worked together, and thanks to them, had the time to discover a way to victory. My new home, my family, and my friends; none of that would be here without that reminder, and Equestria will always have eternal gratitude for the greatest heroes of Mobius, and some of the best friends ponies can be to foxes and Seedrians.

"All of the actions of my friends and family helped me realize so much in the last few years. Today, however, they helped me realize something else. With their help, I know now my royal responsibilities to my country and fellow ponies.

"With the help of my friends, I learned that there will always be an event that will stir what friendship and the Elements of Harmony mean to ponies, ourselves included. We will work together to further spread and maintain the meanings of laughter, generosity, honesty, kindness and loyalty - all empowered and bonded by its magic - to anypony who needs it. Our elements are connected with us, and we will spread that connection throughout Equestria as one whole; as the Royal Court of Harmony. As the Princess of Friendship, I, Twilight Sparkle, promise to make sure of it.

"It is a promise that I will keep for everypony, and another lesson they've taught me that I'll hold in my heart forever. No matter what life will contain in the future, we will overcome it all, for friendship is our key.

"Friendship is Magic."

Twilight closed the journal after writing down her thoughts from the long few days behind her. It was late at night, and the alicorn found it hard to sleep. At first she thought it was because of the new living arrangements she had in her new castle, including how she no longer shared the same room with Spike and Nyx. It did bother her at first, but it wasn't the source of her sleeping issues.

Although the events of Lord Tirek's trek across Equestria was over, the events that took place were still on her mind. She thought about it all one event at a time, and what she had learned and experienced from each one. It then struck her that it was a new journal entry that was yet to be written in amongst the others. With a quick surge of her magic, she teleported to the ancient castle in the Everfree forest, the last place she recalled seeing the journal, and found it in the old library. She then teleported back to her castle and wrote the new entry in it.

That seemed to be what she needed. When the journal was shut and her thoughts written, her mind felt more at ease, thus wanting the rest of her body to relax and replenish itself. She dimmed the light that her horn emitted to see, shrouding her new bedroom into the peaceful dark of Luna's night. She then walked to her new bed, but only to stop just as a hoof was placed on her new bed.

Twilight's ear caught a sound coming from beyond her bedroom door. It wasn't shut completely, just open by an inch or so. The more she focused on the noise, the more she recognized it being footsteps. Judging by the pace of the steps, it sounded as if it was only two feet walking across the palace's crystal floors.

But then Twilight heard more steps following it. This time, the pace of these were faster, and they sounded like hoofsteps judging by the rhythm. She poked her head out her bedroom door to investigate, looking side to side to see if the steps' sources were to be seen.

"Nyx?"

"Spike?"

She got no answer from filly nor dragon. Instead, she heard the gentle creaking of the palace's front door not once, but twice at about a minute apart. At that point, she trotted out of her room and checked in the castle's other two bedrooms, finding no one in each.

"Where did those two get off to?" Twilight asked herself, making their way to the front doors. "Why would they just get up at leave in the middle of the night? I've told them they need to stay home unless..." That's when the realization hit her, and she knew where they had gone.

"Home..."

She then made her way to the front doors. Using most of her magic already and being too mentally fatigued, she couldn't teleport to where she needed to go again, so she had to hoof it this time. She ran out the front doors and shut it behind her, and then raced her way through Ponyville to her first home; their first Ponyville home.

Closure From the Ashes

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Ponyville at night was mostly peaceful and quiet, with the occasional mishap or events that would take place. Such cases would be a rampaging Ursa, a pony committing petty theft, even a mare's alicorn ascension or a 'batty' transformation. Ponies laid in their beds asleep as all the houses' lights were off, leaving only street lamps across the town dimly lighting the town's empty roads. But tonight, the roads weren't as empty as usual.

Nyx was trotting her way throughout the town, making the necessary turns down certain streets to her destination. The filly had a hard time getting herself to sleep that night, and for multiple reasons. One was having a room all to herself now. She did love the fact that she had her own room now, but laying in her new bad, she started feeling lonely without Twilight or Spike, even if they were just a matter of feet away now. It was something that would take some time to adjust to.

