A series of mysterious events leads Twilight to throw a party in Canterlot, one where everypony is invited. But the arrival of an unparalleled evil, older than the world itself, irreversibly alters Equestria's fate.
A series of mysterious events leads Twilight to throw a party in Canterlot, one where everypony is invited. But the arrival of an unparalleled evil, older than the world itself, irreversibly alters Equestria's fate.
"Do the innocent pay for the crimes of the guilty? Of course they do. That's the fate of the weak."
Author's Note: This should be an enjoyable read even if you are unfamiliar with Magic: The Gathering. Oh, and the first chapter is the Slice of Life one. S**t gets real after that.
Cover Art Credits: Wit's End by Chris Rahn Ailcorn Twilight by the incredibly helpful TheSilentMusicBox of Deviantart Images poorly edited together by yours truly
As the light of Celestia's dawn filtered through the window, Twilight Sparkle awoke. It was a fairly ordinary Tuesday morning, but Twilight knew that she wanted to make the most of it. Thanks to the incredibly thoughtful actions of her friends, she no longer felt unease upon getting out of bed to see her new, more regal place of residence.
She trotted over to the bathroom to brush both her mane and her teeth before going to eat breakfast with Spike. He greeted her with a wave as she entered the unnecessarily huge dining room.
"Good morning, Twilight!" he said as he leapt out of his seat and ran for the kitchen. He returned a moment later carrying a plate in each claw. "Guess who made waffles!"
She eyeballed the strawberry-topped confections as Spike set them down at the table. "Yum! Thanks, Spike!"
"Don't mention it."
Using her levitated silverware, she cut herself a piece, savoring the sweetness. Spike just set his plate down at the edge of the table and shoved the waffles progressively closer as he dug in with abandon.
Once breakfast was over, Twilight washed the dishes and then went upstairs to grab her saddlebag. This was a new one which Rarity had made for her, colored magenta to match the highlights in her mane. "A princess needs to looks stylish at all times," she'd said.
As she was about to leave, she turned to Spike, who was currently in the process of tickling Owlowicious with one of her quills. The bird was unresponsive.
"I'm heading out to run a few errands, I should be back before too long. And stop that, please."
He snapped to attention. "Loud and clear, princess!" Twilight rolled her eyes as she opened the castle doors with her magic.
Ponyville was as lively as ever, with everypony out and about for some reason or other. Bulk Biceps was one of them, and he waved a hello as he entered the spa for his shift at work. Waving back, Twilight was making her way towards the flower stand to buy snacks for later, but before she could arrive, she was intercepted by Fluttershy, who looked even more distressed than usual.
"So, you know how I have a tea party with Discord every Sunday?"
Twilight immediately recognized the implications that came with such a question, placing a forehoof on her shoulder. "Did he hurt your feelings somehow?"
Fluttershy slinked backwards and began pawing the ground. "Oh, no, nothing like that. He just didn't show up. I'm worried what could have happened to him."
"He didn't get to your place on time?"
She shook her head. "Well, being the kind of person he is, Discord never poofs in at the same time twice. I always set the table the night before, and he comes by on Sundays whenever he feels up for it. But this week, he didn't show up at all! I waited all day yesterday, just in case he was feeling especially chaotic this week, but he still never arrived."
That was odd, Twilight thought. Fluttershy was Discord's only real friend, he wouldn't risk upsetting her. Not after he proved himself as truly reformed during the Tirek debacle. Which means...
"You're right, Fluttershy! I'll go tell Princess Celestia! Don't worry, we'll find him in one piece, more or less."
"Oh thank you, Twilight."
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Twilight opted for the fast approach, and simply teleported directly to Canterlot castle. Appearing out of this air at the foot of some marble steps, she asked the royal guards stationed at the huge castle gate where Celestia was, and they told her that she was on the tower balcony, overlooking her ponies.
Celestia shifted her gaze down as Twilight flew un-majestically towards her at speed, wondering what could be so urgent as to have brought her here.
"Princess, Discord is missing!" Twilight shouted frantically as she landed on the ornately decorated balcony.
Ignoring the use of her title by a close friend, she quickly understood the dire nature of this news, and the concern that Twilight and the others must be feeling. "I'd go look for him personally, being more experienced in wrangling him, but I was just about to start on a very important matter myself, and Luna is also occupied with a crisis at the moment."
Twilight's eyes widened, expectant. "The trains scheduled to return to Equestria from the Crystal Empire have mysteriously stopped coming recently. The group of ponies sent over to check as to why also seem to have vanished. Sensing danger ahoof, Luna took it upon herself to see what the problem was," Celestia added.
She gasped. "Are Cadence and my brother ok?"
"I don't know, she left last night, and I have yet to hear back from her or her escorts."
Though crestfallen, Twilight managed to remain in peak mental form. "I could take over whatever it is you were going to do. Even though my new duties don't usually involve such things, I should get more experience with traditional royal matters. Unless banners are involved."
She chuckled at that. "Well, organizing the census does seem like something you would be adept at, Twilight."
Her eyes lit up. How could she forget about the Equestrian census? Every ten years, the guard was marshaled to catalog the names, cutie marks, and residences of everypony who lived here, among other details. "Perfect! You can count on me, Princess!"
"Excellent, I have full faith in you."