Factor number two was a nightmare she had just in her first hour of sleep. In it, she was still Tirek's captive, and had convinced Twilight to not surrender, but there were no two heroes arriving to save her. The villain stole her magic and life essence from her, her entire life as Nyx and Nightmare Moon flashing before her eyes. When the deed was done, her body felt lifeless as she was released from her prison, falling to the ground below. The last thing Nyx could comprehend was her mother wailing her name just a split second before slamming into her grave, and her life gone.

But neither reason drove the filly to start running across night lit Ponyville. When she woke back up, she thought about what if Tails and Cosmo never showed up, and how her decision would reflect on everypony. Twilight, their family, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they would have been devastated. All the good memories she had with them would end. Those memories made her remember about certain items she kept treasured, most of which held in a hollowed out book at home.

Or, better titled, her former home; the Golden Oak Library.

Nyx made her way through town until she reached the library, or what was left of how it once was. She was only told that Tirek destroyed it, but was not told of what was remnant of it; barely a base of the tree with a tall wall of bark, the property surrounded with grass blackened by soot and burnt spots by embers now burnt out. It was a sad sight to see, the only place Nyx could call home now obliterated into nearly nothing. She kept one thought in mind; was there any chance her treasures somehow survived destruction, or did they burn away like the tree itself?

Too determined to turn away, the filly walked closer to the tree's base. She then saw that she wasn't alone there, as a certain little dragon stood just a couple yards from the wreckage, and looked to be just staring at it. Nyx didn't know any other Ponyvillian of that height, color, or for that matter, species.

"Spike?" Nyx said, stepping up to the dragon. "What are you doing here?"

Spike turned around, confirming his identity to Nyx. He then said "Couldn't sleep. How about you?"

Nyx didn't face him directly as she replied "I had a bad dream and couldn't sleep either. I needed to come here to see what happened, and to find some things." She had a small sniffle, trying not to cry after a good look at the wreckage.

"What did you think you could find?" asked the young dragon. "Judging by what's left of it, I don't think there's anything left." He too was trying to not get upset, but felt the dam holding his emotions slowly breaking. "I thought I'd come here to do the same thing, to find my old bed, and my blanket, and my special stash of jewels. But when I got here...

"I think they're gone, just like home."

The two then started to gently cry, with Nyx starting as her eyes were shut and tears began to stream out of her eyes. Her whimpering at the reality broke through Spike as he started to cry as well. He put his arms around her neck and hugged his head against hers, and they cried together. The pain of their first Ponyville home gone, and with the visual proof in front of them, it hit them hard, all too painful to take in, especially like this.

"Spike!" "Nyx!"

The two overheard Twilight's voice calling out for them as she finally caught up to the two. Judging by her tone, she spoke witg a combination of worry and small anger, a mother's natural reaction when her children do such a thing as go out in the dead of night. As she walked up behind them, she asked "Why did you two go through town in the middle of the night?"

When she reached the two, she could hear the two crying before they turned around, revealing their tearing eyes before her. What anger she had immediately turned to concern at the sight. The moment she stopped trotting, both Spike and Nyx hugged at a side of Twilight and cried against her instead of each other. Unable to see them like that, she opened her wings and wrapped them around the two, lowering her head so she could nuzzle one at each side.

"We're... We're sorry," Nyx said as she cried. "We couldn't sleep, and we just..."

"It's okay, Nyx" Twilight said softly, "it's okay."

The purple mare held herself strong for the two, even though she felt the same pain Spike and Nyx were letting out. She witnessed the library's destruction first hoof, and accepted the reality of it much sooner than the others. It still, however, hurts her heart to know it that true.

The trio sat together, Twilight letting the two cry out all they could. It took a little while for them to calm down enough until their sobbing ended, and wiping the last of their tears from their eyes. She leaned back up and set her wings back on her sides.

"Feeling better?" she asked. The two nodded. "Good. Now why exactly did you two come all the way here?"

"Well, I wanted to come here and see if any of my stuff managed to not get blow up," Spike answered first. "I got here first, but froze on my feet when I saw... well, you know."

"You too, Nyx?"

Nyx nodded and explained about her nightmare, and hoping to find her treasure book amongst the wreckage. Twilight could understand the nightmare part, but she felt part of her heart break when it came to her treasures. She didn't know how to best put to words the most likely result of those treasures, as well as the belongings of Spike's and her own, so she just said it as kind, plain and blunt as truthfully possible.

"Oh Nyx, Spike, I'm not sure about that. Tirek's blast destroyed so much and barely left... well, only what's there now. I doubt that anything that was there would've survived. I'm so sorry."

The two frowned at what she had said, but Nyx tried to protest. "Can we at least try to find something? Please?"

"Nyx, I really don't think..."

"Please, Mom? Just one look to see. Please?"

The little filly begged with the most wide-eyed pleading face she could make. She didn't want to resort to that tactic, but it has worked on more than one occasion, and this was too important to her to let go so easily. Her mother, however, had stood against the pleading gesture and won a good majority of times. But with her mind quite fatigued from the day's events, she didn't have the strength to resist her daughter's plead.

It didn't help that Spike was looking up with sad eyes as well, even though they failed in comparison to Nyx's.

Twilight sighed, smiled and said "Alright, you win. We'll take a look, but we stop after one hour. Do we have a deal?" The two smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Twilight," Spike said.

"Thank you, Mom," Nyx added.

The purple mare got back on all her hooves and began to motion herself to the library's remnants. Her daughter and loyal assistant walked alongside her into the wreckage, with a small pause at where the front door once stood when the trio mentally prepared themselves.

It took a minute, but they walked into the wreckage and began to look around. Each one took a section, with Twilight helping Spike or Nyx if they needed help moving things they couldn't move themselves. So many things broken, burnt and withered to almost nothing, mostly the remaining covers or pages of destroyed books and tomes. It was mostly those remnants that the three were digging through, covering up only more piles of destruction underneath.

Time felt as if it was going by strangely to the trio. The hour was going by slowly as they used Luna's moon to depict when the hour was passing, courtesy of a little filly's tutoring of astronomy from her mother. Nyx periodically checked where the moon was and made sure to let it known when an hour would have passed. Her checking act it as a counter, roughly every fifteen minutes, a couple times sooner towards the end.

"Five minutes."

Twilight raised her head up from bowing in search, wiping away a tear out of her eye. Spike was close to him, so she cleared her throat a little and said "OK, Spike, let's wrap things up here."

The little dragon was shoveling debris with his claws, trying to find whatever more he could. "Not yet," he said as he dug. "Nyx said five minutes, and I'll spend the next four digging."

Twilight rolled her eyes and said "Alright. I'll wait for you with Nyx." She then walked over towards Nyx, who had stopped searching altogether and was sitting on the ash-coated, blackened floor. Her last notice also was very weak in tone, and judging by that, meaning she had no success in her search. "Nyx, were you able to find anything?"

"No," Nyx replied, looking down at the floor and lightly kicking a few small pieces of debris around her. "You were right. There's nothing left here that survived that blast. I shouldn't have come here and waste the time trying."

"Oh Nyx," Twilight said, "trying was not a waste of time at all. I wanted to try too, but you and Spike were the first ones to go and try. Chances were slim that we would find anything anyway, but we can't say we didn't try."

"But it's not fair," Nyx said, sadness turning into complaining. "It's just not fair."

Her complaining was turning to anger. She began to have one of her temper tantrums that she began having since her return from Nightmare Moon to her filly self. They were frequent at first, particular adjusting to what was then her more limited abilities, but now they were only so often when something really, really annoyed her.

"Tirek was a selfish, greedy, oversized version of Diamond Tiara, and he stole from everypony for no good reason. I may have done things similar to him, most things even worse, but at least I was sorry. But him, he did all the things he did and only regrets being stopped by you and the others. Why do we have to handle things that was all his fault, like losing our home?!"

"Nyx." Twilight spoke to her with a more firm and authorative tone. "Calm down. I know it's not fair but it's just how life is sometimes." She then attempted to be more caring when Nyx's eyes looked up at her, angry and shedding tears. "We just need to stay strong and move forward. You know that as well as anypony else."