Twilight smiled briefly before she remembered what exactly the alicorn sisters were doing. "Good luck."
Celestia turned to the guards who had been standing alert where the terrace met the tower. "Did you hear all that?" Upon observing their conformational nods, she vanished and began her search.
* * *
Confident in her abilities, as well as those of her mentor's, Twilight had returned to Ponyville to relay the news to her friends. First up was Fluttershy, who was sure to be thrilled upon hearing that Celestia herself had everything under control. But, before she could even get close to her cottage, a bubbly face suddenly sprang up in front of her.
She flinched and backpedaled a few steps, still not used to Pinkie's sudden appearances. "Hiya, Twilight!" she said, bouncing up and down.
"Hi, Pinkie. What's up?"
"I was gonna ask you that! Something amazing just happened to you, I can feeeel it," she added, leading closer with a quizzical expression.
"Well, if you must know," she said, straitening herself out, "I was just put in charge of the census by Princess Celestia!"
Clearly pondering something, she replied. "Isn't that when all the guard ponies barge into your house and make you fill out a bunch of forms?"
"Yes, isn't that exciting!" Twilight beamed.
She tilted her head sideways. "But, that sounds to me like it would be waaaay boring." Then, Pinkie's eyes almost seemed to double in size as she inhaled deeply, mouth agape. "What if... we turned it into a party! For everypony ever!"
"What?"
"Like, instead of what usually happens, we invite all of Equestria to Canterlot for the Biggest. Bash. In. History!" Pinkie yelled in glee while spinning around on her back hoof.
Twilight shook her head. "As fun as that sounds, it would be way too much work to plan a party for that many ponies. Besides, we've conducted the census the same way for years. You know what they say: if it isn't broken, don't fix it."
Pinkie slumped down to the ground in front of Twilight, staring upwards with teary eyes and whimpering cutely.
Twilight sighed in resignation. "We'll need all the hooves we can get if we're going to pull this off."
Pinkie squee'd in delight. "Don't worry, Twilight, I'll marshal all the perfectly performing party ponies to help!" With that, she ran off in an instant, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.
This would certainly be an epic undertaking, Twilight mused, but nothing she couldn't handle. It was just a little bureaucracy.
"Well, then," she said to herself. "Time to spread the word."
Now with two pieces of good news to share, Twilight made her way over to Fluttershy's cottage at the edge of the woods. After a curt knock, and an announcement of her arrival, Fluttershy peeked out from behind the door.
"Hi, Twilight. Did you find Discord?"
"No, but now Celestia herself on the case!"
"Oh, really? That's wonderful," she said, hovering into the air.
Twilight nodded. "That's not all, Fluttershy. As of now, I'm going to be preparing for Equestria's first ever census party!"
"Census party?"
"Pinkie's idea. Instead of sending out the guards to talk to everypony, everypony will come to Canterlot for a party!"
She sunk back to the floor. "Oh, I don't know about that. It sounds like far, far too many people in one place for me to go, but you can have plenty of fun for the both of us."
"It's also the census, Fluttershy, so attendance will probably be mandatory. And it's not like we'll be cramming the whole of Equestria into the castle, we'll use the whole city. You can even hide in an alley if the scene gets too overwhelming for you."
She sighed in relief. "Oh, good. That sounds nice. Have you told the others yet?"
"Nope. Come on," Twilight said, waving a hoof. "We can tell them together!"
After a short trot, they arrived at Carousel Boutique. The two mares found Rarity inside, stitching small emeralds onto a strapless green dress. "Why hello, darlings! What brings you here on this fine day?"
"We stopped by to let you know that Equestria is going to have its first census party in Canterlot soon! It's the census, but everypony gets together for a great time!" Twilight said, beaming.
Rarity's eyes glistened, possibilities buzzing in her head. "Why, that's simply marvelous news! It's the perfect chance for me to showcase my designs!"
Then, the opened the door with her magic and began ushering the two out with her hooves. "Leave me be, girls! I simply must prepare the most divine ensemble to wear! There's no time to lose!"
Once out, the door slammed behind them, leaving them standing around, confused. Twilight shrugged, and Fluttershy giggled in response.
Next, they flew off to find Rainbow Dash, who wasn't home. They found her napping on a small cloud hovering leisurely above Quills and Sofas.
"Umm, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy softly as she poked her flank gently with a hoof. "Sorry to wake you, but we have some big news."
Rainbow dash opened a single eye and looked at her quizzically. "Well?"
"Right, well, there's going to be a party in Canterlot soon, and everypony needs to go."
"Lame," she replied, rolling over onto her other side. "Not interested. We can hang out later, that would be way cooler."
Twilight chimed in. "You do realize that 'everypony' includes the Wonderbolts, right?"
Suddenly, Rainbow leapt off of the cloud with such force that it broke to pieces. "Then count me in!" she exclaimed, now talking quite quickly. "When is it? I hope it's tomorrow, then I could show them my new moves and then we could drink cider and talk and -"
"It's not for a while," Twilight interrupted. "I just started planning earlier today."
She started gesturing wildly. "Then what are you waiting for? Go! Make this thing happen ASAP!"
"Not until we tell Applejack."
"Fine..."