"I know that," the filly complained, "but it's still not fair! My friends get put in danger, my family nearly gets enslaved... I'm tired of it! I just want all the bad things to stop and go away! It's just not fair!!!"

She kicked a small piece of rubble in front of her hard to let out some frustration. She then stomped her kicking hoof on the ground and bowed her head, her tantrum seeming to have wind down a little. Before Twilight could say anything more, they heard a clanging sound.

The sound came from the direction where the rubble Nyx kicked landed. The object was sent out the back of the once standing library, beyond the tree base's border. Following that clang was another sound; an owl's hoot. Flying up to the trio's view was Owlowicious, who perched himself on a resting remnant of some of the tree's bark that still stood up.

Spike looked up at the owl and asked "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Hoo."

"You know who's who, you hooter."

"Hoo."

"You. Not me, or Twilight, or Nyx. You." The little dragon pointed to each of them as he said it.

"Hoo."

Spike deadpanned the hooting bird for a moment before throwing his arms up, growling, and then folded his arms and said "Oh forget it. I'm not going on with this."

The event forced a smile out of both ponies present. Nyx regained her self control, including having her temper cool off, and asked "What are you doing here, Owlowicious? There's nothing here anymore."

The owl replied with another hoot, and flew off where he was perched. The ponies and dragon followed his lead, going outside the library's indoor perimeter and around the back. What they found was their nocturnal pet hovering above something large and covered in black. It was most likely where the rubble Nyx kicked landed on and made the clanging sound, and Owlowicious was pointing that out to them.

It was hard to tell what the object was, even with the light from the moon, and being covered in a layer of black ash didn't help. They quickly approached and inspected, the object having one flat side and the opposite side rounded.

"No... It couldn't be..." Twilight murmured to herself. Wanting to find out, she used her magic to lift it onto its flat side, and then quickly got to the new exposed side. The domed side flipped upward and hung over on one of the sides. What she imagined it was revealed to be true, making her happy beyond belief.

"It is! It's our chest!" She yelled. "I can't believe it!"

"Hoo," hooted Owlowicious in confirmation.

Both Nyx and Spike looked inside the chest with Twilight to see that it was true. It was the chest of trinkets Nyx had for the things she 'acquired' and kept as Nightmare Moon, and Twilight brought it from the castle when Nyx was given her life as a filly back. They walked around it to look inside but their feet caught onto things on the ground, causing them to trip into each other. Landing on the ground, they saw other items that were there that looked to have been pushed into the ground by the chest. What they found put them both in a joyous state as well.

"Hey! It's my blanket!" Spike yelled, and pulled it up off the ground. It was covered in dirt and soot, but he didn't care, especially with what he found wrapped inside. "And look, my gem stash is here too!"

"It's ok! It's ok!" Nyx began to shout in joy. "My treasure book is ok!" Her little hooves quickly dug the book out from the ground and embraced it in her legs. Like her mother and brother, she felt so relieved to have her most important keepsakes still in her possession.

All three took a couple minutes to see how many of their belongings were there. Spike's blanket kept some of his prized gems intact, including a fire ruby he was aging for a special occasion, all while having his dirty blanket wrapped around him. Twilight looked in her chest to find all of her items inside intact as well, including the reference guide to the Elements of Harmony. That item, however, was something she didn't believe she had put in the chest herself, and left her in wonder. After finding that, she found another book-like item inside, something that made her grin ear to ear.

Nyx opened her treasure book, damaged and filthy as it had become, to find all her prized possessions as well. Her glasses and headband, her favorite kazoo, her Cutie Mark Crusaders cape, all of her items that she'd put in there were there. Some were better than others, but they were there and that's all she cared about.

But then her eyes managed to see something still in the sooty dirt. She reached down to grab it to find out what it was, only to become both surprised to discover what it was, and saddened at what have become of it.

"Oh no..."

Nyx used her magic to levitate the item up, and walked the couple steps it took to reach her mother, who was looking in a book. To gain the mare's attention, the filly spoke up in a sad tone.