Arriving at Sweet Apple Acres at roughly the same time (Rainbow had trouble forcing herself to slow down), they saw Applejack immediately. Standing atop a ladder, she was covering the sign above the gate with a fresh coat of shiny lacquer.
"Woah there!" flailing her hooves, she lost her balance, almost falling to the ground. "What's got you so riled up?"
"Twilight and Fluttershy told me that there's gonna be this HUGE party in Canterlot for the whole country!" The mares in question, now behind the excited Rainbow, nodded in confirmation.
"Well now, cover me in butter and call me Buiscuit, that is 'citing!" She hopped off of the ladder. "Ah better go tell the kin-folk! We've got a whole heap of fritters in our future, if'n everypony's mighty hungry at this here party."
Twilight agreed. "Good idea!"
As Applejack galloped off to her house, she turned to the others. "I need to go tell, Spike, not to mention actually organize the census party."
"Ok," said Fluttershy. "I'll leave you to it then."
"See ya!" Rainbow waved, rocketing off into the distance.
* * *
~ 4 Days Later ~
Twilight hovered in the skies above Canterlot, admiring her hoofiwork. It had been a lot of work getting everything set up on such short notice, but through the power of delegation, she had pulled it off.
Pinkie kept her word, returning to Ponyville with dozens of other party ponies. A few, such as Cheese Sandwich and Party Favor, she had met previously, but she had never seen any of the others before, and had no clue where Pinkie had managed to find them all.
The whole lot of them had broken into a catchy musical number earlier today as they set up the final touches to the catering, decor, and events. It was something about how if 'everypony pitches in, then everypony is sure to grin'. But Twilight hadn't been paying much attention, as she had been setting up a huge entrance checkpoint with the guards just outside the city limits.
Now, ponies of all shapes and sizes arriving for the party were each standing in one of the many lines in order to fill out their census forms and enter the city. Inside, ponies were already packing the streets. Mothers showcased their newborn foals to eachother. Fillies and colts ran around excitedly, making new friends. Businessponies traded stories of success and failure with rivals from all over. Many others sampled the many available local snacks from places they'd never visited. The nobles, well, they mostly kept to themselves. But other than that, thought Twilight, things seemed to be going great.
She returned to the earth at the edge of the city's Mane Thoroughfare, where her friends were already waiting. The whole place was adorned in all manner of balloons, ribbons, and confetti. Upon her arrival, the five began showering her with assorted praises for a job well done. Twilight smiled at each of them in turn, noting the extravagant gown that Rarity had donned. Truly, this was a magical day for Equestria.
After wandering around for a while, enjoying the festivities for themselves, a shower of indigo glitter, sparkling with an almost magical beauty, formed over Canterlot. Everypony looked upwards, marveling in the spectacle. Twilight wondered which of the party ponies had planned this.
But as the impromptu storm rained down, she noticed something was wrong. Ponies all around her were looking rather groggy all of a sudden. Soon, she too could barely keep her eyes open.
The scene spread out before her eyes wasn't too far off. She was still in Canterlot, at the party. But the sun hung low in the sky, ready to set, and Twilight inferred that she had been knocked out for a while. All the other ponies were in a deep sleep, breathing heavily. Some, like Twilight, remained standing. Others had fully collapsed onto the marble.
She tried to trot over to her friends, most of whom were within sight, only to find that she was tethered to the ground. Looking down, she saw that her hooves were bound to the stone by what appeared to be ethereal blue chains. Upon attempting to break the chains with her magic, she found, shockingly, that her spell didn't seem to work at all, as if her magic was cut off entirely.
"Twilight!"
She turned left towards the direction of the shout, only to see the Celestia and Luna bound in a similar manner. They looked worn out, and completely devastated.
"What's happening?" she asked frantically.
"I don't know," said Celestia, equally distressed. "We also just woke up. What is all this?"
"Pinkie gave me the idea to turn the census into a party for the whole country."
"Then thou must have been having a much grander time of things than we," said Luna.
"Something was wrong in the Empire? Is everypony alright?"
Luna shook her head, mane billowing behind her. "When I arrived, the whole population was in a state akin to this; in a deep sleep. My magic failed to wake them, despite my efforts. Soon, I too was incapacitated. Our magic also seems locked by these despicable chains; I cannot even start the night properly."
This was even worse than she thought. Panic began creeping its way into the forefront of Twilight's mind. Turning to Celestia, she asked "Is Discord ok?"
Celestia turned her eyes away. After a long silence, she replied. "He's dead."
Her eyes widened with shock. "Discord is... dead?"
The white alicorn nodded solemnly.
"H-How did that happen?! Who could have done this?"
"I don't know Twilight, all I know is that we're now in grave danger. Whoever, or whatever killed Discord did so in a most gruesome fashion. Before I could act on this new information, I too was placed into a deep sleep."
Twilight's thoughts began spinning out of control. She couldn't move or use her magic. The Spirit of Chaos was gone. All four alicorns were out of commission. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to come up with a single feasible method of escape, nor could she even begin to fathom what had caused all this. And she liked being able to fathom things.
It was at that moment that a certain pink mare decided to pop up out of nowhere.
"Pinkie Pie?!" they all shouted in unison.
"Hi you guys! Enjoying the party?"
Twilight just couldn't formulate the proper response.
Celestia could. "Let us go, Pinkie!"
"No can do!"
Luna's eyes narrowed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US, YOU INSOLENT CUR?"
She giggled. "Oh, you mean this?" she asked, gesturing to the sleeping partygoers. "It's all going according to plan!"
Celestia's jaw dropped. "You planned this for this to happen?"
More giggling. "Of course not, you silly! This was all my master's idea."
"Your master?" she asked.
"He's, like, suuuuper great. All big and evil and shiny! He tooootally brainwashed me to do his bidding in no time! Like, it was as easy for him as flying is for Dashie! I've been feeding him tasty, tasty info for months! And he asked for me to convince Twilight to throw this party! That is, once he made sure Celestia and Luna would be distracted."
Now, everypony was speechless.
"I-I thought you were my friend, Pinkie!" Twilight managed to stammer. "How could you betray us like this?"
"Don't worry," she said, playing a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll always be your friend, Twilight. But I'll always be his friend too!"
Luna looked quite peeved at this point, and felt so inclined as to interrupt. "WHERE IS THIS MASTER OF YOURS? TELL ME, SO THAT HE MAY TASTE THE FULL WRATH OF THE NIGHT!"
"Don't get your horseshoes in a knot, princess. He'll be here soon to enact his diabolical plan!"
A brief spark of clarity flashed within Twilight. "Why don't you tell us what his plan is? I'm sure it's something super fun!"
"You're right!" she said, glancing at the other two. "It is super fun! First, he's gonna suck out your immortality, then use his mind powers to turn everypony into his own private slave army! With the Mirror Pool, that becomes an INFINITE private slave army! And then he can use that other mirror over at Cadence's place to conquer, like, ALL the worlds in the UNIVERSE!"
Before the three captives could finish comprehending the terrifying implications of what Pinkie had just said, an enormous form suddenly appeared behind her in a flash of light.
A deep, menacing voice spoke. "You've said too much."
With a huge claw, the new arrival quickly snatched her upwards. Then squeezed. Hard.
The sickening crunch of breaking bones echoed through their ears. Pinkie's now lifeless body was then unceremoniously flung against a nearby building.
"PINKIE!" screamed Twilight, tears already cascading down her cheeks.
Celestia's mane stopped billowing. "What have you done?!"
The three alicorns began processing the being in front of them. At first glance, he appeared to be a dragon, one unlike any they had seen before. His scales were a rich, golden color, and he wore gleaming silver armor on his limbs and chest. Lithe and almost regal in build, he towered over them, standing only on his hind legs. Huge wings splayed out behind him, along with his long tail and the faded red scarf draped around his neck. Atop his head sat two wickedly curved horns, and a golden orb hovered between them. But by far his most menacing feature were his eyes. They glowed with a sinister blue light, and his gaze was as condescending as it was cruel.
The dragon tilted his head downward to face Celestia. "I have simply disposed of a tool no longer useful to me."
Twilight was sobbing now, collapsed to the ground. "How could you? Whoever you are, you're nothing but a horrible monster!"
He laughed maniacally, flaring his wings and pointing a clawed finger. "I am no monster, Twilight Sparkle. I am Lord Nicol Bolas, and all shall bow before me!"
"WE WILL NEVER BOW TO LIKES OF YOU! NO MERE DRAGON CAN POSSIBLY DETHRONE US!" proclaimed Luna.
A wicked grid spread across his toothy mouth. "Let me ask you this, then. How old is your sister?"
Normally, Luna would dismiss such an inquiry as quite rude. However, under the circumstances, she would attempt to intimidate him. "My sister has lived for 2986 years! And I, almost the same! Our strength and experience is unparalleled!"
"Really, now? That is most impressive. Or, rather, it would be if my age did not exceed yours by over two orders of magnitude."
Though she kept her composure throughout, Celestia was now quite puzzled as well as enraged. "But that's impossible! The world itself is not nearly that old!"
"Did I ever say I was from this pathetic world? The lot of you all seemed so misguided and exploitable when I first arrived that I regret not finding this place many centuries ago!"
She snorted. "Well, you're old. So what? We control the heavens themselves, what makes you think you've won? Once we break these chains, we will stop you!"
Nicol Bolas shook his head apathetically. "I'm afraid you don't have that kind of power, dear princess. I know of a certain golem who built his own world from scratch once. It had five suns. Let's just say he's not doing so well at the moment."
He sighed, flexing his tail. "Anyway, enough of this banter. Here's the deal: since ailcorns are apparently immune to my mind control, you shall submit your minds and powers of your own volition. Open yourselves. Bow to me as your new lord and master, indomitable and immutable. Choose to rebel, and there will be... consequences."
"We will never give in to your threats, Bolas!"
"Celestia, it seems you fail to realize something quite important."
"Oh?"
"I wish for true immortality, but to get it, I only need one of you alive. Of course, I would be absolutely thrilled to have an ageless thrall at my command, but I can live without one. The question is: can you live without your sister?"
This gave her pause. She turned to Luna as despair crept its way onto her face.
It was at this point that Twilight managed to reign in her emotions, replacing grief with courage. "Don't do it, princess!"
"Ah, Twilight Sparkle. How about you, then? Will you swear your loyalty to me?"
"Of course not! You killed Pinkie in front of me! How could I!"