"Mom..."

Twilight turned away from her book to see Nyx's sad expression, and a magically-floating Smarty Pants. The doll, even with its age of being the alicorn's fillyhood treasure, had definitely seen better days. Covered in soot, missing half of its limbs and a once loose button eye, and showing its loss of stuffing, Smarty Pants was in terrible shape. Nyx's look was her heartbreak from before, but worse.

The doll was a gift after Twilight told Nyx about its use with the Want It, Need It spell, and the filly 'adopted' it as her own by playing with it until she fell asleep one night. Seeing it how it now was broke Twilight's heart, after all the things she did with that toy in her youth. But her broken heart was barely shown as she looked down at her daughter and smiled gently. She reached a wing around the filly's back and held her in a close embrace.

"It's okay, Nyx," she said softly. "We'll get Smarty Pants fixed up."

"Really?" Nyx asked in hopefulness, but then expressed her doubts over the thought. "Why bother? It's just like the library- broken and sad to see. Why fix what someone else who'd come around just to break it again?"

The purple alicorn used her magic to hold the doll herself and kept it held before the two. She then told her daughter "Just because someone will go off and break things doesn't mean everything can't be repaired. If somepony breaks a wing, they can rest to let it recover, or somepony else can put a hole in a roof and build a new one in its place.

"Smarty Pants is no exception, because there's been times when I'd play with her and a button would fall off or her mane too tangled. When I was really little, my mother or your Aunt Cadance would fix her, or I would when I got old enough to do it myself. I know how much fun you've had with her, just like how I did, and no big jerk like Tirek will take that away from you. We'll fix her back to her former self, but you can only still enjoy having Smarty Pants if you want to."

Nyx thought to herself about what her mother had said. Ever since she snuck the doll from that chest, she enjoyed having it to snuggle with at night, and playing pretend games with it during the day. She even brought it along when with her friends, without a care in the world, because she was happy to have it. She didn't want so much of the first place she called home to fade away, including that raggedy old doll.

"Can... Can we fix her tomorrow?" Nyx asked.

Twilight nuzzled the filly's cheek, and then replied "We'll get what we need from Rarity first thing after breakfast. And whenever you and Spike are ready, we'll come back here during the day and check for any other salvageable things. Who knows, maybe your stuff from that old castle can be found and used in your new room, like that big bed."

Nyx showed no hesitance as she replied "OK," and nuzzled Twilight's neck. "Thank you, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, Nyx," Twilight said in return, resisting the urge to shed tears, with failure.

Spike then stepped up to the two and said "Hey, what about me? Ain't I included in this family stuff too?"

The two ponies had a small laugh, and Twilight extended her other wing out for the baby dragon. "Come here," Twilight told him, and he joined in for another warm family hug. They heard a hoot from Owlowicious as he took off into the night air for a flight, leaving the three with one thing to do.

"Come on, you two. It's very late for all of us as it is. Let's go back to the castle and get some sleep," the purple mare said. She then used her magic to levitate the items she found in the chest back inside, sealing it to take back with her.

"Hey Mom," Nyx said, "what was that book you were looking in anyway?"

Twilight put the chest back down for a moment to open it and pull out the book. She floated in front of the young pony and dragon for them to read the cover-

"Photo Album"

This was an important treasure to Twilight, an importance she grew to learn from her mother. It contained numerous pictures from her life, small slivers of items of great importance to her, and more memories than most could remember.

After promising the two that they could all look through it tomorrow, all three gathered what was theirs and began to walk their way back to their castle from the remains of the Golden Oak Library; from their old home to their new home, where new adventures and memories awaited to be made with each other and their friends and family of Equestria, Mobius, and beyond.

But more importantly, Princess Twilight, Nyx, and Spike found closure in one adventure's end as they walked their way to where life will take them next.

Twilight's Kingdom: Unite & Ascend

by RockStarMLP

Ultimatum & Cavalry

Confronting Tirek

Rules of Nature: Unite & Ascend

Remnants

Outlooks & Identities

Closure From the Ashes