Lord Bolas placed a claw to his chin in thought. "Birth and death are both reversible. Cooperate, and I shall consider resurrecting miss Pie for you."
Twilight didn't even bat an eye at the proposal. "Not a chance. All of my friends would lose faith in me. Instead, I'm going to put my faith in them! That's what I've learned, what I believe!"
Bolas laughed at her sentiment. "It seems that you already understand friendship quite well. However, such a thing is utterly useless. Friends are unreliable, too abstract. All you need to know now is pure, abject terror. Twilight Sparkle, you will fully understand fear when you discover it is the final thing you put your faith in."
Raising a claw towards Luna, misty purple energy began swirling around it, rising and dissipating into the air. The three alicorn's eyes widened as Bolas gestured to the mob of sleeping ponies behind him with his other claw. "Tell me, do you still have faith that your friends can save you? Or are you terrified of what is about to happen?"
"Of course I'm not afraid!" Twilight replied, trying her best to conceal her true emotions. "Pinkie Pie was the one who taught me to laugh in the face of danger! And that's exactly what I'm going to do!" She then put on her best smile and began laughing awkwardly.
"So be it. Watch, you might learn something."
His eyes flared with dark energy as he slashed through the air. A tearing sound could be heard, followed by that of rushing wind. A featureless black void ripped forward towards the motionless blue form. It was as if the very fabric of reality had been cut.
Celestia strained desperately against her chains. "Sister!"
A single tear fell from Luna's cheek as the spell approached. "I'm sorry."
The void shredded Luna's body to ribbons as it pulled her inside, sealing itself shut soon after. All that remained was a gash in the floor where she once stood.
Neither mare could move. Celestia burst into tears.
Bolas leaned in closer to Twilight. "Now do you see? The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists. And I, Lord Nicol Bolas, have more power than any who breathes!" he declared, practically roaring in her face.
He then extended his arm within reach. "I'll ask again. Join me, Twilight. I could teach you magic that would make the very earth tremble before you. Become the second mightiest of all creatures."
Twilight was afraid, but she would never agree to be his puppet. Bolas was right; they had no chance. However, she would not betray her friends, or her family. Not to this, nor any tyrant. She was afraid, but she stood firm. "Do. Your. Worst."
"With pleasure."
Bolas turned around, arms outstretched towards the unmoving ponies. Suddenly, a large number of them opened their eyes, revealing that their usual colors were replaced by an unearthly magenta. Small motes of dust and confetti began rising into the air, encircling their heads. All the ponies who woke this way were unicorns, Twilight noticed.
He raised his volume, adding an aura of command to his tone. "Listen, my new slaves. I have no need for the ones without magic. With the power I have granted to you, prove yourselves. Kill them all."
"NO!" the princesses screamed in unison.
As one, every unicorn in Equestria replied in a dull monotone. "Yes, Lord Bolas."
No longer in control, but still frightfully aware of their actions, the unicorns slowly turned to their nearest sleeping neighbor and began charging a terrible spell none had used before. Among them was Rarity, and she, along with her four sleeping friends, were within sight of Twilight, who could only stare.
Their horns produced beams of shadowy energy which connected with thousands of prone targets. The sounds of magic discharge and searing flesh filled the air as colt and mare alike were scorched into oblivion, reduced to nothing but charred bones. In her mind, Rarity was overwhelmed with sudden sorrow, along with most everypony else.
Twilight screamed.
* * *
Sweetie Belle screamed.
Standing over the corpses of Applebloom and Scootaloo, the filly was not happy. However, the emotion currently consuming her entire being was not sadness or grief. For the entirety of her short life, she had been taught to suppress it. Previously, she had felt this way only on occasion, whenever a pony treated her particularly badly. Diamond Tiara produced such an effect on her, and so did her sister on occasion.
It was hatred.
As she screamed, she felt the pull on her mind recede as it was replaced by a different, overwhelming force. This force wished to drag her body away from it all, and through an enormous whirling mass of wholly unidentifiable colors and shapes. But Sweetie Belle didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay. Thus, she willed the force to release and empower her.
Her friends gone, her sole desire was to punish the one responsible, to make the dragon who's voice she had obeyed suffer a pain ten times worse than the one he had inflicted.
Using her newfound strength, the filly lifted herself into the skies with her magic, arching towards Nicol Bolas.
At the corner of his perception, Bolas felt something tug at the effects of his magic, breaking his control. While unlikely, such a thing was possible, and had been accounted for. Considering the sheer number of beings he had just turned into killers, the million-to-one odds of any one of the unicorns having a latent spark added up. And only a Planeswalker had enough willpower to even begin resisting him without the aid of magical mental barriers, which these ponies do not possess.
So, when a white filly, wreathed in an aura of deep crimson, rocketed herself towards him through the air, he knew exactly what he needed to do. He would destroy her.
Issuing another command to his remaining thralls, he proclaimed "Kill that pony!"
They turned their heads towards the flying Sweetie Belle and began firing hundreds of beams in her direction. But Sweetie's rage-heightened senses made quick work of the problem as she juked herself backwards, sideways, and every which way to avoid the onslaught. When they stopped firing, Bolas was disappointed at their pathetic mana capacity.
Minds overwhelmed by sorrow, Twilight and Celestia watched the battle with uncharacteristic indifference. They couldn't even tell who the dragon's opponent was at this distance, and there was no way to bring back all who had perished, regardless of the outcome.
Calling upon her memory of the spell implanted in her mind, known as Terminate, Sweetie fired her own barrage at Bolas in retaliation. But Bolas merely waved his hand, and the spells ricocheted off of a partial bubble of blue energy.
In retaliation, the Elder Dragon launched a shower of sparks from his maw at high speed. These were not aimed at his prey, however, and they landed upon the bones of dozens of pegasi, whereupon they burst into flames. A chorus of unearthly wails filled the air as the newly formed fireherd rose into the air on skeletal wings.
As they careened towards the floating filly, her horn glowed an even brighter red. As if crossing an invisible threshold, they were crushed to cinders by overwhelming telekinetic force. Turning her aura towards Bolas, she attempted to do the same to him, but the dragon's eyes flashed, and the aura around him shattered like glass.
Realizing the need for a faster method of attack, Bolas launched himself skyward with a single enormous wingbeat. He aimed a claw, and the clouds above the city darkened and swirled themselves together.
However, Sweetie wasn't stupid, and recognized the thread of incoming lightning. She flung herself into a nearby tower through a window at the precise moment the thundercloud unleashed a furious storm of cracking white lightning, which seared the masonry and fried all the gold and purple flags off of the structure's many flagpoles.
Roaring in anger, the dragon then called forth a gust of wispy blueish vapors, dragging the filly back out into the open before she magically stopped her forced movement. As she did so, Sweetie wreathed the entire tower in her aura, ripping the building from its foundations with a crumbling sound.
Now turned on its side, the tower launched towards the airborne dragon like an enormous missile. But he was ready with his own kinetic powers, and ripped the structure in half lengthwise just before impact, sending the two chunks in opposite directions, reducing themselves and two other buildings into rubble.
Within his mind, Bolas laughed. This was the level of ability that these ponies could access if they only gave up the pretenses of restraint and accepted power in its purest form. Still, he would pull out all the stops and obliterate the insolent horse who dared defy him. This whole time, he had been holding back to avoid harming his conquests. But no longer.
"Your doom is nigh, Planeswalker!" A wicked smile upon his face, he directed a volume of magic towards Canterlot Mountain. Most did not know that it was once a volcano, and had long since fallen inactive. Well, it was inactive no longer.
With a blast of power that shook all of Equestria, it erupted scalding gouts of ash and magma high into the air. The looming orbs of lava began their descent upon the entire city.
Sweetie Belle gazed upon the oncoming onslaught, and attempted to redirect the molten rock away from her as it fell. To her surprise, the volcanic fallout appeared completely immune to her magic.
Mind racing, she needed to find a way to avoid being incinerated by the still-erupting volcano. The buildings wouldn't last forever, hiding in them would be pointless. Then, she realized, how would her mortal foe survive?
As if to answer her question, the tyrant enveloped himself in a shroud of impossible cold, with ice visibly crystallizing around his scales. She dove diagonally down to the area of sky directly below Bolas. "Oh, no you don't!" he exclaimed as he began twirling through the air in an erratic draconic dance.
Sweetie continued her descent, matching move for move. Bolas followed, spiraling downwards as he fired blasts of necrotic energy at her from his mouth, the sheet of flaming rain close behind.
Soon, both approached the ground, Sweetie narrowly evading the attacks. Twilight squinted upwards at the approaching blood-cloaked pony, who was diving headfirst towards the ground nearby.
Twilight couldn't believe her eyes. It was Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie Bell! Help us!"
The filly turned, observing the two chained alicorns. Realizing exactly what needed to be done, time seemed to slow down as she released her magical grip over her own body, going into freefall. She focused all of her energy into snapping the glowing chains. A loud crack echoed through the city.
"Impossible!" Bolas cried out.
It had worked. Immediately, Celestia took action, her whole body flaring with a searing radiance, absorbing the fiery energy from the lava above, reducing it to nothing but gravel and soot. After silently nodding to eachother, Twilight and Celestia teleported into the skies above their former captor.
The two alicorns reared back their heads, horns flush with power. They unleashed twin beams of white light, tinged pink and golden, at Bolas' exposed back.
While still quite upset about the freed immortal, he heard the attack, and managed to harden the spell around him into a thick sheet of ice, which then broke, absorbing most of the impact as he was sent careening sideways. He righted himself in midair at the same time as Sweetie Belle did, flipping herself around with her magic to face the villain.
The three mares shouted battle cries as they fired their magic once more at the looming threat before them. Bolas put up another shield of countermagic to blunt the assault, but the beams from the Twilight and Celestia combined with a barrage of Terminates from Sweetie Belle was relentless, and his defensive bubble was beginning to crack.
Loathe as he was to admit it to himself, Nicol Bolas was on the ropes. The odds of him being able to fend off three spellcasters with this much power at the same time and come out of it unscathed were slim. The new Planeswalker had even somehow dissipate a spell which had been thoroughly hexproofed. To express his disdain, he roared in anger.
"It's over, Bolas!" declared Celestia.
"You will pay for what you've done!" added Twilight.
Sweetie Belle seethed with malice, her triumph approaching. "I'm going to enjoy grinding your bones into dust!" The others glanced over to her in shock.
They seemed to be under the impression he would let them win. How cute. All he needed was a distraction. One that would not fail to draw all of their attention. Gathering an enormous quantity of mana, his eyes flared deep purple.
The three mares heard a 'woosh' behind them, followed by an immense 'thud'. Turning to look, Twilight and Celestia couldn't believe their eyes.
Standing almost as tall as the castle, looming over all of Canterlot, there was an enormous monster. It looked like the deformed skeleton of some sort of bipedal creature, if its bones were made of black stone. Blue light shined behind its emotionless visage, and razor-sharp claws jutted out from its arms and shoulders.
As soon as it appeared, it began rampaging throughout the city, leveling structures with its tail and crushing stupefied unicorns underfoot like so much bubble wrap.
Twilight immediately registered the impending deaths of hundreds more ponies. "No!" she yelled, flying off to confront the beast, firing energy beams at it as she went. Celestia had a similar reaction.
But, Sweetie Belle never even bothered to spare a sidelong glance at the creature. Her full, undivided attention remained fixed on Nicol Bolas, the cruel puppetmaster who had fractured her very being with his machinations. She kept firing black bolts at his shield, slowly wearing it down.
"Don't you care that the Mortivore I just summoned is killing everyone who wasn't dead already?" Bolas inquired.
"Everypony." she corrected, her tone deadpan. "And no. Not when the target of my vengeance still draws breath."
"Quite the vocabulary for one so young." Then, drawing upon his gathered knowledge: "Well, what about your sister, Rarity? You could lose her too."
In the distance, Twilight was batted out of the sky by a gargantuan arm, Celestia retaliating with a gout of flame directed at the beast's face.
"Not important right now," Sweetie replied, still on the attack.
The two glared as their duel continued, eyes locked. Neither made a sound, save for the spells clashing and Bolas' flapping. This went on for a while, Lhurgoyf and princesses raging in the background.
Bolas started laughing, as he was now deeply amused by the unshakable fury in her actions. "Sweetie Belle, you are a mare after my own heart. It seems we are at an impasse. I can't think of anything I could do to kill you that wouldn't also end up taking out Celestia as collateral."
"So, you'll let me rip your scales off one by one now?" she asked.
"No. I'm leaving." He pointed a single claw at the filly. "Know that this isn't over! One day, I will return to claim what is rightfully mine!"
She gave him a most aggressive raspberry.
With one final indignant roar, Lord Nicol Bolas vanished.
It's master's mana now lost, Celestia's next blast of divine radiance bored a hole clean through the massive Mortivore's thin spine, the two plummeting halves of its body shattering upon impact with what little remained of Canterlot. Its corpse vanished into black mist soon after.
At this point, the unicorns that survived the battle had all returned to normal, non-glowing eyes and all, now free to move. Most winced in pain from their minor, rubble-related injuries while wailing in sorrow at what they had been forced to do.
Now free to catch their breath, Twilight and Celestia warped over to Sweetie as the three returned to the earth.
Twilight reached out and enveloped the filly in her hooves, followed by Celestia, the flow of tears resuming with newfound vigor. They held eachother close in a warm embrace.
In the aftermath of what was likely the most horrible single event in Equestrian history, many things were different. For one thing, with much effort on her part, Twilight took it upon herself to usher in the night, as Luna certainly was unable to do so in passing.
The remaining unicorns were ushered out to edge of what remained of Canterlot, tears forming an unnatural evening dew atop the ruins as the crowd solemnly moved. As she performed this sorrowful shepherd's task, barely maintaining composure herself though sheer force of will, Celestia had had an idea. She found Rarity among the herd of sobbing faces and pulled her aside.
Their discussion ended, they waited until everypony had formed a mob of shaking bodies where the mountain path began to dip. Celestia spoke with enough volume such that all present could hear her, though in a more pleasing tone than she and her sister once employed. "My little ponies, to say that yesterday was a sad day for us all is a vast understatement. However, it is our duty to not forget those whose lives have touched our own. We shall leave Canterlot in its current state as a memorial of these events. For now, we grieve."
With that, Celestia's horn flared brilliantly as she rose into the air. Wood and stone shifted away as the broken bodies of the unicorns who had died during the fighting were gathered and levitated in place in front of the mob, a single pink body placed on the top. They then burst into gently flickering flames.
The wails from the crowd intensified as many ponies shared embraces with those friends and family who had survived. Twilight had found herself in Rarity's arms. All thoughts were turned to those who had their lives cut tragically short. As the bonfire slowly consumed itself, Celestia and Twilight allowed themselves to truly cry out in their sorrow.
As the final embers died down, Celestia used her magic to gather the ashes, and combine them into large balls, adding the remains of the those slain indirectly by Bolas along with the volcanic soot still hovering high in the air. Seeing her cue, Rarity stepped forward.
She carefully pressed the swirling black clouds into shape, one at a time, with great force. When she had finished, three large statues, made from pure diamond, stood gleaming in the moonlight. The first depicted Princess Luna, wings outstretched, a proud expression on her face. The second was a likeness of her four friends who had perished, the Elements of Harmony, in a group hug, smiles on their faces. The last pristine statue showcased a jolly old Earth pony stallion, kneeling downwards to embrace a small pegasus filly, meant to represent the rest.
The ceremony completed, unicorns gawked at the new monuments and milled about, wondering what they should do next. It was at this point when Twilight approached Celestia.
"Celestia," she said, wearing a stern, ponderous expression. "I think you should step down."
The taller mare blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You heard me."
"But... why would you even suggest that, Twilight?"
Her head tilted down, eyes closed. "Though nothing more than a heartless murderer, Bolas was right. We overvalued frivolous things, instead of actually prioritizing the safety and well-being of those under our care above all else." Now, meeting her gaze directly, "In short, you're too soft. I should take over."
"W-What are you saying? This is not the Twilight I remember teaching the art of magic to as a schoolfilly. You've learned so much about friendship, and now you just want to throw all that away?!"
"I never needed friends! And if I'd never made any, I could have spent far more time with my studies. Maybe I could have even gained enough knowledge and foresight by this point to have prevented all this from happening!" she exclaimed, gesturing to all of Canterlot.
Celestia's cheeks flushed, fuming. "But friends are who you can rely on, ponies you can turn to for guidance, encouragement, and joy! Don't tell me you forgot all that, and actually took what that monster spouted to heart!"
"So, you're upset that I disagree with you for once? Well, it's not my fault, ok? I tried my best to tune him out, but I couldn't. Logically, what he was telling us made so much sense! Perhaps friendship was important, but it isn't anymore! And now I finally realize just how fragile our lives in Equestria really are!"
They stood there, glaring daggers for what felt like eons. Seeing Celestia's obstinacy waver, Twilight took a deep breath and continued. "In order to fix things, we'll need to make many ponies move to different towns with their families, trade in their old, unessential talents for vital jobs. Equestria needs new farmers, weather ponies, and the like. Every able-bodied mare and stallion needs to pull their weight to help rebuild Equestria as a nation of unicorns. Do you think I'm looking forward to telling Rarity that she can't waste time on dressmaking anymore? Of course not. Friendship is just a crutch for us now. We can't feel sadness or regret for our subjects over what needs to be done for the greater whole."
After hearing Twilight's full thoughts on the matter, Celestia finally understood. Her student was not a monster, she had simply changed into a mature, hardened conscience from this ordeal. "Well, I don't very much like it, but I see now. It appears that the student has surpassed the teacher. For the time being, I will heed your judgment. Lead us forward into a new age, Twilight Sparkle," she said, dipping into a slight bow.
The other alicorn did not smile at this news. She simply returned the gesture.
"Running a country is quite the task, are you sure you won't miss your old life?" Celestia asked.
Twilight shook her head. "It died with my friends."
"Same here," chimed a high-pitched voice.
Surprised, the two turned to see an approaching Sweetie Belle, who had calmed down significantly from her earlier bout of rage.
"I'm so sorry for that, Sweetie," chimed Celestia solemnly. "Actually, I don't think I've thanked you properly for what you did. Your actions, however suspect they might have been, just saved Equestria."
The filly blushed a bit, leaning to this side. "I'm honestly not sure what came over me. I was just filled with so much magic all of a sudden, like it had rose from inside and consumed my body the same time."
"I'll say," she noted. "This is quite the mysterious occurrence indeed. In all my years, I've never seen a unicorn with as much raw power as you, and from a filly no less! Even those rare cases when one could levitate their own bodies, they never did so with nearly as much speed or precision."
"I'm shocked myself. Before this, I was just learning basic spells. But yesterday... I just... hated him so much. It made me stronger."
"And who can blame you?" asked Twilight rhetorically.
Reaching over to place a reassuring hoof around her, Twilight saw that the filly's flank was no longer empty. "Well, whatever it was that happened to produce such strength, it was quite important," she said, pointing to her flank. It now bore a strange red-orange symbol, that of five tall, vertical triangles which met at the base and tapered downwards into a single point.
"Oh, yeah, that. Not sure what it means. Rarity didn't know either. That monster Bolas called me a Planeswalker, though. Maybe that's my talent or something."
Twilight pondered this for a moment, realizing the implications. "Well, in this case, 'plane' would most likely refer to a separate world entirely, as in a 'plane of existence'. Maybe you have the same power that dragon apparently has: the ability to move, or 'walk' between different worlds! The gift might also come with an increased aptitude for spellcasting!"
Sweetie Belle's brow lowered. "So you're saying I'll actually be able to get my revenge for what he did to me, to everypony?" She looked itching to act, shuffling back and forth.
Twilight's expression betrayed concern. "I suppose so. But let's not be hasty. Who knows what those other worlds could be like? Not to mention you're still just a filly."
"Well," chimed Celestia, "I'm going to have some more free time on my hooves, and my previous student has learned all I have to teach. Perhaps you would like to be my student, Sweetie Belle?"
"Really?"
"Yes, really," she said, putting on her best smile under the circumstances.
"That's amazing! Thank you, princess!" the filly dashed up to hug her leg.
After a few moments, she broke off, gazing upwards. "I'm going to learn all that I can about magic, and my new powers." She turned her head around, training her stoic gaze across the many families preparing their things for the journey home, wherever that might be. Sweetie inhaled deeply. "Everypony will always hope for a better future, and I'll fight for that future. Whatever it takes. My friends might be gone, but friendship never dies."
